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New York County
Orleans County, New York
Lake Ontario's apple country and the Medina sandstone legacy - from Orleans County's extraordinary apple production (the Lake Ontario shoreline's moderating influence - lake-effect cooling in spring delays bloom past frost danger and warming in fall extends the growing season - makes Orleans County one of New York's premier apple-growing regions, with thousands of acres of orchards producing MacIntosh, Honeycrisp, and dozens of other varieties) to Medina sandstone (a distinctive reddish-brown sandstone quarried in Orleans County since the early 19th century that was used in iconic buildings including the Smithsonian Institution Castle, portions of the US Capitol, and hundreds of prominent 19th-century buildings across the eastern United States) and the Erie Canal's Medina corridor.
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Office: Orleans County Emergency Management – 14064 W. County House Road, Albion, NY 14411 | (585) 589-4414
Services: Coordinates emergency services, provides training, and manages radio communication systems for first responders; the county’s Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan is reviewed and updated annually.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: NY-98 and the Ridge Road (NY-104) serve Albion, the county seat, along the southern shore of Lake Ontario
Transit: Limited; primarily auto-dependent – confirm current regional options directly with the county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Individual towns issue building permits – e.g., Town of Albion Code Enforcement
Notes: Orleans County does not centrally issue building permits; confirm with your specific town.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Orleans County Veterans Service Agency – Albion, NY
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Hoag Library – 134 S Main St, Albion, NY 14411 | (585) 589-4246 | Hours: Mon–Thu 10 AM–8 PM, Fri–Sat 10 AM–5 PM (some listings show Sat 10 AM–2 PM; confirm current hours) (closed Sun)
Services: A modern 14,600-square-foot facility that opened in 2012, replacing the historic Swan Library; includes a local history room, children’s library, and community meeting space; also serves as a designated cooling center during extreme heat.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Orleans County sits on the narrow, fertile band of land along Lake Ontario’s southern shore, genuinely one of New York’s largest apple-growing regions – the county is home to roughly 1.7 million apple trees, part of a broader Lake Ontario fruit belt (spanning Wayne, Orleans, and Niagara counties) that accounts for the majority of the state’s total apple acreage; local tradition holds that commercial apple growing in the county traces back to 1805, when a sailor gave an apple to an early settler, and the industry has produced upward of 130 million pounds of apples annually in recent years; the county’s railroading heritage is preserved at the Medina Railroad Museum in the Victorian village of Medina, which showcases the historic New York Central Railroad and offers vintage train excursions along the Erie Canal; nearby, Albion’s historic Courthouse Square includes a church built by George Pullman, the inventor of the railroad sleeping car; the Cobblestone Museum in Childs preserves a distinctive wave-washed cobblestone architectural style native to the Great Lakes region, popular from 1830 to 1860
Notes: Orleans County’s genuine status as a core part of New York’s premier apple-growing region along Lake Ontario, combined with its rich railroading and cobblestone architectural heritage, makes it one of the more distinctive agricultural counties found anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Orleans County GIS – accessible via orleanscountyny.gov
Parcel Search: Orleans County Real Property Tax Service – Albion, NY
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Orleans County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Orleans County Animal Control (Sheriff’s Office) – 4125 Rt 98, Albion, NY 14411 | Dispatch: (585) 589-5527
Services: A municipal shelter staffed by two Animal Control Officers and volunteers, enforcing NYS Agriculture and Markets laws and local dog ordinances; facilitates adoptions.
Related: PAWS Animal Shelter (People For Animal Welfare Society) – 3371 Gaines Basin Road, Albion, NY 14411, (585) 589-6397, a no-kill nonprofit founded in 1981.
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
Orleans County is genuinely part of New York’s premier Lake Ontario apple-growing region and is home to Albion Correctional Facility, a state women’s prison. All contact information above was sourced from official county, town, library, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Orleans County
Orleans County is western New York’s apple and sandstone county – a Lake Ontario shoreline community whose geological resources and agricultural productivity created two very different legacies of national significance.
Albion (the county seat, population ~5,800) on the Erie Canal is the county’s governmental hub – a classic western New York canal-era community with a historic downtown and county courthouse.
Medina sandstone – quarried along the Lake Ontario plain since the 1820s – was among the most prestigious building materials in 19th-century America. Its distinctive reddish-brown color and durability made it the choice of architects designing the Smithsonian Institution Castle (1855), and it appears in prominent buildings from Boston to Chicago.
The Lake Ontario shoreline’s orchard belt produces exceptional apples – the moderating influence of the Great Lake’s thermal mass creates a microclimate ideal for tree fruit production.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Orleans County Real Property Tax Service at 14016 Route 31 W., Albion, NY 14411, phone 585-589-5275. Appeal to Board of Assessment Review.
Courts & Legal
Orleans County Surrogate’s Court at 1 South Main Street, Suite 3, Albion, NY 14411, phone 585-589-4457, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
3 South Main St, Albion, NY 14411
(585) 589-4415
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Orleans County Surrogate’s Court, Albion (probate case files dating to 1845 – see Probate section above).
The Orleans County Courthouse Historic District, NRHP-listed, is a significant local landmark on Courthouse Square in Albion.
Local societies
No dedicated Orleans 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
Orleans County Surrogate’s Court Orleans County Courthouse, 1 South Main Street, Suite 3, Albion, NY 14411 (585) 283-6622
Orleans County was founded in 1824, named after the House of Orléans, in Western New York, seated in Albion (though Medina is the county’s largest village). The Orleans County Courthouse Historic District, spanning 1830-1910 architecture on Courthouse Square, 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. Orleans County requires mandatory e-filing for Surrogate’s Court proceedings.
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
13925 County House Rd, Albion, NY 14411
(585) 589-5527
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
BOARD OF ELECTIONS
14016 Route 31, Albion, NY 14411
(585) 589-5334
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
14016 Route 31, Albion, NY 14411
(585) 589-3278
Social Services
14016 Route 31, Albion, NY 14411
(585) 589-7000
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Orleans County Health Department – Albion, NY
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Albion
Population: 40,000
Established: 1824
Tier: 3
Public Records
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