Chautauqua

Formed March 11, 1808 (39^th county)

Chautauqua County (127,675), Mayville (1,458), Jamestown (28,703)

The domed masonry courthouse was built in 1907.  The structure is located on Erie Street at Chautauqua Street.  Erie Street is New York State Highway 394 in the town.  William J. Beardsley provided the Classical Revival designs.  A County Administration building was built in 1968.  There was an 1834 courthouse previously.  The county was founded on March 11, 1808 from Genesee County as the 39^th county with Mayville as the only county seat.  There was an addition to the courthouse in 1969.  Chautauqua is a Native American word meaning “where the fish was taken out.”  The county seat is named for the daughter of a landowner.  Chautauqua County was the birthplace for 1 New York Governor, Reuben E. Fenton. 

Chautauqua County government consists of a sheriff and 19 Legislators.  One County Court Judge, Two Family Court Judges, and One Surrogate Court Judge serve Chautauqua County.  Chautauqua County is in the southwest corner of the state bordering both Pennsylvania and Canada.  Buffalo, New York is northeast and Erie, Pennsylvania is southwest of the county.  The county center is 10.1 miles East of Mayville nearer Stockton.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Canada and Erie and Cattaraugus counties and Pennsylvania. 

The area of the county is 1500 square miles.  It is 7 out of 62 in the state.  It ranks 23 out of 62 in population in the state.  It has a density of 85.1 persons per square mile making it 38 out of 62 in the state.  Chautauqua County has 53.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 86 goes east to west in the county from Cattaraugus County to Pennsylvania.  Interstate Highway 90 enters from Erie County, northeast, and exits into Pennsylvania, southwest.  United States Highway 20 parallels Interstate Highway 90 from Erie County to Pennsylvania.  United States Highway 62 comes from Cattaraugus County, east, and goes into Pennsylvania, south.  The county is shaped like a thick snow blade.  Mayville is in the southwest quarter of the county.  Jamestown is in the southeast quarter of the county.  Mayville is the county seat and Jamestown is the largest city.  Mayville is 1.1% of the county population while Jamestown is 22.5% of the county population.  The county is pronounced CHA-TA-KWA.  This county is in the Jamestown-Dunkirk-Fredonia Micropolitan Statistical Area.