Historian Division

Tompkins County was created by New York in 1817, which designated Ithaca the county seat. The county experienced initial growth until the years following the Depression of 1837 after which the population throughout, excepting Ithaca, declined. Cornell University was the product of the Morrill Land Grant Act designed to create studies in agriculture and engineering, blended with Ezra Cornell’s desire to found a university for poor, but deserving students, and the greater vision of Andrew Dickson White, who created the university’s structure and became its first president. Today, Education” is the county’s largest employer. The county’s current population is 101,564.

Town of Caroline

Barbara Kone
Town Historian

Patricia Brhel
Deputy Historian

Caroline was first settled around 1800 on land in the Watkins and Flint Purchase. Some settlers brought with them slaves from the South or the Hudson Valley. In 1811, the town was incorporated and named; it became part of Tompkins County in 1823. Today, the population of Caroline is 2,910; its residents scattered throughout the commanding hills or gathered in Brooktondale and Slaterville Springs–where the water from a sulphur spring colors glass objects.

Town of Danby

Mary Ann Barr
Historian

Danby, centered around the Federated Church, Soldiers’ Monument, and Town Hall, was first part of Watkins & Flint land offered for sale to settlers. Organized as a town in 1811, Danby was annexed to Tompkins County in 1823. The Finger Lakes Trail, a route through the hills and declivities, provides access to the natural wonders of the area. Today, the population of Danby is 3,007.

Town of Dryden

Harry Weldon
Historian

Dryden began as a town in the New Military Tract, created to provide land to Revolutionary War veterans, and allocated in 1790. The state identified Dryden as one of the original components of Tompkins County, created in 1817. Dryden contains, in addition to the Village of Dryden, the village of Freeville, the hamlet of Etna, and is home to an orchid nursery, specialty farming, and a number of horse farms. There are also state forests, Dryden Lake Park, and Sapsucker Woods within the Town and an Eight Square Schoolhouse. The population is 13,532.

Enfield

Enfield County map from 1931 Sue Thompson
Historian

Ellie Hobbie
Deputy Historian

Enfield separated from the Town of Ulysses in 1821 and was recognized that year as a part of Tompkins County. Today its population of 3,369 is scattered over six square miles of hilly farmland. A prominent feature of the town is the Robert H. Treman State Park, which features a restored old mill and a spectacular gorge trail.

Town of Groton

Rosemarie Tucker
Historian

Terry Donlick
Deputy Historian

Groton is in the northeastern corner of Tompkins County. Originally part of Locke (Cayuga County), a Military Tract town, Locke was divided in April 1817 with the southern half becoming the Town of Division. Later that April Division became part of Tompkins County. In March 1818 the name was changed to the Town of Groton. The town is in a rural setting, containing the Village of Groton, and a number of hamlets. Once it was the site of significant manufacturing, including the Groton Bridge Company, the Groton Carriage Company, the Monarch Road Roller Company, and several early typewriter factories. Today Groton is home to 5,794 residents of which 2,470 live in the Village.

Town of Ithaca

David George
Historian

The Town of Ithaca wraps around the City of Ithaca and overlooks it from its vantage on three hills. It is intersected by Fall Creek, Cascadilla, Buttermilk, Enfield Glen, and Six Mile Creek and the gorges they create. The Town of Ithaca was created in 1821 and is divided not only by Cayuga Lake but also the Cayuga Inlet reaching south. The Town has doubled in population over the past forty years, growing to 18,198 in 2000. Both the spectacular Museum of the Earth and Cornell’s Laboratory of Ornithology opened new facilities in the Town in 2002.

Town of Lansing

Louise Bement
Historian

Janette Reeves
Deputy Historian

Lansing enjoys sweeping lake views and shoreline and is bisected by Salmon Creek that flows into Cayuga Lake. Lansing began as the southern portion of a Military Tract town, settled around 1794 and endowed with ample waterpower. It was an original segment of Tompkins County, created in 1817. The good soil in Lansing has supported numerous farms, a few still in the families of the original owners. The population of the town has more than doubled in the past forty years and is now 10,521. The Village of Lansing became a separate entity in 1974.

Town of Newfield

Alan Chaffe
Historian

Newfield contains one of the few covered bridges remaining in New York State. It is a symbol of the town and beloved by all. The name was given in 1822 from the fact that these were the newest fields opened up for settlement by the Watkins & Flint Tract. Newfield’s hills are steep; Cayuga Inlet cuts through the long valley. Newfield’s current population is 5,108.

Town of Ulysses

John Wertis
Historian

Michele Mitrani
Deputy Historian

Ulysses began as Township 22 in the New Military Tract. It was settled in the 1790s, the villages of Trumansburg–one of the most beautiful in the state-- and Jacksonville growing amid lush farmland. There is an active library in Trumansburg called the Ulysses Philomathic, a fine historical society, and interesting architecture throughout. The current population is 4,775.

City of Ithaca

City of Ithaca Dewitt Map from 1840 City of Ithaca Dewitt Map of 1840
Courtesy of The History Center

Mary Tomlan
Historian

The City of Ithaca began as a small commercial center at the head of Cayuga Lake. The state recognized Ithaca as the county seat in 1817 when it formed Tompkins County and it was incorporated as a Village in 1821. Cornell University opened in 1868 and in 1888 Ithaca became a city. The architecture in the City reflects styles of the past; there are interesting churches, A.M.E. Zion the oldest church building, the Clinton House, a Greek Revival style hotel now converted into office and theater space; the Ithaca Commons, the first pedestrian street in the state, and Ithaca College. The City is also home to the Tompkins County Museum, the Sciencenter, Cornell’s Johnson Museum, and numerous galleries.

Village of Cayuga Heights

Cayuga Heights county map 1931 Bea Szekely
Historian

Cayuga Heights began in 1901 as a planned residential development. Its founders Jared T. Newman and Charles H. Blood sold lots set on winding woodland roads to those seeking a rural setting and to faculty members teaching at Cornell University. The village incorporated in 1915. Sunset Park provides views of Cayuga Lake and is a prime location for watching Independence Day fireworks.

Village of Dryden

Elsie Gutchess
Historian

Located at the center of the Town of Dryden, the village developed at the crossing of two roads, one north to Cortland and the other east to Virgil. First settled in 1797, the village incorporated in 1857. In 1974 the Tompkins Cortland Community College opened in Dryden Village, having moved from the Village of Groton.

Village of Freeville

Freevile map Joan Manning
Historian

Founded in 1787, Freeville, set within the Town of Dryden, was incorporated in 1887. It was once a hub for three railroads; today it has a population of just over five hundred people and is the home of The George Junior Republic, founded in 1895 to provide education and citizenship training fort at-risk youth.

Village of Groton

Lee Schurtleff
Historian

The Village of Groton is located in the center of the Town of Groton. Incorporated in 1860, the next half-century brought about manufacturing of bridges, typewriters, road rollers, and carriages. The village became an industrial area, its products sold locally, nationally, and internationally. Manufacturing today includes circuit board assembly and repair, a company that is the largest producers of Tilapia, and coming soon, a manufacturer of fire truck bodies.

Village of Lansing

Lansing Map The Village of Lansing, located within the Town of Lansing, was incorporated as in 1974. In 1971, a group of homeowners who desired the protection of zoning brought about its creation. Its area is about three square miles and it is mostly residential in character with The Shops at Ithaca (formerly Pyramid Mall) at its eastern edge. A book about their experience is Rita Smidt's Lansing at the Crossroads: A Partisan History of the Village of Lansing, New York, published in 2001.

Village of Trumansburg

Trumansburg Map Founded in 1793, the village of Trumansburg is located in the Town of Ulysses, once Military Lot #22. It was first named Treman’s Village, after Abner Treman who received a military tract grant of 600 acres, but was renamed Trumansburg—possibly by error--by the U. S. Post Office. The state incorporated the village in 1872. Morse Industries began in Trumansburg in 1866; Robert A. Moog manufactured the electric synthesizer in 1964. Beginning in 1990, the Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival has been held each August at the Trumansburg Fairgrounds.