Erie County, New York

Erie County
County
Left to right from top: Erie County Hall, Wendt Beach Park, Akron Falls Park, Chestnut Ridge Park, Canisius College, Gateway Park, Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens
Seal
Location within the U.S. state of New York
New York's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 42°45′N 78°47′W / 42.75°N 78.78°W / 42.75; -78.78
Country	United States
State	New York
Founded	1821
Named for	Eriechronon
Seat	Buffalo
Largest city	Buffalo
Government
• County Executive	(D)
Area
• Total	1,227 sq mi (3,180 km2)
• Land	1,043 sq mi (2,700 km2)
• Water	184 sq mi (480 km2)  15%
Population  (2020)
• Total	954,236
• Density	914.9/sq mi (353.2/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional districts	26th, 27th
Website	www.erie.gov

Erie County is a county along the shore of Lake Erie in western New York State. As of the 2020 census, the population was 954,236.^[1] The county seat is Buffalo, which makes up about 28% of the county's population.^[2] Both the county and Lake Erie were named for the regional Iroquoian language-speaking Erie tribe of Native Americans, who lived in the area before 1654. They were later pushed out by the more powerful Iroquoian nations tribes.

Erie County, along with its northern neighbor Niagara County, makes up the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area, the second largest in New York State behind New York City. The county's southern part is known as the Southtowns.^[3] The county has seen one of the highest growth rates of any county in New York State from the 2010 to 2020 census.

History[]

When counties were established by the English colonial government in the Province of New York in 1683, present-day Erie County was part of Indian territory occupied by Iroquoian-speaking peoples. It was administered as part of New York colony. Significant European-American settlement did not begin until after the United States had gained independence with the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783. They forced the Iroquois to cede most of their lands, as many had been allies of the British.

About 1800, the Holland Land Company, formed by Americans and Dutch associates, extinguished Indian claims by purchasing the land from New York, acquired the title to the territory of what are today the eight westernmost counties of New York, surveyed their holdings, established towns and began selling lots to individuals. The state was eager to attract settlers and have farms and businesses developed. At this time, all of western New York was included in Ontario County.

As the population increased, the state legislature created Genesee County in 1802 out of part of Ontario County. In 1808, Niagara County was created out of Genesee County. In 1821, Erie County was created out of Niagara County, encompassing all the land between Tonawanda Creek and Cattaraugus Creek.^[4] The first towns formed in present-day Erie County were the Town of Clarence and the Town of Willink. Clarence and Willink comprised the northern and southern portions of Erie county, respectively. Clarence is still a distinct town, but Willink was quickly subdivided into other towns. When Erie County was established in 1821, it consisted of the towns of Amherst, Aurora, Boston, Clarence, Collins, Concord, Eden, Evans, Hamburg, Holland, Sardinia and Wales.

The county has a number of houses and other properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Erie County, New York.^[5]

In 1861, the hamlet of Town Line in the Town of Lancaster voted 85–40 to secede from the Union.^[6] Town Line never sought admission into the Confederate States of America and there is no evidence that men from the community ever fought for the Confederacy. Some reporting from that time indicates the vote was a joke. On January 24, 1946, as part of a nationally reported event, Town Line voted to officially return to the Union after 85 years of Union secession.^[7]

Geography[]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,227 square miles (3,180 km²), of which 1,043 square miles (2,700 km²) (85%) is land and 184 square miles (480 km²) (15%) is water.^[8]

Erie County is in the western portion of upstate New York, bordering on the lake of the same name. Part of the industrial area that has included Buffalo, it is the most populous county in upstate New York outside of the New York City metropolitan area. The county also lies on the international border between the United States and Canada, bordering the Province of Ontario.

The northern border of the county is Tonawanda Creek. Part of the southern border is Cattaraugus Creek. Other major streams include Buffalo Creek (Buffalo River), Cayuga Creek, Cazenovia Creek, Scajaquada Creek, Eighteen Mile Creek and Ellicott Creek. The county's northern half, including Buffalo and its suburbs, is known as the Northtowns and is relatively flat and rises gently up from the lake. The southern half, known as the Southtowns,^[3] is much hillier. It has the northwesternmost foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The highest elevation in the county is a hill in the Town of Sardinia that tops out at around 1,940 feet (591 m) above sea level. The lowest ground is about 560 feet (171 m), on Grand Island at the Niagara River. The Onondaga Escarpment runs through the northern part of Erie County.

Rivers, streams and lakes[]

Adjacent counties and municipality[]

• Niagara County - north
• Genesee County - northeast
• Wyoming County - southeast
• Cattaraugus County - south
• Chautauqua County - southwest
• Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada - northwest

Major highways[]

Erie County routes[]

National protected area[]

• Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site

State protected areas[]

Demographics[]

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1830	35,719		—
1840	62,465		74.9%
1850	100,993		61.7%
1860	141,971		40.6%
1870	178,699		25.9%
1880	219,884		23.0%
1890	322,981		46.9%
1900	433,686		34.3%
1910	528,985		22.0%
1920	634,688		20.0%
1930	762,408		20.1%
1940	798,377		4.7%
1950	899,238		12.6%
1960	1,064,688		18.4%
1970	1,113,491		4.6%
1980	1,015,472		−8.8%
1990	968,532		−4.6%
2000	950,265		−1.9%
2010	919,040		−3.3%
2020	954,236		3.8%
U.S. Decennial Census[9] 1790-1960[10] 1900-1990[11] 1990-2000[12] 2010-2014[1]

As of the 2010 census,^[13] there were 919,040 people living in the county. The population density was 910 people per square mile (351/km²). There were 415,868 housing units at an average density of 398 per square mile (154/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 82.18% White, 13% Black or African American, 0.61% Native American, 1.46% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.42% from other races and 1.31% from two or more races. 3.27% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 19.6% were of German, 17.2% Polish, 14.9% Italian, 11.7% Irish and 5.0% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 91.1% spoke English, 3% Spanish and 1.6% Polish as their first language.

There were 380,873 households, out of which 29.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.5% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present and 36.1% were non-families. 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.04. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.3% under 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64 and 15.9% older than 65. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $38,567 and the median income for a family was $49,490. Males had a median income of $38,703 versus $26,510 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,357. About 9.2% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.3% of those under 18 and 7.8% of those older than 65.

County government and politics[]

Plans to merge Erie County with the City of Buffalo have been suggested, which proponents say would eliminate much of the extensive bureaucracy and political and municipal subdivisions among the various towns, cities and villages in the county. The result would be a consolidated city-county controlled by a single government, effectively making Buffalo's borders and population contiguous with that of Erie County's. These plans have proven controversial; there is controversy on the impact of the city's debt on a regional government. Concerns have also been raised that a regional government would dilute minority representation in government.^[15]

Prior to 1936, Erie County predominantly backed Republican Party candidates, with only two Democratic Party candidates winning the county in a presidential election-- Grover Cleveland in 1892 and Woodrow Wilson in 1912. However, starting with the 1936 election, it has turned predominantly Democratic since then, with only two Republicans carrying the county in a presidential election-- Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956 and Richard Nixon in 1972, with Nixon being the most recent. Since Democratic candidates have since won the county by double digit margins, except in 1984 and 2016 when they won it by single-digit margins.^[16]

United States presidential election results for Erie County, New York^[17] show

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	197,552	41.73%	267,270	56.46%	8,596	1.82%
2016	188,303	44.45%	215,456	50.86%	19,866	4.69%
2012	169,675	40.97%	237,356	57.31%	7,164	1.73%
2008	178,815	40.46%	256,299	57.99%	6,871	1.55%
2004	184,423	41.43%	251,090	56.41%	9,625	2.16%
2000	160,176	37.72%	240,176	56.56%	24,302	5.72%
1996	132,343	32.26%	224,554	54.74%	53,337	13.00%
1992	129,444	28.67%	196,233	43.46%	125,819	27.87%
1988	188,796	43.83%	238,779	55.43%	3,217	0.75%
1984	222,882	48.28%	237,631	51.47%	1,158	0.25%
1980	169,209	40.24%	215,283	51.20%	35,981	8.56%
1976	220,310	48.65%	229,397	50.66%	3,136	0.69%
1972	256,462	53.88%	218,105	45.82%	1,456	0.31%
1968	167,853	37.04%	250,054	55.18%	35,258	7.78%
1964	125,962	26.71%	344,910	73.14%	704	0.15%
1960	211,957	43.30%	277,203	56.62%	404	0.08%
1956	292,657	63.68%	166,930	36.32%	0	0.00%
1952	253,927	56.32%	196,378	43.56%	550	0.12%
1948	175,118	45.68%	197,618	51.55%	10,636	2.77%
1944	185,975	48.53%	195,905	51.12%	1,355	0.35%
1940	183,664	49.05%	189,779	50.68%	992	0.26%
1936	152,312	44.51%	183,555	53.64%	6,341	1.85%
1932	141,059	49.86%	131,012	46.31%	10,859	3.84%
1928	144,726	51.36%	126,449	44.87%	10,614	3.77%
1924	112,070	58.53%	40,780	21.30%	38,630	20.17%
1920	99,762	63.22%	40,436	25.63%	17,598	11.15%
1916	53,638	52.35%	45,622	44.53%	3,200	3.12%
1912	19,185	22.54%	33,518	39.38%	32,410	38.08%
1908	52,182	52.36%	45,185	45.34%	2,293	2.30%
1904	49,669	55.73%	36,582	41.04%	2,881	3.23%
1900	44,767	51.66%	39,833	45.97%	2,057	2.37%
1896	45,612	58.57%	30,172	38.74%	2,095	2.69%
1892	32,340	47.28%	32,431	47.41%	3,632	5.31%
1888	31,612	51.06%	29,543	47.71%	762	1.23%
1884	26,249	50.49%	24,759	47.62%	985	1.89%

Erie County executives[]

Name	Party	Term
Edward C. Rath	Republican	1962-1969
B. John Tutuska	Republican	1969-1971
Edward Regan	Republican	1972-1978
Ed Rutkowski	Republican	1979-1987
Dennis Gorski	Democratic	1988-1999
Joel Giambra	Republican	2000-2007
Chris Collins	Republican	2008-2011
Mark Poloncarz	Democratic	2012–present

Elected officials[]

Office	Name	Party	Hometown
County Executive	Mark Poloncarz	Democratic	Buffalo
County Comptroller	Stefan I. Mychajliw	Republican	Hamburg
County Clerk	Mickey Kearns	Democratic Republican (electorally)[18]	Buffalo
District Attorney	John J. Flynn	Democratic	Buffalo
County Sheriff	Tim Howard	Republican	Wales

County legislature[]

District	Title	Name	Party	Hometown
1		Howard Johnson	Democratic	Buffalo
2	Chair	April N.M. Baskin	Democratic	Buffalo
3		Lisa M. Chimera	Democratic	Kenmore
4		Kevin Hardwick	Democratic	Tonawanda
5		Jeanne Vinal	Democratic	Amherst
6		Christopher D. Greene	Republican	Clarence
7	Majority Leader	Timothy J. Meyers	Democratic	Cheektowaga
8		Frank Todaro	Republican	Cheektowaga and Lancaster
9		John Gilmour	Democratic	Hamburg
10	Minority Leader	Joseph C. Lorigo	Conservative	West Seneca
11		John J. Mills	Republican	Orchard Park

Education[]

School districts[]

Higher education[]

Attractions and recreation[]

Erie County is home to three professional teams—the NFL's Buffalo Bills, the NHL's Buffalo Sabres and the NLL's Buffalo Bandits, along with Division I's Buffalo Bulls and MILB's Buffalo Bisons. The city of Buffalo also features the Buffalo Zoo, Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, Burchfield-Penney Art Center and Albright-Knox Art Gallery (all located within a mile of each other in the Delaware Park System), Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens and Buffalo Museum of Science, in addition to tourist districts such as Canalside and Larkinville. The Erie County Fair, held every August in the Town of Hamburg from 1820 to 2019 (the 2020 event, like much everything else across the country, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic), is one of the largest county fairs in the United States.^[19]

Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry[]

The Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry was established in 1925 with four parks spanning 2,280 acres (9.2 km²). As of 2003, the county managed 38 properties, totaling approximately 11,000 acres (45 km²) of land. Management objectives include providing and maintaining recreational space and the conservation of the county's natural and historic resources.^[20] A 2003 Master Plan identified several broad categories of parks operated by the county, including heritage parks, waterfront parks, conservation parks, special purpose parks and forest management areas.^[20]

Heritage parks[]

Erie County's heritage parks include the five original county parks that were established during the 1920s and 1930s. These parks are examples of multiple-use sites with significant scenic, natural and historic features. Each park has unique man-made structures of historical character, many constructed as part of the Works Progress Administration movement in the 1930s.^[21]

• Akron Falls Park (Established in 1933, acquired by Erie County in 1947)
• Chestnut Ridge Park (Established by Erie County in 1926)
• Como Lake Park (Established in 1923, acquired by Erie County in 1926)
• Ellicott Creek Park (Established by Erie County in 1926)
• Emery Park (Established by Erie County in 1925)

Waterfront parks[]

Waterfront parks include the significant scenic sites and recreational trail systems along the county's Lake Erie shoreline.^[21]

• Bennett Beach Park
• Isle View Park
• Riverwalk Park
• Wendt Beach Park

Conservation parks[]

These largely-undeveloped parks are managed primarily for conservation of the natural environment and passive nature-based outdoor recreation activities. These lands are intended to generally remain in a natural state.^[21]

• Boston Forest
• Eighteen Mile Creek Park
• Franklin Gulf Park
• Sgt. Mark A. Rademacher Memorial Park (commonly known as Hunters Creek Park)
• Scoby Dam Park

Special purpose parks[]

Special purpose parks have unique characteristics that provide specific recreational functions within the county's park system.^[21]

• Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens
• Elma Meadows Golf Course
• Grover Cleveland Golf Course
• Sprague Brook Park

Forest management areas[]

Forest management areas are managed by the Erie County Bureau of Forestry, which was established in 1927. These areas include several thousand acres of mostly-coniferous plantation style forest, much of which was planted on abandoned farmland by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. These areas are located mostly in the rural southern portion of the county.^[22] These lands have limited recreation potential, mostly in the form of trails. Management of these lands is focused on natural resource conservation, in addition to potential commercial resource extraction of timber products or maple syrup.^[21][22]

Communities[]

#	Location	Population (2010)	Type	Area
1	†Buffalo	278,349	City	Greater Buffalo
2	Cheektowaga	75,178	CDP	Greater Buffalo
3	Tonawanda	58,144	CDP	Greater Buffalo
4	West Seneca	44,711	CDP	Greater Buffalo
5	Lackawanna	19,949	City	Greater Buffalo
6	Kenmore	15,423	Village	Greater Buffalo
7	Depew	15,303	Village	Greater Buffalo
8	Tonawanda	15,130	City	Greater Buffalo
9	Eggertsville	15,019	CDP	Greater Buffalo
10	Lancaster	10,352	Village	Greater Buffalo
11	Hamburg	9,409	Village	Greater Buffalo
12	East Aurora	6,236	Village	Greater Buffalo
13	Harris Hill	5,508	CDP	Greater Buffalo
14	Williamsville	5,300	Village	Greater Buffalo
15	Grandyle Village	4,629	CDP	Greater Buffalo
16	Springville	4,296	Village	Southern
17	Lake Erie Beach	3,872	CDP	Southern
18	Sloan	3,661	Village	Greater Buffalo
19	Eden	3,516	CDP	Southern
20	Orchard Park	3,246	Village	Greater Buffalo
21	Wanakah	3,199	CDP	Greater Buffalo
22	Akron	2,868	Village	Northeast
23	‡Gowanda	2,709	Village	Southern
24	Clarence	2,646	CDP	Greater Buffalo
25	Alden	2,605	Village	Northeast
26	Elma Center	2,571	CDP	Greater Buffalo
27	Blasdell	2,553	Village	Greater Buffalo
28	North Boston	2,521	CDP	Southern
29	Town Line	2,367	CDP	Northeast
30	Angola	2,127	Village	Southern
31	Billington Heights	1,685	CDP	Greater Buffalo
32	Angola on the Lake	1,675	CDP	Southern
33	North Collins	1,232	Village	Southern
34	Holland	1,206	CDP	Southern
35	Farnham	386	Village	Southern
-	Highland-on-the-Lake	N/A	CDP	Southern

† - County Seat

‡ - Not Wholly in this County

Towns[]

Hamlets[]

Indian reservations[]

• Cattaraugus Reservation
• Tonawanda Reservation

See also[]

• Erie County Sheriff's Office
• Erie Township, Illinois
• Erie Township, Minnesota
• List of counties in New York
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Erie County, New York

References[]

• "Erie County School Districts 2003-2004". New York State Education Department. Retrieved 2007-11-12.

External links[]

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Erie County (New York).

Wikisource has the text of a 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article about Erie County, New York.

• Erie County Bureau of Forestry Trails
• Erie County Government website (county overview here)
• The Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society
• Erie County Fair
• U.S. Census Bureau
• Erie County at Curlie
• The Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, New York
• The Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority website a New York state public-benefit corporation

Coordinates: 42°45′N 78°47′W / 42.75°N 78.78°W / 42.75; -78.78