BOUNDARIES. North by Tompkins and Cortland; East by Broome; South by the State of Pennsylvania; and West by Chemung and Tompkins counties.

SURFACE. This, like the other counties bordering on the Pennsylvania line, is elevated. Apparently it was once level, but it is now cut into hills and valleys by the eastern branch of the Susquehanna, and its tributaries, which affords abundance of water for the convenience of the farmer, and in many instances, it may be used for manufacturing purposes. On either side of the Susquehanna, are lofty swells of heavy rolling land, yet the creeks are frequently skirted with broad valleys.

RIVERS. The Susquehanna, having a south-west course through the southern part, and its branches the East and West Owego, Cattotong and Cayuta creeks, flowing southerly, are the principal streams of the county.

RAILROADS. The New York and Erie railroad will probably pass through the valley of the Susquehanna. The Ithaca and Owego railroad is already in operation, connecting the two villages whose name it bears.

CLIMATE. The county has a low temperature, owing to the elevation of its surface. It is regarded as healthy,

GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. This county lies wholly within the Chemung sandstone formation, except a small tract of the old red sandstone upon its southern border.

Its minerals are few. Marl is found in the town of Spencer, which is burned for lime. There are several sulphur springs in the county.

SOIL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. The soil is mostly fertile, consisting of a light gravelly loam, with occasional patches of marl and clay. Grass succeeds better than grain in the highlands, but the valleys yield large crops of wheat and corn, while the other crops thrive almost every where. White pine, hemlock, spruce, oak, maple, and beech are the principal timber, and have a dense growth. Maple sugar is produced in considerable quantities.

PURSUITS. Agriculture. The people are for the most part engaged in agricultural pursuits. Some grain is raised, and considerable attention paid to the products of the dairy.

Manufactures. The only manufactures of importance are those of lumber and flour.

Commerce. The products of the county find their way to market, by the Susquehanna river, and the Ithaca and Owego railroad.

STAPLE PRODUCTIONS. Oats, corn, potatoes, wheat and butter. SCHOOLS. This county has 139 district schools, taught in 1846, an average period of eight months each, having 8291 scholars, and paying their teachers over $9,329. The school libraries contained, the same year, 12,744 volumes.

It has nine private schools, with 294 pupils, and one academy, with 125 stu dents.

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Methodists, Baptists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians. The entire number of churches is thirty-two, of clergyman, forty-two.

HISTORY. Tioga county was taken from Montgomery county in 1694. Its name signifies a point or promontory in the river, a junction of waters. It was the Seneca name for the Chemung river.

The towns of Richford, Berkshire and Newark were part of the tract known as the "Massachusetts ten townships," which were ceded to that state by New York.

Barton, Tioga, Owego, and Nichols, were granted by the state to military claimants. Considerable portions of these townships were sold at eighteen cents per acre.

The county was settled by emigrants from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The first settlement was made in 1785, at Owego, by James McMaster and William Taylor, who cleared, the first season, ten or fifteen acres, and raised a crop of corn from the same land.

A few years after its first settlement, there was a great famine in this section of country. It occurred just before harvesting, and for six weeks the inhabitants were without bread of any kind. Meanwhile they subsisted principally upon roots, and though they became very much emaciated and feeble, none died of hunger. It was occasioned by the arrival of a greater number of settlers than usual, and a scarcity in Wyoming that season. Famine is at present little dreaded in this region.

VILLAGES. OWEGO VILLAGE, in the town of Owego, is pleas antly situated on the north side of the Susquehanna, and is the county town. It was commenced in 1785, and laid out into lots in 1794 or 1795. It is advantageously situated for trade, has a large water power, and by means of the Ithaca and Owe go railroad, and the Susquehanna river, a ready access to market.

Besides the court house, jail, and county clerk's office, it has four churches, an incorporated academy, and a number of stores and manufactories. A bridge a fourth of a mile in length crosses the Susquehanna at this place.

This village takes its name from the Owego creek, which ́empties into the Susquehanna near it. Population 2500.

Rushville or Nichols Village, in the town of Nichols, Candor, Newark, Richfield, and Spencer, in the towns of the same names are all thriving villages.

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4. Cobleskill, 1797.
5. Middleburgh, 1797.

6., Sharon, 1797.

7. Jefferson, 1803. Mountains.

m. Kaatsbergs.

13. Wright, 1846.
14. Esperance, 1846.

Rivers, &c. AA. Schoharie Creek. c. Cobleskill. f. Foxes Creek.

Lakes, &c. e. The Vly.

Battle Fields. Cobleskill. Middleburgh.

Villages. SCHOHARIE. Esperance.

BOUNDARIES. North by Montgomery and Schenectady; East by Schenectady and Albany; South by Delaware and Greene, and West by Delaware and Otsego counties.

SURFACE. Mountainous. The county is divided into two unequal sections by the Schoharie kill or creek. The main branch of the Kaatsbergs or Catskill mountains cross the south part of the county, through Broome, Blenheim, Jefferson, and Summit, to the line of Otsego county, broken through, however, by the Schoharie creek.

A spur from the same range passes northward, through Broome, Middleburgh, and Schoharie, into Schenectady and Montgomery counties. This spur is called the Middleberg, from its position between the Helderbergs and the main range of the Kaatsbergs.

The mountains west of Schoharie creek maintain an elevation of from 2000 to 2600 feet. The Middleberg is 1700 feet high, at its most elevated portion, in the south part of the county, but declines gradually towards the east, till it mingles with the Helderbergs.

RIVERS AND CREEKS.

The Schoharie creek with its tributaries, the Cobleskill, Foxes and Breakabeen creeks, are the principal streams in the county.

Bowman's creek, and the Catskill and Charlotte rivers, also take their rise in this county.

In the town of Middleburgh is a large marsh, called the Vlaie or Vly, which is the source of the Catskill.

CLIMATE. From the elevation of its surface, the climate of Schoharie county is cold, but healthful.

GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. The rocks of this county are transition, consisting of slate, graywacke, and limestone. The latter, however, predominates, and is generally the surface rock of the county. Portions of the Helderberg series, and the Erie and Catskill groups occupy the county. The last two are confined to the southern part.

Water limestone is found in great abundance in the northern and central portions of the county.

On the west side of Schoharie creek, in the town of Schoharie, are found beds of massive strontianite, of extraordinary beauty. It was regarded by the inhabitants as marble for many years. Arragonite, heavy spar, and calcareous spar, are also found in the water lime formation. Portions of the water limestone have been excavated for lithographic stones, and are said to be equal in quality to the German. Fine specimens of fibrous sulphate of barytes and carbonate of lime are found in Carlisle, and fibrous celestine, and crystallized iron pyrites, in Schoharie. Bog