Columbia County, New York

thumb|right|[[William Henry Ludlow House, built in 1786, Hudson, NY]]

Columbia County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. At the 2020 census, the population was 61,570. The county seat is Hudson. The name comes from the Latin feminine form of the surname of Christopher Columbus, which was at the time of the formation of the county a popular proposal for the name of the United States. The county is part of the Capital District region of the state.

History

At the arrival of European colonists the area was inhabited by the indigenous Mohican Indians. To the west of the river were the Mohawk and other four tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy, extending past what is now the border of New York state. The first known European exploration of Columbia County was in 1609, when Henry Hudson, an English explorer sailing for the Dutch, ventured up the Hudson River. An accident to his craft forced him to stop at what is now known as Columbia County and there search for food and supplies. In 1612, the Dutch established trading posts and minor settlements, building New Amsterdam (now New York City) and Fort Orange (now Albany). Fort Orange became a center of the fur trade with the Mohawk people. Traders stopped at points along the Hudson River on their travels between New Amsterdam and Fort Orange; small settlements arose along the river to supply the traders' ships. As more Dutch arrived, the region slowly developed. In 1664, the English took over New Netherland and renamed it the "Province of New York"; they also renamed Fort Orange "Albany". Some 1,200 Palatine Germans were brought to Livingston Manor (now Germantown). New York's Governor Hunter had also helped with these arrangements: the workers were to make naval stores (e.g., pitch, resin, and turpentine) from the pine trees in the Catskill Mountains.

They were promised land for resettlement after completing their terms of indenture.

In the nineteenth century, the Vermont Central Railway was constructed to the area. It provided transportation north towards Rutland and Burlington, Vermont, and south towards the major junction town of Chatham, New York, for travel to points west, south and east.

A large number of LGBT artists and writers settled in Columbia County in the late 20th century, including Ellsworth Kelly, who moved to the county in 1970, followed by James Ivory and Ismail Merchant (1975) and the poet John Ashbery (1978).

Government and politics

Voters in Columbia County since the mid-19th century have mostly elected Republicans to office. But from 1996 to 2007, new voter registrations by Democrats have outpaced those by Republicans by a margin of 4 to 1. Democrats have been able to win the county in every presidential election since 1996, with Joe Biden's 57% of the vote in 2020 being the highest for a Democrat in the county since 1964.

{| class=wikitable style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none"

! colspan = 6 | Voter registration as of April 1, 2016

! colspan = 2 | Party

! Active voters

! Inactive voters

! Total voters

! Percentage

| Democratic

| style="text-align:center;"| 13,037

| style="text-align:center;"| 1,241

| style="text-align:center;"| 14,278

| style="text-align:center;"| 33.05%

| Republican

| style="text-align:center;"| 11,774

| style="text-align:center;"| 724

| style="text-align:center;"| 12,498

| style="text-align:center;"| 28.93%

| Unaffiliated

| style="text-align:center;"| 10,724

| style="text-align:center;"| 1,007

| style="text-align:center;"| 11,731

| style="text-align:center;"| 27.16%

| Other

| style="text-align:center;"| 4,225

| style="text-align:center;"| 467

| style="text-align:center;"| 4,692

| style="text-align:center;"| 10.86%

! colspan = 2 | Total

! style="text-align:center;"| 39,760

! style="text-align:center;"| 3,439

! style="text-align:center;"| 43,199

! style="text-align:center;"| 100%

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.1%) is water.

Columbia County is in the southeast south-to-central part of New York State, southeast of Albany and immediately west of the Massachusetts border. The western border is the Hudson River.

The landscapes of the county were among the scenes depicting by the Hudson River School, a mid-19th century art movement. Other farms include the large, well-known Hawthorne Valley Farm which includes a farm store and training programs, the biodynamic Roxbury Farm, and FarmOn! at Empire Farm, also a teaching farm.

Adjacent counties

Albany County - northwest
Berkshire County, Massachusetts - east
Dutchess County - south
Greene County - west
Rensselaer County - north
Ulster County - southwest

National protected area

Martin Van Buren National Historic Site

Demographics

2020 census

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Columbia County, New York – Racial and ethnic composition

!Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Pop 1980

!Pop 1990

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" | Pop 2020

!% 1980

!% 1990

!% 2000

!% 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020

|White alone (NH)

|56,637

|59,246

|57,338

|55,672

|style='background: #ffffe6; |50,795

|95.21%

|94.07%

|90.88%

|88.23%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |82.50%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|1,992

|2,290

|2,738

|2,691

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,421

|3.35%

|3.64%

|4.34%

|4.26%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.93%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|88

|102

|110

|85

|style='background: #ffffe6; |70

|0.15%

|0.16%

|0.17%

|0.13%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.11%

|Asian alone (NH)

|138

|243

|493

|998

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,423

|0.23%

|0.39%

|0.78%

|1.58%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.31%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|18

|15

|style='background: #ffffe6; |16

|0.03%

|0.02%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.03%

|Other race alone (NH)

|94

|80

|71

|97

|style='background: #ffffe6; |348

|0.16%

|0.13%

|0.11%

|0.15%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.57%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|728

|1,084

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,955

|1.15%

|1.72%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |4.80%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|538

|1,021

|1,598

|2,454

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,542

|0.90%

|1.62%

|2.53%

|3.89%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |5.75%

|Total

|59,487

|62,982

|63,094

|63,096

|style='background: #ffffe6; |61,570

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 63,094 people, 24,796 households, and 16,588 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 30,207 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 92.09% White, 4.52% Black or African American, 0.21% Native American, 0.80% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.90% from other races, and 1.45% from two or more races. 2.53% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 17.2% were of German, 14.7% Italian, 14.5% Irish, 9.0% English, 6.3% Polish and 6.1% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 94.0% spoke English and 2.1% Spanish as their first language.

There were 24,796 households, out of which 29.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.20% were married couples living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.10% were non-families. 27.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.10% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 26.90% from 25 to 44, 26.30% from 45 to 64, and 16.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 99.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,915, and the median income for a family was $49,357. Males had a median income of $34,702 versus $25,878 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,265. About 6.40% of families and 9.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.80% of those under age 18 and 6.80% of those age 65 or over.

As of the 2010 census, the racial makeup of the county was 90.6% White, 4.5% African American, 0.2% Native American and 1.6% Asian. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 3.9% of the population.

Communities

thumb|Columbia County municipal map

City

Hudson (county seat)

Towns

Ancram
Austerlitz
Canaan
Chatham
Claverack
Clermont
Copake
Gallatin
Germantown
Ghent
Greenport
Hillsdale
Kinderhook
Livingston
New Lebanon
Stockport
Stuyvesant
Taghkanic

Villages

Chatham
Kinderhook
Philmont
Valatie

Census-designated places

Claverack-Red Mills
Copake
Copake Falls
Copake Lake
Germantown
Ghent
Lorenz Park
Niverville
Stottville
Taconic Shores

Hamlets

Boston Corner
Chatham Center
Columbiaville
Craryville
East Chatham
Elizaville
Humphreysville
Lebanon Springs
Malden Bridge
Mellenville
New Britain
New Lebanon
New Lebanon Center
Niverville
North Chatham
Old Chatham
Spencertown
Stuyvesant Falls
Red Rock
West Copake
West Lebanon

Education

Columbia–Greene Community College is located in Hudson, NY.

School districts which cover sections of the county include:

Chatham Central School District
East Greenbush Central School District
Germantown Central School District
Hudson City School District
Kinderhook Central School District (Ichabod Crane)
New Lebanon Central School District
Northeast Central School District
Pine Plains Central School District
Red Hook Central School District
Schodack Central School District
Taconic Hills Central School District

Transportation

Major highways

Interstate 90 runs east–west through the county. The Taconic State Parkway runs from I-90 south towards Westchester County. The main arterial north–south road, U.S. 9, runs through the larger towns towards the Hudson River.

Railroads

Amtrak passenger trains of the Empire Service corridor, as well as the Adirondack, Ethan Allen Express, Maple Leaf and the seasonal Berkshire Flyer make stops at Hudson station.

Into the latter 1930s, the Rutland Railroad (in map above) operated trains between Bennington, Vermont and Chatham. At Chatham Union Station there were connections to New York Central's Harlem Line to Grand Central Terminal. Penn Central (successor to the New York Central) truncated service on the Harlem Line from Chatham to Dover Plains in 1972.

Airport

Columbia County Airport is located in Hudson and provides general aviation services.

Notable people

Martin van Buren (1782–1862) – the eighth President of the United States
Francis Forshew (1827–1895), photographer