Herkimer

Formed February 16, 1791 (16^th county)

Herkimer County (60,143), Herkimer (7,302), Ilion (7,689)

A Modern brown brick and concrete 1996 courthouse replaced a classic 1873 building in Herkimer County.  It sits on a square at Washington and Mary streets.  New York State Highway 5 is two blocks south of the courthouse.  Robertson Strong Apgas provided the designs.  The county split away from Montgomery County on February 16, 1791 as the 16^th county with Herkimer as the only county seat.  The county and county seat are named for American Revolutionary War hero General Nicholas Herkimer. 

Herkimer County government consists of a sheriff and 17 Legislators.  One County Court Judge and One Family Court Judge serve Herkimer County.  The county is in north central New York.  Albany, New York is southeast and Buffalo, New York is southwest of the county.  The county center is 15.5 miles Northeast of Herkimer nearer Fairfield.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Saint Lawrence, Hamilton, Fulton, Montgomery, Otsego, Oneida, and Lewis counties. 

The area of the county is 1458 square miles.  It is 9 out of 62 in the state.  It ranks 42 out of 62 in population in the state.  It has a density of 41.3 persons per square mile making it 56 out of 62 in the state.  Herkimer County has 47.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 90 crosses the county from east to west from Montgomery County to Oneida County.  United States Highway 20 clips the southern border twice as it parallels Interstate Highway 90 from Otsego County into Oneida County.  The county’s shape looks like a broom.  The City of Herkimer is in the southern quarter of the county.  Ilion is slightly west of Herkimer in the county.  Herkimer is the county seat and Ilion is the largest city.  Herkimer is 12.1% of the county population while Ilion is 12.8% of the county population.  The county and county seat are pronounced HER-KI-MUR.  The largest city is pronounced IL-EE-ON.  This county is in the Utica-Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area.