Monthly Archives: September 2019

Farming is the Focus at Steuben County History Awareness Week

In the beginning, there were loggers. And then there were farmers.

*When white people muscled into our region, the lucky ones got fields that had been cleared by Native farmers. For others, though, their first priority was to clear the forests, and lumber was their first product.

*By clearing the land, they created space where they could either run livestock, or plow and plant. Practically everybody in the world was engaged in food production, at least as a sideline. Every single country dedicated at least 90% of its economy to food production.

*Most of us know that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison owned and operated plantations growing large amounts of foodstuffs, and even experimented with ways of improving the yields and strengthening the strains.

*But they were all rich. Even for non-rich John Adams, his home was a farm, and even while he was president he worked it alongside the hired men whenever he was home.

*So our early white residents were almost all involved with farming.

*That percentage is now much lower… though it has crept back upward, with Amish and Old Order Mennonites buying and operating small farms. But Steuben is still one of New York’s top counties for agriculture.

*In the earliest years the main product (after timber) was grain, and men might spend a week each winter haulting their grain by sledge to Naples for milling. Later Jemima Wilkinson built mills on Keuka Outlet, and eventually there were mills right here at home in Steuben.

*They might haul unmilled grain to Bath or Arkport, there to be poured into capacious “arks” that would then be poled and drifted downriver to Baltimore by way of the Conhocton, Canisteo, Chemung, and Susquehanna Rivers. Since they couldn’t work UPriver, once the grain was gone they’d sell the arks as lumber, and then walk home with their cash.

*When the Erie Canal opened it 1825 it wrecked that river traffic, and pretty much wrecked the Southern Tier along with it. Business (and farming) picked up again about 10 years later, once canals connected Keuka Lake and the Conhocton River to Seneca Lake, and thence to the Erie system. Produce now flowed north instead of south, but at least it WAS flowing again.

*Just as the Civil War approached the Keuka Lake towns discovered grapes, soon making growing and winemaking a big business in Yates and Steuben.

*For the rest of the county, potatoes and dairy became major products. But the Civil War… and later, the two World Wars… required mechanizing agriculture to replace all those young farm hands who’d gone into uniform. Now we grow more food, but with fewer workers and with fewer (and bigger) farms.

*All of that will be the focus of this year’s Steuben County History Awareness Week, October 1 through 5. Multiple agencies and historical societies have created exhibits that will be in the Horticultural Building at Steuben County Fairground (2 to 6 on Tuesday through Friday, ten to noon on Saturday).

*On Thursday Allegany County Historian Craig Braack will speak on “The Story of Barns, Silos and Outhouses.” On Friday I will present “From Wheat to Grapes: The Steuben Farming Story.” Both presentations will be at 6:30 in Haverling High School, and all the activities are free and open to the public.

*The finale will be on Saturday at Howard Community Center. At 1:00 there will be a demonstration of vintage plowing with work horses, followed from 2 to 4 by a Barn Dance with live music, “taste of Steuben” refreshments, and Harvest Basket Raffle. Please – join us at least once this week!

Finding the Foliage

As a former resident of Vermont, I know a thing or two about fall foliage.

*And one of the things I know is that the foliage here in the Finger Lakes and Soutnern Tier is JUST AS GOOD as it is in Vermont, even if the hills are not as high.

*So where, around here, do you go to enjoy good foliage? The season’s not quite upon us, but it settles in a little more every day.

*Well, there are several places where you can get up high, and see for miles and miles around, as the countryside is splattered with color like a well-loved artist’s palette.

*One of those places is HARRIS HILL, above Big Flats and outside Elmira. You can enjoy Harris Hill Park and the foliage there, but in particular there’s a lookout right below the glider port. You can look down onto the Chemung River, enjoying the flats and the heights beyond… if you’re lucky, sailplanes will take off right over your head.

*MOSSY BANK PARK has a lookout overviewing historic Bath, the “grande dame of the Southern Tier.” You look right down into the village, the Conhocton River, and Lake Salubria. On a clear day, you can glimpse wind turbines in Prattsburgh and in Howard. The vale of Pleasant Valley stretches toward Keuka Lake, and Mount Washington shoulders its way onto the plain. Now and then eagles and osprey soar by.

*The JUMP-OFF POINT in Ontario County Park north of Naples serves up a delicious view to the west… like Harris Hill and Mossy Bank, it has a precipitous drop to the valley below, and hundreds of acres of foliage to see. (Despite the name, on the whole it’s best if you don’t jump.) This is also the northern terminus of the Bristol Hills Trail, which stretches away southward to meet the Finger Lakes Trail west of Mitchellsville.

*Park on Mitchellville Road (Steuben County Route 13) where the FINGER LAKES TRAIL crosses, and you can hike eastward through the forest along a gorgeous gorge until you come out in a vineyard. Once you exit the vineyard you can stop outside the Urbana town building and soak in the sight of PLEASANT VALLEY in the fall, with the vineyard, cemetery, and high-walled hills all bursting with color. The name of Pleasant Valley goes back to the 1700s, and it still fits perfectly.

*There are multiple points where you can take in the view on KEUKA LAKE: Hammondsport waterfront; Champlin Beach; two scenic pulloffs on Route 54; Red Jacket Park in Penn Yan; Modeste Bedient Library in Branchport; the west-side wineries (Bully Hill, Dr. Frank, Heron Hill, Hunt Country); and a little lookout platform on the Middle Road, by a vineyard.

*STEUBEN COUNTY ROUTE 10, from Bath down to Cameron, makes a great drive through the uplands (Conhocton River through Canisteo River), but it’s undergoing construction just now, so either check beforehand or bookmark the trip for next year.

*I created the tern FOLIAGE VILLAGE, and designated three of them; HAMMONDSPORT, NAPLES, and HONEOYE FALLS. In each case you can stroll and wander the village at whatever pace you like, stopping to take in the color-bursting shade trees and all the other village pleasures.

*Hammondsport has the lake, surrounding hills, and two green squares. Naples has vineyards, surrounding hills, and a mile-long Main Street. Honeoye Falls has the falls themselves, and the Honeoye Creek wending through. Every one is a pleasure, and you set the pace yourself.

Lots Going on at Chemung County Historical Society Museum

Chemung County Historical Society in Elmira has several very interesting exhibits up just now.

*What took us there last week was an EMBROIDERY EXHIBIT, “When Needle, Thread, and Fabric Meet”… all contemporary work, not historical pieces.

*These are dozens of creations from members of the Chemung Valley Chapter, Embroiderers Guild of America. Some works LOOK like historic pieces… many serious needleworkers are very interested in antique designs and techniques, and “samplers” – some of them copies of historic pieces – give them a chance to dig in with multiple approaches in one composition.

*But other works are clearly modern pieces, sometimes with caution thrown to the wind.

*In one picture piece, butterflies stand out three-dimensionally from the fabric. In several others, every square millimeter of the surface is stitched. In others, the design stands alone, stark and self-confident in a sea of fabric.

*Cross-stitch, stumpwork, needlepoint, and bargello are among the techniques on exhibit. If you don’t like butterflies, you might like tigers. Anything goes.

*Another special exhibit was on CARTOONS BY EUGENE ZIMMERMAN (“Zim”), a Swiss immigrant who lived in Horseheads, and was nationally enjoyed for decades on either side of the turn of the century.

*This was especially interesting to me, as I’m a cartooning fan who worked hard at documenting Zim’s books in the Grand Comics Database (www.comics.org). This exhibit includes a review of Zim’s life and career; samples of his work; print blocks of his cartoons, with demonstrations on how they were used; his drawing board and other tools.

*Particularly moving was the original, the very cartoon he had already sketched out in pencil, and was inking literally on the day he died, mocking Depression-era radio radicals Huey Long, Hugh Johnson, and Father Coughlin. It was the last work ever from his hand, after a long and well-loved career.

*Believe it or not, time was when the N.A.A.C.P. was considered a radical, even subversive organization. This made the exhibit on the CENTENNIAL OF ELMIRA’S N.A.A.C.P. CHAPTER all the more interesting. The national organization was barely a decade old when local residents asked for help with “fair housing” issues – owners refusing to sell or rent to African Americans.

*After that issue was addressed the chapter went into abeyance until revived during the Great Depression and World War II, when there were numerous employment issues to be dealt with. Elmira chapter members also engaged in historic national actions, such as Freedom Rides and the several Marches on Washington. And the work continues as the struggle continues.

*Another exhibit focuses on the CENTENNIAL OF ELMIRA’S KIWANIS CLUB, which for many years was in the top ten worldwide for membership. Kiwanis have supported local parks, and athletics, and the Arctic League, and much, much more.

*The Museum has an ongoing program of focused exhibits on Chemung County municipalities in turn. Just now the spotlight’s on BALDWIN, the rural town east of Elmira.

*In the Brick Barn Gallery is a large exhibit, GETTING AROUND: TRANSPORTATION IN CHEMUNG COUNTY. I found this to be a great deal of fun. I enjoyed seeing trolley paraphernalia, including a horrifying safety booklet, “The Little Girl Who Didn’t Think.” More entertaining were the annual early-1900s bicycle tags, receipts for which supported sidepaths… dedicated bike tracks that ran alongside the execrable highways.

*Canals, early autos (with all their marvelous retail accessories), and horse-drawn vehicles… including a sparkling phaeton with the fringe on top… all come into the story, along with buses, the Chemung County Airport (now Elmira-Corning Regional) and Schweizer sailplanes.

*Of course the permanent galleries, A HISTORY OF CHEMUNG COUNTY and MARK TWAIN’S ELMIRA, are always open, and always a pleasure. The Zim, embroidery, Kiwanias, and N.A.A.C.P. exhibits are through September, so if you want to see them you need to hop to it. Baldwin is up until January, and “Getting Around” until May. The museum’s open Monday through Saturday, 10 to 5. Adult admission is $5, with seniors, students, children and members either discounted or free, depending on category. We don’t even live in Chemung, but we usually go at least once a year. Really, it’s worth the visit.

Cycling on the Sidepath

Back as the 20th century was a-borning, bicycles were rocking American society and technology. Rather than high-wheelers, riders now had the new “safety bicycle” – essentially our modern bikes, minus the gearshift and kickstand. They were cheap, they were easy to maintain, and almost anybody could learn to ride. For the first time in their history, Americans had independent transportation.
*They just needed someplace to go, for the roads were terrible. Auto drivers in a 1908 New York to Paris race said that American roads were the worst in the world, and that race included driving the entire length of Siberia. In 1901, Urbana had 71 highway supervisors… presumably farmers each assigned to a nearby stretch of road… which must have meant wildly uneven maintenance.
*Enter the sidepaths. Bicyclists and engineers worked together to create superb “best practice” designs that would let the cyclist whiz along at great speed and comfort, in an aesthetic setting. New York state required sidepaths, and for some reason put the county judges in charge of them. Even then results were uneven. Haverling’s bicycle-themed 1897 “yearbooks,” the Senior Rambler and the Junior Scorcher, complained that while Hammondsport had done a great job on its half of the route, Bath was idling.
*A 1901 League of American Wheelmen map shows that Steuben’s three largest communities (Hornell, Corning, Bath) each lay at the heart of a three-pointed star, with paths reaching out to nearby communities. (Avoca had made a start too, toward the northwest.) Robert L. McCullough from the University of Vermont identified 45 completed miles in Steuben. Hornell connected to Arkport, Almond, Canisteo; Bath to Kanona, Savona, Hammondsport; Corning to Addison, Horseheads, Coopers Plains.
*There was a simultaneous “good roads” movement, which might have seemed like a natural ally, but the “good roads” people HATED the sidepaths, feeling that the acreage and the funding could be put to better use on the highways themselves. Ironically, the well-kept sidepaths prompted angry demands by drivers to make the roads just as good. Along with the growing use of autos, that put an end to the sidepath movement. (I suspect that the county judges did not see them as worth a bureaucratic fight, since they had nothing to do with the mission of the courts.)
*While the law was in effect every bicycle in Steuben County required a sixty-cent annual tag, and the records we’ve found show annual income of a little over $2000. Young Glenn Curtiss collected the fees from his bike-shop customers as a sidepath deputy. It’s been pointed out to me, and I have verified, that you can find traces of the old sidepath along the Fish Hatchery Road between Hammondsport and Bath. If there are others still visible within Steuben, I’d love to know!

The Finger Lakes Trail — a Regional Trasure

When we first moved to Bath from Holcomb, I got a map of Steuben County. And there, running a whimsical route from east to west (or west to east) was a broken line labeled “Finger Lakes Trail.” So I drove out to one of those spots where the trail crossed a road, and started following the white blazes. And I’m still following, 23 years later.

*The F.L.T. is a hiking trail, “a walk in the woods,” or occasionally across fields, now and then along roads, once in a blue moon on village streets, as in Watkins Glen and Burdette.

*The Main Trail goes between Catskill State Park and Allegany State Park, meaning you can hike the 580 miles from one to the other, all across the Southern Tier. By far most of it is on private land, with access through the generosity of the property owner. Nearly every foot of it was laid out and created by volunteers, and nearly every foot is also maintained by volunteers.

*A 1962 meeting at Keuka College laid plans to emulate the Long Trail in Vermont, and set up the Finger Lakes Trail Conference. It took years to finish actually creating the Trail, and the whole system now adds up to a thousand miles of hiking.

*That includes half a dozen major Branch Trails. The longest is the 180-mile Conservation Trail, with one terminus near Niagara Falls, and the shortest is the 12-mile Interloken Trail in the Finger Lakes National Forest, overlooking Seneca Lake. Letchworth Trail runs the length of the park along the gorge. Onondaga Trail is south of Syracuse. The Bristol Hills Trail has one end by the Jump-Off Point north of Naples, and the other end near Mitchellsville. The CRYSTAL Hills Trail runs from Bradford southward (through the Village of Addison) to the state line. It’s the northern end of the Great Eastern Trail, which runs (walks?) all the way to Alabama.

*For much of its route the Main Trail also carries the Great Northern Trail, from Lake Champlain to the middle of North Dakota. Then there are spurs (usually to amenities, or to points of interest), or loops, such as one around Queen Catherine Marsh and one through Montour Falls.

*One two occasions while hiking the trail I’ve suddenly been at the center of a cloud of songbirds, circling all around by and chirping away. Twice I’ve had the same experience with butterflies.

*I often see deer while hiking, occasionally foxes, once a fisher. Squirrels and chipmunks are commonplace, of course, but near Birdseye Hollow County Park is a colony of black squirrels, actually a naturally-occurring color variant of the gray. In the right places, I find beavers or muskrats.

*I know two places where there are flocks of bobolinks. I’ve encountered hairy woodpeckers, and peregrine falcons. I’ve watched the turkeys range through fields, or settle into their trees as night draws in. There are gorges and waterfalls, some of which must wait for days before someone hikes out to see them. In one place, the Trail goes through a vineyard.

*Hiking the Trail is a walk through history on one-time roads, or farm tracks, or railroad routes. In the woods of Bradford you skirt an almost-forgotten country graveyard. Near Campbell, and again in Liberty Pole, you pass one-room schools. In Howard (drainage ditch) and in Bradford (evergreen plantation) you hike through the work of Civilian Conservation Corps lads, during the Great Depression. In multiple places you hike across stretches flooded in 1935 and 1972.

*In Urbana you’re walking where Glenn Curtiss flew, and passing the cemetery where he lies buried. A spur route down to Curtiss Museum descends the same slope down which Glenn and his friends experimented with hang gliders in the snow, back in 1908. You cross the route of the first Grand Prix. At some points you look down on Keuka Lake, Seneca Lake, Canandaigua Lake.

*After a year or two I stopped at a Trail register box, signed in, and pilled out a Trail Conference membership form, figuring that since I walked on the thing so much, I should at least pay some dues toward upkeep, and so I still do, every year.

*At 4 PM on Friday, September 6, F.L.T.C. Board member Laurie Ondrejka will make a presentation about the Trail for Steuben County Historical Society’s quarterly lecture. It’s a free presentation at Bath Fire Hall, and we hope you’ll join us to hear about this regional treasure.