Hammondsport, New York
Hammondsport, New York | ||
---|---|---|
ZIP code 14840 | ||
Area code | 607 | |
GNIS feature ID | 2390879[2] | |
Website | hammondsport |
Hammondsport is a
History
Hammondsport was settled beginning in 1792 by Samuel Baker, Mr. Aulls and Capt. Amos Stone, and was originally called "Cold Spring Valley", due to its icy-cold spring that emptied into Keuka Lake (then called Crooked Lake) It was also known as Pleasant Valley.[3][4]
In 1802, General George McClure[a] purchased several hundred acres of land in Pleasant Valley just south of Hammondsp[ort where he built a saw mill, fulling mill, flour mill and carding machine. During this time he opened a store on the site of Hammondsport, which sold goods produced by the mills, thus laying the foundation for future business there.[6] The village was later renamed for Lazerus Hammond, a settler who arrived in 1810 from nearby Dansville. The first building constructed in the valley is still standing. Hammond officially founded the village around 1826, and it was incorporated in 1856. William Hastings, a member of the Presbyterian church, erected the first store, and started a mercantile business. The village became a center for the New York wine industry.[3][4]
In 1825 the first
Wine industry
Reverend Bostwick planted the first grapevines in a garden at his rectory in 1830. He soon discovered that the surrounding region would be ideal for growing imported grape vines and planted the first vines in the slopes around Keuka Lake, which established the wine country and its subsequent wine industry in the western
The
Village life
The first school-house to appear in Hammondsport was built in 1827 at the location where the St. James (Episcopal) Church exists today.[15] In 1858 a private academy opened in a stone building at the corner of Main and Lake Streets in Hammondsport. The structure was later purchased by the Hammondsport school district around the beginning of the 20th century. Later additions were added to the building on both sides, and thereafter it continued to serve as the Hammondsport school until 1935.[16]
In 1836 Mallory Mill was built by Meridith Mallory on Pulteney Street in Hammondsport. Four stories in height, the stone structure was the second largest free-standing building in New York. It had three water wheels used to power a grist mill. During the winter months, however, operations at the mill stopped due to the freezing water. Subsequently, its life as a grist mill was short lived and after 1840 it was used as a warehouse until 1880 when it was used as a winery by the Glen Wine Company. In 1901 William H. Hallock, owner of the Hallock Bank in Bath, acquired the property. The structure is listed in U.S. National Register of Historic Places [17]
Among the first physicians to practice medicine in Hammondsport were Dr. Ezekiel B. Pulling, Dr. Amasa Church, Dr. C. E. Campbell, Dr. Moses T. Babcock, and Dr. Oliver H. Babeock. Among the first lawyers to live and practice in the village, were Benjamin Bennitt, Benjamin F. Drew, and Monroe Wheeler, Esqs.
The Hamondsport Advertiser, first published in 1838, and the Hammondsport Herald, first published in 1874, were Hammondsport's first newspapers. In 1931 the Hammondsport newspaper, the Keuka Grape Belt, combined with the Hammondsport Herald and Bath Plaindealer, and operated from 1931 to 1940. Published by the Keuka Grape Belt Co., its circulation served Hammondsport and Steuben County.[20][21][22]
In 1895 the Saint James Episcopal Church was built. it was the third church, replacing the Episcopal churches that were built in 1833 and 1877. The cornerstone contains documents, including photographs and an 1886 Prayer Book formerly in the cornerstone of the second building.[10]
Beginning in 1894 Hammondsport received its first water system from springs that were contained in the Rufus Scofield farm, on Mt. Washington, not far from the village. Aside from supplying the village with pure spring water, one of the first objectives was to install five fire hydrants at convenient locations about the village. Pressure from the water system came from the gravitational force and the high altitude of the springs.The water system plant was completed in 1865 costing about $25,000, paid for and owned by the village of Hammondsport.[23]
In 1917, the first telephone office was built in Hammondsport which was needed to accommodate the Curtiss Manufacturing Company with its many business involvements.[24]
Steamboats
Hammondsport, on the shore of Keuka Lake, had several docks that accommodated lake-faring vessels that were typically used for trading and ferrying, transporting people and goods between Hammondsport and Penn Yan. The first vessel to set upon the waters of Keuka Lake was a
In the 1850s the farming industry began to decline when the Erie Railroad came through the area, which subsequently reduced lake traffic. During this time, however, viticulture began to materialize as a new and promising industry, as the temperate climate and well-drained soil along the shores of the lake were ideal for growing grapes. Charles Champlin's Pleasant Valley Wine Company was the first vineyard established in the Hammondsport area, which was followed by Walter Taylor's vineyard, and others. Winemakers from France, including Jules D. Masson, who introduced new varieties of grapes from that country. The Bath and Hammondsport Railroad soon emerged, which connected to the Erie Railroad in Bath eight miles south of Hammondsport, which brought in more people and business to Hammondsport.[30]
Civil War
During the
Early 20th century
By the time World War I began in 1914 the village of Hammondsport included twelve wineries, five grape-packing houses, one barrel making factory, four hotels, five grocery stores, five meat markets, three blacksmiths, two livery stables, five barber shops, three pool halls, three movie houses, two men's clothing stores, three hat shops, three lumber yards, four coal yards, a grist mill, three doctors, two dentists, three lawyers, a chiropractor and a veterinarian and a harness shop, along with the airplane works at the Glenn Curtiss Company.[34]
In 1921, five local men purchased a wood barrel factory just south of the present D.W. Putnam Wine Company, and named it the
As the greater part of Hammondsport's economy was dependent on its wineries, the effects of the prohibition from 1919 to 1933 forced many wineries to stop operations, resulting in an overall decline in the wine industry and subsequent unemployment in Hammondsport,[36][7] which in turn all but closed down the Bath & Hammondsport Railroad, which for years had routinely transported large cargoes of wine and grapes from Hammondsport to other towns.[9]
Aviation development
Hammondsport was at the center of aviation development during the first years of the 20th century. The Reverend Claudius G. Curtiss, a Methodist minister, arrived at Hammondsport in 1876. He was the grandfather of Glenn Hammond Curtiss, the airplane designer who first developed aircraft capable of taking off and landing in water,[37][38] who resided at Hammondsport, where he was born in 1878. At this time the population of Hammondsport was almost 1000 people.[39]
Not long after his father died Curtiss married Lena Pearl Neff in the Hammondsport Presbyterian Church. In a vacant storefront owned by Mrs. Benjamin Bennett, co-founder of the Hammondsport Herald, he opened up a bicycle shop across from the bandstand on Pulteney Square, which soon grew into a successful business.
Early development of aircraft and seaplanes was carried out by Curtiss in his factory at Hammondsport, and who later had joined with Alexander Graham Bell and others in the Aerial Experiment Association. On July 4, 1908, the June Bug, was the first American airplane to fly at least 1 km and was flown by Curtiss from the Hammondsport airfield.[45] The June Bug was later fitted with pontoons and became the first aircraft to perform takeoffs and landings on the water.[38] Hammondsport at Keuka Lake was the site where the first successful flight of a "flying boat" took place in July 1912. The first long distance "flying boat", the America, was also designed by Curtiss and launched in Keuka Lake at Hammondsport in 1914, while the people of Hammondsport and the press gathered to witness the landmark event.[46][38] This aircraft was again flown by Captain Jim Poel, and co-pilot, Lee Sackett, over Keuka Lake during an exhibition at Hammondsport in 2008 and again in 2009.[47] In 1911 Curtiss founded the first flying school in America at Hammondsport.[48] Here he taught Blanche Stuart Scott how to operate an airplane, who became America's first female pilot. During this time Scott resided in Hammondsport at the home of Curtiss and his family.[49] Worlf War I flying ace, William Thaw, credited with five confirmed and two unconfirmed aerial victories, also attended the Curtiss flying school.[50]
In 1914 another aviation pioneer, Samuel Langley, brought his plane to Hammondsport to be reconditioned by Curtis and flown in a scientific demonstration [51] After a long and distinguished career in avionics Curtiss died unexpectedly in 1930 at the relatively early age of 52. His subsequent funeral service was held in Hammondsport at St. James Episcopal Church, with his interment in the family plot at Pleasant Valley Cemetery, just south of Hammondsport in Urbana.[52][53] Today the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, located less than a mile south of Hammondsport on State Road, Rt. 54, houses many examples of Curtiss' airplanes and other inventions.[54]
Henry Kleckler, was the shop foreman at Curtiss' airplane manufacturing works (CMC) in Hammondsport.[55] Curtiss considered Kleckler his "right hand man", and a "master innovator and mechanic" He was also a native of Hammondsport and worked with Curtiss in developing more efficient engines for the "flying boats" pioneered and developed by Curtiss.[56][57]
On May 19, 1908,
Flood of 1935
Heavy rains in July 1935 caused flooding and damage across much of southern-central New York. With more than 8.0 inches (200 mm) of rain in a 48-hour period, the village of Hammondsport was among those that were subjected to wide spread damage and ruin. During the prolonged heavy rains much water had drained off the adjacent hills and funneled through Glen Brook, which at its end runs parallel between the hillside and Hammondsport before reachingf Keuka Lake. The torrents of water coming down through the brook at Hammondsport caused the stone retaining walls to give way, allowing the rushing waters to gouge a channel through some of the dirt roads in the village. The flood killed seven people, five of them children. Among the ruin caused to houses and other structures, the flood also destroyed an old warehouse in the glen that housed the Georges Roulet Winnery, thereby flushing out several hundred barrels of aging brandy into the streets of Hammondsport that were previously stored in the winery during the prohibition years. Great amounts of mud was also deposited on many of the streets, and buried a number of cars, while the railroad line from Bath to Hammondsport was almost completely destroyed. Not long after the flood, the stone walls along Glen Brook in Hammondsport were widened and reinforced with concrete so as withstand heavy rain runoff from the hillside and channel any future flood waters to the lake.[60][61]
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2), of which 0.3 square miles (0.78 km2) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km2) (5.41%) is water.[62]
Hammondsport is at the south end of Keuka Lake situated at the foot of one of the long hills that forms the Keuka Lake valley. The village is located north of the junction of New York State Route 54 and New York State Route 54A. NY-54A which passes through the village after linking with County Road 76. Keuka Inlet and Glen Brook flow past the village.[63]
Demographics
Parts of this article (those related to demographics) need to be updated.(April 2016) |
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1870 | 602 | — | |
1880 | 755 | 25.4% | |
1890 | 934 | 23.7% | |
1900 | 1,169 | 25.2% | |
1910 | 1,254 | 7.3% | |
1920 | 1,060 | −15.5% | |
1930 | 1,063 | 0.3% | |
1940 | 1,112 | 4.6% | |
1950 | 1,190 | 7.0% | |
1960 | 1,176 | −1.2% | |
1970 | 1,066 | −9.4% | |
1980 | 1,065 | −0.1% | |
1990 | 929 | −12.8% | |
2000 | 731 | −21.3% | |
2010 | 661 | −9.6% | |
2020 | 583 | −11.8% | |
U.S. Decennial Census[64] |
At the 2000
There were 332 households, of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.3% were married couples living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.5% were non-families. 34.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.83. 24.1% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 29.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.2 males.[65]
The
Notable people
- Glenn Curtiss, aviation pioneer, born 1878 in Hammondsport.
- Charles Champlin, film critic and writer, born in Hammondsport in 1926.
- Joseph M. Champlin, Roman Catholic priest, author and lecturer, born in Hammondsport in 1930.
- John Randolph Kuhl, former Congressman, New York assemblyman and state senator, resides in Hammondsport.
- Emily L. Loveridge (1860–1941), educator, nurse, teacher
- Meredith Mallory, former Congressman.
Addendum
Sites on the National Register of Historic Places are Hammondsport Union Free School, Mallory Mill and the Pulteney Square Historic District.[67]
Much of the 1995 mockumentary Dadetown was filmed in and around Hammondsport.[68]
Notes
- ^ General McClure was a member of the NY State Milita and fought several battles during the War of 1812[5]
- President Jefferson.[26]
- ^ Their initial assignment placed them among the defensive forces around Washington D.C. They were also present at the Battle of Gettysburg and numerous other battles. During its service casualties in the regiment included two officers and fifty men killed in action, two officers and thirty-six men wounded, and five men who died in the hands of the enemy.[31][32]
- ^ Brown's father, Morris brown, Sr., was the Steuben County Assemblyman and Supervisor of Urbana.[33]
- ^ Their arrival occurred five days before the unexpected death of Curtis, whose pioneering involvement with aircraft prompted their visit
Citations
- ^ "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Village of Hammondsport
- ^ a b c Hammondsport, NY, History
- ^ a b Hotchkin, 1848, p. 476
- ^ Quimby, 1997, The U.S. Army in the War of 1812, p. 355
- ^ a b Hakes, 1896, p. 323
- ^ a b c d Sherer, 1989, Journal article
- ^ Hotchkin, 1848, pp. 476-477
- ^ a b Palmer, 1994, Journal article
- ^ a b St. James' Church History, Hammondsport, New York
- ^ Curtiss,1922, p. 8
- ^ a b Dumas,1990, Journal article
- ^ a b Bretherton, 2023, Essay
- ^ a b c Sherer, 1995, Journal article
- ^ Clayton, 1879, p. 413
- ^ Sherer, 1990, Journal article
- ^ Treichler, 1996, Journal article
- ^ Clayton, 1879, p. 414
- ^ Hakes, 1896, p. 325
- ^ Library of Congress
- ^ Steuben County, New York Genealogy & History
- ^ RoadsideThoughts
- ^ Hakes, 1896, p. 326
- ^ Anderson, May 1994, Crooked Lake Journal
- ^ Palmer, 1998, fall, Journal article
- ^ mcmaster1853|McMaster, 1853]], p. 140
- ^ Mitchell, 2002, pp. 47, 51
- ^ Mitchell, 2002, p. 53
- ^ Mitchell, 2002, p. 49
- ^ Trimble, 2010, pp. 1-2
- ^ a b Hakes, 1896, pp. 197-198
- ^ "107th Infantry Regiment, Nickname: Campbell Guards". New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center. 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
- ^ a b Mahood, 2005, Journal article.
- ^ Champlin1989, p. 40
- ^ National Archives
- ^ Champlin1989, p. 3
- ^ Trimble, 2010, p. 2
- ^ a b c Molson, 1995, pp. 4-5
- ^ Mitchell 2001, p. 10
- ^ House, 2003, pp. 7-8
- ^ Casey, 1981, p. 1
- ^ Shulman, 2002, p. 30
- ^ Trimble, 2010, p. 10, 20
- ^ Mitchell 2001, pp. 10, 24
- ^ Casey, 1981, pp. 16-17
- ^ Trimble, 2010, p. 165
- ^ Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Essay
- ^ Merrill, 1944, pp. 136, 141
- ^ Cummins, 2001, pp. 21, 30-31, 75
- ^ Air Corps News. 1938, v. 21, n. 2
- ^ Merrill, 1944, p. 143
- ^ Champlin, 1989, pp. 122-123
- ^ The Painted Hills Genealogy Society, Essay
- ^ Shilling, 1999, Journal article
- ^ Shulman, 2002, p. 31
- ^ Mitchell, 2001, p. 121
- ^ Casey, 1981, p. 125
- ^ Casey, 1981, pp. 14, 36-37
- ^ Shulman, 2002, pp. 136, 145-146
- ^ Johnson, pp. 237, 244
- ^ Champlin1989, pp. 131-133
- ^ Census Reporter
- ^ "Glen Brook". usgs.gov. USGS. 1998. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
data
- ^ Census of Population and Housing.gov
- ^ a b c U.S. Census website
- ^ Crooked Lake Review, 2005, Essay
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ IMBd, Dadetown
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- —— (September 1990). "Early Schools in Pleasant Valley and Hammondsport". The Crooked Lake Review.
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- "Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery". 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
Address: 9749 Middle Road, Hammondsport, NY 14840
- Bretherton, Terry (2023). "Town of Urbana, Steuben County, New York est. 1822". Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- "The Untimely Death of the Conqueror of the Pacific". Air Corps News Letter. Vol. 21, no. 2. January 15, 1938. Retrieved March 23, 2020.