Waterloo, New York

Waterloo is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 7,378 at the 2020 census. The town and its major community are named after Waterloo, Belgium, where Napoleon was defeated.

There is also a village called Waterloo, the primary county seat of Seneca County. The Town of Waterloo is situated on the western border of the county, east of Geneva.

The area was the domain of the Seneca tribe and Cayuga tribe, who were visited in the 17th century by Jesuit missionaries. The Sullivan Expedition passed through the area in 1779 to destroy the natives and their villages. After the war, the area was in the Central New York Military Tract, reserved for veterans.

The region was first settled circa 1800.

The town was formed from the Town of Junius in 1829 and was named after Waterloo, Belgium likely after the Battle of Waterloo.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 21.8 square miles (56.5 km²), of which 21.7 square miles (56.1 km²) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.4 km²) (0.67%) is water.

The western town line is the border of Ontario County, New York, and part of the southern town boundary is Seneca Lake and the Seneca River/Cayuga-Seneca Canal.

The New York State Route 5/U.S. Route 20 concurrency is a major east–west highway in Waterloo. New York State Route 96 is a highway that turns southward at Waterloo village.