Seneca Profile

Seneca County:

Formed in 1804, Seneca is a geographically small county located southeast of Rochester, between Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. Seneca is well known as the home to the 1848 Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention, a pivotal first step in the modern Women’s Rights Movement.

While Seneca is one of the smallest counties by population and smallest by area in the Finger Lakes Region, its population has grown more than the region and every regional county besides Ontario. Seneca had among the lowest child poverty rates in the region, and its rate on this measure has remained relatively stable in contrast to increased child poverty in the region, state and nation. Tourism revenue in the county has increased more since 2005 (by 86%) than any other county in the region.

The county has been strongly agricultural from the beginning. Mills multiplied and flour became one of the principal exports of the county; the flour mills of Seneca Falls were third only to Rochester and Oswego. The Erie Canal opened the way to more extensive and easier worked wheat lands and brought about a change in the trend of agriculture. A greater variety of crops were planted; potatoes came to be important; the dairy is one of the principal industries now. But the most marked change was in the expansion of horticulture which, although the Jesuits had found fruits in abundance centuries before, had never tanked high. Seneca apples, grapes and other fruits have become real factors in the market. On four occasions the State premium for the best farm in New York has been given to residents of this county, and the first of the agricultural colleges was established within its borders.

Seneca County Official Website

Seneca County Chamber of Commerce

Seneca County Census Data