The History of Steuben County Community Names

Welcome to Wormley! That’s right. Wormley!

You might wonder what the school mascot is. Perhaps, you expect something out of the novel Dune: gargantuan spice worms bursting up through the ground to swallow the other team (bus and all).

You won’t find Wormley on any New York State map. Not these days, at least.

But it seems back on March 28th, 1839, an act was passed to create a new town named Wormley in Steuben County. However, barely a year later, on the third of April 1840 “the town name was changed to Caton in memory of Richard Caton, one of the original land proprietors. The name, Wormley, had been an ‘allusion to Samuel Wormley, first innkeeper and first postmaster . . .’”

We don’t always think about the names of places, unless they’re different enough to make us pause and wonder. Or similar enough to other places that we associate them to some degree without even realizing it sometimes.

Steuben County, which these days is larger than the state of Rhode Island, was even larger back when it was first formed in 1796. Originally, the county was comprised of six towns: two of which have undergone name changes since, and one of which has seemingly disappeared. Well, not exactly.

Over the years, those six original communities have turned into nearly 60 (including hamlets, villages, towns) while a segment of one of those early provinces, known then as Frederickstown, has become what we now call Wayne and Bradford, while a majority of it eventually became part of neighboring Schuyler County.

While there is always a reason behind the name of a community, not all of them seem as noteworthy today as they may have been once upon a time. Some, like Corning (which is arguably one of the more famous of the small towns in Steuben County thanks to its remarkable history of glass innovations), didn’t technically exist back when the county was first formed.

We thought it might be fun to take a look at a few of the more unusual and interesting stories behind some of the names that make up Steuben. For, in their own way, town names play a role in a place’s identity. In how it is perceived by the rest of the world. And how it’s seen by its own residents as well.

Steuben County’s Original Big Six:

• Bath
• Canisteo
• Dansville
• Frederickstown
• Middletown
• Painted Post

Even though Bath, Canisteo and Dansville still exist today in name, they’ve changed quite a bit over the years.

Canisteo, for example, is a relatively small town these days of roughly 2,000 or so residents, but the original footprint of the community encompassed what is now Hornellsville, Hartsville, Greenwood, West Union, as well as about half of current Troupsburg, Jasper, and Canisteo.

Some of the names, it seems, were inspired by land owners, others by military folks (including some who never set foot in the county, like Baron von Steuben), while some have Native American beginnings.

Imagine growing up in Bloods, NY.

Long before it was the name of any inner-city gang or any sort of Vampire-related fictional tale, there was a community here called Bloods. If you rode the Erie Railroad prior to1892, you may have stopped at Blood Station.

“Atlanta (formerly Bloods) was named from Calvin Blood, an early settler. This hamlet is located a mile from North Cohocton. Joseph Biven in 1794 was sent by Colonel Charles Williamson of Bath to erect a tavern on the Pulteney Estate at what was known as 22 Mile Tree. After roads were laid out it was called Bivens Corner until a post office was established in 1828 with the name North Cohocton. The 22 Mile Tree was where the Van Riper Hotel stood for many years. Blood Stations (Atlanta) on the Cohocton River was a station on the Corning and Rochester division of the Erie Railroad and an important station because of its connection with the Canandaigua Lake Route. The name Blood Station was changed to Atlanta in 1892” (Pioneer History & Atlas of Steuben County).

Once upon a time, there was an Orange, too.

Imagine the potential Blood-Orange rivalry. Too much? Perhaps. But Orange, which started out as part of Frederickstown, eventually became Wayne which still exists today.

Research into town names, also reveled some other interesting trivia.

According to Pioneer History & Atlas of Steuben County, NY, Caton, that  small community just outside of present-day Corning that started out as Wormley, “has the honor of sending more men to the Civil War than any other town in Steuben County.”

In Caton, today, you’ll find Bluebird Trail Farm which was created with the intention of offering people an opportunity to be more connected to where their food comes from and how it grows. They are focused on conservation and organic practices, offer a nature class in the garden, a CSA, various educational workshops, farm stays, as well as tours.

One thing we learned while researching town names was that cheese factories used to be plentiful here. Today, you will find several cheese producers in the Finger Lakes region (including Golden Age Cheese in Woodhull), but back in the 1800s you would have found cheese factories in several of the small towns making up Steuben County.

For example, “Cohocton was formed from Bath and Dansville on June 18, 1812. A large cheese factory was located just north of Liberty village across the river and at the foot of the hill.”

Hartsville, which was formed from Hornellsville in 1844, was “regarded as one of the best dairying towns in the county” (p62). “At an early date, 3 cheese factories were in operation. One in the village of Hartsville, one in Call Hill and one on Hartsville Hill in the northwest part of town. The principal cheese factory was at Hartsville village, manufacturing upwards of $10,000 worth a season” (p63).

Howard, Jasper, Rathbone, Troupsburg and Woodhull all had cheese factories. In fact, a cheese factory built near the village of Woodhull in 1874 by Henry Cobb became—by the 1996 publication date of Pioneer History & Atlas of Steuben County, NY—“the largest independently owned cheese factory in the state of New York is in operation in Woodhull today” (p97).

While dairy farming and cheese production seem to have been popular occupations, lumber was one of the earliest and most common industries in the area. After all, at one point in time, this was the frontier and the forests were first growth.

The town of Erwin was named for Colonel Arthur Erwin of Erwina, Bucks County, Pennsylvania (an officer during the Revolutionary War who purchased the township in 1789). “Lumber was extensively pursued” (Pioneer History p56).

One mile west of Painted Post at Gang Mills was a saw, shingle and planing mill which gave employment to seventy-five men and turned out eight million to eleven million feet of lumber per year. At its height in 1870, it was said to have the largest daily capacity of any mill in the U.S. Its capacity was 100,000 feet of white pine daily.”

Speaking of Painted Post, one of those original six communities, accounts seem to differ with regards to sundry details including whether or not the original post was indeed painted, but it seems the story behind the name is the stuff of legend.

An account found in Thomas Dimitroff claims “That the place was once marked by a painted post is indisputable. What the post signified . . .we do not know.” Dimitroff goes on to cite folklore surrounding the post.

“In April, 1780, during the Revolutionary War, Joseph Brant led a group of captives . . . on the old Andaste Trail toward Fort Niagara. Among the captives was General Freegift Pachen who left a description of the post . . . a weathered, hewn tree, with twenty-eight figures in red., signifying captives, and thirty headless figure symbolizing dead men. . . . It might have been a French and Indian War Skirmish, an incident in the 1764 expedition led by John Johnson against Kanisteo, a Revolutionary battle, or perhaps a forest confrontation between two Indian tribes. No one knows.”

Later, the story continues, a folk tale grew that the post marked the burial place of a great Indian chief who died about 1779 who being wounded, died nearby and was buried by the river. “Historically this is impossible,” writes Dimitroff, “because John Montour, although he was wounded, lived until 1830 and is buried at Big Tree . . .” (p3).

There are various stories about the original post which claim, at one point in the early 1800s, that it “disappeared after an especially energetic brawl.” Another story says it rotted and was carried away by the river, another that a new post was erected in 1803 but was destroyed by the elements and by “souvenir seekers who whittled it away.”

Over the years since, various commemorative sculptures have been erected. Today, not far from the monument, you’ll find Empire Bricks (where you can buy or sell legos) and iCode (offering fun coding classes, camps and activities). Learn more in this blog story on STEM Travel.

Why is Greenwood so named? It’s believed to be because the “hills and valleys were heavily timbered with pine and hemlock which added a deep green color to the scenery” (p60).

Hornby (which is adjacent to Corning) was named after John Hornby, an English landholder to a large extent.

“Hornby was a wild region and inhabited by wild animals of many kinds. Hogs fattened on beechnuts in the woods. Indians were never troublesome or numerous.” Mainly lumber until 1838, began to plow the land – winter wheat and sometimes spring wheat and oats.”

With a name like Arkport, bet you can guess what was made there at one time. Yep, “arks” which were used to transport local materials to the coast.

“In 1797 Christopher Hulrburt came with his eldest son John to Arkport purchasing a tract of land from Williamson. 640 acres, and later more, until he had 1,365 agrees of land. He built the first ark in 1800 and loaded with wheat, sending it down the Canisteo, Chemung and Susquehanna Rivers to Baltimore where the grain and lumber were sold.”

Today in Arkport you’ll find a rustic winery, Savor Vineyards (where you’ll also often find live music and comedy on the weekend). Just down the road a couple miles in Dansville you can explore the area’s wonderful landscape with a moderate hike near waterfalls at Stony Brook State Park. Picnicking and camping options are also available. Learn about some of the other fun experiences to be found in that area of the county here.

For example, the small town of Howard which was formed in 1812 is “mostly rolling upland forming part of the dividing ridge between the Conhocton and Canisteo Rivers.” Prior to the coming of the Erie Railroad to Hornell, “Howard was considered a place of some considerable note” (69). It “had two hotels in the stage-coach days” . . . “was on the stage-coach road, and was a station for changing horses and for refreshment of passengers” (69).

In 1809, the first sawmill was built.

“The erection of this sawmill was a great boon for the settlers, who prior . . . covered their log cabins with slabs of split timber” (Pioneer History 69). Today you will find Farmer Phil’s Cabins (unique accommodations and wedding venue) and Stewart Family Farm & Store (delicious goat cheese and other wonderful local products) in the Howard area.

There’s a road that runs parallel to the Interstate, one most folks travel beside or perhaps notice fleetingly. Along that road road, William Goff, who settled there in the fall of 1812, built Goff Mill “which was hailed with great delight since the settlers before this event had to travel long distances with their corn, wheat and other bread grain on their shoulders to have it ground, since very few had teams of horses with which to go to mill.

The roads at that time were mere paths through the forest. During ‘the year of famine,’ Mr. Goff with what means he could command, went eat and purchased corn. On his return he distributed the flour to the almost starving people” (p69).

Guess what we still didn’t find out, though. Where the town got the name Howard. Perhaps it was after that famous duck? Okay, maybe not!

Jasper was named for Sergeant Jasper, noted for his courage ay the battle of Fort Moultrie, South Carolina, was formed from Troupsburg and Canisteo. According to Pioneer History & Atlas of Steuben County, “many logs were rafted from Troupsburg township down the south branch of Tuscarorora Creek, to Baltimore” (70). Troupsburg, turns out, was named after Robert Troop of New York City, General Agent of the Pulteney Estate (Pioneer History 82).

Rathbone was named for General Ransom Rathbone who settled in tow in 1842. The town was formed from Addison, Cameron, and Woodhull in 1856. (Pioneer History 78)

And Tuscarora, formerly part of the town of Addison . . . “was first called ‘Orville,’ and later changed to Tuscarora, the name of the adopted tribe making the 6th Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy. The Tuscaroras were received by the Indians and adopted in the year 1712” (Pioneer History 84).

Other sources elaborated on that, since for some of us it wasn’t common knowledge. It seems the Tuscaroras were a Native American tribe originally from North Carolina which “became the first native people to be dispossessed of their land during colonization, and they walked north to New York in the early eighteenth century to join the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenonsaunee). Accepted by the confederacy, they have been part of the Six Nations ever since . . .”

While you might expect the village of Almond to have been named after the tree nut, turns out Scottish settlers who arrived here named it “after the Almond River near Edinburgh, Scotland, from where its settlers came. (Almond on Kiddle)”

Hammondsport, known today for its role in establishing the Finger Lakes as a wine region, and as a world-class lake destination, was incorporated June 16, 1856. “It received its name from Lazarus Hammond who came from Dansville to Cold Spring in 1810. He became a larger shipper of grain and farm produce by canal boat over Keuka Lake” (Pioneer History).

Most people don’t realize, this same small town is where most of the experimentation and advancements in early aviation took place from 1907 until WWI. Thanks to the collaboration between Glenn Curtiss, Alexander Graham Bell, and innovators, Hammondsport was known as the Cradle of Aviation.

Wayland was formed from Cohocton and Dansville April 12 1848. “Loon and Mud Lakes are situated in a valley in the south part of the town and their waters flow in opposite directions. The outlet of Look Lake is subterranean for half a mile and where it comes to the surface it was of sufficient volume to form a valuable mills stream. At one time there were no less that 14 mills powered by this stream” (Pioneer History p88).

“A plank road extended from Patchinville to Wayland and Dansville in 1842. Gates were erected and tolls collected” (Pioneer History p89).

West Union was formed from Greenwood in 1845.

In 1855, Rexville and Wileyville were hamlets. West Union was a post office . . . “The whole country was a maze of woods and hills with deep gorges in which it was easy to get lost. The timber was mostly beech, maple, birch, cherry, elm, and basswood. Large quantities of maple sugar were manufactured. It was one of the principal sources of revenue for the early settlers.”

Woodhull was named in honor of General Nathaniel Woodhull of the Revolutionary War and formed from Troupsburg in 1828. (96)

“The first inhabitants discovered what appeared to be a hunter’s paradise. They were men who lived for the pleasure of the chase, ready to leave on the approach of more permanent settlers. These settlers did little more than to build for themselves cabins and open communications with the outside region” (96).

Today, Steuben County remains a hunter’s paradise as the perennial chart-topper for deer harvested.

While we’re still learning about the numerous stories behind the names of so many Steuben County communities, we’re also learning about the area’s rich history.