A founding father of today's Montour Falls, Cook's visions are still evident today, especially in the downtown structures. | There are varying accounts of her life and the myths and legends that have surrounded the influential “Queen.” |
Samuel Watkins | John Magee was a poor, uneducated young man with a lot of ambition, in an undeveloped frontier region. |
Twenty years of innovative nursing had given Miss Delano an understanding of the country's need for more trained nurses. | Born in Scotland, artist James Hope fought in the Civil War and was known for his landscapes of the Watkins Glen gorge. |
Dr. Charles Deland Clawson was one of Schuyler County's pioneer doctors. He operated the Bethesda Sanitarium in Montour Falls for 40 years. | A politician who gained a national reputation, David B. Hill was born in Havana, now Montour Falls. He served as New York's governor from 1885-1891. |
James A. Shepard |
Schuyler County and Regional Organizations
Church Records of
Schuyler and Tompkins Counties
Schuyler History Books Online
Historic Buildings in Schuyler County
History of Schuyler County
Brick Tavern Museum
Research Library
Old Schuyler County and Regional Newspapers
During the Revolutionary War when General John Sullivan and his army moved through the Finger Lakes region in 1779, most resident Indians fled to the British at Fort Niagara, Canada where they had been promised safety and care. Small groups remained outside the perimeter of the Army’s march which was ordered by George Washington as a move to deprive the British of support provided by their Indian allies. Villages and crops were destroyed.
After the war some of the veterans of the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition returned to the region to settle the lands. Earliest permanent settlers arrived in: Town of Montour 1788; Hector 1790; Dix 1797; Cayuta, Reading and Tyrone, 1798; Catharine 1799 and Orange in 1802.
As known today, Schuyler’s eight towns were formed as follows: Catharine in 1798; Hector 1802; Reading 1806; Tyrone 1822; Cayuta 1824; Dix 1835; Orange 1836; and Montour, the last defined geographically, 1860, six years after the county was established.
Watkins Glen was officially declared the county seat in 1877 after a prolonged legal struggle with Montour Falls for the designation.
For Genealogists and Local History Buffs
Family Folders
Stories from Schuyler County History
Schuyler County Towns
Schuyler County Newspapers
Library Resources
Cornell University Digital Library
Hathi Trust Digital Library
Native Americans & Early Settlers
Sullivan-Clinton Expedition
Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System
Schuyler County Recruits for the Civil War (PDF)
National Archives Military and Pension Records
Ellis Island Record Search
Genealogical Information for the State of New York
Watkins Glen Grand Prix
International Motor Racing Research Center
Chemung Canal Map (PDF)
Chemung Canal Lock Map 1858 (PDF)
Watkins Glen Salt Industry
Schuyler County Waterfalls
Fall Brook Railroad
Backbone Ridge History Group
Story of Elizabeth Barrett Rothschild
Schuyler County Mourns President Lincoln
Montour Falls Memorial Library Opens
Bill Gates' Schuyler County Connection
Sea Monster, Star-Gazette, Sept. 7, 1912
Sea Monster, Star-Gazette, July 5, 1913
Underground Railroad in Burdett
Hurricane Agnes in Schuyler County
History of Lafayette Park in Watkins Glen
Seneca Lake freezes (Two stories from the Star-Gazette)
Noteworthy People from Schuyler County
Schuyler History Online Links