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Archiver > GEN-NYS > 2000-06 > 0961629936


From: SLWillig <>
Subject: Delta, Village Under the Lake
Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2000 16:25:36 -0700


Hi, Everybody,

Thought some of you Oneida County researchers would enjoy hearing about
Delta, the flooded Oneida County village. It lay in the Town of Lee up
until 1912. The entire story, which contains many Oneida Co. surnames, can
be found at the Oneida County GenExchange site, hosted by Kathy Last,
Oneida County researcher and resident, who also wrote the piece. Below
please find the URL where you may read the entire article. It is an
historical account under the heading ( link) Bio's and Historical Accounts
on the left side of the page:

http://www.genexchange.org/ny/oneida/index.cfm

Here is an excerpt from "Delta, Town of Lee - The Village Under the Lake".

Enjoy! And thanks...

Susan Willig
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The village of Delta was situated in the eastern part of the Town of Lee, a
portion of it in the Town of Western. The village was located on the delta
between the Mohawk River and Potash Brook, the Mohawk River being an ideal
location for obtaining power to run the mills. It was in the vicinity of
here that the first known settlement in the Town of Lee commenced. In 1790,
Esek Sheldon and his three sons, Stephen, Reuben and Amasa, came into this
area. Stephen Sheldon built the first house, a small log cabin, and
remained in the village of Delta the rest of his life.

The village itself was built on one street, running north and south, near
the western bank of the Mohawk River. The main highway into Delta was Long
Hill Road from Elmer Hill. Just to the west of Long Hill Road was Short
Hill Road and the two met at the watering trough at the foot of the hill.
Just below the village ran Beaver Brook which provided trout for many
fishermen over the years. There were hills on all sides of the village and
those on the south side rose to a height of 100 feet. In prehistoric times
this same territory was undoubtedly a large lake. Several lines of
businesses had their rise and fall in the village of Delta. Grist mills,
sawmills, a mill for the carding of cotton, a distillery, a canning
factory, and several brick kilns, as well as a plow factory and woolen
manufacturing establishment. Bricks from these kilns can still be found
today in homes in Westernville and Rome.

The first school in the neighborhood of Delta was taught by Lurene Rudd, a
daughter of Prosper Rudd. She kept the first winter school in that locality
and in 1804 she had over 80 pupils from Delta and nearby Elmer Hill area.
The Union Library of Lee and Western was located at Delta prior to 1820.
The first post office was established here in February 1834, with Franklin
Peck as postmaster. Franklin Peck was the son of Gates Peck, an early
settler in this region. The Methodist Episcopal Church in Delta was holding
meetings as early as 1838, and possibly sooner. On August 7, 1841, Asa
Hartshorn and his wife Mary, sold a parcel of land to the church. The
church was built in 1843 with John Slee being the first class leader and
Adin Sly the second. George Gary was the first presiding elder. Among the
early pastors of this church were Rev. John Roper and Elisha Wheeler. This
church was rebuilt and enlarged in 1882. In 1910 the building was
dismantled and moved to Blossvale where it stands today.

In the early 1840's the Calvinistic Methodists held house services in the
village. This was discontinued about 1848. In 1852/53 the distillery burned
and was not rebuilt. Around 1854 Eliakim Elmer built the Empire Hotel here.
For many years this landmark was owned and operated by Herbert Kane and his
wife. The Empire Hotel was dismantled piece by piece and moved to
Westernville before the land was flooded in 1912.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Susan Laursen Willig

State Coordinator: NYGenExchange: http://www.genexchange.org/ny/index.cfm
Coordinator for the Washington County, NY, GenExchange
http://www.genexchange.org/ny/washington/
NY Counties Open for Adoption: http://www.genexchange.org/counties.cfm?state=ny


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