Orleans County, New York

Orleans County is a located in the  of. As of the, the population was 44,171. The is. The name is in honor of the Royal.

History
When counties were established in New York State in, the present Orleans 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 Loyalists in Tryon County fled to. In, following the peace treaty that ended the , the name of Tryon County was changed to in order 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, Genesee County was created by a splitting of Ontario County. This was much larger than the present Genesee County, however, containing the present, , , , , Orleans, and , and parts of and.

In, Genesee County was reduced in size by the splitting off of. In, Genesee County was further reduced in size by the splitting off of , , and. Niagara County at that time also included the present.

In, Genesee County was reduced in size by the splitting off of portions which were combined with portions of to create  and. By this time Genesee County had been reduced considerably in size from its original area of 1802, still containing the present Orleans and Wyoming Counties in addition to its present area, however.

In, Orleans County was created from what was left of Genesee County.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 2,117 (817 ). 1,014 km² (391 sq mi) of it is land and 1,104 km² (426 sq mi) of it (52.12%) is water. The high proportion of water is due to the extension of Orleans County north into Lake Ontario to the Canadian border (a line of latitude running through the middle of the lake). The distance from the Orleans shore north to the international border is greater than the distance from the shore south to the Genesee County line, meaning the area of Orleans underwater is actually greater than that above water.

Orleans County is in western New York State, northeast of and west of, on the southern shore of.

The passes (east-west) through the middle of the county.

Adjacent Counties

 * and - north
 * - east
 * - south
 * - west

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 44,171 people, 15,363 households, and 10,846 families residing in the county. The was 44/km² (113/sq mi). There were 17,347 housing units at an average density of 17/km² (44/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 89.12%, 7.31% or , 0.46% , 0.32% , 0.03% , 1.54% from , and 1.21% from two or more races. 3.89% of the population were or  of any race. 20.3% were of, 18.3% , 10.8% , 10.3% , 9.4% and 7.3%  ancestry according to.

There were 15,363 households out of which 35.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.3% were living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.4% were non-families. 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.2% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 98.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.2 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,972, and the median income for a family was $42,830. Males had a median income of $32,450 versus $22,605 for females. The for the county was $16,457. About 7.7% of families and 10.8% of the population were below the, including 15.0% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over.

Towns and villages

 * (village)
 * (town)
 * (town)
 * (town)
 * (town)
 * (town)
 * (village)
 * (town)
 * (village)
 * (village)
 * (town)
 * (town)
 * (town)
 * (town)


 * label in parentheses refers to official category of political entity.

Educational institutions
The county is considered to have five school districts, although the actual district boundaries can extend into neighboring counties, and the same is true for neighboring counties' districts. The five districts, from west to east, are:
 * (northern half of western third, roughly covering Lyndonville village and the towns of Yates and Ridgeway)
 * (southern half of western third, roughly covering Medina village and the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby)
 * (middle third, roughly covering Albion village and the towns of Carlton, Gaines, Albion, and Barre)
 * (northern half of eastern third, roughly covering the towns of Kendall and Murray)
 * (southern half of eastern third, roughly covering Holley village and the towns of Murray and Clarendon)

The only post-secondary education available in the county is a branch of located in Albion.

Additional information
When the county was formed, a dispute arose about naming it after or ; the conflict was ended by choosing the name Orleans.

The Erie Canal Culvert near Medina is the only roadway that passes under the Erie Canal.