Utica (New York)

Utica (New York), city, seat of Oneida County, central New York, a port on the Mohawk River and the New York State Barge Canal; incorporated as a city 1832. It developed as a transportation and industrial center in a dairy-farming area and a gateway to the Adirondack Mountains. In the city are Utica College (1946) of Syracuse University, the State University of New York College of Technology at Utica-Rome (1966), the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute (including a school of art and a museum), and a medical research center.

The site of the city was an Iroquois center. The present community, settled about 1773 on the site of old Fort Schuyler (built in 1758 and soon abandoned), was destroyed by a force of British and Native Americans in 1776 but was reestablished after the American Revolution. Industrial development increased after the opening (1825) of the Erie Canal, and the city was an important textile center from about 1850 to the mid-20th century. Originally known as Fort Schuyler, Utica received its present name in 1798, probably for the ancient city of Utica in northern Africa. Population 75,632 (1980); 68,637 (1990); 60,651 (2000); 59,082 (2006).