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. The county seat is Buffalo, which makes up about 28% of the county's population. 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.
Collins is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The town is on the south border of the county and is considered to be one of the "Southtowns" of Erie County. The population at the 2010 census was 6,601.
Gowanda is a village in western New York, United States. It lies partly in Erie County and partly in Cattaraugus County. The population was 2,512 at the 2020 census. The name is derived from a local Seneca language term meaning "almost surrounded by hills" or "a valley among the hills". The Erie County portion of Gowanda is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan statistical area, while the Cattaraugus County portion is part of the Olean micropolitan statistical area.
Cattaraugus Reservation is an Indian reservation of the federally recognized Seneca Nation of Indians, formerly part of the Iroquois Confederacy located in New York. As of the 2000 census, the Indian reservation had a total population of 2,412. Its total area is about 34.4 mi² (89.1 km²). The reservation stretches from Lake Erie inward along Cattaraugus Creek, along either side of NY 438. It is divided among three counties for census purposes:
Perrysburg is a hamlet, census-designated place, and former village in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 401 at the 2010 census. It is named after Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. The community is in the south-central part of the town of Perrysburg. The hamlet is west of Gowanda.
North Collins is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 3,523 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from its parent town, Collins.
Attica Correctional Facility is a maximum security campus New York State prison in the town of Attica, New York, operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. It was constructed in the 1930s in response to earlier riots within the New York state prisons.
Cattaraugus Creek is a stream, approximately 68 miles (109 km) long, in western New York in the United States. The creek drains a wooded rural portion of western New York southwest of Buffalo into Lake Erie. In its lower course it flows primarily through the Cattaraugus Reservation of the Seneca tribe. William Beauchamp identifies the name Cattaraugus as deriving from the Seneca word Gah-ta-ra-ke-ras, meaning "stinking shore" or "foul-smelling river bank." This in turn is likely a loanword from an extinct Attiwandiron, Erie, Wenro, or Wendat (Huron) language, combining the verb root -i'tar-, referring to clay or mud, and -akera(n)-, describing a bad or strong odor: hence, tke'tarakeras, place of strong-smelling mud or clay. This name is a result of the natural gas that oozes from the river mud.
The Southport Correctional Facility was an ultra-maximum-security, or "supermax", prison, run by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. It was located in the town of Southport, in the Southern Tier of New York State, United States.
Downstate Correctional Facility was a maximum-security prison in the Town of Fishkill in the Hudson Valley region of New York. It was located along the north side of Interstate 84, opening in 1979 and closing in 2022.
Collins Correctional Facility is a medium security prison in Collins, New York in the United States. The prison is located in the south part of Erie County in the Town of Collins. It is adjacent to the now-closed Gowanda Correctional Facility, another medium-security prison. Both prisons are located north of the Village of Gowanda, at the southern end of Erie County.
Wende Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison located in the town of Alden in Erie County, New York, east of Buffalo. The prison is named for this region of Alden. The prison was formerly the site of an Erie County jail and was sold to the state to fulfill the need for a maximum security state prison. The Erie County Correctional Facility was built adjacent to Wende.
Fishkill Correctional Facility is a multi-security level prison in New York, United States. The prison is located in both the Town of Fishkill and the City of Beacon in Dutchess County. Fishkill was constructed in 1896. It began as the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.
New York State Route 438 (NY 438) is a north–south state highway located entirely in Erie County, New York, in the United States. Though signed as north–south, the route runs in an almost east–west direction for 11.78 miles (18.96 km) between Gowanda and Irving through the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation. The southern terminus of the route is at an intersection with U.S. Route 62 (US 62) and NY 39 in Gowanda. Its northern terminus is at a junction with US 20 and NY 5 in Irving. The route was assigned in the mid-1940s. Although it is signed as a state route, the state does not maintain any of the route.
The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (NYSDOCCS) is the department of the New York State government that administers the state prison and parole system, including 44 prisons funded by the state government.
Christopher Carl Collins is an American politician and businessman who served as the U.S. representative for New York's 27th congressional district from 2013 until his resignation in 2019. Collins was elected Erie County Executive in 2007 and held that position for one term. A member of the Republican Party, Collins was the first sitting U.S. Representative to endorse Donald Trump for President of the United States, and he served on Trump's presidential transition team. He resigned his seat in 2019 and afterwards pleaded guilty to insider trading and lying to the FBI.
Bridgewater State Hospital, located in southeastern Massachusetts, is a state facility housing the criminally insane and those whose sanity is being evaluated for the criminal justice system. It was established in 1855 as an almshouse. It was then used as a workhouse for inmates with short sentences who worked the surrounding farmland. It was later rebuilt in the 1880s and again in 1974. As of January 6, 2020 there were 217 inmates in general population beds. The facility was the subject of the 1967 documentary Titicut Follies. Bridgewater State Hospital falls under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Department of Correction but its day to day operations is managed by Wellpath, a contracted vendor.
Zoar is a hamlet in the town of Collins in Erie County, New York, United States. Though it is in Collins, mail is postmarked to the Gowanda ZIP code of 14070. It is located on the northern side of Zoar Valley.
Daniel R. Gernatt Sr. was an American entrepreneur, businessman, horseman, and dairy farmer in Collins, New York.
Gowanda State Hospital was a hospital located in Gowanda, New York. Its building is now part of Gowanda Correctional Facility.
