Clinton County, New York
|Clinton County, New York|
Clinton County Courthouse
Location in the state of New York
New York's location in the U.S.
|Named for||George Clinton|
|• Total||1,118 sq mi (2,896 km2)|
|• Land||1,039 sq mi (2,691 km2)|
|• Water||79 sq mi (205 km2), 7.04%|
|• Density||79/sq mi (30.5/km²)|
|Time zone||Eastern: UTC-5/-4|
Clinton County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 82,128. Its county seat is Plattsburgh. The county is named in honor of George Clinton, the first Governor of New York. It lies to the south of the border with the Canadian province of Quebec.
Clinton County comprises the Plattsburgh, NY Micropolitan Statistical Area.
When counties were established in New York State in 1683, the present Clinton 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, Charlotte County, contained the eastern portion.
In 1788, Clinton County was split off from Washington County. This was a much larger area than the present Clinton County, including several other counties or county parts of the present New York State.
In 1799, Essex County was split off from Clinton County.
In 1808, Franklin County was split off from Clinton County.
Government and politics
|This section requires expansion. (August 2008)|
Clinton County is considered a Democratic county. It is frequently won by Democratic candidates in both national and statewide election. In the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, Barack Obama carried the county by a 22.9% margin over John McCain (Obama won every municipality in the county), with Obama winning by a 26.9% margin over McCain statewide. In 2006, both Eliot Spitzer and Hillary Clinton carried it winning 63% and 64% of vote. In 2010, Andrew Cuomo, and Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand carried the county with over 60 percent of the vote. However, local races are most often won by Republican candidates. For example, the region had never sent a Democrat to Congress until 2009, and has not sent a Democrat to Albany as a Senator or Assemblyperson since the 1960s.
The Clinton County Legislature is the lawmaking body of the county. It consists of 10 members each elected from individual districts. Legislative District Maps The legislature currently consists of 8 Democrats and 2 Republicans. County Executive, Michael Zurlo is the County Administrator and runs the day-to-day operations of the County
Clinton County Legislature
- 01: Harry McManus (D) Deputy Chairperson
- 02: Jonathan C. Beach (R)
- 03: Samuel R. Dyer (D) Chairperson
- 04: Colin Read (D)
- 05: Pete Keenan (D)
- 06: Patty Waldron (D)
- 07: James Langley, Jr. (R), Minority Leader
- 08: Robert Dolan (D)
- 09: John W. Gallagher (D), Majority Leader
- 10: Robert (Bobby) Hall (D)
Clinton County is in the northeastern part of New York State, just west of Vermont and south of the Canadian province of Quebec. The eastern boundary of Clinton County is Lake Champlain, which serves as the New York-Vermont border. The Ausable River forms a large part of the south county line.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,118 square miles (2,895.6 km2), of which 1,039 square miles (2,691.0 km2) is land and 79 square miles (204.6 km2) (7.04%) is water.
The southwest part of the county is in the Adirondack Park.
- Grand Isle County, Vermont—east
- Chittenden County, Vermont—southeast
- Essex County, New York—south
- Franklin County, New York—west
- Le Haut-Richelieu Regional County Municipality, Quebec—north
- Le Haut-Saint-Laurent Regional County Municipality, Quebec—north
- Les Jardins-de-Napierville Regional County Municipality, Quebec—north
As of the census of 2000, there were 79,894 people, 29,423 households, and 19,272 families residing in the county. The population density was 77 people per square mile (30/km²). There were 33,091 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile (12/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 93.33% White, 3.58% Black or African American, 0.36% Native American, 0.67% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.10% from other races, and 0.93% from two or more races. 2.46% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 23.7% were of French, 15.0% French Canadian, 12.5% American, 11.8% Irish, 7.6% English and 5.5% German ancestry according to Census 2000. 94.1% spoke English, 2.8% French and 1.7% Spanish as their first language.
There were 29,423 households out of which 32.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.00% were married couples living together, 10.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.50% were non-families. 26.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.00% 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 2.98.
In the county the population was spread out with 23.00% under the age of 18, 12.40% from 18 to 24, 30.60% from 25 to 44, 22.10% from 45 to 64, and 11.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 104.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.60 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $37,028, and the median income for a family was $45,732. Males had a median income of $33,788 versus $25,520 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,946. About 9.40% of families and 13.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.30% of those under age 18 and 11.40% of those age 65 or over.
Cities, towns, villages, and other locations
The following table shows the 14 Clinton County towns and one city, and the villages, hamlets and census designated places within each of those towns.
|Towns||Cities||Villages||Hamlets and CDPs|
|Au Sable (3,146)||Keeseville|
|Black Brook (1,497)||Au Sable Forks|
|Dannemora (4,898)||Dannemora||Lyon Mountain|
|Plattsburgh (11,870)||Cumberland Head,**
|Schuyler Falls (5,181)||Morrisonville|
*The City of Plattsburgh is surrounded by the Town of Plattsburgh, but is not part of it.
** While some residents of Cumberland Head wish to form their own municipality, Cumberland Head remains a part of the Town of Plattsburgh, not its own Town or Village.
The following public use airports are located in the county:
- Plattsburgh International Airport (PBG) – Plattsburgh
- Clinton County Airport (PLB) – Plattsburgh
- Rouses Point Seaplane Base (K21) – Rouses Point
Clinton County information
- The State University of New York at Plattsburgh is located in the city of Plattsburgh.
- Clinton Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison is located in the village of Dannemora.
Adjacent counties and locations
The northern boundary of Clinton County is shared with the Regional County Municipalities of Les Jardins-de-Napierville and Le Haut-Richelieu within the province of Quebec in Canada. The western boundary abuts Franklin County, and the southern boundary is shared with Essex County. Clinton County and the state of Vermont share the eastern boundary along with Lake Champlain.
- Lake Champlain
- Town of Plattsburgh
- City of Plattsburgh
- Cumberland Head
- Schuyler Falls
- SUNY Plattsburgh
- List of counties in New York
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Clinton County, New York
- "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
- "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- U.S. Election Atlas
- Clinton County, NY - Legislative Office - Members of Legislature. Clintoncountygov.com (2004-01-01). Retrieved on 2013-07-12.
- "U.S. Decennial Census". Census.gov. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
- "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- Clinton County Public and Private Airports, New York. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Clinton County, New York.|
- Clinton County, NY webpage
- Clinton County at DMOZ
- Gazetter of Clinton County towns.
- Traffic Courts in Clinton County
- Summary early history of Clinton County and its towns
- Clinton County Historical Association Museum