Wyoming County, New York

Wyoming County is a located in the  of. As of the, the population was 43,424. The is. The name is from a modified  word meaning "broad bottom lands." Wyoming County was formed from in 1841.

History
When counties were established in New York State in 1683, the present Wyoming 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 1776, most of the Loyalists in Tryon County fled to. In 1784, 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 1789, was split off from Montgomery.

Almost all of the land west of the, including all of present day Wyoming County, was part of the in 1793 and was sold through the Holland Land Company's office in , starting in 1801.

was created by a splitting of Ontario County in 1802. This was much larger than the present Genesee County, however. It was reduced in size in 1806 by creating ; again in 1808 by creating, , and. Niagara County at that time also included the present.

In 1821, portions of Genesee County were combined with portions of Ontario County to create and.

Genesee County was further reduced in size in 1824 by creating.

Finally, in 1841, Wyoming County was created from Genesee County.

Points of interest

 * , on the forms part of the southeastern boundary of the county. A deep gorge with three major waterfalls characterize this scenic and historic area, created when the last   diverted the river and forced it to cut a new valley. It is the home area of, the White Woman of the Genesee, who was captured as a young person by the  and became an important figure in negotiations between the tribe and the land companies.


 * Middlebury Academy, in Wyoming village, the first high school level school west of the Genesee. The building still exists and is on the.


 * Hillside Inn opened originally as a at mineral springs on the hill above Wyoming village around 1841, has entertained many important persons, including Theodore Roosevelt and his family and Susan B. Anthony,


 * Attica and Arcade Railroad is a restoration of a steam locomotive.


 * Attica maximum security prison is located in the northernmost part of the county.


 * Gaslight Village - downtown Wyoming is a historic village lit by gas street lamps. Deposits of natural gas and salt have been an economic factor in the development of the area.


 * Silver Lake - this tiny glacial lake is the only one of the group of s that is west of the Genesee.


 * Morton Salt- One of the largest salt mines in the Northeast is located in Silver Springs and has been running since the mid to late 1800s.

Geography
Wyoming County is in the western part of New York State, east of and slightly west of due south of. The county is in the Region.

The county is largely rural, dotted with small s. Even the county seat, Warsaw is quite small. Much of the area is, used for. Some that are predominantly are tapped each spring for the production of. is mostly small family farms, or hobby farms for people who work in  or. s were once a major agricultural endeavor, but only a few are left. The area is well known for outdoor sports, being an excellent area for, , and.

An active runs down the Dale valley through Linden, to the east of Batavia and out into Lake Ontario. Movement of the fault is an occasional source of minor s, which, at most, have toppled a couple s. The Dale Valley has been developed as a source of by way of  wells, for the  industry. A moves the brine to.

According to the, the county has a total area of 1,545 (596 ). 1,536 km² (593 sq mi) of it is land and 9 km² (4 sq mi) of it (0.59%) is water.

, an important of the  has its source in the.

Adjacent Counties

 * - north
 * - east
 * - southeast
 * - southwest
 * - west

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 43,424 people, 14,906 households, and 10,717 families residing in the county. The was 28/km² (73/sq mi). There were 16,940 housing units at an average density of 11/km² (29/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 91.84%, 5.52% or , 0.27% , 0.37% , 0.02% , 1.32% from , and 0.67% from two or more races. 2.94% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 14,906 households out of which 34.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.30% were living together, 9.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.10% were non-families. 23.20% 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 2.62 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.10% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 32.80% from 25 to 44, 22.80% from 45 to 64, and 12.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 118.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 122.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $39,895, and the median income for a family was $45,088. Males had a median income of $31,973 versus $22,252 for females. The for the county was $17,248. About 5.80% of families and 8.40% of the population were below the, including 11.60% of those under age 18 and 5.80% of those age 65 or over.

Towns and Villages

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 *  Label in parentheses shows official level of government.

Notable residents

 * , (1816-1898), born in Allegany County (now Wyoming County),  and staunch.
 * , (1905-1985), born in, professional wrestler, naval commander.
 * , Ph.D., LL.D. (1851–1931), born in, a leading , educator and . President of and.