Bound Volumes, Hometown Oneonta

July 11, 2024

90 YEARS AGO

Operations at the test well on the farm of Merritt Hazlett, about two miles from Treadwell on the road to Franklin, have been abandoned for the time being. Though a few small pockets of gas were struck, the flow was not sufficient to be of commercial value. The outside casing of the well is being left in place, with a block closing the opening. Ralph Sawyer of Bolivar, contractor in charge of drilling, explained that the apparatus in use was incapable of going deeper than the present depth of 4,550 feet, and that a steam-operated rig might be brought later for the purpose of sinking a deeper hole. The present rig is operated by a gasoline engine. Work on the well was started February 7, 1932, by E.S. Warner of Saratoga Springs. Drilling was commenced after extensive geologic surveys had shown certain rock strata underlying New York were the same as those found to bear oil and gas in other sections.

July 1934

70 YEARS AGO

Dr. Frank D. Blodgett, second mayor after Oneonta became a city (1912-1914) died Saturday at the age of 83 in his home at Homer where he had resided since retirement in 1937. Blodgett was also one of the educational stalwarts of Oneonta State Normal School and later served as President of Adelphi College (1915, Garden City, L.I. Blodgett was a graduate of Cortland State Normal School and Amherst College. He taught the history of education, logic, and public speaking at the Oneonta Normal School from 1893 to 1915 when he left Oneonta to serve as President of Adelphi College.

July 1954

50 YEARS AGO

High-volume gasoline stations in the Oneonta area easily met the July 1 federal deadline to begin selling unleaded gasoline but the newest brand of fuel is hardly selling like wildfire. Unleaded gas will be needed for 1975 cars which will come equipped with catalytic converter pollution control units. But the new models won’t be out until September. One local station owner contends that unleaded gas yields higher mileage performance. But this belief is not really boosting his sales.

July 1974

40 YEARS AGO

Alvin Osterhoudt was walking through his Emmons meadow 10 years ago when a derailed propane tank car exploded. He was watching a Delaware & Hudson Railway train pass by his Route 7 home Tuesday night when 17 propane tank cars derailed at the same location. Osterhoudt said the 66-car westbound train was traveling slowly past his home and under the Interstate 88 overpass at 8:20 p.m. when the accident occurred. “The train wasn’t going fast, maybe 35 miles per hour, when there was a tremendous screeching and dust and sparks,” he said. Osterhoudt also recalls a 1944 derailment at the same spot. The 1974 Emmons disaster injured 56 men when a propane tanker car exploded unexpectedly as crews were clearing wreckage. Thirty-eight windows in Osterhoudt’s home were shattered in that explosion.

July 1984

20 YEARS AGO

Rebecca Toombs is valedictorian for Oneonta High School’s class of 2004. The daughter of Gary and Lynda Toombs of Oneonta plans to attend Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. She is considering courses in English, Spanish and Biblical studies. Toombs was a member of the cross country and track teams throughout high school and was the recipient of several scholar-athlete awards. Toombs has been actively involved in Main Street Baptist Church youth programs and has traveled to Guatemala to help build churches and teach Bible school.

July 2004