Wellsville (village), New York
Encyclopedia
Wellsville is a Village in Allegany County
of New York
State. At the top of the Eastern Triple Continental Divide, in south-central wooded and rural Allegany County, it is the largest population and business center in a 30-mile radius. The population was 5,171 at the 2000 census. Some claim that the name is derived from the oil wells that became an important economic as well as physical feature in the area. But that notion does not take into consideration that Wellsville was incorporated and named in 1857, 22 years before oil was even discovered in the New York oil field.
The Village of Wellsville is circumscribed by Town of Wellsville
, adding another approximately 3,000 people to the population (approx. 8,000 combined village and town.) Alfred State College
maintains a branch by the south end of the village. Wellsville Airport, Tarantine Field, located to the west of the village, provides general aviation and charter services.
National and regional weather reports are often misleading when Wellsville's weather is reported. Meteorologists including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) gather their weather data of the Wellsville area from meteorological devices located at the airport, located at 2250 feet in elevation above sea level. The Village of Wellsville is at 1450 feet, 700 feet lower and protected from the winds in the Genesee River
Valley. Wind speeds and temperature, as well as precipitation often differ greatly , especially in the Spring and the Fall between the village and the top of the mountain where the airport is located (northeast leg of Niles Hill.) Sometimes the temperature varies 10 degrees between the village and the tops of the surrounding hills.
named Wellsville "Gistaguat" according to a map produced in 1771 by Guy Johnson, as the official map of New York State at the time, for then Governor William Tryon. The Seneca referred to the Wellsville area as "The Pigeon Woods" and held annual festivals and encampments there to take advantage of the Passenger Pigeon
(see memoirs of Captain Horatio Jones.) At the time, the Passenger Pigeon
filled the skies by the millions and the tribes and bands came to the Wellsville area from all over Western New York and Northern Pa. to "Gistaquat" to harvest the pigeons by the thousands. The first settlers moved into the area before 1800. Nathaniel Dike, a native of Connecticut, and a captain in the American Revolutionary War
, serving under both General George Washington
and General Warren of Bunker Hill
fame, was the first settler in Allegany County
. He married a Native American woman (Esther) and moved his family to the Wellsville area by 1795, while it was still owned by the Seneca Nation (two years before the Big Tree Treaty of 1797.) Dike began running a grist mill, a saw mill, and a tannery on a stream now known as Dykes Creek by 1803. (Dike's tombstone and his family all spell Dike with an "i" not a "y". On old maps, Dykes Creek is spelled with an "i".) Dike is buried in Elm Valley, just east of town. His tombstone has the official memorial placed there by the Catherine Schuyler Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution
DAR.
Wellsville's industry and economic success has undergone many changes in its 200 years, as Wellsville has learned to reinvent itself. Wellsville's first industry was tanning, utilizing the bark of the hemlock tree for its tannins. Wellsville was the site of three large tannery operations during the early 19th century.
Next came the lumbermen and the railroad. The New York and Erie Railroad came through what would become Wellsville (then the outskirts of Scio) in 1851 as the quickest way west from New York City
, crossing New York State. This proved that Nathaniel Dike's choice of location was the correct, quickest, easiest and most practical way across Allegany County. The trains gave the lumbermen a new and more efficient means to get their product to market. Previous to this, the logs had been floated on the rivers and canals. Logging moved on to more densely forested areas in the latter part of the 19th century. The cleared ground quickly produced excellent grazing for a tremendous dairy industry which followed. Oil captured the economic center stage in the last two decades of the 19th century, and the Sinclair Refinery was built in Wellsville at the beginning of the 20th century, not closing down until 1957 after two major fires and falling oil prices.
Those that wish to believe Wellsville was named for its oil "wells" are simply incorrect. Oil was not discovered in Wellsville until 1879 by O.P. Taylor in his famous "Triangle No. 1" well in Petrolia, west of Wellsville.
The town was created as it split from Scio in 1856. The Village of Wellsville was incorporated the following year, in 1857, 22 years before oil was discovered.
The area that is now Wellsville was part of Scio through the first half of the 19th century. It was incorporated as Wellsville and set apart from Scio in 1857. For a brief time during the early 1870s, Wellsville changed its name to Genesee. On April 4, 1871, the New York State Legislature officially changed Wellsville's name to Genesee. After much political wrangling, by a special act of the legislature, the name Wellsville was again designated as the official name of the town, June 8, 1873. The Village of Wellsville was first incorporated in 1857 and then again in 1873.
Wellsville was actually named for a man named Gardiner Wells, who was, according to local history, the one person who didn't show up for the meeting when the residents were naming the town. Wells was the major landowner of the real estate pieces, now the downtown Main Street section of Wellsville. The first oil boom came later in Wellsville's history, several decades after the founding of the town and village. A second boom occurred with the discovery of "Secondary Recovery," led by Bradley Producing, based in Wellsville. The method uses water, so abundant in Wellsville, to force the oil from the "oil sands."
The US Post Office-Wellsville
was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1989. The Wellsville Erie Depot
was listed in 1987.
In March 2006, a referendum to dissolve the village was defeated by the residents. At present, local officials are attempting to obtain a charter for the community to reorganize both municipalities into one entity, a city.
, the village has a total area of 2.4 square miles (6.2 km²), all of it land.
Wellsville is on the mainline of the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad. The Genesee River
flows through this village and New York State Route 19
, running north and south, intersects New York State Route 417
. Route 417 from the east comes upstream following the tributaries of the Susquehanna River
, the Chemung and the Canisteo. And then after passing through Wellsville, quickly begins a downhill descent to the west on the Allegheny River
, through its tributary in Bolivar, Dodge Creek.
Wellsville is in a unique geographical location, at the top of the Eastern Triple Divide, the cusp of the three major watersheds in the Eastern United States.
The Genesee River flows through the center of the Village and the Town of Wellsville, north to Rochester and Lake Ontario and then on to the St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic Ocean. In the Wellsville school district, in Alma, southwest of Wellsville, the Honeoye Creek flows west to the Oswayo and then the Allegheny River
, then to the Ohio and the Mississippi River, eventually to the Gulf of Mexico. And just over Jericho Hill to the east of Wellsville in the Town of Andover, the water flows to the east down the Kanakadea Valley to the Canisteo River, eventually to the Susquehanna River
and on to the Atlantic Ocean
.
The actual Triple Divide is a point, 22 miles south of Wellsville and can be found on Google Earth. There, at the exact point, a bucket of water can be dumped and the water will flow three ways, theoretically unimpeded; north, southeast and southwest.
of 2000, there were 5,171 people, 2,162 households, and 1,206 families residing in the village. The population density
was 2,168.7 people per square mile (838.9/km²). There were 2,413 housing units at an average density of 1,012.0 per square mile (391.5/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 95.92% White, 0.66% Black or African American
, 0.19% Native American, 1.49% Asian, 0.29% from other races
, and 1.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.91% of the population.
There were 2,162 households out of which 26.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.7% were married couples
living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.2% were non-families. 37.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the village the population was spread out with 22.7% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 22.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 88.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.5 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $24,075, and the median income for a family was $36,345. Males had a median income of $32,950 versus $23,654 for females. The per capita income
for the village was $16,950. About 12.5% of families and 18.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.9% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.
Allegany County, New York
Allegany County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 48,946. Its name derives from a Delaware Indian word, applied by settlers of Western New York State to a trail that followed the Allegheny River. Its county seat is...
of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
State. At the top of the Eastern Triple Continental Divide, in south-central wooded and rural Allegany County, it is the largest population and business center in a 30-mile radius. The population was 5,171 at the 2000 census. Some claim that the name is derived from the oil wells that became an important economic as well as physical feature in the area. But that notion does not take into consideration that Wellsville was incorporated and named in 1857, 22 years before oil was even discovered in the New York oil field.
The Village of Wellsville is circumscribed by Town of Wellsville
Wellsville (town), New York
Wellsville is a town in rural Allegany County, New York. As of the 2000 census, the town had a population of 7,678.Wellsville town is centrally located in the south half of the county, eight miles north of the Pennsylvania border. Wellsville is also the name of village within this town...
, adding another approximately 3,000 people to the population (approx. 8,000 combined village and town.) Alfred State College
Alfred State College
Alfred State College is a State University of New York College of Technology located in Alfred, New York in Allegany County. This college, formerly the Agricultural and Technical College at Alfred, now grants baccalaureate degrees in 18 areas, associate degrees in nearly 60 areas, as well as a...
maintains a branch by the south end of the village. Wellsville Airport, Tarantine Field, located to the west of the village, provides general aviation and charter services.
National and regional weather reports are often misleading when Wellsville's weather is reported. Meteorologists including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...
(NOAA) gather their weather data of the Wellsville area from meteorological devices located at the airport, located at 2250 feet in elevation above sea level. The Village of Wellsville is at 1450 feet, 700 feet lower and protected from the winds in the Genesee River
Genesee River
The Genesee River is a North American river flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York. The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides hydroelectric power for downtown Rochester....
Valley. Wind speeds and temperature, as well as precipitation often differ greatly , especially in the Spring and the Fall between the village and the top of the mountain where the airport is located (northeast leg of Niles Hill.) Sometimes the temperature varies 10 degrees between the village and the tops of the surrounding hills.
History
Wellsville was the location of encampments, for thousands of years including the Lamoka and Brewerton cultures. The latest Indians, the SenecaSeneca nation
The Seneca are a group of indigenous people native to North America. They were the nation located farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois League in New York before the American Revolution. While exact population figures are unknown, approximately 15,000 to 25,000 Seneca live in...
named Wellsville "Gistaguat" according to a map produced in 1771 by Guy Johnson, as the official map of New York State at the time, for then Governor William Tryon. The Seneca referred to the Wellsville area as "The Pigeon Woods" and held annual festivals and encampments there to take advantage of the Passenger Pigeon
Passenger Pigeon
The Passenger Pigeon or Wild Pigeon was a bird, now extinct, that existed in North America and lived in enormous migratory flocks until the early 20th century...
(see memoirs of Captain Horatio Jones.) At the time, the Passenger Pigeon
Passenger Pigeon
The Passenger Pigeon or Wild Pigeon was a bird, now extinct, that existed in North America and lived in enormous migratory flocks until the early 20th century...
filled the skies by the millions and the tribes and bands came to the Wellsville area from all over Western New York and Northern Pa. to "Gistaquat" to harvest the pigeons by the thousands. The first settlers moved into the area before 1800. Nathaniel Dike, a native of Connecticut, and a captain in the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, serving under both General George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
and General Warren of Bunker Hill
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War...
fame, was the first settler in Allegany County
Allegany County, New York
Allegany County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 48,946. Its name derives from a Delaware Indian word, applied by settlers of Western New York State to a trail that followed the Allegheny River. Its county seat is...
. He married a Native American woman (Esther) and moved his family to the Wellsville area by 1795, while it was still owned by the Seneca Nation (two years before the Big Tree Treaty of 1797.) Dike began running a grist mill, a saw mill, and a tannery on a stream now known as Dykes Creek by 1803. (Dike's tombstone and his family all spell Dike with an "i" not a "y". On old maps, Dykes Creek is spelled with an "i".) Dike is buried in Elm Valley, just east of town. His tombstone has the official memorial placed there by the Catherine Schuyler Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence....
DAR.
Wellsville's industry and economic success has undergone many changes in its 200 years, as Wellsville has learned to reinvent itself. Wellsville's first industry was tanning, utilizing the bark of the hemlock tree for its tannins. Wellsville was the site of three large tannery operations during the early 19th century.
Next came the lumbermen and the railroad. The New York and Erie Railroad came through what would become Wellsville (then the outskirts of Scio) in 1851 as the quickest way west from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, crossing New York State. This proved that Nathaniel Dike's choice of location was the correct, quickest, easiest and most practical way across Allegany County. The trains gave the lumbermen a new and more efficient means to get their product to market. Previous to this, the logs had been floated on the rivers and canals. Logging moved on to more densely forested areas in the latter part of the 19th century. The cleared ground quickly produced excellent grazing for a tremendous dairy industry which followed. Oil captured the economic center stage in the last two decades of the 19th century, and the Sinclair Refinery was built in Wellsville at the beginning of the 20th century, not closing down until 1957 after two major fires and falling oil prices.
Those that wish to believe Wellsville was named for its oil "wells" are simply incorrect. Oil was not discovered in Wellsville until 1879 by O.P. Taylor in his famous "Triangle No. 1" well in Petrolia, west of Wellsville.
The town was created as it split from Scio in 1856. The Village of Wellsville was incorporated the following year, in 1857, 22 years before oil was discovered.
The area that is now Wellsville was part of Scio through the first half of the 19th century. It was incorporated as Wellsville and set apart from Scio in 1857. For a brief time during the early 1870s, Wellsville changed its name to Genesee. On April 4, 1871, the New York State Legislature officially changed Wellsville's name to Genesee. After much political wrangling, by a special act of the legislature, the name Wellsville was again designated as the official name of the town, June 8, 1873. The Village of Wellsville was first incorporated in 1857 and then again in 1873.
Wellsville was actually named for a man named Gardiner Wells, who was, according to local history, the one person who didn't show up for the meeting when the residents were naming the town. Wells was the major landowner of the real estate pieces, now the downtown Main Street section of Wellsville. The first oil boom came later in Wellsville's history, several decades after the founding of the town and village. A second boom occurred with the discovery of "Secondary Recovery," led by Bradley Producing, based in Wellsville. The method uses water, so abundant in Wellsville, to force the oil from the "oil sands."
The US Post Office-Wellsville
U.S. Post Office (Wellsville, New York)
US Post Office-Wellsville is a historic post office building located at Wellsville in Allegany County, New York. It was designed and built in 1931-1933. It is one of a number of post offices in New York State designed by consulting architects W.B. Olmsted and F.V. Murphy to the Office of the...
was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1989. The Wellsville Erie Depot
Wellsville Erie Depot
Wellsville Erie Depot is a historic train station located at Wellsville in Allegany County, New York. It was constructed in 1911, for the Erie Railroad. It is a one story, 132 feet by 33 feet structure displaying elements of the Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival styles popular in the late 19th and...
was listed in 1987.
In March 2006, a referendum to dissolve the village was defeated by the residents. At present, local officials are attempting to obtain a charter for the community to reorganize both municipalities into one entity, a city.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the village has a total area of 2.4 square miles (6.2 km²), all of it land.
Wellsville is on the mainline of the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad. The Genesee River
Genesee River
The Genesee River is a North American river flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York. The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides hydroelectric power for downtown Rochester....
flows through this village and New York State Route 19
New York State Route 19
New York State Route 19 is a north–south state highway in Western New York in the United States. It is the longest state highway in that region, and the only other one besides NY 14 to completely transect the state from the Pennsylvania state line to the shore of Lake Ontario...
, running north and south, intersects New York State Route 417
New York State Route 417
New York State Route 417 is an east–west state highway located in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. It begins at exit 20 of the Southern Tier Expressway in the city of Salamanca and ends at a junction with NY 415 in Painted Post, west of the city of Corning...
. Route 417 from the east comes upstream following the tributaries of the Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...
, the Chemung and the Canisteo. And then after passing through Wellsville, quickly begins a downhill descent to the west on the Allegheny River
Allegheny River
The Allegheny River is a principal tributary of the Ohio River; it is located in the Eastern United States. The Allegheny River joins with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River at the "Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
, through its tributary in Bolivar, Dodge Creek.
Wellsville is in a unique geographical location, at the top of the Eastern Triple Divide, the cusp of the three major watersheds in the Eastern United States.
The Genesee River flows through the center of the Village and the Town of Wellsville, north to Rochester and Lake Ontario and then on to the St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic Ocean. In the Wellsville school district, in Alma, southwest of Wellsville, the Honeoye Creek flows west to the Oswayo and then the Allegheny River
Allegheny River
The Allegheny River is a principal tributary of the Ohio River; it is located in the Eastern United States. The Allegheny River joins with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River at the "Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
, then to the Ohio and the Mississippi River, eventually to the Gulf of Mexico. And just over Jericho Hill to the east of Wellsville in the Town of Andover, the water flows to the east down the Kanakadea Valley to the Canisteo River, eventually to the Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...
and on to the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
.
The actual Triple Divide is a point, 22 miles south of Wellsville and can be found on Google Earth. There, at the exact point, a bucket of water can be dumped and the water will flow three ways, theoretically unimpeded; north, southeast and southwest.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 5,171 people, 2,162 households, and 1,206 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 2,168.7 people per square mile (838.9/km²). There were 2,413 housing units at an average density of 1,012.0 per square mile (391.5/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 95.92% White, 0.66% Black or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.19% Native American, 1.49% Asian, 0.29% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.91% of the population.
There were 2,162 households out of which 26.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.7% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.2% were non-families. 37.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the village the population was spread out with 22.7% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 22.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 88.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.5 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $24,075, and the median income for a family was $36,345. Males had a median income of $32,950 versus $23,654 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the village was $16,950. About 12.5% of families and 18.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.9% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.