Washington County, New York

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Washington County
Washington County Farm.jpg
A farm in Greenwich
Flag of Washington County, New York.jpg
Seal of Washington County, New York.jpg
Map of New York highlighting Washington County.svg
Location within the U.S. state of New York
New York in United States.svg
New York's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 43°18′N73°24′W / 43.3°N 73.4°W / 43.3; -73.4
CountryFlag of the United States.svg United States
StateFlag of New York.svg  New York
FoundedMarch 12, 1772;252 years ago (1772-03-12) [lower-alpha 1] (Took its name on April 2, 1784)
Named for George Washington
Seat Fort Edward
Largest village Hudson Falls
Area
  Total846 sq mi (2,190 km2)
  Land831 sq mi (2,150 km2)
  Water15 sq mi (40 km2)  1.7%
Population
 (2020)
  Total61,302 [1]
  Estimate 
(2023)
60,047 Decrease2.svg
Time zone UTC−5 (Eastern)
  Summer (DST) UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district 21st
Website www.washingtoncountyny.gov

Washington County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,302. [2] The county seat is Fort Edward. [3] The county was named for U.S. President George Washington. The county is part of the Capital District region of the state.

Contents

History

When counties were established in the colony of New York in 1683, the present Washington 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. The other two were called Tryon County (later renamed Montgomery County) and Charlotte County. [lower-alpha 1]

On April 2, 1784, [lower-alpha 1] Charlotte County was renamed Washington County in honor of George Washington, the American Revolutionary War general and later President of the United States of America.

In 1788, Clinton County was split off from Washington County. [lower-alpha 1] This was a much larger area than the present Clinton County, including several other counties or county parts of the present New York State.

In 1791, the Town of Cambridge was transferred from Albany County to Washington County.

In 1813, Warren County was split off from Washington County. [lower-alpha 1] [4]

In 1994, with the completion of the new municipal center, the county seat was moved from Hudson Falls to Fort Edward.

In 2006, Cambridge Town Supervisor Jo Ann Trinkle made history by being elected as the first chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors.

Historic sites

Washington County has four historic covered bridges, each listed on the National Register of Historic Places:

Including those, it has a total of 35 sites listed on the National Register. The Lemuel Haynes House is designated as a National Historic Landmark, the highest level of significance.

Geography

A map of the Appalachian Mountains, highlighting the Great Appalachian Valley. The main mountain regions on either side are named, as are the various local valleys. Greatvalley-map.png
A map of the Appalachian Mountains, highlighting the Great Appalachian Valley. The main mountain regions on either side are named, as are the various local valleys.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 846 square miles (2,190 km2), of which 831 square miles (2,150 km2) is land and 15 square miles (39 km2) (1.7%) is water. [5]

Washington County is a long narrow county located in the northeastern section of the State. It is known for its rich valley farm land and is part of the Great Appalachian Valley (also known simply as the 'Great Valley') which is a long narrow valley strip often between tall mountain ranges. The county transitions from the Taconic Mountains to the Adirondack Mountains, and from the Lake Champlain Valley to Hudson River Valley.

Much of the county is part of the slate valley of the Upper Taconic Mountains (Taghkanic, meaning 'in the trees'). The eastern boundary of Washington County is the New YorkVermont border, part of which is Lake Champlain. This is also the border with New England proper. The northern end of the county is within the 6.1 million acre Adirondack Park. Western boundaries include primarily the Hudson River and Lake George.

Washington County belongs to the following valleys and watersheds: Champlain Valley / Lake George Watershed—02010001 [6] Hudson River Valley / Hudson-Hoosic Watershed—02020003 [6] Waters in the northern part drain into Lake Champlain via Lake George (Horican) or the Mettawee River, and then flow into the Saint Lawrence River (Kaniatarowanenneh). These waters mingle in the Saint Lawrence with waters of all the Great Lakes as they flow northeast into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, and ultimately join the Atlantic Ocean. Meanwhile, the remainder of waters drain south via the Hudson River (Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk or Muhheakantuck), and ultimately flow south into the Atlantic Ocean below New York City. See the approximation of the watershed divide mapped in context of mountains [7] and valleys. [8]

Orogenies of the northeast United States NortheastAppalachiansMap.gif
Orogenies of the northeast United States

Nearly half of its borders are by long bodies of water. Winding across the bottom of the county is the legendary Batten Kill (Dionondehowa), famous for its worldclass flyfishing, and its marvelous falls (near the Washington County fairgrounds).

Black Mountain, in the Adirondacks, is the tallest peak in Washington County at approximately 2,640 feet (800 meters), and has beautiful views of Lake George, Lake Champlain, the surrounding countryside, and the Adirondacks, Taconic Mountains and Green Mountains. Willard Mountain is a ski center in the southern part of the county.

Adjacent counties

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note
1790 14,077
1800 35,574152.7%
1810 44,28924.5%
1820 38,831−12.3%
1830 42,6359.8%
1840 41,080−3.6%
1850 44,7508.9%
1860 45,9042.6%
1870 49,5688.0%
1880 47,871−3.4%
1890 45,690−4.6%
1900 45,624−0.1%
1910 47,7784.7%
1920 44,888−6.0%
1930 46,4823.6%
1940 46,7260.5%
1950 47,1440.9%
1960 48,4762.8%
1970 52,7258.8%
1980 54,7953.9%
1990 59,3308.3%
2000 61,0422.9%
2010 63,2163.6%
2020 61,302−3.0%
2023 (est.)60,047−2.0%
U.S. Decennial Census [9]
1790-1960 [10] 1900-1990 [11]
1990-2000 [12] 2010-2020 [2]

As of the census [13] of 2000, there were 61,042 people, 22,458 households, and 15,787 families residing in the county. The population density was 73 inhabitants per square mile (28/km2). There were 26,794 housing units at an average density of 32 units per square mile (12/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 94.97% White, 2.92% Black or African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.28% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.84% from other races, and 0.77% from two or more races. 2.02% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 17.5% were of Irish, 14.1% French, 12.1% English, 11.1% American, 9.0% Italian and 7.7% German ancestry according to Census 2000. 96.9% spoke English and 1.4% Spanish as their first language.

There were 22,458 households, out of which 33.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.20% were married couples living together, 10.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.70% were non-families. 24.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.60% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 29.40% from 25 to 44, 23.70% from 45 to 64, and 14.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 105.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,668, and the median income for a family was $43,500. Males had a median income of $31,537 versus $22,160 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,958. About 6.80% of families and 9.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.30% of those under age 18 and 7.30% of those age 65 or over.

2020 Census

Washington County racial composition [14]
RaceNum.Perc.
White (NH)54,60589.1%
Black or African American (NH)1,5632.6%
Native American (NH)1490.24%
Asian (NH)3190.52%
Pacific Islander (NH)22.03%
Other/Mixed (NH)2,8834.7%
Hispanic or Latino 1,7612.9%

Government

The county government consists of a board of supervisors with weighted votes. Each town supervisor holds a seat on the county government, and their votes are based on the population of their town, with Kingsbury and Fort Edward supervisors having the largest number of votes, and Putnam having the fewest votes. The 2017 weighted vote totals are available on the county website.

Politics

Gubernatorial elections results
Gubernatorial elections results [15]
Year Republican Democratic Third parties
2018 62.76%12,87931.24% 6,4116% 1,232
2014 58.26%8,69932.59% 4,8669.15% 1,367
2010 42.03% 7,66951.98%9,4855.99% 1,093
2006 38.62% 7,02459.51%10,8221.87% 340
2002 56.50%9,49122.42% 3,76721.07% 3,541

Prior to 1996, Washington County was a Republican stronghold, with the only time between 1884 and 1992 that a Republican presidential candidate failed to win the county being 1964 when Barry Goldwater lost every county in New York in his statewide and national landslide loss. Since 1996, it has become a bellwether county, but Republican candidate margins of victory have been greater than those by Democratic candidates and broke its bellwether streak in 2020 when Donald Trump won the county. In his 2020 performance, Trump received the highest percentage of the vote for a Republican since 1988 when George H. W. Bush received 62 percent. No Democrat aside from Lyndon B. Johnson in the aforementioned 1964 election has managed to win majority of the county's votes.

United States presidential election results for Washington County, New York [16]
Year Republican Democratic Third party(ies)
No.%No.%No.%
2020 15,94156.65%11,56541.10%6322.25%
2016 13,61055.49%9,09837.09%1,8207.42%
2012 11,08548.00%11,52349.89%4872.11%
2008 12,53348.71%12,74149.52%4561.77%
2004 13,82755.08%10,62442.32%6522.60%
2000 12,59653.47%9,64140.93%1,3185.60%
1996 8,95439.72%9,57242.46%4,01817.82%
1992 10,30541.00%8,42933.53%6,40125.47%
1988 14,10362.64%8,20136.42%2110.94%
1984 16,58073.48%5,90926.19%740.33%
1980 12,83558.59%7,14432.61%1,9278.80%
1976 13,94665.40%7,26234.06%1160.54%
1972 16,13673.80%5,67725.97%510.23%
1968 12,69461.71%6,80633.09%1,0695.20%
1964 8,16037.10%13,82662.87%70.03%
1960 15,03764.49%8,27435.48%60.03%
1956 18,44979.30%4,81720.70%00.00%
1952 17,55173.80%6,21026.11%220.09%
1948 13,97568.29%6,01729.40%4722.31%
1944 13,86166.03%7,10033.82%310.15%
1940 15,96066.57%7,97733.27%380.16%
1936 15,18665.13%7,71333.08%4181.79%
1932 14,47865.26%7,51233.86%1940.87%
1928 15,49966.91%7,22131.17%4431.91%
1924 13,77471.50%4,32122.43%1,1696.07%
1920 13,64775.43%4,12422.79%3221.78%
1916 7,31063.77%3,90734.08%2462.15%
1912 4,59340.94%3,55531.68%3,07227.38%
1908 7,93365.63%3,59329.73%5614.64%
1904 8,32467.37%3,51728.47%5144.16%
1900 8,20968.34%3,35727.95%4463.71%
1896 8,13969.12%3,23927.51%3973.37%
1892 6,79459.54%3,73132.70%8857.76%
1888 8,02363.21%4,28433.75%3863.04%
1884 7,33761.51%4,22235.39%3703.10%

Transportation

New York State Route 22 passing through Washington County NYSR22 WashingtonCty.jpg
New York State Route 22 passing through Washington County

Airports

The following public use airports are located in the county: [17]

Rail

Amtrak's Adirondack and Ethan Allen Express services each travel through Washington County once a day in each direction on their routes between New York, New York and Montreal, Québec or Burlington, Vermont, respectively. Both routes stop in Fort Edward and the Adirondack additionally serves Whitehall. The Adirondack was temporarily suspended from March 2020 through early April 2023 due to the closure of the Canadian/American border in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and related logistical challenges. [18]

Communities

Towns

Villages

Census-designated places

Hamlets

Notable people

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Washington County, or Charlotte County, to give it the title under which it was erected, March 12, 1772, comprised a great slice of Northern New York, mostly west of Lake Champlain, reaching from the Hudson to Canada, a distance of more than 100 miles, extending westward a width of fifty. The name was changed to the present nomenclature April 2, 1784, and there began but a few years later a series of reductions in its area. Clinton County was set off in 1788; the east portion ceded to Vermont in 1790; and Warren was taken from the north part in 1813. [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Champlain</span> Lake in New York, Vermont and Quebec

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clinton County, New York</span> County in New York, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia County, New York</span> County in New York, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essex County, New York</span> County in New York, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dresden, Washington County, New York</span> Town in New York, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Ann, New York</span> Town in New York, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenwich (town), New York</span> Town in New York, United States

Greenwich is a town in the southwestern part of Washington County, New York, United States. The town is located on the western border of the county. The population was 4,868 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. Greenwich features several homes that were a part of the Underground Railroad.

The Champlain Valley National Heritage Area is a federally designated National Heritage Area encompassing eleven counties in New York and Vermont surrounding Lake Champlain. The heritage area designation recognizes the area's historical and scenic significance. The region was a strategic corridor between the Hudson Valley of the United States and the Richelieu Valley of Quebec during the American Revolution in the late 18th century, and saw considerable military action during the War of 1812. During the American Civil War the valley was a part of the Underground Railroad network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeastern Highlands (ecoregion)</span>

The Northeastern Highlands Ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. states of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The ecoregion extends from the northern tip of Maine and runs south along the Appalachian Mountain Range into eastern Pennsylvania. Discontiguous sections are located among New York's Adirondack Mountains, Catskill Range, and Tug Hill. The largest portion of the Northeastern Highlands ecoregion includes several sub mountain ranges, including the Berkshires, Green Mountains, Taconic, and White Mountains.

References

  1. "US Census 2020 Population Dataset Tables for New York". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  2. 1 2 "2020 US Census: Saratoga, Hamilton, And Warren Counties All Post Population Gains". August 17, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  3. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  4. "History of Warren County, edited by H. P. Smith - Chapter XVI: To the Present Time". sites.rootsweb.com. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  5. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
  6. 1 2 US EPA, OW (March 17, 2015). "Surf Your Watershed". US EPA. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  7. US Maps
  8. Archived copy Archived September 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  9. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
  10. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
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  12. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
  13. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  14. "P2 HISPANIC OR LATINO, AND NOT HISPANIC OR LATINO BY RACE – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Washington County, New York".
  15. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections – Sate Data". uselectionatlas.org.
  16. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  17. Washington County Public and Private Airports, New York. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  18. "Back on track: Amtrak's Adirondack train returns to the North Country". September 7, 2022.
  19. Twelve Years a Slave
  20. 'Wisconsin Blue Book 1909,' Biographical Sketch of Frank J. Kimball, pg. 1107
  21. 'Curtis Mann Dies at Summit,; Milwaukee Weekly Wisconsin, March 3, 1894, pg1
  22. "legislative Manual of Wisconsin 1875,' Biographical Sketch of E. D. Rogers, pg. 473
  23. Sullivan, James; Williams, Melvin E.; Conklin, Edwin P.; Fitzpatrick, Benedict, eds. (1927). "Chapter III. Washington County.". History of New York State, 1523–1927 (PDF). Vol. 2. New York City, Chicago: Lewis Historical Publishing Co. p. 429. hdl:2027/mdp.39015019994048. Wikidata   Q114149636.

Further reading

History

Watershed/Conservancy

State agencies

Museums

43°19′N73°26′W / 43.32°N 73.43°W / 43.32; -73.43