HOMETOWN HISTORY

October 1, 2020

150 Years Ago

Oneonta: T.D. Watkins has been surveying and laying out streets and lots on his farm west of Chestnut Street. W.W. Alton has bought the first building lot west of T.D. Watkins on Chestnut Street. This means another nice new house and that Alton has come to stay. Almost every day persons are inquiring for houses to let and for building lots. Persons who wish to rent or sell should advertise so that people can locate in our village.
John M. Ferrell, Esq. has the contract for grading the grounds for the new railroad works. The gravel bluff just below the village will make excellent filling for the swamp portion of the grounds. Ferrell will have it pitching in there in a few days.

October 1870

125 Years Ago

Hints for Girls on Dressing – Girls, if you are sensible and clear-headed, you will not wish to have many frocks at once. A strong serviceable serge for everyday wear, a pretty cashmere or silk for best, a simple white frock for evening, two or three separate waists, and an extra skirt to relieve the serge, are sufficient for the winter wardrobe of a well-dressed young girl. In summer, one requires more changes. But, print and muslin and gingham frocks are cheap, and if neatly made, are always appropriate. Of under clothing, have a simple supply you can take care of. The dainty girl likes to be clothed in fresh and clean garments next the skin, where her clothing is not seen. These garments may be of fine and nice material. But the school girl and the young woman should avoid elaborate frills and puffs and tucks, embroideries and laces, for these are easily torn, and are hard upon the laundress.

October 1895

80 Years Ago

The New York Telephone Co. held open house at the telephone building at Worcester on Monday from 2 to 9 o’clock. Visitors were shown the dial equipment in operation and experts were on hand to explain how it works. The progress of a telephone call, from the time the receiver is lifted until the call is completed and ringing starts at the called telephone was explained and demonstrated on the equipment. Visitors were able to see each step in the process. There was also a section of model switchboard, on which was demonstrated how a call from Worcester to Oneonta is completed. A coin box telephone was also demonstrated. A “Voice Mirror” was available to hear how their own voices sounded over the telephone. The device permits a person to speak into a telephone transmitter. After a brief interval the person’s own voice comes back into the receiver, thus showing the person exactly how he or she sounds to other people when talking on the telephone.

October 1940

60 Years Ago

U.S. Representative Samuel S. Stratton of Schenectady announces that test borings being made on farms in Montgomery and Otsego counties are directed toward possible establishment of a squadron of Titan intercontinental ballistic missiles near Griffis Air Force Base at Rome. Reported test borings in the Richfield Springs area were apparently part of the project. Stratton said the test borings would enable the Air Force to decide within the next few weeks whether the squadron would be set up at Griffis with sites in a 50-mile radius of the air base. The Titan missile is a “second generation” of long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles, an improvement over the 5,000-mile Atlas missile system now being installed in the vicinity of the Plattsburgh Air Force Base.

October 1960

40 Years Ago

Colors of Adirondack Mountain foliage are approaching peak, with Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake, and Old Forge areas reporting color from 60- to 75-percent changed according to reports received by the New York State Department of Commerce. Reports are obtained from observers throughout the Empire State, and their observations reflect color expectations for the coming weekend. High foliage changes in Otsego County where colors of bright red, yellow and orange are from 30- to 60-percent changed.
The Ninth Annual Leatherstocking Open Masters Swim Meet will be held this Sunday, October 12 at the Binder Physical Education Center at Hartwick |College in Oneonta. Swimmers from New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Canada in addition to New York State are expected to compete in freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and individual medley events.

October 1980

20 Years Ago

Last Saturday September 27, local sportsmen celebrated National Hunting and Fishing Day with the Fourth Annual Friends of the National Rifle Association Banquet at the Oneonta Elks Club. The holiday was officially proclaimed by the U.S. Congress in 1972. Each year, sportsmen seek not only to celebrate the enjoyment of hunting and fishing, but also the contributions they make to conservation efforts. Licenses and permits bring in more than $325 million nationwide for conservation efforts. Taxes on arms, ammunition and archery equipment provide another $60 million plus wildlife management and $18 for fisheries research.
Leatherstocking’s Promise – The Alliance for Youth, a comprehensive program aimed at enhancing youth support programs while reducing youth risk factors, has begun implementing its mission with a benchmark study that will involve students in every Otsego County School District. “For the first time we will have a comprehensive statistical picture of where things stand for youth in Otsego County,” Betty Currier, executive director of the LEAF Council on Alcoholism/Addictions.”

October 2000

10 Years Ago

Oneonta artist Cynthia Marsh collaborated with local teens on a blue heron.Then came Bresee’s windows. Then the mural at the Autumn Cafe. The Alfresco’s, Mama Nina’s.Over the summer, rubberneckers have been peering at the developing “First People,” a depiction of the Susquehanna River Valley, home of Native Americans for 10,000 years before the arrival of the Europeans, on the Chestnut Street side of Clinton Plaza.It is her final gift to her adopted city: After the ribbon-cutting ceremony on “First People” at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 9, Marsh will be departing for Colorado, to join her husband, Rob Kamerling, who has taken a computer position with the Denver Union Light Rail System.

October 2010