Erie County, New York

Erie County is a located in the  of. As of the, the population was 950,265. The is. The county's name comes from, which in turn comes from the tribe of  who lived south and east of the lake before.

History
When counties were established in New York State in, the present Erie County was part of. This was an enormous county, including the northern part of New York State as well as all of the present State of and, in theory, extending westward to the. This county was reduced in size on, by the creation of , and further on ,  by the creation of , both containing territory now in Vermont.

On, , what was left of Albany County was split into three parts, one remaining under the name Albany County. One of the other pieces,, 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, and the county included the western part of the and the area west of the West Branch of the. The area then designated as Tryon County now includes 37 counties of New York State. The county was named for, colonial governor of New York.

In the years prior to, most of the in Tryon County fled to. In, following the peace treaty that ended the , the name of Tryon County was changed to to honor the general, , who had captured several places in Canada and died attempting to capture the city of , replacing the name of the hated British governor.

In, was split off from Montgomery. In turn, was created from Ontario County in, and  was created from Genesee County in.

While Erie County was part of Ontario County, all of Erie County was in the of Ontario County. As part of Genesee County, all of Erie County was part of the of Genesee County. Soon, for a time, Erie County was designated the now defunct Town of Erie.

Erie County was created from Niagara County in. Prior to that time the area now within the county had been composed of the Town of Clarence and the Town of Willink, both of which had been created in Niagara County. Clarence comprised the northern lands of the current Erie county, and Willinck the southern part. Clarence still exists as a town, but Willink has been partitioned completely into other towns in the county. By 1821, both these towns had already begun subdividing to form the new towns of the county.

Geography
Erie County is in the western portion of New York State, bordering on the of the same name. It is the most populous county in New York State outside of the New York City metropolitan area.

According to the, the county has a total area of 3,178 (1,227 ). 2,704 km² (1,044 sq mi) of it is land and 473 km² (183 sq mi) of it (14.89%) is water. The northern border of the county is. Part of the southern border is. Other major streams include Buffalo Creek, , , , and.

The county's northern half, including Buffalo and its suburbs, is relatively flat and rises gently up from the lake. The southern half is much hillier and is the northwesternmost foothills of the.

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 runs through the northern part of Erie County.

Adjacent Counties

 * - north
 * - east
 * - east
 * - south
 * - southwest

Major Highways

 * [[Image:I-90.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:I-190.svg|22px]]  (Niagara Thruway)
 * [[Image:I-290.svg|22px]] (Youngman Expressway)
 * [[Image:I-990.svg|22px]]
 * [[Image:US 20.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 20A.svg|22px]]


 * [[Image:US 62.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 219.svg|22px]] (Southern Expressway)
 * [[Image:NY-5.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:NY-16.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:NY-33.svg|20px]] (Kensington Expressway)
 * [[Image:NY-39.svg|20px]]


 * [[Image:NY-78.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:NY-179.svg|22px]]
 * [[Image:NY-198.svg|22px]] (Scajaquada Expressway)
 * [[Image:NY-240.svg|22px]]
 * [[Image:NY-400.svg|22px]] (Aurora Expressway)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 950,265 people, 380,873 households, and 243,377 families residing in the county. The was 351/km² (910/sq mi). There were 415,868 housing units at an average density of 154/km² (398/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 82.18%, 13.00% or , 0.61% , 1.46% , 0.02% , 1.42% from , and 1.31% from two or more races. 3.27% of the population were or  of any race. 19.6% were of, 17.2% , 14.9% , 11.7% and 5.0%  ancestry according to.

There were 380,873 households out of which 29.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.50% were living together, 13.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.10% were non-families. 30.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.50% 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 24.30% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 28.40% from 25 to 44, 22.70% from 45 to 64, and 15.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 91.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.80 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 for the county was $20,357. About 9.20% of families and 12.20% of the population were below the, including 17.30% of those under age 18 and 7.80% of those age 65 or over.

Cities, Towns, Villages, and other locations

 * label in parentheses refers to legal municipal designation.

State Parks and lands

 * , Village of Williamsville.
 * , Grand Island.
 * , Grand Island.
 * , Towns of Brant and Evans.
 * , NY state wetland in the Town of Amherst.
 * , Town of East Aurora.
 * in the Town of Cheektowaga.
 * , Town of Clarence.
 * , Town of Hamburg.

Information about Erie County
Erie County is home to the football team, the  hockey team, the  lacrosse team, the  minor league baseball team, and the, a basketball in the. The city also features a zoo, a botanical garden, a science museum, an historical museum, and the famous.

The, now called , held every August in the Town of Hamburg, is the second largest fair in the country.

Plans to merge Erie County with the City of Buffalo have been suggested, which 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 controlled by a single government, effectively making Buffalo's borders and population contiguous with Erie County's. These plans have proven very controversial; opposition has come from the rural villages on the borders of Erie County, which feel the plan would not benefit them, and the suburbs, which want to avoid the financial troubles of Buffalo and Erie County while simultaneously benefiting from the amenities of close proximity to a large population base.

Executive Branch

 * County Executive
 * Deputy County Executive Bruce Fisher
 * Comptroller
 * District Attorney Frank Clark
 * Sheriff Tim Howard
 * County Clerk

County Legislature

 * Chairwoman
 * Majority Leader Maria Whyte
 * Minority Leader
 * Legislator Daniel Kozub
 * Legislator Barbara Miller-Williams
 * Legislator
 * Legislator Kathy Konst
 * Legislator
 * Legislator Thomas Mazur
 * Legislator Cynthia Locklear
 * Legislator Michele Iannello
 * Legislator Robert Reynolds, Jr.
 * Legislator Barry A. Weinstein, MD
 * Legislator Thomas Loughran

Educational institutions
Many educational institutions include:, , , , , , , , , , , and.

School Districts

 * Akron Central School District
 * Alden Central School District
 * Amherst Central School District
 * Buffalo City School District
 * Cheektowaga Central School District
 * Cheektowaga-Maryvale Union Free School District
 * Cheektowaga-Sloan Union Free School District (John F. Kennedy Middle/High School)
 * Clarence Central School District
 * Cleveland Hill Union Free School District
 * Depew Union Free School District
 * East Aurora Union Free School District
 * Eden Central School District
 * Evans-Brant Central School District (Lake Shore)
 * Frontier Central School District
 * Grand Island Central School District
 * Gowanda Central School District
 * Hamburg Central School District
 * Holland Central School District
 * Hopevale Union Free School District At Hamburg
 * Iroquois Central School District
 * Kenmore-Tonawanda Union Free School District
 * Lackawanna City School District
 * Lancaster Central School District
 * North Collins Central School District
 * Orchard Park Central School District
 * Sweet Home Central School District
 * Tonawanda City School District
 * Williamsville Central School District
 * Williamsville Central School District
 * Williamsville Central School District