Hometown History

February 2, 2023

135 Years Ago
The Local News – The directors of the Delaware & Hudson Company had a gorgeous car made for their own use, at a cost of $25,000. It was heated by a new system, which was intended to supersede the present method. The car stood Saturday forenoon near the Green Island shops and William Burt of Albany was in charge. He raked up the fire to get a higher temperature in the car, when an explosion occurred, entirely wrecking the car and inflicting probably fatal injuries on Burt, who was conveyed to the hospital. It is believed that the explosion was due to the freezing of a pipe connected with the heater drum.

February 1888

110 Years Ago
Much rainy weather has been encountered by the force of engineers, who under J.A. Small as foreman, have been engaged in making a survey for the proposed improved highway from Morris to Oneonta, connecting with the present Oneonta-Otego highway at the Junction corner at Oneonta Plains. The route, it is understood, follows the stage route with few departures from the present highway. The distance covered by the survey is 12.7 miles which is understood to cover the distance in the village of Morris to connect with the Morris-Gilbertsville roads. The road will be expensive to construct, the drainage of the road being a costly feature. It is also not located in proximity to a railroad which will increase the cost of the construction.

February 1913

90 Years Ago
Professor Lewis H. Whitehead told members of the Oneonta Rotary Club that this country is today in a much better position to enjoy normally prosperous times than at any time in its history. Mr. Whitehead is head of the statistical and advisory service of Benjamin Baker and company of Syracuse. Mr. Whitehead said he had no intention of charting the future of business or investment fields, but would briefly discuss the question of when national prosperity could return, depending on what is meant by prosperity. “If you have in mind the years 1926 to 1929, I would say they may be expected only after a great war. If you mean the days from 1923 to 1926, I would say they should return about 1945. I am not a chronic pessimist, but I am conservative and I feel we must have prosperity throughout the world and new international contacts. It takes a long while for a nation to get back on its feet after dissipating its resources for a period of 10 years. I use a chart of security prices dating to 1833. It is noticeable that the period of recovery from a period of depression is longer than the period of decline. In May of this year our current depression will be four years old, and on past experiences the period of recovery would be from seven to eight years. I feel it may be 10 to 12 years before business again reaches levels of 1923 to 1926.”

February 1933

70 Years Ago
Oneonta’s housing situation is still critical ten years after the war boom began. The demand for rental units is still high and the supply low. Yesterday, President Dwight D. Eisenhower forecast the end of federal rent controls except in acute defense areas. At about the time the President was speaking, the City of Oneonta was posting a “not-for-rent” sign on an old house it plans to raze for an addition to the municipal parking lot. Posting of the sign was necessitated by a large number of callers who wished to rent the unoccupied half of the two-family house at 38-40 Dietz Street. Good apartments are scarce, but you can find less desirable ones. It is no trick to find a three-room apartment suitable for two persons, but if you want two bedrooms, you’ll run into difficulty. The rent control law is responsible for much of the shortage. One landlord with four apartments of six rooms each was getting $19 a month per unit. He spent $6,000 to $7,000 to cut up the house into eight apartments. His rentals per unit now run from $33 to $58 a month. Some six and seven-room apartments are still frozen under $20 because landlords can’t get the capital to convert them into “arm chair” units.

February 1953

40 Years Ago
Dr. John G. New, who died unexpectedly this week at age 56, made strong and lasting contributions to the well-being of not only the Oneonta area, but also the entire state. He was the father of environmental awareness in our area. More than any other single individual, Dr. New helped make the people of Otsego and Delaware counties aware of how their actions, or inactions, affect the environment. He wasn’t afraid to champion unpopular causes, nor was he afraid to stand alone in the forefront of an issue. He had string opinions and little inclination for compromise or delay. He drew opposition but even his most vigorous opponents respected his dedication and his seemingly endless capacity for work and research. His name came to be synonymous, locally, with concern for the environment.

February 1983

30 Years Ago
Local gays and lesbians heralded the New York State Assembly’s passage of a gay rights bill as a major step forward, but said many hurdles remain. “I was in the assembly gallery when it passed and it was really an exhilarating experience,” said Cathryn James, a founding member of Oneonta’s Lesbian & Gay Concerns Network. Adopted by a 90 to 50 vote, the bill bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, housing, public accommodations and education. To become law, it must also pass the Republican-controlled Senate. Religious organizations are exempt and marital laws are unaffected.

February 1993

20 Years Ago
Area weather records list the month of January 2002 as the third warmest on record while January 2003 will likely go down in the books as one of the five coldest Januarys in the past 30 years according to the National Weather Service in Binghamton. The average temperature for this January is 15.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Only Januarys in 1977, 1981, 1982 and 1994 were colder.

February 2003