Tompkins County, New York facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tompkins County
County
Images, from top down, left to right: Ithaca Falls, Johnson Museum of Art, Allan H. Treman State Marine Park, Stewart Park, Ithaca Commons, and Cornell University
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	April 17, 1817
Named for	Daniel D. Tompkins
Seat	Ithaca
Largest City	Ithaca
Area
• Total	492 sq mi (1,270 km2)
• Land	475 sq mi (1,230 km2)
• Water	17 sq mi (40 km2)  3.4%
Population  (2020)
• Total	105,740
• Density	222.8/sq mi (86.0/km2)
Demonym(s)	Tompkins Countyan
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Codes	13053, 13062, 13068, 13073, 13102, 13736, 14817, 13864, 14850, 14851, 14852, 14853, 14854, 14867, 14881, 14882, 14883, 14886
Area code	607
Congressional district	19th

Tompkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 105,740. The county seat is Ithaca. The name is in honor of Daniel D. Tompkins, who served as Governor of New York and Vice President of the United States. The county is part of the Southern Tier region of the state.

Tompkins County comprises the Ithaca Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is home to Cornell University, Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community College.

History

When counties were established in the British Province of New York in 1683, the present Tompkins 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 honor of 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.

McGraw Tower, Cornell University on East Hill above downtown Ithaca

In 1789, Montgomery County was reduced in size by the splitting off of Ontario County. 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.

Herkimer County was one of three counties split off from Montgomery County (the others being Otsego and Tioga counties) in 1791. Onondaga County was formed in 1794 by the splitting of Herkimer County.

Cayuga County was formed in 1799 by the splitting of Onondaga County. This county was, however, much larger than the present Cayuga County. It also included the territory of the present Seneca and Tompkins counties.

In 1804, Seneca County was formed by the splitting of Cayuga County.

On April 7, 1817, Tompkins County was created by combining portions of Seneca and the remainder of Cayuga County. The county was named after then vice-president (to President James Monroe) and former New York Governor Daniel Tompkins. Tompkins almost certainly never visited the county named for him.

In 1854, the county lost the town of Hector and the west line of lots in Newfield to the newly formed Schuyler County, New York.

Geography

Robert H. Treman State Park in Tompkins County

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 492 square miles (1,270 km²), of which 475 square miles (1,230 km²) is land and 17 square miles (44 km²) (3.4%) is water.

Tompkins County is in the west central part of New York State, south of Syracuse and northwest of Binghamton. It is usually geographically grouped with the Finger Lakes region, but some locals consider themselves to be part of Central New York or the Southern Tier.

Adjacent counties

Major highways

Upper Gorge, Buttermilk Falls State Park in Tompkins County

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 96,501 people, 36,420 households, and 19,120 families residing in the county. The population density was 203 people per square mile (78 people/km²). There were 38,625 housing units at an average density of 81 units per square mile (31/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 85.50% White, 3.64% African American, 0.28% Native American, 7.19% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.09% from other races, and 2.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.08% of the population. 12.4% were of German, 11.7% English, 11.1% Irish, 9.2% Italian and 6.0% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 2.85% of the population reported speaking Spanish at home, while 1.86% speak Chinese, 1.07% Korean, and 1.00% French.

There were 36,420 households, out of which 25.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.20% were married couples living together, 8.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.50% were non-families. 32.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.93.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 19.00% under the age of 18, 26.00% from 18 to 24, 26.20% from 25 to 44, 19.30% from 45 to 64, and 9.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 97.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,272, and the median income for a family was $53,041. Males had a median income of $35,420 versus $27,686 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,659. About 6.80% of families and 17.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.00% of those under age 18 and 5.40% of those age 65 or over.

2020 Census

Communities

Towns, cities, villages, and census divisions of Tompkins County

Tompkins County Court House in Ithaca New York

Larger Settlements

       County seat

Name	Population (2020)	Type	Area (2020)		Coordinates
			sq mi	km2
Ithaca	32,108	City	6.07	15.7	42°26′36″N 76°30′0″W / 42.44333°N 76.50000°W / 42.44333; -76.50000
South Hill	7,245	CDP	6	15.5	42°24′42″N 76°29′26″W / 42.41167°N 76.49056°W / 42.41167; -76.49056
Cayuga Heights	4,114	Village	1.77	4.6	42°27′59″N 76°29′19″W / 42.46639°N 76.48861°W / 42.46639; -76.48861
Lansing	3,648	Village	4.63	12.0	42°29′16″N 76°29′10″W / 42.48778°N 76.48611°W / 42.48778; -76.48611
East Ithaca	3,175	CDP	1.8	4.7	42°25′36″N 76°27′33″W / 42.42667°N 76.45917°W / 42.42667; -76.45917
Northeast Ithaca	2,701	CDP	1.5	3.9	42°28′12″N 76°27′51″W / 42.47000°N 76.46417°W / 42.47000; -76.46417
Northwest Ithaca	2,231	CDP	3.6	9.3	42°28′4″N 76°32′20″W / 42.46778°N 76.53889°W / 42.46778; -76.53889
Groton	2,145	Village	1.74	4.5	42°35′13″N 76°21′54″W / 42.58694°N 76.36500°W / 42.58694; -76.36500
Dryden	1,887	Village	1.77	4.6	42°29′21″N 76°17′59″W / 42.48917°N 76.29972°W / 42.48917; -76.29972
Trumansburg	1,714	Village	1.39	3.6	42°32′26″N 76°39′36″W / 42.54056°N 76.66000°W / 42.54056; -76.66000
Forest Home	1,168	CDP	0.3	0.8	42°27′11″N 76°28′17″W / 42.45306°N 76.47139°W / 42.45306; -76.47139
South Lansing	1,078	CDP	2.8	7.3	42°32′16″N 76°30′21″W / 42.53778°N 76.50583°W / 42.53778; -76.50583
Varna	767	CDP	0.71	1.8	42°27′18″N 76°26′17″W / 42.45500°N 76.43806°W / 42.45500; -76.43806
Newfield	725	CDP	1.2	3.1	42°21′43″N 76°35′32″W / 42.36194°N 76.59222°W / 42.36194; -76.59222
Jacksonville	516	CDP	3.6	9.3	42°30′30″N 76°36′54″W / 42.50833°N 76.61500°W / 42.50833; -76.61500
Danby	506	CDP	3.46	9.0	42°21′9″N 76°28′50″W / 42.35250°N 76.48056°W / 42.35250; -76.48056
Freeville	498	Village	1.09	2.8	42°30′45″N 76°20′45″W / 42.51250°N 76.34583°W / 42.51250; -76.34583
McLean	378	CDP	0.23	0.6	42°33′07″N 76°17′28″W / 42.55194°N 76.29111°W / 42.55194; -76.29111
Brooktondale	261	CDP	0.24	0.6	42°22′50″N 76°23′41″W / 42.38056°N 76.39472°W / 42.38056; -76.39472
West Danby	211	CDP	1.36	3.5	42°19′8″N 76°31′31″W / 42.31889°N 76.52528°W / 42.31889; -76.52528
Slaterville Springs	208	CDP	0.26	0.7	42°23′44″N 76°21′02″W / 42.39556°N 76.35056°W / 42.39556; -76.35056

Towns

Hamlets/Villages

Communities

Education

Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green St., Ithaca NY

The eight-square schoolhouse or Dryden District School No. 5 is a one room schoolhouse just south of New York Route 13 in Dryden Township.

There are three institutions of higher education in Tompkins County:

• Cornell University in City of Ithaca
• Ithaca College in the Town of Ithaca
• Tompkins-Cortland Community College in the Town of Dryden

The county is served by several school districts (the largest being Ithaca City School District), and several public libraries including the Tompkins County Public Library, the Southworth Library and the Ulysses Philomathic Library.

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Tompkins para niños