Central New York
Encyclopedia
Terminology
Terminology is the study of terms and their use. Terms are words and compound words that in specific contexts are given specific meanings, meanings that may deviate from the meaning the same words have in other contexts and in everyday language. The discipline Terminology studies among other...
used to broadly describe the central region of New York State, roughly including the following counties and cities
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
:
| Cayuga County Cayuga County, New York Cayuga County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It was named for one of the tribes of Indians in the Iroquois Confederation. Its county seat is Auburn.- History :... |
– Auburn Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States of America. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 27,687... |
| Cortland County Cortland County, New York Cortland County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, named after Federico Van Cortlandt, president of the convention at Kingston that wrote the first New York State Constitution in 1777, and first lieutenant governor of the state. The county seat is Cortland... |
– Cortland Cortland, New York Cortland is a city in Cortland County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 18,740. It is the county seat of Cortland County.The City of Cortland, near the west border of the county, is surrounded by the Town of Cortlandville.... |
| Herkimer County Herkimer County, New York Herkimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It was created in 1791 north of the Mohawk River out of part of Montgomery County. As of the 2010 census, the population was 64,519. It is named after General Nicholas Herkimer, who died from battle wounds in 1777 after taking part... |
– Little Falls Little Falls (city), New York Little Falls is a city in Herkimer County, New York, USA. The population was 5,188 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from a small cataract near the city.... |
| Madison County Madison County, New York Madison County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 73,442. It is named after James Madison, fourth President of the United States of America... |
– Oneida Oneida, New York Oneida is a city in Madison County located west of Oneida Castle and east of Canastota, New York, United States. The population was 10,987 at the 2000 census. The city, like both Oneida County and the nearby silver and china maker, takes its name from the Oneida tribe... |
| Oneida County Oneida County, New York Oneida County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 234,878. The county seat is Utica. The name is in honor of the Oneida, an Iroquoian tribe that formerly occupied the region.... |
– Rome Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States. It is located in north-central or "upstate" New York. The population was 44,797 at the 2010 census. It is in New York's 24th congressional district. In 1758, British forces began construction of Fort Stanwix at this strategic location, but... , Sherrill Sherrill, New York Sherrill is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States. With a population of 3,147 , it is the least populous city in the state. Sherill is located at the western end of the Town of Vernon on Route 5. Sherrill is referred to as The Silver City.-History:Sherrill was founded in 1916 through a... (smallest city in New York) & Utica Utica, New York Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census.... |
| Onondaga County Onondaga County, New York Onondaga County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 467,026. The county seat is Syracuse.Onondaga County is part of the Syracuse, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area.... |
– Syracuse Syracuse, New York Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603... (largest city in the region) |
| Oswego County Oswego County, New York Oswego County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 Census, the estimated population was 122,109. The City of Oswego and the Village of Pulaski serve as the dual county seats in a two shire system of government... |
– Fulton Fulton, Oswego County, New York Fulton is a small city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 11,855 at the 2000 census. The city is named after Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat.The city of Fulton is located in the western part of the county.... & Oswego Oswego, New York Oswego is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 18,142 at the 2010 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in north-central New York and promotes itself as "The Port City of Central New York"... |
| Tompkins County Tompkins County, New York Tompkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, and comprises the whole of the Ithaca metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 101,564. The county seat is Ithaca, and the county is home to Cornell University, Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community... |
– Ithaca Ithaca, New York The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area... |
| Otsego County Otsego County, New York Otsego County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. The 2010 population was 62,259. The county seat is Cooperstown. The name Otsego is from a Mohawk word meaning "place of the rock."-History:... |
– Cooperstown Cooperstown, New York Cooperstown is a village in Otsego County, New York, USA. It is located in the Town of Otsego. The population was estimated to be 1,852 at the 2010 census.The Village of Cooperstown is the county seat of Otsego County, New York... |
Under this definition, the region has a population of about 1,177,073, and includes the Syracuse metropolitan area
Syracuse metropolitan area
The Syracuse Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of three counties in central New York, anchored by the city of Syracuse...
.
Major newspapers in the region include the Oneida Daily Dispatch, Syracuse Post-Standard
Syracuse Post-Standard
The Post-Standard is the major daily newspaper servicing the greater Syracuse, New York, metro area. Affiliated with Syracuse.com, it is owned by Advance Publications. The Post-Standard features regular political commentary from Sean Kirst and local commentary by Dick Case. It is home-delivered in...
, Auburn Citizen, Ithaca Journal, and Utica Observer-Dispatch, as well as the alternative newsweekly Syracuse New Times
Syracuse New Times
Syracuse New Times is a weekly alternative newspaper published in Syracuse, New York by William Brod and distributed throughout the central New York region. It is owned by All Times Publishing LLC. The publication is released every Wednesday, printing 46,000 copies and distributed to approximately...
.
The major colleges and universities in the region include Hamilton College, Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, Le Moyne College
Le Moyne College
Le Moyne College, named after Simon Le Moyne, is a private, Jesuit college enrolling over 3,500 undergraduate and graduate students. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1946, Le Moyne is the first Jesuit college to be founded as a co-educational institution...
, SUNY Oswego, Colgate University
Colgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary and later became non-denominational. It is named for the Colgate family who greatly contributed to the university's endowment in the 19th century.Colgate has 52...
, SUNY Cortland
State University of New York at Cortland
The State University of New York College at Cortland, also officially called SUNY Cortland or informally known as Cortland State, is a coeducational university located in Cortland, New York...
, Utica College
Utica College
Utica College is a private university located in Utica, New York. The history of the college dates back to the 1930s when Syracuse University began offering extension courses in the Utica area. Syracuse University established Utica College as a four-year institution in 1946, and in 1995, UC ...
, Ithaca College
Ithaca College
Ithaca College is a private college located on the South Hill of Ithaca, New York. The school was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music. The college has a strong liberal arts core, but also offers several pre-professional programs and some graduate programs. The college is...
, Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
the SUNY ESF
State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry is an American specialized doctoral-granting institution located in the University Hill neighborhood of Syracuse, New York, immediately adjacent to Syracuse University...
and SUNY IT
State University of New York Institute of Technology
The State University of New York Institute of Technology at Utica/Rome is a campus of the State University of New York located just north of Utica in the town of Marcy. Established by the SUNY Board of Trustees on June 14, 1966, SUNYIT is the State of New York's public institute of technology....
The region is served by several television stations based in Syracuse
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
(including ABC affiliate WSYR-TV
WSYR-TV
WSYR-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Central New York State that is licensed to Syracuse. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 17 from a transmitter on Sevier Road in Pompey. The station can also be seen on Time Warner channel 9 and in high definition on...
, NBC affiliate WSTM-TV
WSTM-TV
WSTM-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Central New York State licensed to Syracuse. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter on Sentinel Heights Road in LaFayette. The station can also be seen on Verizon FiOS channel 3 and Time Warner channel 4...
, CBS affiliate WTVH
WTVH
WTVH is the CBS-affiliated television station for Central New York State licensed to Syracuse. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 47 from a transmitter in LaFayette. The station can also be seen on Time Warner and Verizon FiOS channel 5. There is a high definition feed...
, Fox affiliate WSYT
WSYT
WSYT is the Fox-affiliated television station for Central New York State that is licensed to Syracuse. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 from a transmitter west of LaFayette. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station operates MyNetworkTV affiliate WNYS-TV ...
and PBS member station WCNY-TV
WCNY-TV
WCNY-TV is Syracuse, New York's public television station and PBS member station. WCNY-TV's programming is also seen in Utica on low-powered repeater W22DO-D channel 24 Digital...
) and Utica
Utica, New York
Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....
(NBC affiliate WKTV
WKTV
WKTV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Central Upstate New York's Mohawk Valley licensed to Utica. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 29 from a transmitter in the Eatonville section of Fairfield and Herkimer. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable...
, ABC affiliate WUTR
WUTR
WUTR is the ABC-affiliated television station for Central Upstate New York's Mohawk Valley. Licensed to Utica, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 30 from a transmitter at its studios on Smith Hill Road in Deerfield...
and Fox TV affiliate WFXV
WFXV
WFXV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Central Upstate New York's Mohawk Valley. Licensed to Utica, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter at its studios on Smith Hill Road in Deerfield...
).
Note: Tompkins County and Cortland County are often considered part of the region in New York State called the Southern Tier
Southern Tier
The Southern Tier is a geographical term that refers to the counties of New York State west of the Catskill Mountains along the northern border of Pennsylvania. It is a loosely defined term that generally includes the counties that border Pennsylvania west of Delaware County inclusive...
; the ski country
Ski country
Ski country is a term used to describe portions of the boundary between the Niagara Frontier and the Southern Tier of the western part of New York.-Weather:...
demarcation line runs through Cortland County. Tompkins County, which features Ithaca
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
at the end of Cayuga Lake
Cayuga Lake
Cayuga Lake is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area and second largest in volume. It is just under 40 miles long. Its average width is 1.7 miles , and it is at its widest point near Aurora...
, is also considered part of the Finger Lakes
Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes are a pattern of lakes in the west-central section of Upstate New York in the United States. They are a popular tourist destination. The lakes are long and thin , each oriented roughly on a north-south axis. The two longest, Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake, are among the deepest in...
. Oneida County and Herkimer County are often considered part of the region in NYS called the Mohawk Valley
Mohawk Valley
The Mohawk Valley region of the U.S. state of New York is the area surrounding the Mohawk River, sandwiched between the Adirondack Mountains and Catskill Mountains....
, although the "Central New York" and "Mohawk Valley" definitions overlap and neither definition is mutually exclusive. Therefore Tompkins County, Cortland County, Oneida County and Herkimer County are only Central New York in the broader sense of the phrase "Central New York".
Only Onondaga County, Cayuga County, Oswego County and Madison County are always considered "Central New York". And thus the home to Super Quonce.
The New York State Department of Transportation defines the Central/Eastern region as including the counties of Albany, Broome, Chenango, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Fulton, Greene, Herkimer, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Otsego, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Sullivan, Ulster, and Washington, but does not commit itself to a definition of Central New York per se.
History
During the early historic period, the IroquoisIroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
successfully excluded Algonquian
Algonquian peoples
The Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds. Today hundreds of thousands of individuals identify with various Algonquian peoples...
tribes from the region.
The Central New York Military Tract
Central New York Military Tract
The Military Tract of Central New York, also called the New Military Tract, consisted of nearly two million acres of bounty land set aside to compensate New York’s soldiers after their participation in the Revolutionary War....
, land reserved from soldiers of the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, was located here. Many towns derived from the tracts have classical names.