ALLEGANY COUNTY 



This is one of the southern tier of counties west of the center 

 of the state. It has an area of 670,080 acres; from north to 

 south it extends approximately thirty-seven miles, and from east 

 to west thirty miles. The population is shown in the following 

 table : 



POPTTLATION" BY TOWNSHIPS 



(Census of 1915) 



Alfred ... 



Allen 



Alma .... 

 Almond . . 

 * Amity 

 Andover •. 

 Angelica . 

 Belfast . . 

 Birdsall . . 

 Bolivar . . 

 Burns . . . 

 Caneadea 

 Centerville 

 Clarksville 



Cuba 



Friendship 



1,495 



627 



752 



1,279 



2,01.1 



2,013 



1,718 



1,477 



564 



2,180 



1,289 



1,250 



813 



743 



2,376 



2,050 



Genesee 



Granger 



Grove 



Hume 



Independence 

 New Hudson 

 Rushford . . . 



Scio 



Ward 



Wellsville . . . 

 West Almond 



Willing 



Wirt 



1,061 

 709 

 752 



1,915 



1,177 

 762 



1,326 



1,064 

 506 



5,856 

 462 

 924 



1.061 



Total 



40,216 



*Belmont, in the town of Amity, is the county seat. 

 HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS 



Allegany County was formed from Genesee County in 1806. 

 It was named from the Allegheny River, and the word is of Seneca 

 origin, meaning " crane." Its first white visitor — although as 

 a captive — was Mary Jemison, the famous "white woman of the 

 Genesee." The two western tiers of towns in this county were 

 included in the Holland land purchase, and the remaining part 

 belonged to the Morris reserve. 



Settlement in the county began at about 1800. The rich lands 

 to the north attracting so much attention, the development of 

 this county was very slow for many years. The construction of 

 the Genesee Valley Canal and of the Erie Railroad gave an 

 impulse to improvement and offered an opportunity to convey 

 the rich products of the extensive pine forests to a profitable 

 market. 



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