Greene County is a county located in the state of New York. Its name is in honor of the American Revolutionary War general, Nathanael Greene. ts county seat is Catskill.
History
When counties were established in New York State in 1683, the present Greene County was divided between Albany and Ulster Counties. Albany County 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.
Then, on March 12, 1772, Albany County was divided into the counties of Albany, Tryon (now Montgomery), and Charlotte (now Washington). From 1772 to 1786 Albany County included, besides the present territory of Albany County, all of the present Columbia, Rensselaer, Saratoga, and Schenectady Counties, parts of the present Greene and Washington Counties, and a piece of what is now southwestern Vermont. Albany County was reduced in size in 1786 by the splitting off of Columbia County; again in 1791 by the splitting off of Rensselaer and Saratoga Counties and the transfer of the Town of Cambridge to Washington County. It was further reduced in size in 1795 by the splitting off of a part that was combined with a portion of Otsego County to create Schoharie County. Ulster County was an original county of New York State, considerably larger than the present Ulster County. It was reduced in size by the splitting off in 1797 of a part that was combined with a portion of Otsego County to create Delaware County. In 1800 Greene County was created from portions of Albany and Ulster Counties.
Geography
Greene County is located in southeast central New York State, just west of the Hudson River and south of Albany. The northern and eastern regions are mostly low-lying plains adjacent to the Hudson; the southern and western areas rise sharply into the Catskill Mountains. The Catskill Park takes up much of the south central region. The highest elevation is Hunter Mountain, at approximately 4,040 feet (1,232 m) above sea level; the lowest is sea level along the Hudson. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,705 km (658 mi). 1,678 km (648 mi) of it is land and 27 km (10 mi) of it is water. The total area is 1.58% water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 48,195 people, 18,256 households, and 12,067 families residing in the county. The population density was 74 people per square mile (29/km²). There were 26,544 housing units at an average density of 41 per square mile (16/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.76% White, 5.53% Black or African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.54% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.52% from other races, and 1.36% from two or more races. 4.31% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 18.8% were of Irish, 17.8% Italian, 17.5% German, 8.6% American and 6.9% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 92.3% spoke English, 2.8% Spanish, 1.5% German and 1.3% Italian as their first language.
There were 18,256 households out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.2% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.9% were non-families. 27.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.97.
In the county, the population was spread out with 23.00% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 106.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.2 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $36,493, and the median income for a family was $43,854. Males had a median income of $35,598 versus $25,346 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,931. About 8.6% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.7% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over.
As of the 2010 census, the racial makeup of the county was 90.3% White, 5.7% African American, 0.3% Native American and 0.8% Asian. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 4.9% of the population.
(Source: Wikipedia Encyclopedia...wikipedia.org)
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