CORTLAND COUNTY 



This county lies in the Allegheny plateau near the center of 

 the state and just south of the watershed between the Susque- 

 hanna River and Lake Ontario. It has an area of 321,920 acres. 

 The approximate length from north to south is 2G miles and 

 from east to west 20 miles. 



The distribution of population is shown in the following table: 



Cortland (city) 

 Cincinnatus . . . 

 Cortlandville . 



C'uyler 



Freetown 



Harford 



Homer 



Lapeer 



Marathon 



Preble 



Population by Cities and TowNsmrs 



(Census of 1915) 

 12,367 Scott 



958 



3,266 



945 



511 



728 



3.745 



465 



1,500 



761 



Solon . . 



Taylor 



Trustor 



Virjril 



Willetl 



683 

 545 

 703 

 1,089 

 1,201 

 607 



Total 



30,074 



* Cortland is the county seat, and the present population is about 13,000. 



HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS 



This county was organized from Onondaga in 1808 and named 

 in honor of General Pierre Van Cortlandt, the first Lieutenant- 

 Governor of the State of New York, who was an extensive owner 

 of lands on the military tract in this and adjacent counties. As 

 in the neighboring counties, settlement did not begin until after 

 the Revolution. The first settlers located on the present site of 

 Homer in 1791. Virgil and Cortlandville were settled three years 

 later. Being remote from the great routes of travel, settlement 

 advanced but slowly for many years and the more distant valley 

 of the Genesee had been largely taken up by immigrants before 

 civilization became general in Cortland County. Other conditions 

 that had the effect of retarding the early development of the county 

 were the heavy growth of forest trees, together with fear of Indian 

 attacks, which had not entirely subsided. When railroads had 

 been completed through the county a new impulse pervaded every 



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