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Graham Avenue is a street that brings back fond memories for me. As a teen, I worked summers at WSUC-FM, the college radio station. I often had a morning shift and rode my bike up there from my great grandmother’s house on Rural Avenue. It was always so peaceful and quiet at 5:00 am. It was still usually cool, but heat and humidity were just lurking around the corner. When I was at the radio station, I had no idea who Brockway Hall was named after (George Brockway, I know now), and I never gave a thought as to how the street was named. JuliusRead More →

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  (This story was written prior to our Streets of Cortland series and was part of our “Forgotten Places of Cortland County” series from 2019.) Have you ever wondered where the name “Port Watson” came from? We have both a street and a bridge that are called Port Watson, but there is certainly no port to be found. Would you believe that there actually was a bustling port on the Tioughnioga River and the surrounding community was called Port Watson? It is an interesting story that begins around 1800 before Cortland County was even established as a county in its own right. We were aRead More →

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Adventuring Inside Cortland County Historical Society: Dr. James H. Hoose, First Principal of Cortland Normal School. Another esteemed figure in the history of Cortland County is Dr. James H. Hoose (1835-1915). Although not a native of Cortland, Dr. Hoose is known to us as the first principal of the Cortland Normal School, elected in 1869 and serving for over twenty years until differences with the school board led to his dismissal in 1891. “Cortland College: An Illustrated History” by Leonard F. Ralston provides a fantastic overview of the character of Hoose and his influence as “one of the most controversial figures in American teacher education,”Read More →

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  According to the list I’ve been using that gives some provenance for the streets in Cortland, James A. Calvert is the only person to have two streets named after him. James Alexander Calvert was born on April 5, 1815, to John Calvert and Isabell Storey. His father John came to the United States at 18 years old. He and two brothers came over from Scotland. They eventually moved to this area and settled in Virgil in 1800. They had a 300-acre farm which included Virgil Corners. When they moved here, there were about 30 people living in Virgil and only 3-4 houses in theRead More →

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    Orris U. Kellogg owned a 700-acre farm on the west bank of the Tioughnioga River where he bred and raised cattle and racehorses. His cattle were some of the most highly prized stock in the United States, and he had a racetrack on his property in order to indulge his love of light harness racing. Kellogg purchased the farm in 1876 and called it Riverside Farm. If you have ever driven down Kellogg Road, headed towards Blodgett Mills, there was a gorgeous barn standing with two houses. This was the O.U. Kellogg Farm. .O.U. Kellogg was born in Taylor on September 19, 1848,Read More →