ONTARIO COUNTY 

 This county lies in the west central part of the state on the 

 northwest shore of Seneca Lake. It has an area of 415,360 acres. 

 From north to south it extends approximately 30 miles, and from 

 east to west 30 miles. 



The population is distributed as follows: 



Population by Cities and Townships 



(Census of 1915) 



7, 501 Xaples 



Canandaigua (city) * 



Geneva (city) 



Bristol 



Canadice 



Canandaigua 



East Bloomfield .... 



Farmington 



Geneva 



Gorham 



Hopewell 



Manchester 



13,232 

 1,143 

 556 

 2,140 

 1,975 

 1,585 

 1,386 

 2,114 

 1,416 

 5,411 



Phelps 



Richmond 



Seneca 



South Bristol . . 



Victor 



West Bloomfield 



Total 



* Canadaigua is the county seat. 



Xote: Geneva now has a population of 14,600. 



2,285 

 4,891 

 1,208 

 3,001 

 964 

 2,617 

 1,203 



54,628 



HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS 



Ontario County was formed from Montgomery in 1789, and 

 named from Lake Ontario, which then formed its northern 

 boundary. The word is of Iroquois origin, and signifies " great 

 or beautiful lake." Since the organization of the county, Steuben, 

 Genesee, and Yates, and parts of Monroe, Livingston, and Wayne 

 have been taken off. 



The territory lying within the limits of this county was the 

 chief seat of the Senecas, whose principal village was Kanadesaga, 

 or Geneva. In 1687 a body of French and Indians invaded 

 the Seneca country by way of the St. Lawrence and Lake 

 Ontario, when a battle took place near the site of the present 

 village of Victor. 



During Sullivan's expedition many large orchards were 

 destroyed, also Indian villages on the present sites of Geneva and 

 Canandaigua. These sites were afterwards selected by Phelps and 

 Gorham for the location of settlements by the whites. At Canan- 



[.502] 



