Broome County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 200,600. Its county seat and largest city is Binghamton. The county was named in honor of John Broome, who was lieutenant governor in 1806 when Broome County was established.
Broome County is part of the Binghamton, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The current county executive is Jason T. Garnar. Broome County is also home to Binghamton University, one of four university centers in the SUNY system.
History
When counties were established in the Province of New York in 1683, the present Broome County was part of Albany County. This was an enormous county, including the northern part of New York State as well as all of the present State of Vermont and, in theory, extending westward to the Pacific Ocean. This county was reduced in size on July 3, 1766 by the creation of Cumberland County, and further on March 16, 1770 by the creation of Gloucester County, both containing territory now in Vermont.
On March 12, 1772, what was left of Albany County was split into three parts, one remaining under the name Albany County. One of the other pieces, Tryon County, 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 Schenectady, and the county included the western part of the Adirondack Mountains and the area west of the West Branch of the Delaware River. The area then designated as Tryon County now includes 37 counties of New York State. The county was named for William Tryon, colonial governor of New York.
In the years prior to 1776, most of the Loyalists in Tryon County fled to Canada. In 1784, following the peace treaty that ended the American Revolutionary War, the name of Tryon County was changed to Montgomery County in honor of the general, Richard Montgomery, who had captured several places in Canada and died attempting to capture the city of Quebec, replacing the name of the hated British governor.
In 1789, Montgomery County was reduced in size by the splitting off of Ontario County. The actual area split off from Montgomery County was much larger than the present county, also including the present Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans, Steuben, Wyoming, Yates, and part of Schuyler and Wayne Counties.
In 1791, Tioga County split off from Montgomery County, along with Herkimer and Otsego Counties. Tioga County was at this time much larger than the present county and included the present Broome and Chemung Counties and parts of Chenango and Schuyler Counties.
In 1798, Tioga County was reduced in size by the splitting off of Chemung County (which also included part of the present Schuyler County) and by the combination of a portion with a portion of Herkimer County to create Chenango County.
In 1806, the present-day Broome County was split off from Tioga County.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 716 square miles (1,850Â km2), of which 706 square miles (1,830Â km2) is land and 9.7 square miles (25Â km2) (1.4%) is water.
Broome County is located in south-central New York, directly north of the border with Pennsylvania in a section of the state called the Southern Tier. The Chenango River joins the Susquehanna River, which flows through the county.
The western half of the county is hilly but has wide valleys that accommodate Binghamton and its suburbs. In the northern portion Interstate 81 takes advantage of another glacial valley. To the east, however, the terrain becomes much more rugged as the land tilts up to the Catskills.
The highest elevation is a U.S. National Geodetic Survey benchmark known as Slawson atop an unnamed hill in the Town of Sanford. It is approximately 2087 feet (636 m) above sea level. An area due east on the Delaware County line in Oquaga Creek State Park also lies within the same elevation contour line. The lowest point is 864 feet (263 m) above sea level, along the Susquehanna at the Pennsylvania state line.
Adjacent counties
- Chenango County - north
- Delaware County - east
- Wayne County, Pennsylvania - southeast
- Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania - south
- Tioga County - west
- Cortland County - northwest
Major highways
- I-81
- I-86 / NYÂ 17
- I-88
- USÂ 11
- NYÂ 7
- NYÂ 7A
- NYÂ 7B
- NYÂ 12
- NYÂ 17C
- NYÂ 26
- NYÂ 79
- NYÂ 363
- NYÂ 369
- NYÂ 434
- NYÂ 41
- NYÂ 206
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 200,536 people, 80,749 households, and 50,225 families residing in the county. The population density was 284 people per square mile (110/km²). There were 88,817 housing units at an average density of 126 per square mile (49/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 91.33% White, 3.28% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 2.79% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.79% from other races, and 1.59% from two or more races. 1.99% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 16.1% were of Irish, 13.3% Italian, 12.3% German, 11.6% English, 6.4% American and 5.7% Polish ancestry according to Census 2000 [2]. 91.4% spoke English, 2.0% Spanish and 1.1% Italian as their first language.
There were 80,749 households out of which 28.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.60% were married couples living together, 10.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.80% were non-families. 31.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.97.
In the county, the population was spread out with 23.00% under the age of 18, 11.00% from 18 to 24, 26.80% from 25 to 44, 22.80% from 45 to 64, and 16.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 93.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.90 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $35,347, and the median income for a family was $45,422. Males had a median income of $34,426 versus $24,542 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,168. About 8.80% of families and 12.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.90% of those under age 18 and 7.20% of those age 65 or over.
Government and politics
Broome County's offices are housed in the Edwin L. Crawford County Office Building of Government Plaza located at 60 Hawley Street in Downtown Binghamton. In 2016 Donald Trump became the first Republican to win the county since Ronald Reagan in 1984.
Executive
Legislature
The Broome County Legislature consists of 15 members. All fifteen members of the legislature are elected from individual districts. Currently, there are 11 Republicans and 4 Democrats.
Party affiliation
Education
The four primary institutes of higher education in Broome County include:
- Binghamton University With a student population of 16,000, it is responsible for a large portion of the population in and around Broome's largest city, Binghamton, New York.
- Broome Community College (BCC) serves as a two-year associate-granting institution for local residents.
- Davis College is a small, private, Christian college in Johnson City, New York.
- Ridley-Lowell Business and Technical Institute is a career technical institute that offers career training programs.
Communities
City
- Binghamton (county seat)
Towns
Villages
- Deposit
- Endicott
- Johnson City
- Lisle
- Port Dickinson
- Whitney Point
- Windsor
Census-designated places
- Binghamton University
- Chenango Bridge
- Endwell
- Glen Aubrey
Hamlets
- Center Lisle
- Chenango Forks
- Hillcrest
- Nineveh
Notable natives
- John Allen, noted dentist and inventor of new denture method
- Norman F. Cantor, world historian, author, editor, lecturer
- Daniel S. Dickinson, mid-19th century U.S. Senator
- John Ducey, actor
- Exterminator, "Old Bones", thoroughbred race horse, Kentucky Derby winner 1918, horse of the year 1922, in ancestral line of Secretariat and Seattle Slew
- Robert Harpur, colonial teacher, politician, pioneer, for whom Harpur College (now Binghamton University) was named
- Johnny Hart, cartoonist, creator of B.C. and co-creator of The Wizard of Id
- George F. Johnson, industrialist, philanthropist, co-founder of Endicott-Johnson Co.
- Bill T. Jones, modern dancer, dance company founder, choreographer
- Willis Sharpe Kilmer, early 20th-century industrialist and entrepreneur History of the City of Binghamton, Life & Times Part 1, Life & Times Part 2
- Edwin A. Link, inventor, visionary, entrepreneur, industrialist
- David Ross Locke, journalist and early political commentator during the American Civil War
- Ron Luciano, American League baseball umpire, author
- Billy Martin, New York Yankees second baseman and manager
- Leonard Melfi, poet, screenwriter, author, playwright
- William L. Mercereau, businessman, superintendent of carferries
- Hidy Ochiai, karate and judo grand master, author, actor
- Camille Paglia, philosopher, author, editor, lecturer
- Alice Freeman Palmer (1855-1902), educator
- Amy Sedaris, actress, author, playwright
- David Sedaris, comedian, essayist, playwright
- Rod Serling, screenwriter, playwright, most famous for his science fiction anthology television series The Twilight Zone
- Jack Sharkey, born Joseph Paul Cukoschay, world heavyweight boxing champion, 1931â€"33
See also
- List of counties in New York
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Broome County, New York
Notes
External links
- Broome County, New York
- Broome County at DMOZ
- Summary Early history of Broome County
- BingWiki, the area's local regional wiki