19th Century | towns-and-villages

The 19th Century

General Jacob Swartwood, a revolutionary war soldier, built the first inn in Van Etten in 1801 near what is now Swartwood. In the 1820s, it served as a stage coach stop on the Owego to Seneca Lake Turnpike, which ran along what is now State Route 224. By the 1830s, post offices were established in Swartwood and Van Ettenville. Bounties were still being paid for wild animals in Van Etten as late as 1831, but new businesses like stores, taverns, and hotels were being established in the townships. Factories were manufacturing a wide-range of products such as cheese, bear traps, and broom handles. In the 1880s and 1890s, a driving park in Van Ettenville offered a program of horseracing. An opera house opened in the 1890s.

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Van Etten

Local Methodists began holding religious meetings in people’s homes as early as 1805. The Hedding Methodist Church at Swartwood was built in 1826 and the Van Ettenville Methodist Society erected a church in 1851. The Baptist Church of Van Ettenville was organized in 1841 and the Episcopal Church of Van Etten was founded in 1892.
The Geneva, Ithaca and Sayre Railroad was the first to come through Van Etten in 1871. In 1874, the Utica, Ithaca and Elmira Railroad was built. In 1891, the Lehigh Valley Railroad bought and merged the two.
Lumbering was a big industry in Van Etten. Hoff, Thayer & Co. built a sawmill in 1873 and Joseph and James H. Rodbourn established their sawmill in Swartwood in 1880. The steam sawmill built by J.F. Hixson & Co. in 1869 manufactured 2.5 million feet of lumber a year.
Agricultural Insurance Company policy, 1888
Tin storage box from Briggs & Dresser, Groceries, Provisions, Teas, Coffees, Spices, Etc., Van Etten
Handbill for Harvest Concert, October 23, 1891
Fiddle handmade by John Zaccheus Wright who lived on Wright’s Mountain in Van Etten, c. 1900

The 19th Century

The Geneva, Ithaca and Sayre Railroad was the first to come through Van Etten in 1871. In 1874, the Utica, Ithaca and Elmira Railroad was built. In 1891, the Lehigh Valley Railroad bought and merged the two.

Lumbering was a big industry in Van Etten. Hoff, Thayer & Co. built a sawmill in 1873 and Joseph and James H. Rodbourn established their sawmill in Swartwood in 1880. The steam sawmill built by J.F. Hixson & Co. in 1869 manufactured 2.5 million feet of lumber a year.

Agricultural Insurance Company policy, 1888

Tin storage box from Briggs & Dresser, Groceries, Provisions, Teas, Coffees, Spices, Etc., Van Etten

Handbill for Harvest Concert, October 23, 1891

Fiddle handmade by John Zaccheus Wright who lived on Wright’s Mountain in Van Etten, c. 1900