SENECA COUNTY 



This county lies in the west central part of the state and is 

 hounded on either side by Seneca and Cayuga lakes. It has an 

 area of 215,010 acres. Its average length from north to south is 

 '63 miles, and from east to west 10 miles. 



In 1915 the population was distributed as follows: 



Population by Townships 



(Census of 1915) 



Covert 1 ,863 Tyre 895 



Fayette 2,640 Varick 1,273 



Junius 942 Waterloo* 4, 764 



Lodi 1,399 



Ovid 1,744 



Romulus 2 , 098 



Seneca Falls 7,631 



Ovid 1,744 Total 25,249 



Romulus 2 , 098 == 



* Waterloo, the county seat, is located in the town of Waterloo. 



HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS 



This county was formed from Cayuga in 1801. Portions were 

 later added to Tompkins and Wayne. Seneca preserves the name 

 of the Indian tribe that occupied the western portion of the state 

 from Geneva to Buffalo, and was farthest advanced in civiliza- 

 tion. Credit for this progress is no doubt due in part to the Rev- 

 erend Samuel Kirkland and the Jesuit Fathers, who labored 

 among the Indians as missionaries. The great councils of the 

 Iroquois were held within the present limits of Seneca County. 



The country was first brought to the notice of the whites 

 through the expedition of Sullivan, who passed along the banks 

 of Seneca Lake in 1779. While the first settlers came from 

 Pennsylvania, locating in the southern part, many of the early 

 inhabitants were soldiers who had drawn their portion of public 

 land in this section. 



After 1790 settlement progressed rapidly. At that time the 

 state road known as the " Geneva Road " was built, and this soon 

 became the great highway for immigration. 



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