Gazetteer of
the State of New York: Embracing a Comprehensive View of the Geography, Geology,
And General History of the State, and a Complete History and Description of
Every County, City, Town, Village, and Locality. With Full Tables Of Statistics.
By J. H. French. Syracuse, N.Y.: Published By R. Pearsall Smith
1860.
Page 628.
URBANA -- was formed
from Bath, April 17, 1822. A part was annexed to Bath in 1839; a part of
Wheeler was annexed May 3, 1839, and a part of Pulteney April 12, 1848. It
lies at the head of Crooked Lake, N.E. of the center of the co. Its surface
is divided by Pleasant Valley (a continuation of Crooked Lake Valley) into two
series of highlands, rising 800 to 1,000 feet above the lake. Cold Spring Creek
takes its rise in this valley and flows N.E. to the lake. The soil in the valley
is alluvial, and on the hilltops a heavy, gravelly loam. From their sheltered
situation, the slopes of the hills descending to the S. and E. are finely
adapted to the culture of the grape.7 The town is noted for
the production of a superior quality of
fine wool. Hammondsport, (Urbana p. o.,) at
the head of Crooked Lake, was incorp. June 16, 1856. It contains 2 churches and
several manufacturing establishments. A daily line of steamboats plies between
this place and Penn Yan. Pop. 560. North Urbana, (p. v.,) in
the N.E. part of town, contains 2 churches and 20 houses. Cold
Spring is a hamlet; and Mount Washington, in the S.E.,
is a p. o. William Aulls and his son Ephraim, from Penn., settled at Pleasant
Valley in 1793. 3 Elder Ephraim Sanford (Bap.)
preached the first sermon, at the house of Mr. Baker, in 1795. 9
7 In 1857, 30 acres were devoted to
vineyards; and the success of the experiment was so great that the number
of acres was doubled in 1858. There are about 2,000 acres in town with the S.
and E. inclination adapted to this
purpose. 8 Samuel Baker, Eli Read, and
William Barney settled in Pleasant Valley in 1794; and Capt. Amos Stone, Capt.
John Shether, James Shether, and Richard Daniels in 1795. These settlers were
from New England, most of them from Conn. They had served through the
Revolutionary War, some of them with destinction as officers; and all were
inured to the privations and dangers incident to pioneer settlement. The first
child born was Saml. Baker, jr.; the first marriage, that of Jonathan Barney and
Polly Aulls, in 1794; and the first death, that of John Phillips, in Sept. of
the same year. Eliphalet Norris taught the first school, in 1795, at Pleasant
Valley; Caleb Chapman kept the first inn, at N. Urbana; Henry A. Townsend
the first store, at Cold Spring, in 1815. John Shether built the first sawmill,
in Pleasant Valley, in 1795; and Gen. Geo. McClure, the first gristmill, at Cold
Spring, in 1802. 9 The census reports 6
churches; 2 Bap., and 1 each Presb., M.E., Prot. E., and R.C.
