LANGUAGE for WORCESTER HISTORICAL MARKERS

(One at Worcester rest area on I-88, and one at East Worcester rest area)

 

ONE LARGE 4x6 MARKER AT EACH AREA

“Hut” Assembly

Black lettering on white vinyl background

 

WORCESTER SETTLEMENT

 

            The Town of Worcester (pronounced WUS-ter) occupies 47 square miles in the southeastern corner of Otsego County, New York,  at the far end of the state’s Southern Tier and at the divide between the Hudson and Susquehanna watersheds. Most of its 2,000 residents live in the hamlets of Worcester, East Worcester and South Worcester.

            The Schohanna Valley, where this marker is located, runs the northern length of the town. The Adaquitangie or Charlotte Valley lies astride its southern border, and the hulking mass of South Hill girds the town’s midsection a thousand feet above the valleys. Before the pioneer era, this dense wilderness witnessed occasional forays of Mohawk Indian hunting parties.

            The first known settlers were the Servos family, Palatine Germans, who appeared perhaps by 1740 on the north bank of the Charlotte River. During the Revolution, this area was the scene of  many skirmishes between bands of patriots and opposing groups of  British regulars, German mercenaries, Tories, and Iroquois under the leadership of Chief Joseph Brant and others. The hamlet of South Worcester later flourished in the Charlotte Valley.

(Illustration in color: Chief Joseph Brant by Gilbert Stuart)

 

GROWTH

 

            Silas Crippen was the first prominent settler in this valley, establishing a homestead at Tusculum in 1787 and a grist mill in 1790. Other Revolutionary War veterans and pioneers quickly followed to settle plots that had been parceled out and sold by proprietors who had received land grants or “patents” in the time of the colonial governors. John Champion settled near Four Corners, later East Worcester, in 1788. Brighton was settled about the same time. The Town of Worcester, named after Worcester County, Massachusetts, the previous home of  many settlers, was incorporated on April 3, 1797. It achieved its present boundaries on March 6, 1809, when the Towns of Maryland, Westford and Decatur were set off

In 1863 the new Albany & Susquehanna Railroad sited one of its depots in West Worcester, an area which grew rapidly into the “boom town” later simply called “Worcester.” This hamlet became the main center of population and commerce in the area by the 1880’s. The railroad enabled the development of prosperous hops, lumber and potato industries in the days  before the automobile. The town’s population has remained relatively constant since the early nineteenth century.

 

                        (Illustration in color: Railroad Depot at Worcester)

 

 

PEOPLE

 

Worcester’s major livelihoods in recent decades have been in the dairy and service industries, although many stores remain and automobile service centers have replaced the early blacksmith shops and liveries.  The central school, begun in 1930, has replaced the rural schoolhouses and has itself become the major industry.

Prominent area residents have included Abram and Eliza Garfield, parents of the nation’s twentieth president; Timothy Murphy, frontier scout and hero of the Battle of Saratoga; Civil War generals Delevan Bates, Napoleon McLaughlen and Abner Doubleday; Seth Flint, General Grant’s bugler and witness to Lee’s surrender at Appomattox; Lewis Waterman of Decatur, inventor of the fountain pen; Andrew S. Draper, the state’s first Education Commissioner; Sherburn M. Becker, the “Boy Mayor” of Milwaukee; and Jim Konstanty, famous World Series pitcher with the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies “Whiz Kids.”

 

    (Illustration in color: Delevan Bates leads the 30th U.S. Colored Infantry at Petersburg, 1864)

 

Worcester Historical Society, Inc.

 

 

 

 

 

Reverse side, westbound, large lettering:    EAST WORCESTER, NEW YORK

Reverse side, eastbound, large lettering:    WORCESTER, NEW YORK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LANGUAGE FOR WORCESTER HISTORICAL MARKER

(One marker at Route 7 picnic area, Worcester)

 

ONE SMALL 2x3 MARKER

“Pedestal” style

Black lettering on white vinyl background

 

 

 WORCESTER

 

The Town of Worcester (pronounced WUS-ter) is at the far end of the Southern Tier, at the divide between the Hudson and Susquehanna watersheds. It was a Mohawk Indian hunting ground when Palatines began settlement, perhaps by 1740.There were skirmishes along the Charlotte River between American rebels and bands of soldiers, Tories and Iroquois under Chief Joseph Brant, 1774-1780. Major settlement of the Schohanna Valley, where this marker is located, was made by Silas Crippen and other Revolutionary veterans from New England and the Hudson Valley, 1787-1788. John Champion settled East Worcester in 1788. The hamlet of Worcester grew up with the arrival of the Albany & Susquehanna Railroad during the Civil War. The township, incorporated in 1797, is named after Worcester County, Massachusetts, previous home of many settlers.

            The area, formerly known for the production of hops, lumber and potatoes, has also been a prosperous dairy region. The population is about 2,000. Prominent area residents have included Abram and Eliza Garfield, parents of the nation’s twentieth president; Timothy Murphy, frontier scout and hero of the Battle of Saratoga; Civil War generals Delevan Bates, Napoleon McLaughlen and Abner Doubleday; Seth Flint, General Grant’s bugler and witness to Lee’s surrender at Appomattox; Lewis Waterman of Decatur, inventor of the fountain pen; Andrew S. Draper, the state’s first Education Commissioner; Sherburn M. Becker, the “Boy Mayor” of Milwaukee; and Jim Konstanty, famous World Series pitcher with the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies “Whiz Kids.”   

 

(Illustration in color: Railroad Depot at Worcester)

 

Worcester Historical Society, Inc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Design and graphics for all signs to be proposed by Empire Signs)