History of Sharon Springs

Sharon was part of Tryon County from 1772-1784. Tryon was renamed Montgomery on April 2, 1784. On February 16, 1791, part of Carlisle, Seward, and Sharon formed the town of “New Dorlach”. When our county was formed, Sharon was annexed, and it’s boundaries were defined in 1797.

All the immigration stopped during the Revolution, but afterwards people started to go to Sharon. Peter Sommers kept the first store in the town, but went to Canada during the Revolution, and never returned. William Beekman was the first judge in the Court of Common Pleas, which he held until 1833. Beekman was also elected to the Senate in 1799, 1800, 1801, and 1802. He also built a mansion west of Beekman’s Corners, and died on November 26, 1845.

Many of the Indians and Germans remained loyal to the Crown during the Revolution. In 1777, some people answered the call of the Crown. On July 10, 1781, the battle of Sharon took place, in which Colonel Willett of Fort Stanwix battled a man named Dockstader, a Mohawk Tory. Although Dockstader commanded over 400 Indians and Tories, and Willett commanded under 300, the patriots took only five losses, while Dockstader took over 70. After the war, a few people petitioned the legislature to be compensated for things lost during the war.

At Moak’s Hollow, the Mynderts and other people were captured by a band of Indians and Tories. Mrs. Myndert was allowed to go, but the rest were taken to Niagara. They were still held after the war, but escaped by digging under their prison’s wall. William Kneiskern, who was taken to Rebel Island, escaped by binding three brandy casks together, and floating to America.

Previous to the Revolution, many of the settlers were well-to-do people, but the Revolution left them in poverty. By 1800, most, if not all, of the town was occupied. In 1793, the “Great Western Turnpike” ran through Sharon, and the thoroughfares that ran through the town gave a major business boost.

Beekman’s Corners was a booming town in the first quarter of the 1800s. This is where Judge Beekman lived. Dr. Sylvanus Palmer, whose pen-name was Peter Paradox, called Governor Bouck, soon after he was elected, a “Sour Kraut”. Peter A. Hilton built a brick mansion and storehouse in Beekman’s Corners.

Peter, Martin, Mathias, and Jacob Engle settled in Sharon in 1798. Peter built a grist-mill in 1810. Inside Sharon was the hamlet of Leesville, where it’s post office was located, and was where the town’s main business took place. Located in Leesville were three hotels, two stores, a tannery, and a blacksmith.

The springs of Sharon were highly acclaimed, for they were believed to hold disease curing abilities. Indians used them, in fact, long before the whites came. Provisions for accommodating settlers were started around 1825, by David Eldredge, who started to take in boarders, and added rooms upon his home to provide room for extra travelers. A major boarding home was constructed by a company from New York City, and afterwards, many more hotels were built by various people and companies. The book lists the minerals found in the springs.

Christian Myndert was the first to settle in Sharon, whose farm was purchased by Tinas Pynneo. Another name for Sharon is Moak’s Hollow. Some of the first settlers in Sharon were the Loucks, the Davenports, and the Klings, who still remain in the county. It’s amazing that the book devotes a big section to local graves.

It’s too bad that Sharon never became a big city. People have their theories why this never happened, but mine is that it didn’t happen because of the smells.

Visit Schoharie County-- Breadbasket of the Revolution

Schoharie County is one of the most beautiful areas of the state, encompassing the northern Catskill Mountains and the scenic Schoharie Valley. There are many points of interest here, including Howe Caverns, which is the second-most visited natural attraction in the state. Schoharie County also contains the infamous Gilboa Dam. We also are fortunate to have Minekill and Max V. Shaul State Parks.Also, the area is rich in history, including many fights in the Revolutionary War. Schoharie County once had three forts. The last remaining one is a museum now, the Old Stone Fort. Famous entrepreneur and founder of the company Westinghouse, George Westinghouse was born in Central Bridge. The largest single-span covered bridge in the world is located in Blenheim. Another nice covered bridge is in Schoharie, just down the street from the Old Stone Fort.There are nice places to eat around the area, like the Alley Cat or the Tory Tavern in Schoharie or M+J's Cafe in Middleburgh. There are nice hotels, like the Super 8 in Cobleskill or the American Hotel in Sharon Springs.

We're convieniently located less than an hour away from Oneonta, Schnectady, and Albany. We're two hours from Binghamton and about three from Plattburgh and New York.So give us a shot, you'll be glad you did.

Windmills Would be an Asset for the County

Over the last couple of years there's been a lot of talk about the possibility of massive wind turbines being built in the area. Between Schoharie and Otsego Counties is one of the richest wind environments in the state. Talk about windmills in Cherry Valley has started again, and hopefully this time it will go through. Unfortunately, it was the urbane democrats of the area which killed the discussion before, despite the majority of the town board supporting the wind turbines, along with local republicans.

Which brings us to our area. Near Madison, NY, there are wind farms in Madison and Fenner. In Madison, there are seven wind turbines which generate electricity for thousands of homes. The operators of the turbines also pay for a quarter of the school budget and a significant portion of the town budget. In Fenner, twenty windmills are on local farms, taking up little space and providing even more power for civilian purposes.

In Tug Hill, 195 windmills provide about 2% of New York State's electricity needs, and pay a handsome amount annually to each of the local towns. These windmills are quiet, having been under one-- touching it in fact. This was while the turbine was turning rapidly.

Sure, the windmills are only effective 20% of the time. However, most of the time, they do not require personnel on site. 20% of the time is still impressive, considering that even with this limited capacity, they still provide relatively large amounts of clean energy. Every windmill that is constructed is one less megawatt of power generated from oil or coal. When the windmills are not in service, the rest of the grid is easily able to compensate for the lack of energy. Any excess energy can be fed back into the grid, causing other energy sources to cut back on production.

As a local official, I would welcome and encourage wind farms in the area. Last year I attended a meeting of the Town of Fulton board and threw my support behind Phil Scowfoe's plan for wind turbines. These turbines will be able to pay a large portion of our local taxes through PILOT programs and will also decrease our energy prices. In Cherry Valley, the company which was to run the windmills offered the residents 25% off of their electricity costs, in addition to paying through PILOT programs. The incentives for putting in the windmills will cut our government overhead costs, further benefiting taxpayers. With school costs rising, any windmill benefits would slow or temporarily halt the rise in school taxes.

My family has went out of our way to visit all three windfarms, with Madison being visited probably 10 times. The windmills would become a minor sightseeing site and would bring in a few onlookers a day. Ten people per day in the summer coming from Albany to gawk at the windmills could inject hundreds of dollars per day into our local economy, which alone would be a nice jolt.

Windmills are not perfect. However, they're the closest thing we have to perfect for now.