Chautauqua County, New York

Chautauqua County, New York
Chautauqua County Courthouse in Mayville
Seal
Location in the U.S. state of New York
New York's location in the U.S.
Founded	February 9, 1811
Seat	Mayville
Largest city	Jamestown
Area
• Total	1,500 sq mi (3,885 km2)
• Land	1,060 sq mi (2,745 km2)
• Water	440 sq mi (1,140 km2), 29%
Population
• (2010)	134,905
• Density	127/sq mi (49/km²)
Congressional district	23rd
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	www.co.chautauqua.ny.us

Chautauqua County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 134,905. Its county seat is Mayville, and its largest city is Jamestown. Its name is believed to be the lone surviving remnant of the Erie language, a tongue lost in the Beaver Wars; its meaning is unknown and a subject of speculation. The county was created in 1808 and organized in 1811.

Chautauqua County comprises the Jamestown-Dunkirk-Fredonia, NY Micropolitan Statistical Area. It is located south of Lake Erie and includes a small portion of the Cattaraugus Reservation of the Seneca.

Most of Chautauqua County was held by the Erie people prior to the Beaver Wars in the 1650s. French forces traversed the territory beginning in 1615. The Seneca Nation conquered the territory during the Beaver Wars and held it through the next century until siding with the British crown, their allies for most of the 18th century, against the American revolutionaries in the American Revolutionary War.

Chautauqua County was organized by the state legislature during the development of western New York after the American Revolutionary War. It was officially separated from Genesee County on March 11, 1808. This partition was performed under the same terms that produced Cattaraugus and Niagara counties. The partition was done for political purposes, but the counties were not properly organized for self-government, so they were all administered as part of Niagara County.