Southern Tier

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Timelines of town creation Downstate New York Hudson Valley Capital District North Country Central New York Southern Tier Western New York
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The Southern Tier is a geographic subregion of the broader

The New York State Division of Local Government Services presently classifies 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.[2] 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

Geography

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 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 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").^[3]: 11

History

The Southern Tier has long been home to the people of the

The colonies that eventually became 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 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 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 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 the

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.

Education

The

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.[6]

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.

Media and entertainment

Most of 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

The Olean, Elmira-Corning, and Binghamton radio markets directly serve 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

The Southern Tier has an eclectic history of sports. From 1979 to 2009 the

• Twin Tiers
• Northern Tier (Pennsylvania)
• Erie Triangle
• New York-Pennsylvania border

Notes

External links

• Southern Tier travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Southern Tier Business Information: Information on Southern Tier companies, industries and industry clusters.
• DotST: A photographic project devoted to chronicling the decline of the Southern Tier.