Genesee County is the name of two counties in the United States of America:

Genesee County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 60,079. Its county seat is Batavia. Its name is from the Seneca Indian word Gen-nis'-hee-yo, meaning "the Beautiful Valley". The county was created in 1802 and later organized in 1803.

Genesee County comprises the Batavia, NY Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Rochester-Batavia-Seneca Falls, NY Combined Statistical Area. It is located in Western New York.

History

Pre-Columbian era

Ancient history of man goes back to the Ice Age 10,000 to 12,000 years ago at the Hiscock Site, in Byron, New York. Together with a mastodon jaw, tusks, and teeth, and assorted animal bones, researchers have found a variety of manmade tools, ceramics, metal, and leather, indicating long occupation of the site. This site in Genesee County is considered among North America’s most important for archaeological artifacts from the Ice Age.

Varying cultures of indigenous peoples lived in the area for thousands of years. Hundreds of years before European exploration, the Iroquoian-speaking Seneca Nation developed in the central part of present-day New York; it became one of the first Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy). Beginning in 1639 and lasting for the rest of the century, the Seneca led an invasion of Western New York, driving out the existing tribes of Wenro, Erie and Neutrals.