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Town
Profiles
Discover the Way Life Used to Be
SCHOHARIE COUNTY – SIMPLER TIMES REFLECTED IN ITS
TOWNS AND VILLAGES
A visit to Upstate New York’s Schoharie County is a
trip to quaint towns and villages, filled with
reminders of simpler times.
Farmers work their land. Brooks babble. Eagles fly.
Fish jump in the streams. Unique attractions – grand
caves, acres of flowers, working mills and more – all
are part of Schoharie County’s magic.
Stroll Main Street in Historic Sharon Springs.
Experience the village green in Jefferson. See covered
bridges or bask in the beauty of the nature trails.
Find out why we say Schoharie County is
picture-perfect any time of year.
Blenheim, which takes its name from the
40,000-acre Blenheim Patent given to 40 men by King
George III in 1769, has farming as its chief
occupation. In earlier times, farmers here grew wheat,
hops, broomcorn and tobacco. Today the land yields
primarily timothy, alfalfa and silage corn. It is home
to the Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Power Project of
the New York Power Authority, which has a Visitors
Center offering exhibits on energy and electricity.
Also on the site is the newly restored and refurbished
19th century country estate, Lansing Manor. Not far
away is Mine Kill State Park with boating, fishing,
picnicking, swimming and a waterfall overlook. One of
the most prominent attractions in town is the 226-foot
Blenheim Covered Bridge, the longest single-span,
single-arch, two-lane wooden bridge in the world.
Broome,
originally established in 1797 as Bristol, is home to
the Franklinton Vlaie (pond), located along Route 145.
It is a scenic recreational, ecological and natural
wonder. Bald Eagles often are seen perched along the
waterways in the town.
Cobleskill, with the village established in 1752,
is named for one of its first settlers Jacob Kobel, a
German Palatine who came with his family to the region
in 1713. One of the six original towns in the county,
it is home to two caves that are open to the public –
Howe Caverns and Secret Caverns – as well as the
Iroquois Indian Museum and the State University of New
York College of Agriculture and Technology. Each
August since 1876, the Cobleskill Sunshine Fair has
been held at the historic fairgrounds on the edge of
the village.
The town
lines of Conesville follow the peaks that mark
the beginning of the Catskill Mountains. One of the
most spectacular attractions in town is Manorkill
Falls, just west of West Conesville. The Manorkill
Creek flows through the valley, dropping into the
Schoharie Reservoir in a breathtaking cascade of
waterfalls. The cold mountain waters in the streams
are ideal for trout fishing.
Just west
of Schenectady is Esperance, established in
1846. The Esperance Historical Museum, housed in the
old village schoolhouse and its adjacent carriage
barn, tells about the town’s agricultural past. Famous
sons include George Westinghouse, Jr., who was born in
the Village of Central Bridge in 1846; whose father
made parts for carriages and farm equipment in his
shop there. After briefly attending Union College in
Schenectady and serving during the Civil War, George
Jr. became an inventor and an industrialist. His most
famous invention is the air brake, which led to the
formation of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company and
the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Today,
Esperance is home to the 200-plus-acre public garden
in the Landis Arboretum, which offers nature walks
among rare trees and plants and special programs
throughout the year. The town has many quaint and
interesting shops that offer everything from antiques
and treasures to cheeses and other specialty foods.
Fulton,
the largest town (in acreage) in Schoharie County, was
formed in 1828. Dominating the skyline in the central
part of the county is Vroman’s Nose, rising about
600-feet above the farmlands. Vroman’s Nose resulted
from glacial action more than 50,000 years ago. It is
located on the Long Path, a 335-mile hiking trail that
runs from the George Washington Bridge in New York
City to Thatcher Park in Albany County. The Max V.
Shaul State Park is located along Route 30 at the base
of Toe Path Mountain, offering visitors a variety of
outdoor activities including hiking, picnicking and
camping. Looking Glass Pond, with its freshly stocked
bass, is a favorite among anglers and outdoor
enthusiasts.
A unique
outdoor, educational display of nine fossil trees,
dating back 370 million years and the oldest ever
discovered, is located in Gilboa near the Town
Hall, a half mile from the overlook at the Gilboa Dam.
The trees were part of the Gilboa Forest, located on
the shores of a tropical ocean in the Devonian Period.
The Gilboa Reservoir is a primary water source for New
York City.
Jefferson, named after the third president of the
United States, contains 24,930 acres. It is home to
Woodchuck Hill, the apex of the watersheds for the
Delaware, Susquehanna and Hudson rivers. The village
of Jefferson features a wonderful village green,
established in 1817, and was the origin of the annual
Schoharie County Maple Festival, now held in March at
the Cobleskill Fairgrounds. The town celebrated its
bicentennial in in 2003.
Middleburgh, first formed in 1797, takes its name
from the location of the Middle Fort, one of the
Schoharie Valley’s three fortifications from the
American Revolution. The town offers some of the
county’s most fertile farmland and is home to the
Christopher S. Best House, offering visitors a rare
glimpse into a 19th century medical practice.
German
Palatines first settled Schoharie in 1713.
About a mile north of the village center is The Old
Stone Fort Museum Complex, earlier known as the Lower
Fort, and one of the three forts in the Schoharie
Valley during the American Revolution. In addition to
the Old Stone Fort, Schoharie has such historic sites
as the 1743 Palatine House, the 1770 George Mann Tory
Tavern and the 1870 Court House on Main Street. It is
also home to the Easter Egg Exhibit and the Train Car
Museum/Depot Lane Complex. On Main Street is the
historic Throop Drugstore. While established in 1800,
today it is a modern pharmacy combined with an
old-fashioned soda fountain and luscious treats.
Seward
was first settled in 1754 by Palatines – immigrants
from Dorlach, Germany –
who called it the community New Dorlach. In 1840, the
present Town of Seward was formed and named in honor
of William H. Seward, then Governor of New York State.
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the
Hamlet of Dorloo was known for the Seward Valley Race
Track that featured horse racing on a half-mile track.
In the
mid-19th century, Sharon Springs was famous the
world over for its restorative mineral springs. The
signs of a bygone area are found today in
architectural gems -- farmhouses and hotels pre-dating
the American Revolution through the turn of the
century – retaining the spirit of the early pioneers
and Victorian high society. Listed on the National
Register of Historic Places, the Village of Sharon
Springs is home to walking tours, antique shops, the
Sharon Historical Museum and Schoolhouse, the restored
historic Roseboro and American hotels and more.
The
Town of Summit, first established in 1794, is home
to the 60-acre, spring-fed Summit Lake. The town, with
its diverse terrain, is a four-season playground with
hunting, fishing, snowmobiling and cross-country
skiing. In Charlotteville, the Museum of the History
of Charlotteville/Anonymous Arts Museum can be found
on Main Street, County Route 6.
In the
early 1700s, Palatine Germans settled the Town of
Wright, named after New York State Governor Silas
Wright. It is home to the Fox Creek Nature Center,
offering both interpretive nature trails and outdoor
exhibits, starting at the Gallupville House on Route
441 in Gallupville. The most popular annual event in
Gallupville is Gas Up, which takes place on the second
and third weekends of June. The show offers
demonstrations of antique gasoline
engines as well as antique trucks, tractors,
equipment and autos.
MEDIA
CONTACT:
Kathy Condon - Condon Communications
PH: 518-436-1103 - FAX: 518-436-7346
E-MAIL:
kcondon@netheaven.com
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