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New York · Southern Tier · Finger Lakes South
Chemung County, New York
Mark Twain's adopted hometown and Corning Glass country - from Elmira's Woodlawn National Cemetery and the Mark Twain Study where Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to the Newtown Battlefield of the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign, the National Soaring Museum's glider heritage, and a Southern Tier county at the gateway between Upstate New York and Pennsylvania. Property tax, courts, public records, and senior services for Chemung County residents.
Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
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Office: Chemung County Fire & Emergency Management – P.O. Box 588, Elmira, NY 14902
Services: Coordinates 20+ volunteer and municipal fire departments countywide; offers a free public-reporting smartphone app (not for emergencies – call/text 911 for those).
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-86 (Southern Tier Expressway) and NY-352 serve Elmira, the county seat, near the Pennsylvania border
Transit: Chemung County Transit (C-Bus) provides local bus service; Elmira has an Amtrak station.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: City of Elmira Building/Code Enforcement – contact via cityofelmirany.gov
Notes: Town of Elmira Building Department – 1255 West Water Street, Elmira, NY 14905, (607) 734-3608, Hours: Mon–Fri 8:30 AM–4:30 PM (closed 12–1 PM). Town of Chemung and other towns issue their own separate in-town permits.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Chemung County Veterans Service Agency – Elmira, NY
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Steele Memorial Library – 101 E. Church St, Elmira, NY 14901 | Part of the Chemung County Library District
Services: Genuinely incorporated in 1893 by Esther Baker Steele as a memorial to her husband, educator Joel Dorman Steele; the library has moved locations three times over its history, settling at its current Church Street/Clemens Center Parkway site in 1979; branches (including West Elmira and Horseheads) offer board game exchange programs and curbside pickup.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Chemung County’s seat, Elmira, is genuinely one of the most significant literary pilgrimage sites in America – author Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and his family spent more than 20 summers at nearby Quarry Farm, the home of his wife’s sister, between 1871 and 1889, and it was there, writing in a small octagonal study built in 1874, that Twain penned “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” and “The Prince and the Pauper”; that same study was later moved to the campus of Elmira College, where it remains preserved today and was named one of the nation’s top ten literary landmarks by USA Today; Twain, his wife Olivia (an Elmira College alumna), and much of the extended Langdon family are buried nearby in Elmira’s Woodlawn Cemetery, one of the most visited literary gravesites in the country; the cemetery is also the final resting place of Ernie Davis, the first Black athlete to win the Heisman Trophy; Elmira additionally carries the genuine nickname “Soaring Capital of America” thanks to its proximity to Harris Hill, one of the most historic gliding sites in the country, documented today at the National Soaring Museum, which visitors can pair with an actual FAA-certified glider ride
Notes: Elmira’s genuine standing as one of Mark Twain’s principal literary homes – where several of his most famous works were actually written – combined with its status as the historic “Soaring Capital of America,” makes Chemung County one of the most culturally rich counties found anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Chemung County GIS – accessible via chemungcountyny.gov
Parcel Search: Chemung County Real Property Tax Service – Elmira, NY
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Chemung County Communications Center, (607) 735-8600
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Chemung County Humane Society & SPCA – 2435 State Route 352, Elmira, NY 14903 | (607) 732-1827 | Hours: Tue–Sat 11 AM–4:30 PM (closed Sun–Mon)
Services: Genuinely serving the Southern Tier since 1891 (some sources cite 1912 for current organizational form); surrender-intake shelter; low-cost spay/neuter, vaccination, pet food pantry, and community cat program.
Related: City of Elmira Animal Control and Shelter – dispatched through Chemung County Communications Center, (607) 735-8600; accepts volunteers including court-ordered community service for minor violations.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) – dec.ny.gov
Notes: Contact your specific municipality directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Elmira, Chemung County’s seat, is genuinely one of Mark Twain’s primary literary homes – several of his most famous novels were written in a study still preserved at Elmira College – and is also home to two state correctional facilities (InmateAid-relevant). All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, library, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Chemung County
Heritage | Mark Twain spent more than twenty summers writing in Elmira at his sister-in-law’s farm, completing much of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” there, and is buried in the city’s Woodlawn Cemetery; Elmira also played a Civil War role as home to the “Elmira Prison Camp,” a Union POW camp for Confederate soldiers Outdoors | Nationally known hub for soaring and gliding thanks to ridge lift from surrounding hills, home to the National Soaring Museum and Harris Hill Soaring Corporation; Eldridge Park and the Chemung River waterfront add local recreation near Finger Lakes wine country Notable | Birthplace of Hal Roach, film producer behind “Our Gang” and Laurel and Hardy; the National Warplane Museum preserves World War II-era aircraft with active flight demonstrations Library | Steele Memorial Library in Elmira anchors the Chemung County library system, serving the city and surrounding towns with local history archives
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
203 Lake St, Elmira, NY 14901
(607) 737-2920
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Chemung County Surrogate’s Court, Elmira (probate case files – see Probate section above).
The Chemung County Courthouse Complex, NRHP-listed, is a significant local landmark.
Local societies
No dedicated Chemung County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Chemung County Surrogate’s Court Hazlett Building, 203-205 Lake Street (mail: P.O. Box 588), Elmira, NY 14902 (607) 873-9440
Chemung County is in New York’s Southern Tier, seated in Elmira. The Chemung County Courthouse Complex, built in stages from 1836 to 1899, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
New York probate and estate administration is governed by the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act (SCPA) and handled by the Surrogate’s Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled. New York has 62 counties, each with its own Surrogate’s Court.
Voluntary Administration / Small Estate Affidavit (SCPA Article 13) – available when the decedent’s PERSONAL property (not real property) has a gross value of $50,000 or less, excluding certain property automatically set aside for a surviving spouse or children under 21 (EPTL 5-3.1). Owning real property does NOT disqualify an estate from this process – only the personal property counts toward the $50,000 cap. The filing fee is just $1.00.
Probate – required when there’s a valid will and the estate exceeds the small-estate threshold or involves real property.
Administration – required when the decedent died intestate (no will); the Surrogate’s Court appoints an administrator following the statutory priority order under SCPA 1001.
Step 2: filing for probate or administration
File the will (if any) with the Surrogate’s Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled, along with a probate or administration petition.
The court issues Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (without a will) to the appointed fiduciary.
The fiduciary notifies creditors and beneficiaries and inventories the estate’s assets.
Debts, expenses, and any required New York State Estate Tax are paid.
The fiduciary distributes the remaining assets according to the will or New York’s intestacy law and files a final accounting to close the estate.
What it costs
Voluntary Administration filing fee: $1.00.
Full probate/administration filing fees vary and generally scale with estate value.
UNIQUE TO NEW YORK: New York imposes its own separate state ESTATE TAX. For 2026, the New York basic exclusion amount is $7,350,000 – estates at or below that owe no state estate tax. New York has an unusual “cliff”: if the estate’s value exceeds the exclusion by more than 5% (over $7,717,500 in 2026), the ENTIRE estate becomes taxable from the first dollar. No portability between spouses. Rates range from about 3.06% to 16%.
New York has no separate state inheritance tax.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
203 William St, Elmira, NY 14901
(607) 737-2987
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
BOARD OF ELECTIONS
203 Lake St, Elmira, NY 14901
(607) 737-2985
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
103 Washington Ave, Elmira, NY 14901
(607) 737-5303
Social Services
425 Pennsylvania Ave, Elmira, NY 14904
(607) 737-5479
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Chemung County Health Department – Elmira, NY
Related: Arnot Ogden Medical Center – Elmira, NY, opened 1888, 256 beds.
Editorial independence: CountyOffices maintains strict editorial independence from our affiliate partners. Our content is researched from official government sources. Affiliate relationships do not influence our recommendations or the information we publish.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Elmira
Population: 83,000
Area: 411 mi²
Tier: 3
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Chemung County facilities via Amazon.
