Erie

Formed February 23, 1821 (51^st county)

Erie County (954,244), Buffalo (278,301)

The Modern glass and concrete skyscraper courthouse built in 1964 replaced the nicer 1876 building.  The courthouse is sited on Delaware Street and Church Street.  Interstate Highway 190 is four blocks west of the site.  Milstein Wittek & Davis are the architects.  The county was created on February 23, 1821 from Niagara County as the 51^st county with Buffalo as the only county seat.  There was an 1849 courthouse earlier.  The county is named for Lake Erie.  Buffalo is named for Buffalo Creek.  Erie County was the birthplace for 2 New York Governors, Horace White and Kathleen Hochul. 

Erie County government consists of a sheriff, an Executive, and 11 Legislators.  Five County Court Judges, Seven Family Court Judges, and One Surrogate Court Judge serve Erie County.  Erie County is in the northwest corner of New York on the border with Canada.  Erie, Pennsylvania is southwest and Albany, New York is east of the county.  The county center is 12.5 miles Southeast of Buffalo nearer Orchard Park.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Niagara, Genesee, Wyoming, Cattaraugus, and Chautauqua counties and Canada. 

The area of the county is 1227 square miles.  It is 16 out of 62 in the state.  It ranks 8 out of 62 in population in the state.  It has a density of 777.7 persons per square mile making it 9 out of 62 in the state.  Erie County has 41.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 90 enters the county from Genesee County, east, and exits into Chautauqua County, southwest.  United States Highway 20 parallels Interstate Highway 90 from Genesee to Chautauqua counties.  United States Highway 20 Alternate comes from Wyoming County, southeast, and terminates.  United States Highway 62 travels from the north, Niagara County, to the south, Cattaraugus County.  United States Highway 219 originates and goes south into Cattaraugus County.  Millard Fillmore, the 13^th President, is buried in this county.  The county looks like a very fat letter J.  Buffalo is in the northwest corner of the county.  Buffalo is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 29.2% of the county population.  This county is in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Gowanda