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Elko, New York
42°03′25″N 78°52′52″W / 42.057°N 78.881°W
Elko was a town in Cattaraugus County, New York that existed from 1890 to 1965. It was forcibly evacuated in 1965 due to the construction of the Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River in Warren County, Pennsylvania, one of the largest dams in the United States east of the Mississippi. The dam was authorized by the United States Congress as a flood control measure in the Flood Control Acts of 1936 and 1938, and was built by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers beginning in 1960. Other benefits from the dam include drought control, hydroelectric power production, and recreation.
As of the 1950 United States census, the most recent for which census data for the town is available online, 95 people were residents of Elko.
Elko was one of the first areas in Cattaraugus County to be settled by Europeans. The Quakers, with the blessing of Seneca diplomat Cornplanter, established a mission on the Allegany Indian Reservation beginning in 1798. The first permanent settlements were established in 1803, and the landmark Quaker Bridge was constructed in 1867.
The Town of Elko was founded in 1890 from territory previously belonging to South Valley. Its creation (Elko was the 33rd and final township to be created in Cattaraugus County) was allegedly a political maneuver to move the balance of power in the county southward and get the county seat moved to Salamanca, an effort that was approved 18–15 by the county board of supervisors but rejected in a public referendum; the seat remains located in Little Valley. Oil magnate Amasa Stone built a large portion of his estate in the town, and it was an agent of his that suggested the town's name. The town's formation came at a time when the lumber industry in southwestern Cattaraugus County was briefly booming; over 2,000 people were resident in the towns of Elko, South Valley and Red House in 1890, ten times as many residents as there are in the area as of 2010. Most of its usable land was located on the Allegany Indian Reservation, which complicated the town's development. The town's numerous creeks (Quaker Run, Hotchkiss Hollow and Wolf Run) all provided ample hydropower for sawmills, an early driver of the area's economy; this eventually subsided when steam power grew to dominate.
In 1921, with the opening of Allegany State Park, the town of Elko positioned itself as a gateway town targeting the tourists who would pass through on their way into the park.
In 1941, the Buffalo Courier-Express penned a summary of the town, noting that at the time, it was the smallest in Western New York, was too small to cover interest payments and thus could not afford to incur any debts. The town was still served by one-room schools, one in each of the town's three districts (Hotchkiss Hollow, Quaker Bridge and Wolf Run), though no children were of school age in Hotchkiss Hollow at the time as the most recent had graduated in 1939. There were no churches in the town, and residents had to travel to Steamburg for the nearest churches. Its commerce consisted of a processing plant operated by the Fairmont Creamery, a general store (which doubled as the post office), a garage, and a service station, along with several family farms. The summary also noted numerous civic organizations, including the Farm Bureau, 4-H, Home Bureau, and Nursing Committee, all of which operated out of the town hall for substantial gatherings.
Elko was forcibly evacuated in spring 1965 as part of the Kinzua Dam construction. That August, the remaining residents voted 13–1 to dissolve the town and give its remaining equipment and land to the neighboring town of Coldspring, which concurrently voted 45–0 to annex the town. The landmark Quaker Bridge was demolished and replaced with one several miles upstream, near Steamburg, when the Southern Tier Expressway was built, and the highways serving Elko were all reconfigured to eliminate most of the town's infrastructure (after the construction of the dam, the town was left with only one road to maintain, Hotchkiss Hollow Road).
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Elko, New York
42°03′25″N 78°52′52″W / 42.057°N 78.881°W
Elko was a town in Cattaraugus County, New York that existed from 1890 to 1965. It was forcibly evacuated in 1965 due to the construction of the Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River in Warren County, Pennsylvania, one of the largest dams in the United States east of the Mississippi. The dam was authorized by the United States Congress as a flood control measure in the Flood Control Acts of 1936 and 1938, and was built by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers beginning in 1960. Other benefits from the dam include drought control, hydroelectric power production, and recreation.
As of the 1950 United States census, the most recent for which census data for the town is available online, 95 people were residents of Elko.
Elko was one of the first areas in Cattaraugus County to be settled by Europeans. The Quakers, with the blessing of Seneca diplomat Cornplanter, established a mission on the Allegany Indian Reservation beginning in 1798. The first permanent settlements were established in 1803, and the landmark Quaker Bridge was constructed in 1867.
The Town of Elko was founded in 1890 from territory previously belonging to South Valley. Its creation (Elko was the 33rd and final township to be created in Cattaraugus County) was allegedly a political maneuver to move the balance of power in the county southward and get the county seat moved to Salamanca, an effort that was approved 18–15 by the county board of supervisors but rejected in a public referendum; the seat remains located in Little Valley. Oil magnate Amasa Stone built a large portion of his estate in the town, and it was an agent of his that suggested the town's name. The town's formation came at a time when the lumber industry in southwestern Cattaraugus County was briefly booming; over 2,000 people were resident in the towns of Elko, South Valley and Red House in 1890, ten times as many residents as there are in the area as of 2010. Most of its usable land was located on the Allegany Indian Reservation, which complicated the town's development. The town's numerous creeks (Quaker Run, Hotchkiss Hollow and Wolf Run) all provided ample hydropower for sawmills, an early driver of the area's economy; this eventually subsided when steam power grew to dominate.
In 1921, with the opening of Allegany State Park, the town of Elko positioned itself as a gateway town targeting the tourists who would pass through on their way into the park.
In 1941, the Buffalo Courier-Express penned a summary of the town, noting that at the time, it was the smallest in Western New York, was too small to cover interest payments and thus could not afford to incur any debts. The town was still served by one-room schools, one in each of the town's three districts (Hotchkiss Hollow, Quaker Bridge and Wolf Run), though no children were of school age in Hotchkiss Hollow at the time as the most recent had graduated in 1939. There were no churches in the town, and residents had to travel to Steamburg for the nearest churches. Its commerce consisted of a processing plant operated by the Fairmont Creamery, a general store (which doubled as the post office), a garage, and a service station, along with several family farms. The summary also noted numerous civic organizations, including the Farm Bureau, 4-H, Home Bureau, and Nursing Committee, all of which operated out of the town hall for substantial gatherings.
Elko was forcibly evacuated in spring 1965 as part of the Kinzua Dam construction. That August, the remaining residents voted 13–1 to dissolve the town and give its remaining equipment and land to the neighboring town of Coldspring, which concurrently voted 45–0 to annex the town. The landmark Quaker Bridge was demolished and replaced with one several miles upstream, near Steamburg, when the Southern Tier Expressway was built, and the highways serving Elko were all reconfigured to eliminate most of the town's infrastructure (after the construction of the dam, the town was left with only one road to maintain, Hotchkiss Hollow Road).