Town History

CORTLANDVILLE HISTORY

Cortlandville was formed from Homer, April 11, 1829, and embraces the southern half of the original township of Homer, and a small portion of the N. E. corner of Virgil. The name was applied to the town from its being the county seat of Cortland county. It is situated at the junction of the eastern and western branches of the Tioughnioga River, and extends from the central portion of the county to the extreme western border. The surface of much of the town is level; but the eastern and southern parts are hilly. From an eminence just W. of Cortland Village can be seen 7 distinct valleys, separated by ranges of hills radiating in different directions. The ridges are 200 to 400 feet above the valleys; and the southern part of the town is a broken upland region, the hills being arable to their summits.

The tributaries of the Tioughnioga in this town are Trout Brook from the E. and Dry and Otter Brooks from the W. A small part of the western portion of the town is drained by streams flowing westward into Cayuga Lake. In the S. W. part of the town are three small ponds, fed by springs, and furnishing an almost unlimited supply of marl, from which an excellent quality of lime is manufactured.

The soil is generally a sandy or gravelly loam. Cortland Village (p.v.) is finely situated upon the Tioughnioga, near the center of the town. It contains an academy, 5 churches, 3 hotels, and a population of 1,576. McGrawville (p.v.) is situated upon Trout Brook, 4¼ mi. E. of Cortland Village. It contains 3 churches and several manufacturing establishments, and is the seat of the N.Y. Central College. Pop. 558. South Cortland, (p.v.,) in the S. W. part of the town, contains 161 inhabitants. Blodgets Mills is a p.o.

The first settlers of this town were Jonathan Hubbard and Col. Moses Hopkins,–the former upon the lot where Cortland Village now stands, and the latter upon lot 94. The census reports 9 churches in town.

Jeff Guido
Former Town Historian