Located in the glaciatedAppalachian Plateau area ofCentral New York, midway betweenSyracuse andBinghamton, this predominantly rural county is the southeastern gateway to theFinger Lakes Region. Scattered archaeological evidence indicates the Iroquois also known as the Haudenosaunee controlled the area beginning about AD 1500.
What was to become Cortland County remained within Indian territory until theAmerican Revolution. It became part of theMilitary Tract, when, in 1781, more than 1¼ million acres (5,100 km2) were set aside by the State's Legislature to compensate two regiments formed to protect the State's western section from the English and their Iroquois allies, at the close of the Revolution. To encourage settlement in the upstate isolated wilderness, the State constructed a road from Oxford through Cortland County toCayuga Lake in 1792–94. This, and construction of privately financed roads, were the major impetus to settlement.
When counties were established in New York in 1683, the present Cortland County was part ofAlbany County, which encompassed the northern part of New York and all of the present State ofVermont, as well as indeterminate territory to west. On March 12, 1772, present day Cortland County became part ofTryon County, named forWilliam Tryon, colonial governor of New York. In 1784, following the peace treaty that ended theAmerican Revolutionary War, the name of the county was changed to honor GeneralRichard Montgomery, who had captured several places in Canada and died attempting to capture the city ofQuebec, thus replacing the name of the locally unpopular British governor. Present day Cortland County became part ofHerkimer County in 1791, then became a part ofOnondaga County when it split from Herkimer in 1794. Cortland County was formed by the splitting of Onondaga County in 1808.
Eastern New Yorkers and New Englanders, wanting new land to farm, welcomed the opening of this frontier. The first white settlement in the county was made in 1791 by Amos Todd, Joseph Beebe and Rhoda Todd Beebe, emigrants from Connecticut who paddled up theTioughnioga River from Windsor, to live near the head of navigation in the Town ofHomer. Following them came a flood of settlers who, in 1808, petitioned the State Legislature for county status. Thus, Cortland County was created from the southern half of Onondaga County as part of the Boston Ten Towns on April 8, 1808, and was named in honor of thePierre Van Cortlandt family - Pierre, Sr. having been the first lieutenant governor of the state.
The Cortland variety of apple is named for the county.
The76th New York Volunteer Infantry was one of the most famous of the New York units in theCivil War. It was raised in 1861 primarily from Cortland County and the surrounding areas (about a third of the men were from the Cherry Valley area). The 76th was in most of the major battles the Army of the Potomac fought from Second Bull Run through Petersburg, at which time the three-year enlistment of most of the men ran out and the 300 or so men remaining from the 1,100 who left Cortland either returned home or transferred to other units.
At theBattle of Gettysburg, the 76th New York was one of the first infantry regiments on the field, holding down the extreme right of the Union line on the first day. The regiment took huge casualties in that battle - nearly one-third of its strength - including its commander Major Andrew J. Grover, the first infantry officer killed in the battle.
Today, Cortland county is noted for the production ofCNCmilling machines, hospitality supplies,medical instruments and components,textiles,electronic components, plastic consumer goods, components forNASA, and a variety of other goods and services. International exporting is an integral part of many of the corporations in the area.
The county's present reflects its past.Agribusiness flourishes, yet consistent with the pattern elsewhere in New York State, the number of farms has declined while farm size and yield have increased. Continued growth in the service andlight industry sectors is contributing to the growing strength of theCentral New York region and theSouthern Tier region.
Although once a heavily Republican County rooted in Yankee tradition, Cortland County is a bellwether county, having voted for the national winner in every presidential election from 1980 to 2016. The city ofCortland itself, the largest city in the county, leansDemocratic.
RepublicanRonald Reagan scored landslide wins in the county in 1980 and 1984. DemocratBill Clinton carried the county with pluralities in 1992 and 1996. RepublicanGeorge W. Bush carried the county in 2000 and 2004, defeatingAl Gore by less than 1% in 2000, andJohn Kerry by just over 4% in 2004. In 2008,Barack Obama defeatedJohn McCain 54-44%, and in 2012 he defeatedMitt Romney by a similar margin.[5] The last Democrat to win a majority in Cortland County prior to Obama wasLyndon Johnson in 1964.
In 2020, Cortland County's streak of voting for the winner ended, asJoe Biden defeated Republican incumbentDonald Trump. Had the streak continued, it would have been tied withClallam County, Washington for the longest active streak in the nation, as the streaks of longstanding bellwethersValencia County, New Mexico andVigo County, Indiana also ended in 2020. Cortland was one of five counties in the state that Trump carried by less than 500 votes.
Cortland County's lawmaking body is the legislature, which consists of 17 members. All are elected from single member districts.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 502 square miles (1,300 km2), of which 499 square miles (1,290 km2) is land and 2.8 square miles (7.3 km2) (0.5%) is water.[6]
Cortland County is sometimes considered to be part ofCentral New York andSouthern Tier regions of New York and is also somewhat to the southwest of the center of New York, south ofSyracuse and north ofBinghamton.
Cortland County, New York – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of thecensus[20] of 2000, there were 48,599 people, 18,210 households, and 11,617 families residing in the county. Thepopulation density was 97 people per square mile (37 people/km2). There were 20,116 housing units at an average density of 40 units per square mile (15/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 96.95%White, 0.86%Black orAfrican American, 0.27%Native American, 0.41%Asian, 0.01%Pacific Islander, 0.32% fromother races, and 1.18% from two or more races. 1.16% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race. 17.3% were of English, 16.9% Irish, 14.2% German, 13.0% Italian and 9.9% American ancestry according toCensus 2000. 96.0% spoke English and 1.4% Spanish as their first language.
There were 18,210 households, out of which 31.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.20% were married couples living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.20% were non-families. 26.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.00.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.70% under the age of 18, 15.50% from 18 to 24, 26.50% from 25 to 44, 21.80% from 45 to 64, and 12.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.00 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $34,364, and the median income for a family was $42,204. Males had a median income of $30,814 versus $22,166 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $16,622. About 9.30% of families and 15.50% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 16.40% of those under age 18 and 10.80% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2014 the largest self-reported ancestry groups in Cortland County, New York were:
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