Herkimer

Herkimer, county, central New York state, U.S. The northern arm of the county lies in the Adirondack Mountains, while the southern section consists of a hilly upland. The principal streams are the Black, Independence, Mohawk, and Moose (north and south branches) rivers, as well as the New York State Canal System (completed 1918), which incorporates the Erie Canal (1825). Other bodies of water are Stillwater and Hinckley reservoirs and Honnedaga, Woodhull, and Fulton Chain lakes. The northern arm of the county is forested with the coniferous trees of Adirondack Park (1892)—one of the largest parks in the United States and the nation’s first forest preserve—while wooded areas in the south feature such hardwoods as maple, birch, and beech.

Oneida Indians, members of the Iroquois Confederacy, inhabited the region when settlers from different parts of America and Europe first arrived. The village of Herkimer, the county seat, was named for Nicholas Herkimer, who served the colonies as a general during the U.S. War of Independence and was fatally wounded in the Battle of Oriskany (August 6, 1777); his nearby home is a state historic site (1764). The murder trial of Chester Gillette in the Herkimer County Courthouse inspired the novel An American Tragedy (1925) by Theodore Dreiser. Beside the Erie Canal in Ilion, Eliphalet Remington built a firearms factory in 1828; his company supplied many of the weapons used by the U.S. government in the American Civil War and in World Wars I and II.

The county was formed in 1791. Manufactures include small arms and dairy products. Area 1,412 square miles (3,657 square km). Pop. (2000) 64,427; (2010) 64,519.