Binghamton is a city located in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. "The Parlor City" and the "Home of the Square Deal," it is the county seat of Broome County and the principal city and cultural center of the Greater Binghamton region. The population of the City, according to the 2000 census, is 47,380.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.0 square miles. Of which 10.4 square miles of it is land and the remaining 0.6 square miles of it is water.
The City of Binghamton is located at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers. The city is at the crossroads of Interstates 81 and 88, as well as New York State Route 17 (also known as The Southern Tier Expressway and the future Interstate 86).
The Binghamton Metropolitan Area includes approximately 252,000 residents in all of Broome and Tioga (NY) counties. Binghamton is part of the "Triple Cities," along with Endicott and Johnson City (which are actually villages). The region is collectively referred to as Greater Binghamton.
In 2007, Binghamton was named the 9th greenest city in the U.S. by Country Home magazine.
Greater Binghamton is home to Binghamton University, a driving force in the community as an academic, athletic, and arts center. Binghamton has the largest public observatory, the Kopernik Space Center, in the northeastern United States. The region is further recognized as the birthplace of the IBM Corporation, Dick's Sporting Goods, Endicott Johnson Corporation, Raymond Corporation and the Link Trainer flight simulator.
The city was named after William Bingham, a wealthy Philadelphian who bought the surrounding land in 1792. Before that, the first known people of European descent to come to the area were the troops of Gen. John Sullivan in 1779, during the American Revolutionary War.
The community was first settled around 1802 and was known as "Chenango Point." Binghamton was first incorporated in 1834 as a village of the Town of Binghamton. Binghamton became a city in 1867.
Abel Bennett, who made a fortune as owner of the Pennsylvania Coal Company, was the city's first mayor. His farm property on the city's west side (in an area bordered by Riverside Drive on the south, Beethoven Street on the west, Seminary Avenue on the north, and portions of Chestnut Street and St. John Avenue to the east) is known as the Abel Bennett Tract. On Feb. 19, 2008, this historic district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Binghamton was nicknamed the "Parlor City" for its neat streets and attractive homes, including many stately mansions. Strangely enough, many of those stately mansions are now funeral parlors. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, many immigrants moved to the area, finding an abundance of jobs, leading them to call it the "Valley of Opportunity."
Greater Binghamton is noted as being the birthplace of the Link flight simulator as well as IBM. Until the Cold War ended, the area never experienced an economic downfall, due in part to its defense-heavy industries. The population peaked at around 85,000 in 1950, but the 2009 estimated population is 45,020.
Along with the start of IBM, the original Dick's Sporting Goods started out as a fishing store in the East Side of the City of Binghamton.
The north branch of the Susquehanna River passes through downtown Binghamton. This branch rises in eastern New York and receives a number of tributaries above Binghamton, most notably the Chenango, which joins from the north just outside of the business district. Major floods occurred in the city during 1865, 1936 and 2006.