NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Wellsville (village), New York

Wellsville, at the top of the Eastern Triple Continental Divide, in south-central wooded and rural Allegany County, New York, USA is the largest population and business center in a 30-mile radius. The population was 5,171 at the 2000 census. Some claim that the name is derived from the oil wells that became an important economic as well as physical feature in the area. But that notion does not take into consideration that the Village of Wellsville was incorporated and named in 1857, 22 years before oil was even discovered in the New York oil field. Allegany County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. ... NY redirects here. ...

The Village of Wellsville is circumscribed by Town of Wellsville, adding another approximately 3,000 people to the popultion of what Wellsville (combined village and town.) Alfred State College maintains a branch by the south end of the village. Wellsville Airport, Tarantine Field, located to the west of the village, provides general aviation and charter services. For other places with this name, see Wellsville. ... Aerial view of Alfred State College taken in April 2006. ...

National and regional weather reports are often misleading. Meterologists (NOAA) gather their weather data of the Wellsville area from devices located at the airport, located at 2250 feet in elevation above sea level. The Village of Wellsville is at 1450 feet, 700 feet lower and protected from the winds in the Genesee River Valley. Wind speeds and temperature, as well as precipitation often differ greatly, especially in the Spring and the Fall between the village and the top of the mountain where the airport is located (northeast leg of Niles Hill.) Sometimes the temperature varies 10 degrees between the village and the tops of the surrounding hills.

History

Wellsville was the location of Native American villages, for thousands of years including the Lamoka and Brewerton cultures. The latest, Indians, the Seneca, named Wellsville "Gistaquat" according to a map produced in 1771 by Guy Johnson, as the official map of New York state at the time, for then Governor William Tryon. The Seneca, the westernmost tribe of the Iroquois Nation referred to the Wellsville area as "The Pigeon Woods" and held annual festivals and encampments there to take advantage of the Passenger Pigeon. At the time, the Passenger Pigeon filled the skies by the millions and the tribes and bands came to the Wellsville area from all over Western New York and Northern Pa. to "Gistaquat" to harvest the pigeons by the thousands. The first settlers moved into the area before 1800. Nathaniel Dike, a native of Connecticut, and a captain in the Revolutionary War, serving under both General George Washington and General Warren of Bunker Hill fame, was the first settler in Allegany County. He married a Native American woman (Esther) and moved his family to the Wellsville area by 1795, while it was still owned by the Seneca Nation (two years before the Big Tree Treaty of 1797.) Dike began running a grist mill, a saw mill, and a tannery on a stream now known as Dykes Creek by 1803. (Dike's tombstone and his family all spell Dike with an "i" not a "y". On old maps, Dykes Creek is spelled with an "i".) Dike is buried in Elm Valley, just east of town. His tombstone has the official memorial placed there by the Catherine Schuyler Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR.) // ON MAY 5 1853 MR.FADER HAD SEX WITH A MAN NAME MR WIEN THEN THEY HAD SON NAMEDMRS COTURE AND MR MANOOGIAN WENT INTO MRS HASKELLS OFFICE NAKED AND DANCED AROUND AND MASTERBATED ON HER CHEST AND SHE LICKED IT OFF THEN THEY HAD ORAL SEEX WITH NAPLOEAN OF... 1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

Wellsville's industry and economic success has undergone many changes in its 200 years, as Wellsville has learned to reinvent itself. Wellsville's first industry was tanning, utilizing the bark of the Hemlock tree for its tannins. Wellsville was the site of three large tannery operations. Next came the lumbermen and the railroad. The New York and Erie Railroad came through Wellsville (1851) as the quickest way west from New York city, crossing New York state. The trains gave the lumbermen a means to get their product to market. When the trees were eliminated, the cleared ground quickly produced excellent grazing for a tremendous dairy industry which followed. Oil caputured the economic center stage in the last two decades of the 19th century, and the Sinclair Refinery was built in Wellsville, at the beginning of the 20th Century, not closing down until 1957 after two major fires and falling oil prices.

Those that wish to believe Wellsville was named for its oil "wells," are simply incorrect. Oil was not discovered in Wellsville until 1879 by O.P. Taylor in his famous Triangle No. 1 well, in Petrolia, just west of Wellsville. The Town was created, as it split from Scio in 1856, the Village of Wellsville was incorporated the following year, in 1857, 22 years before oil was discovered.

Wellsville was named for Gardiner Wells (spelled with an "i"), one of the largest landowners in what is now the Village of Wellsville, who was conspicuously absent from the meeting where his name was chosen.

Wellsville was called Scio through the first half of the 19th century, until its name was changed to Wellsville. For a brief time during the early 1870s, Wellsville changed its name to Genesee. April 4, 1871, the New York State Legislature officially changed Wellsville's name to Genesee. But affter much political wrangling, by a special act of the legislature, the name Wellsville was again designated as the official name of the town, June 8, 1873.

The Village of Wellsville was first incorporated in 1857 and then again in 1873. 1857 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Wellsville was actually named for a man named Gardiner Wells, who was, according to local history, the one person who didn't show up for the meeting when the residents were naming the town. Wells was the major landowner of the real estate pieces, now the downtown, Main Street section of Wellsville. The first oil boom came later in Wellsville's history, several decades after the founding of the town and village. A second boom occured with the discovery of "Secondary Recovery," lead by Bradley Producing, based in Wellsville. The method uses water, so abundant in Wellsville, to force the oil from the "oil sands."

In March, 2006, a referendum to dissolve the village was defeated by the residents. At present, local officials are attempting to obtain a charter for the community to reorganize, both municipalities into one entity, a city.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 6.2 km² (2.4 mi²), all land. The United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census as defined in Title ) is a part of the United States Department of Commerce. ... A square metre (US spelling: square meter) is by definition the area enclosed by a square with sides each 1 metre long. ... A square mile is an English unit of area equal to that of a square with sides each 1 statute mile (â‰ˆ1,609 m) in length. ...

The Genesee River flows through this village and New York State Route 19 intersects New York State Route 417. Upper Genesee near Belmont, New York, a series of pools and riffles The Middle Falls of the Genesee in Letchworth State Park The Genesee Rivers name is derived from the Iroquois meaning good valley or pleasant valley. ... New York State Route 19 is a north-south state highway in Western New York. ... New York State Route 417 is located in the Southern Tier of the state. ...

Wellsville is in a unique geographical location, at the top of the Eastern Triple Divide, the cusp of the three major watersheds in the Eastern United States.

The Genesee River flows through the center of the Village and the Town of Wellsville, down to Rochester and Lake Ontario and then on to the St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic Ocean. In the Wellsville school district, in Alma, southwest of Wellsville, the Honeoye Creek flows west to the Oswayo and then the Allegheny River, then to the Ohio and the Mississippi River, eventually to the Gulf of Mexico. And just over Jericho Hill to the east of Wellsville in the Town of Andover, the water flows to the east down the Kanakadea Valley to the Canisteo River, eventually to the Susquehanna River and on to the Atlantic Ocean.

The actual Triple Divide is a point, 22 miles south of Wellsville and can be found on Google Earth. There, at the exact point, a bucket of water can be dumped and symbolically and technically, the water will flow three ways, theoretically unimpeded; north, southeast and southwest.

Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 5,171 people, 2,162 households, and 1,206 families residing in the village. The population density was 838.9/km² (2,168.7/mi²). There were 2,413 housing units at an average density of 391.5/km² (1,012.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 95.92% White, 0.66% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 1.49% Asian, 0.29% from other races, and 1.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.91% of the population. 1870 US Census for New York City A census is the process of obtaining information about every member of a population (not necessarily a human population). ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ... It has been suggested that Ethnicity (United States Census) be merged into this article or section. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ... It has been suggested that Ethnicity (United States Census) be merged into this article or section. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ...

There were 2,162 households out of which 26.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.7% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.2% were non-families. 37.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.94. This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ...

In the village the population was spread out with 22.7% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 22.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 88.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.5 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $24,075, and the median income for a family was $36,345. Males had a median income of $32,950 versus $23,654 for females. The per capita income for the village was $16,950. About 12.5% of families and 18.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.9% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over. The per capita income for a group of people may be defined as their total personal income, divided by the total population. ... Map of countries showing percentage of population who have an income below the national poverty line The poverty line is the level of income below which one cannot afford to purchase all the resources one requires to live. ...

External links

	v • d • e Municipalities and Communities of Allegany County, New York County Seat: Belmont
Towns	Alfred \| Allen \| Alma \| Almond \| Amity \| Andover \| Angelica \| Belfast \| Birdsall \| Bolivar \| Burns \| Caneadea \| Centerville \| Clarksville \| Cuba \| Friendship \| Genesee \| Granger \| Grove \| Hume \| Independence \| New Hudson \| Rushford \| Scio \| Ward \| Wellsville \| West Almond \| Willing \| Wirt Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Allegany County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. ... NY redirects here. ... A county seat is a term for an administrative center for a county, primarily used in the United States. ... There is a town called Bellmont, New York in Franklin County. ... The definitions of the political subdivisions of the state of New York differ from those in certain other countries or even various other U.S. states, leading to misunderstandings regarding the governmental nature of an area. ... Alfred is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Allen is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Alma is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Almond is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Amity is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Andover is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Angelica is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Belfast is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Birdsall is a town in Allegany County, New York, USA. The population was 268 at the 2000 census. ... Bolivar is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Burns is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Caneadea is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Centerville is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Clarksville is a town located in Allegany County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 1,146. ... Friendship is a town located in Allegany County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 1,927. ... Genesee is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Granger is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Grove is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Hume is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... New Hudson is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Rushford is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Scio is a town in Allegany County, New York, USA. The population was 1,914 at the 2000 census. ... Ward is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... For other places with this name, see Wellsville. ... West Almond is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ... Willing is a town in Allegany County, New York, United States. ... Wirt is a town located in Allegany County, New York. ...
Villages	Alfred \| Almond \| Andover \| Angelica \| Belmont \| Bolivar \| Canaseraga \| Cuba \| Richburg \| Wellsville The definitions of the political subdivisions of the state of New York differ from those in certain other countries or even various other U.S. states, leading to misunderstandings regarding the governmental nature of an area. ... Aerial view of The Village of Alfred, taken April 2006. ... Almond is a village located in the Town of Almond in Allegany County, New York, United States. ... Andover is a village located in the Town of Andover in Allegany County, New York. ... Angelica is a village located in Allegany County, New York. ... There is a town called Bellmont, New York in Franklin County. ... Bolivar is a village located in Allegany County, New York. ... Canaseraga is a village located in Allegany County, New York. ... Richburg is a village located in Allegany County, New York. ...
CDPs	Friendship \| Houghton \| Stannards The definitions of the political subdivisions of the state of New York differ from those in certain other countries or even various other U.S. states, leading to misunderstandings regarding the governmental nature of an area. ... Friendship is a hamlet (and census-designated place) located in Allegany County, New York. ... Houghton is a hamlet (and census-designated place) located in the Town of Caneadea in Allegany County, New York. ... Stannards is a hamlet and also a census-designated place located in the Town of Willing in Allegany County, New York. ...
Indian Reservation	Oil Springs Reservation BIA map of reservations in the United States Tribal sovereignty: Map of the United States, with non-reservation land highlighted. ... Oil Springs Reservation is an Indian reservation located in Allegany County, New York. ...

Contents

Geography

Demographics

External links