Seneca

Formed January 1, 1804 (33^rd county)

Seneca County (33,811), Waterloo (4,877), Ovid (549)

The Waterloo red brick Georgian facility was built in 1818 and sits on Williams Street at Park Street.  United States Highway 20 is one block to the south of the site.  John Sayre, John Lyon and Luther R. La Battelle are the architects.  The building was restored in 1914 and renovated in 1944.  There is a1989 Administrative Building in Waterloo.  The old courthouse in Ovid’s is a Greek Revival building constructed of red brick in 1845.  It is on Prospect Street between 1^st and 2^nd streets.  New York State Highway 96 Alternate passes two blocks east of the building.  Clement Jones and Sidney Grant were the designers.  The county was created on January 1, 1804 from Cayuga County as the 33^rd county.  Ovid has been the county seat since 1806 and joined by Waterloo 1818.  Seneca County is named for the Native American tribe.  The county seat is named for Waterloo, Belgium.  Ovid is presumably named for a settler. 

Seneca County government consists of a sheriff and 14 Supervisors.  One County Court Judge serves Seneca County.  Seneca County is in the western part of the state.  Buffalo, New York is west and Albany, New York is east of the county.  The county center is 10.6 miles South of Waterloo nearer Romulus.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Wayne, Cayuga, Tompkins, Schuyler, Yates, and Ontario counties. 

The area of the county is 325 square miles.  It is 54 out of 62 in the state.  It ranks 57 out of 62 in population in the state.  It has a density of 104.0 persons per square mile making it 29 out of 62 in the state.  Seneca County has 39.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 90 crosses east to west in the county from Cayuga County to Ontario County.  United States Highway 20 parallels Interstate Highway 90 from Cayuga to Ontario counties.  The county is shaped like a capital letter I.  Waterloo is in the northern quarter of the county.  Ovid is in the southern third of the county.  Seneca Falls is in the northeast corner of the county.  Waterloo and Ovid are the county seats.  Waterloo is the largest city.  Waterloo is 14.4% of the county population while Ovid is 1.6% of the county population.  This county is in the Seneca Falls Micropolitan Statistical Area.