Ulster County, New York


 *  is also one of the four provinces of, as well as .

Ulster County is a located in the  of,. It sits in the state's of the. As of the, the is 177,749. However, recent population estimates completed by the for the 12-month period ending July 1 (2006) are at 182,742 residents. It is the northernmost county and largest county (by land area) in the. The and only large city is. The county is named for the of, then an  of the  (later ).

History
In, the established its first twelve counties. Ulster County was one of them. Its boundaries at that time included the present, and portions of the present and.

In, the capital of New York State (the first state capital of independent New York) was established at Kingston, though it was subsequently moved when the British burned that city.

In, portions of and Ulster Counties were split off to create Delaware County.

In, portions of and Ulster Counties were split off to create Greene County.

In, Sullivan County was split off from Ulster County.

Geography
Ulster County is in the southeast part of New York State, south of, immediately west of the. Much of the county is within the and the. Ulster County also has, which includes rare dwarf pine trees and.

The highest point is, at approximately 4,180 feet (1,274 m) above sea level. The lowest point is sea level along the Hudson River.

According to the, the county has a total area of 3,006 (1,161 ). 2,918 km² (1,126 sq mi) of it is land and 89 km² (34 sq mi) of it is. The total area is 2.95% water.

The  runs north-south through the county, carrying a lot of traffic to and from  and its surroundings.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 177,749 people, 67,499 households, and 43,536 families residing in the county. The was 61/km² (158/sq mi). There were 77,656 housing units at an average density of 27/km² (69/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 88.91%, 5.43% or , 0.27% , 1.24% , 0.03% , 2.15% from , and 1.98% from two or more races. 6.16% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 67,499 households out of which 30.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.20% were living together, 10.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.50% were non-families. 27.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.20% 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 3.03.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.50% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 29.70% from 25 to 44, 24.70% from 45 to 64, and 13.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 99.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $42,551, and the median income for a family was $51,708. Males had a median income of $36,808 versus $27,086 for females. The for the county was $20,846. About 7.20% of families and 11.40% of the population were below the, including 13.00% of those under age 18 and 8.70% of those age 65 or over.

Government
Ulster had long had a county-scale version of a, with the county legislature hiring a county administrator to handle executive functions. The chair of the legislature had a great deal of power and was only accountable to the voters of his own district. The only countywide elected officials were the and.

In 2006, voters approved the first-ever county, changing to an elected executive branch. Ulster will hold elections in 2008 for its first-ever and.

Additional County Information
Ulster County contains a large part of and the Catskill Forest Preserve. The former Delaware and Hudson Canal brought coal to Kingston on the Hudson. Former Orleans band member served in the Ulster County legislature before moving to the 19th Congressional District to run for Congress. 

The former runs through Ulster County. There are three railroad attractions in the county on this corridor:, , and.

Trivia

 * The county's total area (1,161 square miles) makes it almost as large as (1,214 square miles, according to the Wikipedia article on that state). Some sources give Rhode Island a smaller area than Ulster County.