New York State - County Histories

 

         See also New York City and Its Borough (County) Histories web page for New York [Manhattan], Bronx, and Richmond [Staten Island] Counties.  Note: Kings  [Brooklyn] and Queens Counties (which are also NYC Boroughs), are located on Long Island, and have individual web pages (see below).

         See also Long Island Counties  Note: This web page is on the counties of Long Island, as a group, while also providing links to the 4 individual county web pages of Suffolk, Nassau, Queens, and Kings Counties (see below). As noted above, Kings & Queens are boroughs of New York City. Nassau & Suffolk Counties are sometimes referred to as "Long Island proper"; though this notion is somewhat obscured by the fact that, until 1899, the 3 towns that now constitute Nassau County were the easternmost towns of Queens County.  When the rest of Queens voted to become part of New York City, these 3 towns voted not to join, and after some political wrangling, formed the new county of Nassau.

         See also Suffolk County History web page

         See also Nassau County History web page

         See also Queens County History web page

         See also Kings County (Brooklyn) History web page  

 

Counties  (in General)

Note:   Histories and selected records of individual counties can usually be found in resources of the individual counties:  e.g., the offices of the county clerk, county historian (if one has been designated), county archivist or public recordkeeper (if and as appointed), often in county, municipal, and academic libraries and archives (within the county, nearby counties, and other locations further afield), as well as in classic county histories often found in the Texts section of the Internet Archive  (www.archive.org) linked below, in Google Books, and e.g., in Cornell University's New York State Historical Literature Collection.  The New York State Library, Archives, and Museum are rich sources of county historical information, as is their searchable combined Excelsior Online Catalog, which includes the N.Y.S. Historical Documents Inventory (bibliographic and repository & sometimes collection holdings descriptive listings).  Historical societies with collections relating to a county's history, whether located near or far, are often valuable sources of information, as are knowledgeable staff.      

  • Counties (New York State Association of Counties) - NYSAC offers many useful and informative links:  e.g., county website links, county courthouse images, NYSAC publications, Blue Ribbon Task Force, Conferences, News, Policy & Research, and Legislative Action links 
  • List of Counties in New York (Wikipedia) - includes a handy chart of basic facts and county origins, including origin of county names
  • New York (Newberry Library.  Dr. William M. Scholl Center for American History and Culture.  Atlas of Historical County Boundaries) 
  • New York Counties and Regions (New York - Visitors' Network)
  • New York State Counties [clickable map] (New York State Library)

 

--  Associations

 

Individual Counties

        See also   New York City & Its Boroughs  web page, under the names of its 5 individual boroughs (counties)
                          Long Island Counties web page, under the names of its 4 individual counties
                          Nassau County History web page  
                          Suffolk County History web page

      

Note:   Counties are listed alphabetically below, each followed by links related to that county.   However, in the cases
                      of NYC Counties (Boroughs), Long Island Counties, and of Suffolk, Nassau, Queens and Kings counties the links
                      are to individual web pages for those regions or counties (which are internally classified, and have their own links).

          

    --  Albany County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Allegany County

    ---   PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Bronx County   [one of the 5 NYS Counties, also Boroughs of New York City]

                See  New York City & Its Boroughs  web page

                               under  Bronx County (Borough)

    --  Brooklyn County

                See   Kings County [below], or...

                         Kings County (Brooklyn) History web page

     --  Broome County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Cattaraugus County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Cayuga County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Chautauqua County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Chemung County

    --- PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Chenango County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Clinton County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Columbia County

    --- PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Cortland County

    --- PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Delaware County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Dutchess County

    --- PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Erie County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Essex County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Franklin County

    --- PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Fulton County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Genessee County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Greene County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Hamilton County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Herkimer County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Jefferson County

    --  Kings County  (Brooklyn)   [Note:  Kings County is also a borough of New York City]

                 See  Kings County (Brooklyn) History web page

                See also  New York City & Its Boroughs  web page
                                 Long Island Counties  web page

    --  Lewis County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Livingston County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Madison County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler: 

    --  Monroe County

    ---   PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Montgomery County    [formerly Tryon County]

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Nassau County 

                   Note:  The 3 towns of Nassau were part of Queens County, until 1899, when they voted not to become part of New York
                               City, and separated from the rest of Queens, to form Nassau County, in 1900, but only after a fair amount of
                               political wrangling

                See  Nassau County History web page

                See also   Long Island Counties  web page
                                  Queens County History web page [for Nassau history, prior to 1900]

    --  New York County  (Manhattan)  

                 See   New York City & Its Boroughs  web page under   New York County [New York or Manhattan Borough]

    --  Niagara County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Oneida County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Onondaga County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Ontario County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Orange County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Orleans County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Oswego County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Otsego County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Putnam County

    --- PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Queens County  [a NYS County NYS; after 1899, also a Borough of greater New York City.

                 Note:  In 1899, its eastern 3 towns voted not to join NYC, and separated, to form Nassau County in 1900, after a
                             great deal of fascinating political chicanery.

                 See  Queens County History web page

                 See also   Nassau County History  web page
                                   Long Island Counties web page
                                   New York City & Its Boroughs  web page

    --  Rensselaer County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Richmond County (Staten Island)

               See  New York City & Its Boroughs  web page under  Richmond County (Borough) [Staten Island]

    --  Rockland County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Saratoga County

    --- PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Schenectady County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Schoharie County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Schuyler County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Seneca County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Steuben County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  St. Lawrence County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Suffolk County

               See  Suffolk County History  web page

    --  Sullivan County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Tioga County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Tompkins County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Tryon County

                    See  Montgomery Co.

    --  Ulster County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Warren County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Washington County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Wayne County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Westchester County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Wyoming County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler:

    --  Yates County

    ---  PML Catalog Sampler: