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In the early history books and accounts, I’ve learned quite a bit about the men who settled Cortland County. The stories of their wives, mothers, and daughters have been, for the most part, only briefly mentioned. The story of Francis B. Carpenter’s grandparents’ journey to Homer is an example of how perilous the journey was for many women. By 1800 the pace of settlement in the Military Tract land had picked up. In June 1800 Noah Carpenter and his wife Charlotte left Pomfret, Connecticut for the 300-mile journey to Homer. They traveled with three of their sons in a heavy oxen-drawn wagon and a pairRead More →

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According to the 1888 map of Cortland Village, L.M. Loope owned property near Copeland Avenue and according to our reference article on how the streets in Cortland were named, he is the namesake for Loope Street. Lucian Melvin Loope was born on November 8, 1845, in Solon and was the youngest son of J.H. Loope, “one of the oldest living pioneer settlers of this county.” Lucian was educated at the Cincinnatus and Cortlandville academies as well as the Oneida conference seminary in Cazenovia. He taught school for a few terms while he completed his own education. After he finished school, he traveled west for aRead More →

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While looking through “Grip’s Historical Souvenir” recently, I noticed a woman named Marion L. Weatherwax who was a clerk for the Cortland Standard. It made me remember that I had seen Weatherwax Street on the 1888 map of Cortland in the entryway at CCHS. Today the street is called Bement Place, so what’s the scoop? This one is not exactly solved, but I wanted to share the avenues (pun intended) I took to try to find some answers. Our starting point was the 1888 map where the street is labeled and the property in that vicinity was owned by B.F. Weatherwax. The first place IRead More →

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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 →

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These two streets have more in common than being in the same neighborhood. They were named after James S. Squires’ sons, James Duane and Earl Frank. You might remember when we learned about James Squires that he was married three times. James and Earl were children from his first marriage and his two oldest sons. Our files had more information on James, so we will start with him. James Duane Squires was born in 1855. He went to school at the “old academy” (possibly Cortland Academy) and was one of the first Normal School pupils. He graduated from the Normal School at 17. After graduation,Read More →

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Squires Street received its name from James S. Squires, a gentleman we learned about last June. Take a look at the link to his story to learn more about this entrepreneur who was responsible for the original clocktower building. https://www.facebook.com/CortlandCountyHistoricalSociety/posts/3160045764063047 (James S. Squires post from June 9, 2020) Today I’d like to talk a little bit about why Squires Street was named after Mr. Squires. By looking at the 1888 map of the village of Cortland, I found that he owned a number of lots on Tompkins, Owego, Squires, Park, and Duane Streets. In her book on the city of Cortland, former CCHS Director MaryRead More →