About Cayuga County

Welcome to Cayuga County and New York’s Finger Lakes Region!

Cayuga (pronounce ka-yu-ga) County is named for the Cayuga Indian tribe that formed part of the Iroquois Confederation, Cayuga means “people of the wetlands.”

Cayuga County was formed on March 8, 1799 and is well known for its historical significance. Millard Fillmore the 13^th President of the United States, William H. Seward, Harriet Tubman and Ted Case who pioneered talking movies all called Cayuga County home.

The total population is just under 80,000 with the center of population and the County Seat being the City of Auburn with a population just over 27,000. Nearly sixty-five miles long, with and area of 700 square miles, Cayuga County stretches from the shore of the Great Lake Ontario to the heart of the Finger Lakes Region. The County is blessed with plentiful water resources totaling 170 miles or almost 20% of the County and gives us more fresh water coastline than any other county in New York State. The New York State Erie Canal Barge system connects us to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway and Hudson River.

Cayuga County is well known for our: