Monroe County, New York facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Monroe County
County
Monroe County Office Building
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	February 23, 1821; 203 years ago (1821)
Named for	James Monroe
Seat	Rochester
Largest city	Rochester
Area
• Total	1,367 sq mi (3,540 km2)
• Land	657 sq mi (1,700 km2)
• Water	710 sq mi (1,800 km2)  52%
Population
• Total	759,443
• Density	1,155.9/sq mi (446.3/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional districts	25th, 27th

Monroe County is a county in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. The county is along Lake Ontario's southern shore. As of 2020, Monroe County's population was 759,443, an increase since the 2010 census. Its county seat and largest city is the city of Rochester. The county is named after James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States. Monroe County is part of the Rochester, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area. The current County Executive is Adam Bello.

History

When counties were established in the Province of New York in 1683, the present Monroe 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 order to honor 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, Ontario County was split off from Montgomery. 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.

Genesee County was created by a splitting of Ontario County in 1802. This was much larger than the present Genesee County, however. It contained the present Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara, Orleans, Wyoming, and portions of Livingston and Monroe counties.

Finally, Monroe County was formed from parts of Genesee and Ontario counties in 1821.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county's total area is 1,367 square miles (3,540 km²), of which 657 square miles (1,700 km²) is land and 710 square miles (1,800 km²) (52%) is water.

Monroe County is in Western New York State's northern tier, northeast of Buffalo and northwest of Syracuse. The northern county line is also the state line and the border of the United States, marked by Lake Ontario. Monroe County is north of the Finger Lakes.

Adjacent counties

• Wayne County - east
• Ontario County - southeast
• Livingston County - south
• Orleans County - west
• Genesee County - southwest

Major highways

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 735,343 people, 286,512 households, and 184,513 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,115 people per square mile (431/km²). There were 304,388 housing units at an average density of 462 per square mile (178/km²). The county's racial makeup was 79.14% White, 13.75% African American, 0.27% Native American, 2.44% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 2.44% from other races, and 1.94% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.31% of the population. 18.6% were of Italian, 15.3% German, 11.3% Irish and 8.3% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 4.64% of the population reported speaking Spanish at home, while 1.43% speak Italian.

There were 286,512 households out of which 31.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.40% were married couples living together, 13.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.60% were non-families. 28.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the county, the population was spread out with 25.60% under the age of 18, 9.50% from 18 to 24, 29.30% from 25 to 44, 22.60% from 45 to 64, and 13.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $44,891, and the median income for a family was $55,900. Males had a median income of $41,279 versus $29,553 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,821. About 8.20% of families and 11.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.50% of those under age 18 and 7.40% of those age 65 or over.

Parks

Wetlands Trail in Black Creek Park

Communities

The town, village, and city borders

City

• Rochester (county seat)

Towns

Villages

Villages in New York State are incorporated municipalities located within Towns. The town in which each village is located is noted in parenthesis.

Census-designated places

• Brighton
• Clarkson
• Gates
• Greece
• Hamlin
• Irondequoit
• North Gates

Hamlets

In New York State the term "Hamlet", although not defined in law, is used to describe an unincorporated community and geographic location within a town. The town in which each Hamlet is located is in parenthesis.

• Genesee Junction (Chili)
• Egypt (Perinton)
• Adams Basin (Ogden)
• Bushnell's Basin (Perinton)
• Gates Center (Gates)
• Garbutt (Scottsville)
• Mumford (Wheatland)
• Union Hill (Webster)
• Mendon Center (Mendon)
• Seabreeze (Irondequoit)
• Summerville (Irondequoit)
• Parma Center (Parma)
• Riga Center (Riga)
• Sweden Center (Sweden)
• West Webster (Webster)
• North Chili (Chili)
• Clarkson Corners (Clarkson)
• Gates Center (Gates)
• North Gates (Gates)
• Clifton (Chili)
• Industry (Rush)
• Belcoda (Wheatland)
• Coldwater (Gates)

Notable residents

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Monroe (Nueva York) para niños