Cattaraugus County, New York facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cattaraugus County
County
Ellicottville Town Hall
Flag Seal
Location within the U.S. state of New York
New York's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	New York
Founded	March 28, 1817
Seat	Little Valley
Largest city	Olean
Area
• Total	1,322 sq mi (3,420 km2)
• Land	1,308 sq mi (3,390 km2)
• Water	14 sq mi (40 km2)  1.1%
Population  (2020)
• Total	77,042
• Density	58.9/sq mi (22.7/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	23rd

Cattaraugus County (locally known as Catt County) is a county in Western New York, with one side bordering Pennsylvania. As of the United States 2020 census, the population was 77,042. The county seat is Little Valley. The county was created in 1808 and later organized in 1817. The county is part of the Western New York region of the state.

Cattaraugus County comprises the Olean, NY Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Olean, NY Combined Statistical Area. Within its boundaries are the Allegany Indian Reservation of the Seneca Nation of New York, and the Allegany State Park. The Allegheny River runs through the county.

History

Entering Cattaraugus County on Interstate 86

In ancient times, the largely unsettled territory was the traditional homeland of the now-extinct Wenrohronon Indians. It later became the territory of the Seneca people, one of the five Nations of the Haudenosaunee.

During the colonial era, it was claimed by at least three Territories of the United States: New York Colony, Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the Province of Pennsylvania, each of which extended their colonial claims to the west until after the Revolutionary War.

When counties were established in the Province of New York in 1683, the territory of Cattaraugus County was included within Albany County. This was an enormous county, including the northern part of New York as well as all of the modern-day state of Vermont and, in theory, extending westward to the Pacific Ocean. As additional areas were settled, the county was reduced on July 3, 1766, by the creation of Cumberland County, and 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. 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 is represented in the 21st century by 37 counties of New York. The county was named for William Tryon, colonial governor of New York.

In the years before 1776, most of the Loyalists in Tryon County fled across the Niagara Frontier into modern day Ontario, Canada. In 1784, following the peace treaty that ended the Revolutionary War (and a treaty with Massachusetts that finally settled who owned Western New York), 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. This replaced the name of the hated British governor.

In practice, however, these counties did not cover modern Cattaraugus County or Western New York. Most of that area lay within the Indian Reserve established in the Treaty of Fort Stanwix by the British; it was intended to be reserved for Native Americans and was ruled off-limits to European settlement.

The newly independent United States sought to extinguish Native reserves after the British ceded their territory east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes to the United States. This included Iroquois territory in New York; the four nations that had been allies of the British mostly relocated to Ontario, Canada where the Crown gave them land grants in some compensation for losses. The Treaty of Canandaigua, in 1794, extinguished what was left of native title, with the exception of several reservations, three of which were at least partially located in what is now Cattaraugus County.

Ontario County was split from Montgomery County in 1789 as a result of the establishment of the Morris Reserve. In turn, Genesee County was split from Ontario County in 1802 as a result of the Holland Purchase. This period was the beginning of more significant European-American settlement of this western territory. Shortly afterward, Genesee County was reduced in 1806 by the creation of Allegany County.

Cattaraugus County was formed in 1808, split off from Genesee County. At first there was no county government due to the sparse population. From 1812 to 1814, Cattaraugus County was incorporated in Allegany County; from 1814 to 1817, records of the county were divided between Belmont (Allegany County) and Buffalo (then in Niagara County).

The name "Cattaraugus" derives from a Seneca word for "bad smelling banks," in reference to the odor of natural gas leaking from rock seams. In 1817, a county government was established for Cattaraugus County in the southwestern corner of the town of Hebe, now Ellicottville.

Numerous towns in the county are named after agents of the Holland Land Company, including Ellicottville (Joseph Ellicott), Franklinville (William Temple Franklin, a speculator and grandson of Benjamin Franklin), and Otto and East Otto (Jacob Otto).

The first settlement in the county was in Olean. After 1860, in response to the construction of a railroad (where the Pat McGee Trail is now), the county seat was moved to Little Valley.

The Allegany Indian Reservation is within the county boundaries and is one of two controlled by the federally recognized Seneca Nation of New York in the western part of the state; the Seneca's other territories, Cattaraugus Reservation and Oil Springs Reservation, are both partially within county boundaries. South of Salamanca, New York, a small city located within the reservation, is Allegany State Park, which is contiguous with the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,322 square miles (3,420 km²), of which 1,308 square miles (3,390 km²) is land and 14 square miles (36 km²) (1.1%) is water.

Cattaraugus County is in the southwestern part of the state, immediately north of the Pennsylvania border, bordering the counties of McKean County, Pennsylvania and Warren County, Pennsylvania. The southern part of Cattaraugus County is the only area of western New York that was not covered by the last ice age glaciation. It is noticeably more rugged than neighboring areas that had peaks rounded and valleys filled by the glacier. The entire area is a dissected plateau of Pennsylvanian and Mississippian age, but appears mountainous to the casual observer. It is this string of mountain-like peaks that gives the county its promotional name, the Enchanted Mountains.

The plateau is an extension of the Allegany Plateau from nearby Pennsylvania. Southern Cattaraugus County is part of the same oil field, and petroleum was formerly a resource of the area. It is now mostly played out, but natural gas continues to be extracted.

A continental divide between the Mississippi River and Great Lakes watersheds runs through Cattaraugus County.

The northern border of the county is formed by Cattaraugus Creek and the Allegheny River flows through the county.

Notable geographic features

Mountains

• Mount Tuscarora in Coldspring (formerly Elko)
• Mount Three Sisters, Mount Seneca, Mount Cayuga, Mount Onondaga, Mount Oneida, Mount Mohawk, and Blacksnake Mountain in Red House
• Mount Irvine in Carrollton
• McCarty Hill in Great Valley
• Hartzfelt Mountain and Mount Hermanns in Olean

Lakes

• Allegheny Reservoir
• Cuba Lake
• Lime Lake
• Quaker Lake
• Red House Lake

Rivers and streams

• Allegheny River
  • Ischua Creek
  • Tunungwant Creek
    • Bailley Brook
    • Leonard Run
    • Limestone Run
    • Harrisburg Run
  • Great Valley Creek
  • Little Valley Creek
  • Red House Brook
  • Conewango Creek
• Cattaraugus Creek
  • Cattaraugus Creek South Branch

Adjacent counties

• Erie County - north
• Wyoming County - northeast
• Allegany County - east
• McKean County, Pennsylvania - southeast
• Warren County, Pennsylvania - southwest
• Chautauqua County - west

Transportation

Major highways

• I-86 / NY 17 / Southern Tier Expressway
• U.S. Route 62
• U.S. Route 219
• New York State Route 16
• New York State Route 98
• New York State Route 240
• New York State Route 242
• New York State Route 353
• New York State Route 417

Airports

Great Valley Airport is located in Cattaraugus County, one nautical mile (1.85 km) southeast of the central business district of Great Valley.

Cattaraugus County-Olean Airport is located outside of Olean located in the Town of Ischua.

Bus service

Intercity bus service is provided through Coach USA, which runs through the county on its twice-daily Jamestown to Olean route (with connections to Buffalo and New York City). Trailways offers a once-daily north-to-south run between Buffalo and points south in Pennsylvania.

The county does not have a unified public transit system. The Seneca Nation serves much of the county through its own bus line, which connects its reservations; another service, the Olean Area Transit System, connects the cities of Salamanca and Olean.

Rail

There is no regular passenger rail service in Cattaraugus County; Amtrak does not serve the county. The WNY & PA Railroad, based in Olean, provides freight service on most of the rail routes in Cattaraugus County; the New York and Lake Erie Railroad serves the northwest corner and the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad runs a north-to-south route.

Demographics

2020 Census

Additional facts

Two geological formations, both called "Rock City," have the appearance of a town laid out with streets. One is in Olean and the other is in Little Valley.

Olean is the largest city in the county and is the major center for business. Ski country runs through Cattaraugus County; two ski resorts, popular with Canadians, lie in the town of Ellicottville: Holiday Valley Resort and HoliMont; Cattaraugus County once had numerous ski resorts within its bounds, scattered throughout the county, before contracting into Ellicottville alone by 1980. In addition, several snowmobile trails cross the county, including the Pat McGee Trail, a flagship for the county's trail system, and the North Country Trail.

Cattaraugus County is considered part of Appalachia, as well as Western New York, upstate New York, the Southern Tier, the Twin Tiers and the Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Olean Combined Statistical Area. As a result of being at a geographic crossroads, the people of Cattaraugus County speak a variety of accents, ranging from mild variants of Appalachian English to Inland Northern American English, with a handful of people speaking in the more loud and nasal Buffalo English.

The sales tax in Cattaraugus County is 8% (4% from New York, 4% from the county).

A large Amish community is located in the western part of the county; with an estimated 2,500 residents, they constitute slightly under 3% of the county's population. A portion of this community maintains an exceptionally older order that eschews indoor plumbing, which, combined with a small number of Seneca who still live on traditional subsistence, gives the county a high rate of homes without indoor plumbing compared to nearby counties.

Media

Newspapers

• Salamanca Press (weekly, serving central and western Cattaraugus County)
• Olean Times Herald (daily, serving all of the western Twin Tiers)
• Olean Source (free weekly)
• Franklinville Mercury-Gazette (free weekly)
• The Villager (free weekly, based in Ellicottville)
• Randolph Register (monthly)
• Ellicottville Snowed In / The Summer Local (monthly)
• Gowanda—Silver Creek Pennysaver (weekly, published out of Fredonia)
• Pennysaver News (weekly, published by The Buffalo News, which is also distributed throughout the county)

Radio stations

• WPIG (95.7, Olean)
• WOLY (1450, translator on 107.1, Olean and 105.5 in Carrolton)
• WOLN (91.3, Olean, operated out of Buffalo)
• WQRS (98.3, Salamanca, operated out of Olean, transmitter in Carrollton)
• WGGO (1590, Salamanca, transmitter in Kill Buck, operated out of Williamsville)
• WOEN (1360, translator on 96.3, Olean)
• WMXO (101.5, translator on 101.1, Olean)
• WSBU (88.3, St. Bonaventure)
• WTWT (90.5, transmitter in Allegany, licensed to Bradford, PA, operated out of Russell, PA)
• WCGB (91.9, Franklinville, operated by Family Life Network out of Steuben County)
• WCGS (105.9, Little Valley, operated by Family Life Network out of Steuben County)

WCOR previously operated from 2008 to 2021 out of Portville on 96.7. It has since been relicensed to Lewis Run, Pennsylvania.

Prior to 2014, WKEG-LP operated on 104.7 out of Limestone.

Television stations

• WWHC-LD (Ch. 20, Olean)
• WVTT-CD (Ch. 25, licensed to Olean, transmitter on Machias/Yorkshire town line)
• WBUO-LD (Ch. 30, licensed to Olean, transmitter in Ellicottville)

Education

A branch of Jamestown Community College, in Olean provides higher education for residents. Olean Business Institute provided specialized education and is also in Olean; it closed in 2013 due to financial and enrollment declines. Jamestown Business College operates a satellite campus in Salamanca. Cornplanter College, a tribally controlled college, opened in 2014 in Salamanca. St. Bonaventure University is located in its own census-designated place just west of Olean.

Geographical K-12 school districts include:

Additionally Randolph Academy Union Free School District includes two institutions that care for children, with one of them being in the county.

Communities

Larger Settlements

Cattaraugus County divisions

†† - Former Village

† - County Seat

‡ - Not Wholly in this county

*Note that data is only available for Salamanca and Olean.

Towns

Hamlets

• Bedford Corners
• Farmersville Station
• Jimerson Town
• Kill Buck
• Sandusky
• Steamburg
• Versailles

Indian reservations

• Allegany Reservation
• Cattaraugus Reservation
• Oil Springs Reservation

Notable people

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Cattaraugus para niños