Elizabethtown is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Elizabethtown in Essex County, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 754 at the 2010 census, out of a total town population of 1,163. Elizabethtown is the county seat of Essex County and the location of the town government. The name is taken from that of Elizabeth Gilliland, the wife of an early settler and investor, William Gilliland.