129-542: The Southern Tier is a geographic subregion of the broader Upstate region of New York State , geographically situated along or very near the state border with Pennsylvania . Definitions of the region vary widely, but generally encompass counties surrounding the Binghamton and Elmira - Corning metropolitan areas . This region is adjacent to the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania, and both these regions together are known as
258-637: A PGA Tour event, the B.C. Open , from 1971 until 2006. It then became the Dick's Sporting Goods Open which is a PGA Tour Champions event still played each summer. Binghamton has a AA baseball team, the Binghamton Rumble Ponies , and a Federal Prospects Hockey League franchise, the Binghamton Black Bears . Depending on the boundary definition, Watkins Glen International Speedway , a NASCAR and Indy Racing League sanctioned road racing track,
387-462: A consensus. In a 2016 poll of New York voters in which respondents were asked to choose among four definitions of where upstate begins, three were about equally common, selected by between 25% and 30% of respondents each: north of New York City, north of Westchester County, and north of Poughkeepsie in Dutchess County . (The fourth, which also started north of Poughkeepsie but excluded Buffalo as
516-702: A family in the United States. Five of the six Iroquois nations have filed land claims against New York State (or have sought settlement of pending claims), based on late 18th-century treaties following the American Revolutionary War with the State of New York (which did not have constitutional authority to treat with American Indian nations) and the United States. The headwaters of the Delaware , Susquehanna , Mohawk , Hudson, and Allegheny rivers are located in
645-483: A large influx of immigrants seeking jobs at factories across the region. Since the mid-20th century, American deindustrialization has contributed to economic and population decline , and the region is largely considered part of the Rust Belt . There are a wide variety of land uses in the region, including urban, suburban, forested preserve, and rural landscapes. Due to its vast areas of rural land, upstate also supports
774-649: A large tract of land in Upper Canada to their Haudenosaunee allies, who established the Grand River settlement. In the federal Treaty of Canandaigua , the new United States recognized the title of the remaining Haudenosaunee to the land north and west of the Proclamation Line of 1763. Nevertheless, New York state officials and private land agents sought through the early 19th century to extinguish Indian title to these lands via non-Federally-sanctioned treaties, such as
903-631: A major center of radical abolitionist activity and was an important nexus of the Underground Railroad . Resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act was particularly heated in the region, as evidenced by such events as the Jerry Rescue . The American women's rights movement was also born in upstate New York at this time. The Seneca Falls Convention , the first women's rights convention, was held at Seneca Falls in 1848. The Rochester Convention ,
1032-636: A mile south of the surveyed line, putting the fort, which became known as "Fort Blunder", in Canada. This was not resolved until 1842 with the Webster–Ashburton Treaty , in which Great Britain and the United States decided to leave the border on the meandering line as surveyed. Slavery existed in New Netherland and the Province of New York . New York was in the 1690s the largest importer of slaves among
1161-531: A result, the region is a significant source of hydroelectric power (going back to the creation of the world's first hydroelectric dam by Nikola Tesla at Niagara Falls ) and drinking water (with multiple reservoirs serving New York City). Upstate New York is home to numerous popular tourist and recreational destinations, including Niagara Falls , the Adirondack and Catskill Mountains , the Thousand Islands ,
1290-576: A route from Binghamton to New York City through Scranton, Pennsylvania : a route that could at least partially be upgraded for high-speed rail. As of 2011, the highest priority for high-speed rail projects in New York is in the Empire Corridor , of which no part crosses the Southern Tier. The hilly terrain of the Southern Tier's I-86 corridor is not ideal for high-speed rail service, especially compared to
1419-582: A song entitled "Allegheny Lullaby" that detailed life along the Allegheny in late 20th century Rust Belt towns, the river serving as a metaphor for escape. In 2008, Katie Spotz became the first person to swim the entire 325 mi (523 km) of the Allegheny River; she was accompanied by safety kayaker, James Hendershott. The team began at the river's source in Warren, Pennsylvania on July 22 and finished at
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#17328379088631548-567: A strong agricultural industry, and is notable for its dairy , maple syrup , and fruit production (especially apples ), as well as winemaking . Upstate New York includes a number of notable waterways, with the Susquehanna , Delaware , and Hudson Rivers all originating in the region, and is bordered on its northern and western edges by the Saint Lawrence River and the Great Lakes . As
1677-514: A treaty with the powerful Mohawk. Benjamin Franklin , a Pennsylvania delegate, proposed a plan for uniting the seven colonies that greatly exceeded the scope of the congress. The delegates spent most of their time debating this Albany Plan of union, one of the first attempts to form a union of the colonies "under one government as far as might be necessary for defense and other general important purposes". The delegates approved an amended version, but
1806-656: A unique region neither upstate nor downstate, drew only 7%.) An informal 2018 poll found the Hudson Valley region is the most heavily disputed area regarding whether it is upstate or downstate. A number of businesses and institutions in the area have "upstate" as part of their name. Examples of this include the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse , the Upstate New York Chapter of
1935-505: Is a Lenape legend of a tribe called "Talligewi" who used to live along the river. Frederick Webb Hodge cited Henry Schoolcraft to connect the "Talligewi" to the Cherokee . The following account of the origin of the name Allegheny was given in 1780 by Moravian missionary David Zeisberger : "All this land and region, stretching as far as the creeks and waters that flow into the Alleghene
2064-763: Is a 325-mile-long (523 km) tributary of the Ohio River that is located in western Pennsylvania and New York in the United States. It runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border, northwesterly into New York, then in a zigzag southwesterly across the border and through Western Pennsylvania to join the Monongahela River at the Forks of the Ohio at Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania. The Allegheny River is, by volume,
2193-687: Is also a major part of the economy. Leading products are dairy, vegetables, orchard fruit and wine grapes (the last of which typically grows only on the fringes of the Southern Tier, as the inland areas tend to not have a long enough growing season to support it). In addition, two prominent microbreweries , the Southern Tier Brewing Company in Lakewood, New York and the Ellicottville Brewing Company in Ellicottville , operate in
2322-575: Is also impounded by the Kinzua Dam in northwestern Pennsylvania, resulting in the Allegheny Reservoir also known as Kinzua Lake and Lake Perfidy among the Seneca. The Seneca Pumped Storage Generating Station is associated with Kinzua Dam. Numerous bridges and tunnels span the river throughout its course. The Allegheny River Tunnel , utilized by Pittsburgh Light Rail , went into service in 2012. In
2451-530: Is especially true for the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Oswego and Syracuse, and is largely due to lake-effect snow from Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The villages of Old Forge and Saranac Lake , both in the Adirondacks, often vie on winter nights with places like International Falls, Minnesota , and Fargo, North Dakota , for the coldest spot in the nation. Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( / ˌ æ l ɪ ˈ ɡ eɪ n i / AL -ig- AY -nee )
2580-658: Is located in the Southern Tier region. From 2000 to 2017, Elmira had a professional ice hockey team in the Elmira Jackals . They played in the United Hockey League from 2000 to 2007 and the ECHL for the franchise's remaining years. The Jackals were replaced by a new Federal Hockey League franchise called the Elmira Enforcers from 2018 to 2021. The last minor league baseball team in the Southern Tier west of Binghamton,
2709-467: Is not a legally defined region. Due to this, various neighboring counties can be included in the region, while counties near other regions of New York State may be excluded. For example, some organizations consider Delaware County , Otsego County , Schoharie County and Cortland County to reside in the Southern Tier. The Encyclopedia of New York State lists only Chautauqua County , Cattaraugus County , Allegany County , and Steuben County as part of
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#17328379088632838-722: Is now the northeastern United States. The Guswhenta (Two Row Wampum Treaty) , made with the Dutch government in 1613, codified relations between the Haudenosaunee and European colonizers, and formed the basis of subsequent treaties. In the mid-17th century, during the Beaver Wars , the Iroquois were victorious and dominated the tribes of Neutral Indians , Wenrohronon and the Erie Indians in western New York. Survivors were mostly assimilated into
2967-565: Is served by three regional airports . Elmira-Corning Regional Airport has routes to Atlanta , Washington D.C. , Detroit , and several destinations in Florida . The Greater Binghamton Airport offers Delta Airlines flights to Detroit. Chautauqua County-Jamestown Airport connects to Pittsburgh via Essential Air Service . Bus service is provided along the entire I-86/NY 17 corridor by Coach USA 's Shortline /Erie services from Jamestown to New York City and Buffalo , and Trailways connects
3096-499: Is the birthplace of IBM and flight simulation . In addition, other factories in the region make military aircraft, televisions, furniture, metal forgings and machine tools. The area includes the northern extent of the Marcellus Formation and natural gas. Crude oil and oil sands continue to be extracted from Southern Tier wells as they have for over a century. There is significant debate about allowing hydraulic fracturing of
3225-568: Is used by the Department of Environmental Conservation . A cheeky joke among Manhattanites is that anything north of 14th Street is "upstate". Another usage locates the upstate/downstate boundary farther north, at the point where New York City's suburbs segue into its exurbs , as the exurbs do not generally fall within the Census Bureau-defined New York–Newark Urban Area . This latter boundary places most of
3354-688: The Adirondack Mountains , which are sometimes mistaken as part of the Appalachians but are in fact a southern extension of the Canadian Shield . In the more mountainous eastern parts of upstate New York, along the valleys of the Hudson River and the Mohawk River , have been historically important travel corridors and remain so today. Western New York in the vicinity of Buffalo is very flat, as it
3483-475: The Allegheny Reservoir , which was created by the erection of the Kinzua Dam in 1965 for flood control . The name of the river is derived from one of a number of Delaware / Unami phrases that are homophones of the English name, with varying translations. The name Allegheny probably comes from Lenape welhik hane or oolikhanna, which means 'best flowing river of the hills' or 'beautiful stream'. There
3612-434: The Allegheny Reservoir . After re-entering Pennsylvania, the river is joined from the east by Kinzua Creek 10 mi (16 km) upstream of Warren; from the north by Conewango Creek at Warren; from the west by Brokenstraw Creek ; from the east by East Hickory Creek at East Hickory; from the east by Tionesta Creek at Tionesta; from the north by Oil Creek at Oil City; from the west by French Creek at Franklin; from
3741-777: The Allegheny River in the western Southern Tier. The Southern Tier makes up the northernmost portion of Appalachia and lies on the Allegheny Plateau . It is defined on its western boundary by the Chautauqua Ridge in Chautauqua County, and including this ridge and extending eastward across the northern bounds of the region, the continental divide between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watersheds exists. The Eastern Continental Divide runs directly through
3870-536: The American Civil War . The railroad and available fuel from the region's dense forests attracted Corning Glass Works to Steuben County in 1868. The region became home to prosperous farms and small factory towns (with the exception of larger Binghamton) during the first half of the 20th century. But declines in U.S. manufacturing hit the region hard and it suffered even more than other parts of upstate New York and northern Pennsylvania . The region's addition to
3999-475: The American Revolutionary War , with the Iroquois split between supporters of the loyalists and supporters of the revolutionaries. After the war ended, the 1784 Treaty of Fort Stanwix kicked off a series of treaties and purchases that saw the Iroquois cede the vast majority of their land in upstate New York to the newly formed United States. The 1825 opening of the Erie Canal across upstate New York transformed
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4128-612: The Appalachian Regional Commission , often credited to the influence of U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy , provided economic stimulus over the last 40 years. Government funds built the Southern Tier Expressway, highway links to the New York State Thruway , encouraged the growth of state colleges at Wellsville, Alfred and Binghamton and sought with mixed success to attract business interests relocating from
4257-806: The Arthritis Foundation serving 31 of New York's 62 counties , and the VA Healthcare Network Upstate New York, which includes all of New York State northward and westward from Kingston in Ulster County . Other organizations in New York with "upstate" in their name include the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (now known as the Liberty League ), the Upstate Correctional Facility ,
4386-645: The Battle of Plattsburgh ; in the St. Lawrence Valley ; and on Lake Ontario , including the Battle of Sackets Harbor . The city of Buffalo was razed by the British as well. After the war, the US government began to construct Fort Montgomery just south of the border at Rouses Point on Lake Champlain. Subsequently, it was discovered that at that point, the actual 45th parallel was three-quarters of
4515-755: The European colonization of the United States , upstate New York was populated by several Native American tribes. It was home to the Iroquois Confederacy , an indigenous confederation of six tribes, known as the Six Nations. Henry Hudson made the first recorded European exploration of the region in 1609, and the Dutch erected Fort Orange (present-day Albany) in 1624, which was the first permanent European settlement in New York. The region saw many battles during
4644-669: The Jamestown Jammers , relocated out of the area in 2016, ending an era in which the New York–Penn League featured pro teams in Jamestown, Olean, Wellsville, Hornell, Corning, Elmira and Oneonta over the course of its history; collegiate summer baseball still thrives in the region in the form of the New York Collegiate Baseball League and Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League , both with multiple teams in
4773-426: The National Baseball Hall of Fame , and the Finger Lakes . There is no clear official boundary between upstate New York and downstate New York . The most expansive definition of the upstate New York region excludes only New York City and Long Island , which are always considered to be part of downstate New York; this usage is common among New York City residents and significantly less farther north. This definition
4902-455: The New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York . Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley , the Capital District , the Mohawk Valley region , Central New York , the Southern Tier , the Finger Lakes region, Western New York , and the North Country . Major cities across upstate New York from east to west include the state capital of Albany , Utica , Binghamton , Syracuse , Rochester , and Buffalo . Before
5031-466: The New York Metropolitan Area and urban Western New York. For two decades, the region has tried to remake itself as a tourist destination and relocation area for retirees from big Northeastern cities. Meanwhile, agriculture and manufacturing struggle to compete regionally and globally. Binghamton University (the State University of New York-Binghamton) is one of the SUNY system's four University Centers . Other 4-year and graduate institutions within
5160-439: The North Side , downtown Pittsburgh , and Point State Park . The Allegheny joins with the Monongahela River at the "Point" in downtown Pittsburgh to form the Ohio River . The river is approximately 325 mi (523 km) long, running through the U.S. states of New York and Pennsylvania . It drains a rural dissected plateau of 11,580 sq mi (30,000 km ) in the northern Allegheny Plateau , providing
5289-427: The Olean Times Herald , the Salamanca Press , The Post-Journal of Jamestown, and The Observer of Dunkirk. The Tribune, Reporter and Leader are all owned by GateHouse Media ; Gannett Company owns the Star-Gazette and Press & Sun-Bulletin. The Southern Tier has an eclectic history of sports. From 1979 to 2009 the LPGA Corning Classic was held at the Corning Country Club. Endicott's En-Joie Golf Course hosted
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5418-436: The Pennsylvania Colony claimed much of the Southern Tier until 1774, while the Massachusetts Bay Colony claimed all of the region west of Massachusetts to the Great Lakes. The Province of New York also claimed jurisdiction east to the Connecticut River . To pursue this claim north of Connecticut and Massachusetts, New York granted lands to settlers in what is now Vermont at the same time that New Hampshire made grants of
5547-424: The Seneca people of the Iroquois; some are believed to have escaped to South Carolina , where they merged with other Indian tribes. The region was important from the first days of both French and Dutch colonization in the seventeenth century. The New Netherland colony encompassed the Hudson Valley from Manhattan island north to the confluence of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, where Fort Orange (later Albany)
5676-418: The Treaty of Big Tree . The Treaties of Buffalo Creek were designed to finally remove the last of the native claims in Western New York as part of the federal Indian Removal program, but the purchaser failed to buy most of the land in time, and some of the tribes objected to their exclusion. Three of the four reservations remain in the region to this day; one of the reservations leased out their land to form
5805-420: The Twin Tiers . Geographically, most of the Southern Tier resides in the Allegheny Plateau of the Appalachian Mountains , with the eastern areas of the region nestled in the western portion of the Catskill Mountains . A longtime home of the Iroquois Confederacy , European settlers moved to the region after the American Revolutionary War . The fertile yet hilly land, combined with sweeping river valleys, led
5934-440: The Upstate New York Club Hockey League , the Upstate New York Synod , and the Upstate Citizens for Equality . Before the arrival of Europeans, the area was long inhabited by Iroquoian -speaking people, mainly west of the Hudson River and around the Great Lakes and Algonquian -speaking people, mainly east of the Hudson River. The conflict between the two peoples continued through the period of early European colonization, and
6063-404: The Wesleyan Church and Free Methodist Church (both offshoots of Methodism that originated in political disputes with the mainline Methodist church ), also survive. In the 19th century, extractive industries changed the landscape. Potash was manufactured as the land was cleared for farming. Logging was rampant in the Adirondacks. Iron was mined in the Adirondacks and the North Country. By
6192-403: The semiconductor industry , moved its headquarters from Silicon Valley, California to its semiconductor chip manufacturing facility in Malta, New York . Since the late 20th century, with the decline of manufacturing and its jobs, the area has generally suffered a net population loss, most heavily in Western New York. By contrast, many Amish and Mennonite families are recent arrivals to
6321-400: The 1870s, business leaders, concerned about the effect of deforestation on the water supply necessary to the Erie Canal, advocated for the creation of forest preserves in the Adirondacks and the Catskills. The Adirondack Park and Catskill Park were created and strengthened by a series of legislation between 1885 and 1894, when the " forever wild " provision of the New York State Constitution
6450-423: The 1905–1907 Mills Commission , charged with investigating the origins of baseball , named Cooperstown as the place where baseball was invented in the 1830s or 1840s by Abner Doubleday . Cooperstown is the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum . (Modern research suggests that the game was actually developed in its modern form in New York City.) In the pre–Civil War era, upstate New York became
6579-513: The 1960s, over a dozen ski resorts resided in the Southern Tier, many in Cattaraugus County, before most of them closed due to various assorted causes by the 1980s. The Southern Tier is home to two professional symphony orchestras: the Binghamton Philharmonic in Binghamton and the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes in Corning. Binghamton also has the Binghamton Youth Symphony and the Binghamton Community Orchestra. The Tri-Cities Opera Company present full-scale operas in Binghamton. Most of
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#17328379088636708-430: The Allegheny River is joined from the south by Potato Creek 1.7 mi (2.7 km) downstream of Coryville , Pennsylvania and from the north by Olean Creek at Olean, New York. Tunungwant "Tuna" Creek joins the river from the south in Carrollton, New York (flowing north from Bradford, Pennsylvania); the Great Valley Creek and Little Valley Creek join the river from the north at Salamanca, New York before becoming
6837-432: The Allegheny River several miles downstream from Warren. During the campaign for the 1960 United States presidential election , John F. Kennedy assured the Seneca Nation that he would oppose the dam if elected. However, he failed to follow through on his pledge upon becoming president. In 1992, 86.6 mi (139.4 km) of the Allegheny River was designated Wild and Scenic . This designation comprises three segments of
6966-508: The Allegheny River; and the small village of Kinzua , which was located at the confluence of Kinzua Creek with the Allegheny River. All residents of both villages were forced to move. Many prominent individuals opposed the construction of the dam at that time because of the damage it would do to Seneca lands, including Pennsylvania Congressman John P. Saylor of Johnstown , and Howard Zahniser , executive director of The Wilderness Society and native of Tionesta—a small settlement located along
7095-435: The Allegheny and Ohio rivers as the same, as is suggested by a New York State road sign on Interstate 86 that refers to the Allegheny River also as Ohiːyo' . The Geographic Names Information System lists O-hee-yo and O-hi-o as variant names. The river is called Ohi:'i:o` (river beautiful) in the Seneca language . In New York, areas around the river are often named with the alternate spelling Allegany in reference to
7224-431: The American Revolution, the Treaty of Paris established the border between New York and British North America . The 45th Parallel became the border with Quebec or Lower Canada . The St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, the Niagara River and Lake Erie became the border with Upper Canada . Great Britain continued to occupy military installations along the American shores of the Great Lakes until 1794, including Fort Niagara at
7353-602: The American colonies. Slavery did not end with the American Revolution , although John Jay introduced an emancipation bill into the State Assembly as early as 1777. Sojourner Truth was held as a slave in the Hudson Valley from the time she was born in 1797 until she escaped in 1826. Through efforts of the New York Manumission Society and others, New York began to adopt a policy of gradual emancipation in 1799. The law passed in 1817 that would finally emancipate slaves did not take effect for ten years, giving slaveowners an entire decade to sell their slaves away to other states. When
7482-419: The Delawares called Alligewinenk, which means 'a land into which they came from distant parts'. The river itself, however, is called Alligewi Sipo. The whites have made Alleghene out of this, the Six Nations calling the river the Ohio." The Delaware Tribe of Indians gives the Lenape name as Alikehane , "river where footprints can be seen." Native Americans, including the Lenape and Iroquois , considered
7611-470: The French, Dutch and English tended to ally with their trading partners among the indigenous peoples. The Haudenosaunee or Iroquois confederacy of the Five (later Six) Nations was a powerful force in its home territory. The Five Nations' territory extended from the Mohawk River Valley through the western part of the state and into current Pennsylvania. From this home base they also controlled at various times large swaths of additional territory throughout what
7740-450: The Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River, including west of the Appalachian Mountains, was to be the " Indian Reserve ." Between 1774 and 1783, deeply divided colonists waged civil war on each other directly and by proxy, through attacks such as the Seneca-led Cherry Valley and the Mohawk-led Cobleskill massacre. In 1779, the Sullivan Expedition , a campaign by the Continental Army ordered by General George Washington , drove thousands of
7869-410: The Haudenosaunee from their villages, farms and lands in the region in an effort to both avenge and prevent such attacks. The region was strategically important to the war plans of both the British and the Continental forces. British efforts to divide the New England colonies from the rest led to battles including the Battle of Valcour Island and the Battle of Saratoga , a significant turning point in
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#17328379088637998-410: The Haudenosaunee, as Samuel de Champlain had alienated the Haudenosaunee during military forays from New France . In the 1640s, three French Jesuit missionaries to New France—St. René Goupil , St. Isaac Jogues , and St. Jean de Lalande —were killed near the Mohawk village of Ossernenon, which was located at the confluence of the Schoharie and Mohawk rivers, where the modern hamlet of Auriesville
8127-409: The Lower Hudson Valley, or Westchester and Rockland counties and about one-third of Putnam County , downstate, while putting the northwestern edge of Rockland County as well as the northernmost quarter of Westchester County (including Peekskill ) upstate. Conversely, area residents often use Interstate 84 to delineate a boundary between upstate and downstate New York. Yet another usage follows
8256-524: The Marcellus Shale in the Southern Tier, which is currently banned in New York. Cummins engine company has a large production facility located in Jamestown, NY. The Jamestown Engine Plant, established in 1974, is one of the top five heavy-duty diesel engine producers worldwide with production in recent years typically exceeding 100,000 engines annually. The JEP also remains one of the company's largest manufacturing facilities, as it accounts for 12 percent of Cummins' total engine production in 2012. Agriculture
8385-448: The Mohawk Valley, living among the Mohawk, learning their language, and forging an alliance with them. He was appointed as the British Indian agent to the Iroquois. The British also encouraged settlement in the Mohawk Valley by other Europeans, including German Palatines beginning in the 1720s. In what became known as the Albany Congress in 1754, delegates from seven of the thirteen British North American colonies met at Albany to pursue
8514-425: The New York metropolitan market. A Greek-style yogurt, Chobani , is being produced upstate by a recent immigrant, who has expanded his operation nationally. Additionally, upstate New York continues to boast low crime rates, high educational prospects, and readily affordable daily essentials, earning Syracuse, Rochester, Albany, Schenectady , and Buffalo spots in the Forbes magazine list of top ten places to raise
8643-460: The Northern District of New York places Sullivan County and Dutchess County in the Southern District, and Ulster and Columbia counties in the Northern District. Residents of upstate New York typically prefer to identify with subregions , such as the Hudson Valley (Middle and Upper), the Capital District , the Mohawk Valley , the North Country , Western New York or Central New York . Within New York, surveys have had difficulty determining
8772-503: The Southern Tier is either served by the Elmira-Corning television market or the Binghamton television market. Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties are out of these stations' ranges, however, and are instead served by the Buffalo and Erie television markets. Two stations (more-or-less independent WVTT-CD and Retro Television Network owned-and-operated translator WBUO-LD ) are licensed to Olean but serve Buffalo in practice. The Olean, Elmira-Corning, and Binghamton radio markets directly serve
8901-399: The Southern Tier with Buffalo , Dubois (at the western end in Salamanca), Sunbury / Lock Haven (at Elmira), and Syracuse , Albany and Harrisburg (at Binghamton). A somewhat-unorganized network of municipally-operated public transportation services operate local and limited intercity bus services between Salamanca and Elmira. Until the demise of long-distance passenger rail service in
9030-408: The Southern Tier, and the Ithaca market indirectly serves some of the area. Seven Mountains Media is the dominant broadcaster in Olean and Elmira-Corning. iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media own station clusters only in Binghamton. Notable newspapers include The Leader of Corning, the Elmira Star-Gazette , the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin , Hornell Evening Tribune, the Wellsville Daily Reporter,
9159-423: The Southern Tier, with anything east of that being considered Central New York . Other definitions define it as comprising the combined Corning-Elmira-Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Areas , which includes Steuben, Chemung, Tioga and Broome Counties but not Chautauqua, Cattaraugus or Allegany, which are considered Western New York . The New York State Division of Local Government Services presently classifies
9288-612: The Southern Tier. The Southern Tier is generally hilly without being mountainous (with the exception of the Catskill mountains). This can range from low rolling hills to more steep and rugged cliffs and valleys. The highest point in western New York is Alma Hill in Allegany County near the Steuben County line in the Southern Tier. Both the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers flow through the Southern Tier in their upper reaches, as does
9417-519: The U.S. Census definition of the New York metropolitan area prior to 2010, which includes all of included Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam counties. This definition was used by the plaintiffs in the federal redistricting case Rodriguez v. Pataki . In New York state law, the definition of the upstate boundary also varies: while Westchester is seemingly always considered downstate under state law, some definitions include Rockland and Putnam counties in
9546-495: The United States in the 1950s and 1960s, the Erie Railroad operated passenger trains in the region, with Chicago, Illinois as the western terminus and Jersey City, New Jersey as the eastern terminus, with ferry connections to New York City . The last Erie Lackawanna passenger train, the "Lake Cities", ran on January 6, 1970. Amtrak currently does not serve the area. Proposals for high-speed rail in New York have included
9675-851: The aftermath of the Lower Canada Rebellion , some Québécois rebels escaped south to the North Country, while on the Niagara Frontier , events of the Upper Canada Rebellion , also known as the Patriot War , took place. In the late 1860s, some of the Fenian raids were launched across the Niagara Frontier; Fenians also assembled in Malone . Although now largely discredited, the report of
9804-607: The area and have helped revive agriculture as part of the economy. Beginning in 1974, many Mennonite families moved to the Penn Yan area of Yates County from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania , seeking cheaper farmland. Amish communities have also been established in St. Lawrence, Montgomery , Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties, and are making farming profitable. Artisans are reviving traditional specialty cheeses and developing growing markets for their products, including shipping some items to
9933-545: The century the New York Central Railroad followed the "water-level route" from New York City to the Great Lakes, contributing to the industrialization of cities along its route. Several times in the nineteenth century, upstate New York served as a staging area and refuge for Canadian rebels against Great Britain, as well as Irish-American invaders of Canada, straining British–American relations. In 1837 and 1838, in
10062-594: The city of Salamanca , and the coexistence of the predominantly white city and the reservation has been a source of contention since the 1990s. Both before and after the Revolution, boundary disputes with other colonies and their successor states also complicated American settlement. In conflict with the New York Colony 's claims west of the Hudson Valley, which placed the entire region in the sprawling Albany County ,
10191-601: The colonies rejected it. To counter the French militarily, the British established forts along Lake Ontario and at portages between the Mohawk Valley and the adjacent Lake Champlain and Lake Ontario watersheds. The region became the area for many conflicts of the French and Indian War , such as the Battle of Fort Oswego (1756) and the Siege of Fort William Henry (which was later depicted in
10320-439: The comparative isolation of the region, many of the sects were Nonconformist , and because of their non-traditional tenets they had numerous difficulties with government and other local people. The region is considered to be the cradle of Mormonism . The Mormons , Seventh-day Adventists and Spiritualists are the only 21st century survivors of the hundreds of sects created during this time; some more mainstream churches, such as
10449-583: The completion of the federally sponsored Kinzua Dam for flood -control in northwestern Pennsylvania east of Warren created the long Allegheny Reservoir , known as Lake Perfidy among the Seneca, part of which is included in the Allegheny National Recreation Area . The dam flooded parts of lands deeded "forever" to the Seneca Nation of Indians by the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua , and lands given to Cornplanter and his descendants. The event
10578-542: The confluence of the Monongahela River and Allegheny form the Ohio River at downtown Pittsburgh. Many additional streams enter or join with the Allegheny River along its course. Several locks were built in the early 20th century to make the Allegheny River navigable for 72 miles upstream from Pittsburgh to East Brady . The Allegheny River has eight locks and fixed-crest dams numbered two through nine: Allegheny River Lock and Dam No. 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 which form corresponding reservoirs. The river
10707-521: The conflux of New York, Québec and Ontario lies the Mohawk Nation of Iroquois. To the east, across the remainder of the North Country region, New York shares a land border with the province of Québec . Upstate counties and towns are generally larger in area and smaller in population, compared with those downstate, although there are exceptions. The state's smallest county in population ( Hamilton County ) and largest county in area ( St. Lawrence County on
10836-519: The construction of the railroads that would supplant them. Plans to connect these canals to the Pennsylvania Canal system, thus making them much more than feeders to the Erie Canal, never came to fruition. Railroads did arrive and the Erie Railroad , which followed the water-level of the Allegheny, Susquehanna and Delaware watersheds, accelerated industrial progress in the region about the time of
10965-856: The core counties include Cornell University , Hartwick College , Ithaca College , SUNY Colleges in Cortland and Oneonta , Jamestown Community College , Fredonia , and Tompkins Cortland Community College . The Southern Tier Expressway – Interstate 86 and New York State Route 17 – serves the Southern Tier. The highway is the region's major corridor and connects to U.S. Route 219 in Salamanca, Interstate 390 in Bath, Interstate 99 in Corning, U.S. Route 220 in Waverly, and Interstates 81 and 88 in Binghamton. The region
11094-405: The core counties include St. Bonaventure University , Alfred University , Elmira College , and Houghton College . Technical and community colleges include Alfred State College , Broome Community College , Corning Community College , and the State University of New York at Delhi . The region is also home to E.B.I. Career College, a vocational school . Institutions of higher learning outside
11223-539: The downstate region, and others also include Orange and Dutchess counties; all of these counties are served by Metro-North Railroad lines. Ulster County , and, in the largest state-defined extent of downstate, Columbia County , are also sometimes included. The division line between the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the United States District Court for
11352-569: The east by the Clarion River , a principal tributary, at Parker; from the east by Crooked Creek southeast of Kittanning; and from the east by the Kiskiminetas River , another principal tributary, at Schenley. Buffalo Creek enters at Freeport, Chartiers Run enters at Lower Burrell, Bull Creek enters at Tarentum, Pucketa Creek enters near New Kensington, Riddle Run enters at Springdale, and Girtys Run enters at Millvale. And finally,
11481-588: The eastern triple divide . The stream flows south and passes under Pennsylvania Route 49 11 miles northeast of Coudersport where a historical marker that declares the start of the river is located. Cobb Hill is about a mile north. The stream flows southwest paralleling Route 49 to Coudersport. It continues west to Port Allegany then turns north into western New York, looping westward across southern Cattaraugus County for approximately 30 miles (48 km), past Portville , Olean , Allegany and Salamanca and flowing through Seneca Indian Nation lands close to
11610-507: The economy of the region and the state. The canal greatly eased the movement of goods from across the upper Midwest and the cities along the Great Lakes through upstate New York and to the port of New York City. As a result, upstate New York became a hotbed for manufacturing during the Second Industrial Revolution , giving birth to such firms as General Electric , IBM , Kodak , and Xerox . The rapid industrialization led to
11739-437: The exception of Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Chautauqua Counties, which are in area code 716 or area code 585 . As of 2023, the westernmost portion of the Southern Tier is located in New York's 23rd congressional district , and the easternmost portion is located in New York's 19th congressional district . The ZIP code prefixes 147 (Jamestown region), 148 – 149 (Elmira region), and 137 – 139 (Binghamton region) are set aside for
11868-532: The expansion of Anglo-American settlement into the Allegheny Valley and the surrounding Ohio Country was a primary cause of the French and Indian War in the 1750s. During the war, the village of Kittanning – the principal Shawnee settlement on the river – was completely destroyed during the Kittanning Expedition , which saw 300 provincial troops from the Province of Pennsylvania brutally attack
11997-528: The following fourteen counties as members of the Southern Tier: Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Schoharie, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, and Tompkins. This definition corresponds to the same 14 counties in New York State that are members of the Appalachian Regional Commission formed in 1963. Much of the Southern Tier is in area code 607 , with
12126-584: The latter half of the 17th century, control of the river valley passed back-and-forth between Algonquian -speaking Shawnee and the Iroquois . By the time of the arrival of French colonialists in the early 18th century, the Shawnee were once again in control and formed an alliance with France against attempts by colonists from British North America to settler across the Allegheny Mountains . The conflict over
12255-458: The law finally took effect, the last 2,800 slaves in New York State were emancipated on July 4, 1827. Although routes for travel on foot and by canoe had existed across the region for hundreds of years, transportation of agricultural goods to market was expensive and slow. Influenced by the canals being built in Britain, leading citizens of New York began to press for the construction of a canal across
12384-534: The main headstream of both the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers . Historically, the Allegheny was considered to be the upper Ohio River by both Native Americans and European settlers. This shallow river has been made navigable upstream from Pittsburgh to East Brady by a series of locks and dams that were constructed during the early 20th century. A 24-mile-long portion of the upper river in Warren and McKean counties of Pennsylvania and Cattaraugus County in New York forms
12513-468: The mid-1950s gave the region superior access to other eastern markets. This regional advantage faded as many local firms relocated certain operations to other states, or downsized in the face of foreign competition, similar to events in other areas in the American Rust Belt . There have, however, been recent efforts at economic revitalization. In April 2021, GlobalFoundries , a company specializing in
12642-454: The more-level corridor to the north between Albany and Buffalo. There was an attempt at a Genesee Valley Canal in the western half, and in the eastern half, the Chemung and Chenango Canals did connect the Erie Canal to Elmira and Binghamton respectively. Beset by financial and technical difficulties, the latter two canals nonetheless were important catalysts for economic growth, and indeed for
12771-548: The mouth of the Niagara River and Fort Ontario at the mouth of the Oswego River . The government of the new State of New York seized the property of New Yorkers who had remained loyal to the British crown. Thousands emigrated to colonies that remained under British rule, such as Nova Scotia and the newly established Upper Canada (now Ontario ). Haudenosaunee who had fought with the British also fled. The British Crown granted
12900-603: The northeasternmost drainage in the watershed of the Mississippi River. Its tributaries reach to within 8 mi (13 km) of Lake Erie in southwestern New York. Water from the Allegheny River eventually flows into the Gulf of Mexico via the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. The Allegheny Valley has been one of the most productive areas of fossil fuel extraction in United States history, with its extensive deposits of coal , petroleum , and natural gas . In its upper reaches,
13029-420: The northern boundary of Allegany State Park before re-entering northwestern Pennsylvania within the Allegheny Reservoir just east of the Warren - McKean county line, approx. 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Warren . It flows in a broad zigzag course generally southwest across Western Pennsylvania ; first flowing southwest past Warren, Tidioute , Tionesta , Oil City , and Franklin , forming much of
13158-516: The northwestern boundary of Allegheny National Forest . South of Franklin it turns southeast across Clarion County in a meandering course, then turns again southwest across Armstrong County , flowing past Kittanning , Ford City , Clinton , and Freeport . The river enters both Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, the Pittsburgh suburbs , and the City of Pittsburgh from the northeast. It passes
13287-835: The people of the Iroquois Confederacy. There were major settlements along the Allegheny River in Cattaraugus County (which the Senecas acquired by defeating the Wenrohronon during the Beaver Wars in 1638) and at Painted Post in Steuben County, at what is today the northeast side of Corning, New York. The Seneca Nation has a reservation today along the Allegheny River and a headquarters at Salamanca . There are also Native lands (with no current Native residents) on Cuba Lake in Allegany County. The colonies that eventually became
13416-422: The region to support a combination of manufacturing industries (including large companies such as IBM and Corning Inc. ) and farming, but with less development compared to neighboring subregions of Upstate. Since the 1950s, the area is often considered to be a part of the Rust Belt , as manufacturing jobs have left the region. The Southern Tier is commonly considered to consist of 8 counties: The Southern Tier
13545-532: The region, and Town Team Baseball also operated in the form of the Southwestern New York Men's Baseball League from 2014 to 2016. Only one major league franchise has ever resided in the Southern Tier: the professional basketball team Elmira Colonels , which played from 1952 to 1953. Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York that lies north and northwest of
13674-488: The region, in Steuben County. The Southern Tier is more linked, geographically, with Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna River valley than it is with the remainder of New York State. Population of the Southern Tier came primarily from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and downstate New York ("Yorkers"). In contrast, the inhabitants of upper New York State came from New England ("Yankees"). The Southern Tier has long been home to
13803-598: The region. Several regions upstate are characterized by major mountain ranges, large lakes, and extensive forests. The Allegheny Plateau extends into west and central New York from the south. The Catskill Mountains lie within Lower New York in the southeastern part of the state, closer to New York City. The Catskills and the Allegheny Plateau are part of the Appalachian chain . By contrast, Northern New York contains
13932-482: The relatively flat and straight land in the Empire Corridor. Government services are the largest employer in the area. Of second and declining importance is manufacturing. The region's manufacturing economy has suffered for decades, but factories are found in the region's larger communities. Fortune 500 materials maker Corning Inc. is headquartered in Steuben County. Broome County has a large high-tech industry and
14061-672: The rights to the land. The treaty granted sovereignty to the State of New York, but granted to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts the "pre-emptive" right to seek title to the land from the Haudenosaunee. The eastern boundary of the Massachusetts lands was thus known as the Preemption Line . This line runs from the Pennsylvania line due north to Lake Ontario, passing through Seneca Lake . The line
14190-552: The river at Titusville . One of the underlying premises of the Genesee Valley Canal was its connection to the river, opening a trade route from Rochester , New York to the west. The advent of the railroads obviated any interest Pennsylvania might have had in participating to improve navigation on the river. The canal was closed in 1877 and the right-of-way sold to the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad . In 1965,
14319-418: The river became a principal means of navigation in the upper Ohio valley, especially for the transport of coal. Although the building of the railroads lessened the importance of the river somewhat, the lower river (navigable as far as East Brady , Pennsylvania through locks) has continued to serve as a route of commercial transportation until the present day. In 1859, the first U.S. petroleum was drilled north of
14448-483: The river located in Warren , Forest , and Venango counties. Depression-era folk singer Buster Red recorded "Allegheny River", wherein the river is a destructive force throughout life, but not necessarily a malignant one. Folksinger Pete Seeger's song "Where the Old Allegheny and Monongahela Flow", depicts a character living in a city pining for a return to the Allegheny River. Old Crow Medicine Show released
14577-584: The river; for example, the Village of Allegany and Allegany State Park . Port Allegany, located along the river in Pennsylvania near the border with New York, also follows this pattern. The Allegheny River rises in north central Pennsylvania, on Cobb Hill in Allegany Township in north central Potter County , 8 miles (13 km) south of the New York–Pennsylvania border and a few miles northwest of
14706-542: The same lands. When Vermont declared independence in 1777, the new Republic of Vermont recognized the New Hampshire grants over those of New York. New Yorkers who lost land in Vermont came to be known as the "Vermont Sufferers" and were granted new lands in 1788 in the town of Bainbridge, New York . The dispute with Massachusetts over lands to the west of Massachusetts was settled in the 1786 Treaty of Hartford by dividing
14835-565: The second such convention, was held two weeks later in Rochester . Through the nineteenth century, upstate New York was a hotbed of religious revivalism. A number of sects, such as the Shakers and the Oneida Community , established themselves in upstate New York during that time. This led evangelist Charles Grandison Finney to coin the term the " Burned-Over District " for the region. Because of
14964-473: The settlement. After gaining control of the area in the 1763 Treaty of Paris , the British kept the area closed to Anglo-American colonists, in part to repair and maintain relations with the Native Americans. After the American Revolutionary War , the entire river valley became part of the new United States , and U.S. settlers forcibly displaced the region's indigenous population. During the 19th century,
15093-437: The state's northern border) are both in upstate New York, within the North Country and Thousand Islands regions of northern New York. The counties with the largest in population ( Kings County ) and smallest in area ( New York County ) are both parts of New York City. Upstate New York is well known for its cold and snowy winters, particularly in comparison to the more temperate climate of downstate New York. The snowy reputation
15222-455: The state. Governor DeWitt Clinton prevailed upon the legislature to charter and fund construction of a canal from Albany to Buffalo. Construction of the Erie Canal began in 1817 and was completed in 1825. The canal allowed the area to become an important component of the 19th century industrial expansion in the United States. The canal also promoted trade with British North America and settlement of newer states in western territories. Later in
15351-628: The states of New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania all laid claim to the Southern Tier at various points in the 17th and 18th centuries, while not making any significant attempt to settle the territory. The region was quickly settled by whites after the Revolutionary War, when settlers were again allowed west of the Appalachian divide. The Southern Tier shared in the economic growth of the early 19th century, but its hilly terrain made it less suitable to canal-building, and later, railroading, than
15480-688: The war. While New York City remained in the hands of the British during most of the war, the upstate region was eventually dominated by the Colonial forces. At the end of the war, the Continental Army was headquartered in Newburgh . Uncertain that the Continental Congress would pay back wages, some Continental officers threatened an uprising in what became known as the Newburgh Conspiracy . After
15609-616: The western Southern Tier. The western and northern edges of the Southern Tier are known as ski country , and the hilly terrain (that forms a continental divide known as the Chautauqua Ridge) is notorious for frequent and heavy lake effect snow . As a result, Ellicottville has become a "ski town" with both the Holimont and Holiday Valley resorts in the vicinity; the two resorts draw numerous tourists, particularly from Canada , for which U.S. Route 219 provides easy access. At its peak in
15738-737: The work of James Fenimore Cooper ), during the Seven Years' War . The British conquered New France by 1760 with the fall of Quebec . France formally ceded New France to the British in the Treaty of Paris of 1763 . The same year, King George III issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763 , which established the western and northern boundary of the Province of New York at the limits of the Hudson, Mohawk and Delaware River watersheds. The area between that boundary and
15867-410: Was added. During the era immediately following World War II, upstate reached what was probably its peak influence in the national economy. Major local corporations such as IBM , General Electric , Kodak , Xerox and Carrier had national success, producing cutting-edge products for business, government and consumers, and leadership in corporate culture. The opening of the New York State Thruway in
15996-433: Was described in the Johnny Cash song "As Long as the Grass Shall Grow" from the 1964 album Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian , which focused on the history of and problems facing Native Americans in the United States. The construction of the dam and the filling of the Allegheny Reservoir also necessitated the elimination of the small village of Corydon , which was located at the confluence of Willow Creek with
16125-421: Was established in 1624. The fort at Schenectady was built in 1661. The upper Hudson Valley was the center of much of the colony's fur trade , which was highly lucrative, serving a demand for furs in Europe. North and west of New Netherland, the French established trading posts along the St. Lawrence River and as far south as the shores of Onondaga Lake . They found both trading and proselytizing difficult among
16254-413: Was established to grant land to Revolutionary War veterans. Some of Northern New York was founded by the hundreds of Canadian exiles who had fought in the First and Second Canadian Regiments of the Continental Army , who were banished from Canada due to their rebellion against the Crown. Battles of the War of 1812 (1812–1815) were fought on the Niagara Frontier ; in the Champlain Valley , including
16383-409: Was later developed. They are considered to be the first three U.S. saints . England seized New Netherland by force in 1664, renaming it New York. The Dutch recaptured the colony nine years later, but ceded it to England under the Treaty of Westminster of 1674 . In the eighteenth century, the British consolidated their hold on the region. William Johnson , a Scottish trader, established an estate in
16512-406: Was once the bottom of a glacial lake. The only "hills" in Niagara County are the Niagara Escarpment , which formed the Falls . Upstate New York has a long shared border with the Canadian province of Ontario stretching from Western New York across Northern New York. It is primarily divided by water boundaries along Lake Erie , the Niagara River , Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River . At
16641-443: Was surveyed a second time due to initial errors. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts sold this land in large tracts, including the Phelps and Gorham Purchase and the Holland Purchase . Many of the settlers of what then became Central and Western New York came from the New England states. The Central New York Military Tract , where many of the townships were given the names of classical military and literary figures by Robert Harpur ,
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