Monroe County, New York
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section is missing citations and/or footnotes.
This article or section contains insufficiently sourced phrases. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. You may improve the article or discuss this issue on the talk page. Help on using footnotes is available. This article has been tagged since February 21, 2007. |
| Monroe County, New York | |
| Map | |
 Location in the state of New York |
|
 New York's location in the USA |
|
| Statistics | |
| Founded | 1821 |
|---|---|
| Seat | Rochester |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
3,537 km² (1,366 mi²) 1,708 km² (659 mi²) 15 km² (6 mi²), 51.72% |
| Population - (2000) - Density |
735,343 178/km² |
| Website: www.co.monroe.ny.us | |
Monroe County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2000 census, the population was 735,343. It is named after James Monroe, fifth President of the United States of America. Its county seat is the city of Rochester. The current county executive is Maggie Brooks, the first woman to hold the position. It is one of only four counties in New York State to currently have a woman county executive.
Contents |
[edit] History
When counties were established in the Province of New York in 1683, the present Monroe County was part of Albany County. This was an enormous county, including the northern part of New York State as well as all of the present State of Vermont and, in theory, extending westward to the Pacific Ocean. This county was reduced in size on July 3, 1766 by the creation of Cumberland County, and further on March 16, 1770 by the creation of Gloucester County, both containing territory now in Vermont.
On March 12, 1772, what was left of Albany County was split into three parts, one remaining under the name Albany County. One of the other pieces, Tryon County, contained the western portion (and thus, since no western boundary was specified, theoretically still extended west to the Pacific). The eastern boundary of Tryon County was approximately five miles west of the present city of Schenectady, and the county included the western part of the Adirondack Mountains and the area west of the West Branch of the Delaware River. The area then designated as Tryon County now includes 37 counties of New York State. The county was named for William Tryon, colonial governor of New York.
In the years prior to 1776, most of the Loyalists in Tryon County fled to Canada. In 1784, following the peace treaty that ended the American Revolutionary War, the name of Tryon County was changed to Montgomery County in order to honor the general, Richard Montgomery, who had captured several places in Canada and died attempting to capture the city of Quebec, replacing the name of the hated British governor.
In 1789, Ontario County was split off from Montgomery. The actual area split off from Montgomery County was much larger than the present county, also including the present Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans, Steuben, Wyoming, Yates, and part of Schuyler and Wayne Counties.
Genesee County was created by a splitting of Ontario County in 1802. This was much larger than the present Genesee County, however. It contained the present Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara, Orleans, Wyoming, and portions of Livingston and Monroe Counties.
Finally, Monroe County was formed from parts of Genesee and Ontario Counties in 1821.
[edit] Geography
Monroe County is in northwestern New York State, northeast of Buffalo and northwest of Syracuse.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 3,537 km² (1,366 mi²). 1,708 km² (659 mi²) of it is land and 1,829 km² (706 mi²) of it (51.72%) is water.
[edit] Adjacent Counties
- Lake Ontario and Canada - north
- Wayne County, New York - east
- Ontario County, New York - southeast
- Livingston County, New York - south
- Orleans County, New York - west
- Genesee County, New York - west
[edit] Government
The current County Executive is Maggie Brooks, a former news anchor in Rochester.
[edit] Economy
Rochester is a home to a number of international businesses, including Eastman Kodak, Bausch & Lomb, Constellation Brands and Paychex, all of which make Rochester their world headquarters. Xerox, while no longer headquartered in Rochester, has its principal offices and manufacturing facilities in Monroe County.
Because of the high prevalence of imaging and optical science among the industry and the universities, Rochester is known as the world capital of imaging. The University of Rochester's Institute of Optics is ranked number one in the country,[citation needed] and the Rochester Institute of Technology has one of the best imaging science departments in the country.
Rochester is also home to regional businesses such as Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., Roberts Communications, Inc., The Sutherland Group, PAETEC Communications, and major fashion label Hickey-Freeman.
Eastman Kodak has been going through successive rounds of layoffs for years, which are a strain on the local economy.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census² of 2000, there were 735,343 people, 286,512 households, and 184,513 families residing in the county. The population density was 431/km² (1,115/mi²). There were 304,388 housing units at an average density of 178/km² (462/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 79.14% White, 13.75% African American, 0.27% Native American, 2.44% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 2.44% from other races, and 1.94% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.31% of the population. 4.64% of the population reported speaking Spanish at home, while 1.43% speak Italian.[1]
There were 286,512 households out of which 31.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.40% were married couples living together, 13.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.60% were non-families. 28.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.08.
In the county the population was spread out with 25.60% under the age of 18, 9.50% from 18 to 24, 29.30% from 25 to 44, 22.60% from 45 to 64, and 13.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.20 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $44,891, and the median income for a family was $55,900. Males had a median income of $41,279 versus $29,553 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,821. About 8.20% of families and 11.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.50% of those under age 18 and 7.40% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Cities, Towns, and Villages
- Brighton (town)
- Brockport (village)
- Chili (town)
- Churchville (village)
- Clarkson (town)
- East Rochester (village and town)
- Fairport (village)
- Gates (town)
- Greece (town)
- Hamlin (town)
- Henrietta (town)
- Hilton (village)
- Honeoye Falls (village)
- Irondequoit (town)
- Mendon (town)
- Ogden (town)
- Parma (town)
- Penfield (town)
- Perinton (town)
- Pittsford (village)
- Pittsford (town)
- Riga (town)
- Rochester (city)
- Rush (town)
- Scottsville (village)
- Spencerport (village)
- Sweden (town)
- Webster (town)
- Webster (village)
- Wheatland (town)
[edit] Colleges and universities
- Rochester Institute of Technology
- Saint John Fisher College
- University of Rochester
- State University of New York at Brockport
- Nazareth College, Rochester
- Roberts Wesleyan College
- Monroe Community College
- Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School
[edit] Trivia
- The 2006 Academy Award's Best Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman grew up in Fairport.
- Teddy Geiger, a popular pop/rock singer, grew up in Pittsford.
[edit] External links
- Monroe County webpage
- Monroe County at the Open Directory Project (suggest site)
- City of Rochester, NY webpage
- Monroe County Library System
- Directory of Local Courts in Monroe County
