Steuben County Historical Society

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Steuben County Historical Society Kirk House, Director of SCHS posts pictures on this page. Usually Monday through Friday.

Keuka Lake is great, but it’s not the ONLY beloved body of water in Steuben County. Goodhue Creek rises in Thurston, an...
10/20/2026

Keuka Lake is great, but it’s not the ONLY beloved body of water in Steuben County. Goodhue Creek rises in Thurston, and widens into Goodhue Lake just as it crosses into the Town of Addison. The Creek then continues southeasterly, emptying into the Canisteo River a little east of Addison Village.

Hornell’s Saint James Mercy Hospital got its start around 1890. Bethesda Hospital, near North Hornell, eventually merge...
10/19/2026

Hornell’s Saint James Mercy Hospital got its start around 1890. Bethesda Hospital, near North Hornell, eventually merged into Saint James, which has recently become a University of Rochester hospital in the Town of Hornellsville. Corning’s turn-of-the-20th-century hospital went through several additions and modernizations, survived the flood of 1972, and has now become Guthrie Corning Hospital, in the Town of Corning. Bath Hospital started out in the old Land Office building, moved to larger facilities, got modernization through the New Deal, and around 1960 became the Ira Davenport Memorial Hospital, between Bath and Hammondsport. Wayland Hospital operated from 1932 to 1964. Nine people died here following a railroad wreck in 1943… twice that many perished at the scene, and two more elsewhere.

When the 20th century was new… so was basketball. It seemed an ideal sport for rural schools, requiring only small team...
10/16/2026

When the 20th century was new… so was basketball. It seemed an ideal sport for rural schools, requiring only small teams, minimal equipment, and spaces that were fairly easy to create or retrofit. Here are some of Steuben’s early teams: Woodhull 1909; Hammondsport 1914-15 (first girls’ team, complete with bloomers and kerchiefs); Hornell 1920 (county champs!); Corning Northside (year uncertain); Avoca Union School 1923-24 (including a future sheriff, future judge, and future school administrator!)

The mail must go through! We thank Jane Schryver for sharing a Cohocton photo from this week, some 115 years ago. We s...
10/15/2026

The mail must go through! We thank Jane Schryver for sharing a Cohocton photo from this week, some 115 years ago. We see the shocks in the field, the mail carrier’s long heavy coat, and the apparently unenthused horses… not that we’d blame them! Utility poles and wires have become commonplace through much of Steuben, even in a fair number of rural stretches. Since this is an October 12 photo, we presume that Columbus Day was not a postal holiday.

As part of our Civil War mini-series, we take note of several of the Civil War monuments scattered across Steuben County...
10/14/2026

As part of our Civil War mini-series, we take note of several of the Civil War monuments scattered across Steuben County. Caton’s, at Elmwood Cemetery, was the first, in 1871. Campbell’s monument, in Hope Cemetery, preserves an artifact of the war. North Cohocton’s, in Clearview Cemetery, was dedicated in 1901, as was Hammondsport’s monument, which has been relocated twice. Caton’s monument preserves the names of that town’s dead. We don’t know the causes of death for William Eldred, Clarion Cummins, David Kinnan, or Carl Davis. But John Barber and Elanson Gridley were both killed at Fredericksburg. Isaac Kinnan was missing, presumed dead, at Bull Run… making him one of the earliest deaths in that long and costly war.

This is the only image we have of the Pulteney District 8 school, in South Pulteney. We understand that the school burn...
10/13/2026

This is the only image we have of the Pulteney District 8 school, in South Pulteney. We understand that the school burned down in 1939. Does anyone have any details on the fire? Or any additional images of the school?

World Space Week, celebrating and encouraging research, reminds us of a major advance that was made possible by the Corn...
10/09/2026

World Space Week, celebrating and encouraging research, reminds us of a major advance that was made possible by the Corning Glass Works. Through many months of planning, and almost a year for casting and cooling, CGW created the 200-inch lens for the Hale Observatory. This was the world’s largest telescope from 1949 to 1976, and was used for multiple discoveries both inside and outside the solar system… not to mention many, many hours of gathering information. A test lens, “only” 120 inches across, came out so well that it was used for the new main telescope at Lick Observatory… at the time, it was the world’s SECOND-largest telescope. Both big lenses are still in use.

Lain’s C***r Mill, on Lain Road near Canisteo, started operations in 1964… though they were using a press that went back...
10/08/2026

Lain’s C***r Mill, on Lain Road near Canisteo, started operations in 1964… though they were using a press that went back to 1902! These photos are from a set that we judge as being mostly from the 1970s to 1990s. If anyone can narrow that down… either from changes at the mill, or through model years on the pickups… we’d be grateful to hear.

Our Civil War mini-series recognizes Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Morris Brown Jr., who grew up around Hammond...
10/07/2026

Our Civil War mini-series recognizes Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Morris Brown Jr., who grew up around Hammondsport, then moved to Penn Yan. He received the MOH for leading his men from behind cover at Gettysburg to take Pickett’s Charge under flanking fire, then captured an enemy standard. He was killed 11 months later at the siege of Petersburg. David L. Smith of Cameron joined up from Bath, as an artilleryman. During the Peninsula Campaign, a Confederate shell hit his battery’s am******on supply, immediately starting a series of explosions. “Sgt. Smith seized a leather bucket, ran to the nearest puddle and filled the bucket and unmindful of his own danger proceeded to put out the fire and save the rest of the am******on,” not to mention nearby troops including three generals. He moved to Olean after the war, and almost 50 years later received a letter from President Theodore Roosevelt, enclosing the Congressional Medal of Honor.

The Greenwood Cornet Band is all togged out, and ready to make some music! Military-style uniforms were very popular in...
10/06/2026

The Greenwood Cornet Band is all togged out, and ready to make some music! Military-style uniforms were very popular in the wake of the Civil War, up until the time of World War I. Those epaulets are supposed to look spiffy, though from our point of view they seem a little awkward. We’ve never encountered this in Steuben, but we’ve occasionally heard of bandstands in which the lower level doubled as the town lockup. Notice that instead of a kepi, one man wears a derby hat.

Address

1 Conhocton Street
Bath, NY
14810

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 3pm
Wednesday 10am - 3pm
Thursday 10am - 3pm
Friday 10am - 12pm

Telephone

(607) 776-9930

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