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Alice Cately was born in Tully, New York, the daughter of Shepard W. Cately, renowned carriage manufacturer. Alice graduated from Cortland Normal School in 1871 and taught for a few years before training as a nurse. She married Henry Ettling but was widowed in 1885 at the age of 35, after only four years of marriage. She had one child and never remarried. Her father left his carriage business in Tully in 1876 and moved to Cortland where he was employed as a salesman at Fitzgerald and Kinney, wagon manufacturers. He was always an inventive man, and he continued to develop and patent his designs.Read More →

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We’ve recently been working with Molly Kathleen Reagan to highlight three important women from Cortland County’s past. We supplied information and Molly created portraits of each of the three women. This is week two of our series. This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by CNY Arts. Bertha Eveleth Jones was the oldest of two girls born to Augustus and Helen Jones. She was born on September 7, 1866 inRead More →

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How can we know so little about someone who left behind so much? That is the question I often ask myself when I consider what we know about miniature portrait artist, Meriva Carpenter. Carpenter provided inspiration for local artist Molly Reagan for her “History Highlighted” series created for Cortland County Historical Society. This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by CNY Arts. Meriva Carpenter was born to Dr. Ruggles andRead More →

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Like most cities, Cortland has a fair number of streets named after trees. In the old newspaper article (circa 1908) I’ve been using to investigate street names, we see Maple, Chestnut, Elm, Evergreen, Locust, Willow, Greenbush, and Holly Terrace listed. One could probably include Orchard Street in that lineup as well. In the years since 1908, other streets have popped up with tree-type names: Forrest, Pinecrest, Cedar, Oaklin, Redwood, Woodcrest, Rosewood. In previous posts, we have covered Maple (formerly Merrick Street), Willow Avenue, and Orchard Street, and you can find those stories on our blog (Blog : Cortland County Historical Society (cortlandhistory.org)). This post willRead More →

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  According to the newspaper article that details the origins of street names of Cortland, ten of the city’s then 122 streets were named after United States Presidents: Arthur, Blaine, Cleveland, Garfield, Grant, Harrison, Lincoln, Madison, Monroe, and Washington. Blaine? Who was Blaine and where is there a Blaine Street in Cortland? A quick internet search revealed James G. Blaine ran against James A. Garfield for the Republican presidential nomination. Blaine was later appointed to Secretary of State under President Garfield. One mystery solved. There was, in fact, a Blaine Street in Cortland! It was a small street located off from Clinton Avenue which wasRead More →

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While perusing the 1888 map of Cortland at CCHS, I happened to spot a small street between Church and Greenbush Streets that was called State Street. How interesting! There is no trace of this street left today if you consult Google maps. The newspaper article I’ve been consulting for information about the streets of Cortland does not list the inspiration of the name of this forgotten street. State Street opened on Port Watson Street a little more than halfway between Greenbush and Church Streets and led directly to the State Normal School. I did not find any resource that indicated that the street might haveRead More →

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As I began to research Sands Street, I noticed that on the 1888 map, it was formerly called Richard Street. I was unable to figure out how it came to be called Richard Street, but the resource I’ve been using for these street posts indicated that Sands Street was named for George S. Sands so we can take a look at what scant information I found on his life. George S. Sands was born on August 19, 1849, in Middletown, Delaware County. His parents were George H. Sands and Jane Smith Sands. His father was a farmer and conducted a country store and post office.Read More →

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Madison Street was also called Suggett Avenue, or at least part of the street was. From previous research into Woodruff Street, I had discovered that Madison Street was named for U.S. President James Madison. Madison was the namesake of Madison Woodruff and a friend of Woodruff’s father. Looking at maps of Cortland, we find that Suggett Avenue and Madison Street existed by 1876 but were not connected to each other. Property in between the two streets was owned by J.A. Schermerhorn and E.F. Simons. Schermerhorn died in 1879, and I could not find an obituary for E.F. Simons, but both of those lots must haveRead More →

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On the 1888 map of Cortland that hangs in the hallway at CCHS, I noticed L.D.C. Hopkins and Son greenhouse and residence on the corner of Floral and Groton Avenues. In addition to that corner lot, there is a second larger lot that is also labeled L.D.C. Hopkins and Son a little further up Groton Avenue. I had recently re-read my post about Gazlay/Hamlin and been reminded that Floral had been called Clinton Avenue at one time. Could it be possible that the name change was due to a nursery on the corner? L.D.C. Hopkins was LeRay DeChaumont Hopkins, his father was Hiram Hopkins, andRead More →

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Did you know that Monroe Heights was called Strowbridge Street at one time? I would not have known this if not for a chance glance at the 1873 bird’s eye map of Cortland a few weeks back. (Note: If you’ve never heard of a bird’s eye map, they are wonderfully detailed maps of a location that set you down right on the streets of that city. (If you have the time, you should watch this Lunch and Learn talk from former CCHS Trustee Christine Buck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9319C9XcTP4…, it’s quite informative!) Back to the map. When I saw Strowbridge Street on the 1873 map, I immediately wentRead More →