By August 1927 it was no longer "late, breaking news" that Hartwick College would be established in Oneonta. That news had been learned back in March. A "Greater Hartwick" campaign to raise $600,000 by both the Hartwick Seminary and Oneonta's citizens was well under way.
Part of the campaign was also to provide a suitable location with ample grounds for the present and future needs of the institution. The site hadn't yet been determined, but it was first reported in The Oneonta Star of Tuesday, Aug. 2, 1927.
"Hartwick college will be located on the bluff west of Clinton street and south of upper West street, the site recommended by the committee on site of the Chamber of Commerce, which has been accepted by the Hartwick commission named by the Lutheran Synod of New York … The plot embraces upwards of 100 acres of land, the larger part of which has been donated by public spirited citizens of the city."
Those public-spirited citizens were Mr. and Mrs. Fred M. Baker, D.F. Keyes, Mr. and Mrs. L.C. Millard and Mrs. Clara Stevens Keyes. One property was purchased for $9,000 at the corner of West and Clinton streets.
The land was a big help, but so were the citizen donors who were giving money to make the college possible. Supreme Court Justice Abraham L. Kellogg and Frank H. Bresee had given $10,000 each. With all other donors, $208,000 had been pledged, or about $80 per family in Oneonta. The Hartwick Seminary Bulletin marveled, "It is doubtful whether any city of like size in the United States has ever done anything similar for a denominational school."
On that same Tuesday of the site location it was reported that a large group attending "summer assembly" at the Hartwick Seminary, near Cooperstown, made a "pilgrimage" to Oneonta to look over the new site for Hartwick College.
"The visitors halted first at Wilber park where they had a picnic dinner … at 5 o'clock and then went to 'College Hill,' and many of them rambled pretty well over the 115 acre plot."
The "throng gathered near the spot where some have assumed the first building may be erected, and interesting exercises were held, with Rev. Mr. Boomhower presiding and opening with a brief address." There were others who spoke, and both patriotic and sacred hymns were sung. A groundbreaking ceremony for that first building was held at a later date.
It was announced in late September 1927 that the Hartwick College executive offices would be moved from New York City to Oneonta by Oct. 1. The temporary site chosen was leased in the Van Wie block, today's 16 Dietz St., formerly a General Cash store and now the Getman Law Office. Once the office was settled, those who had made pledges to the Greater Hartwick campaign could bring in their first installments.
A newly formed advisory commission met with the Trustees of Hartwick Seminary on Wednesday, Sept. 28, at the newly opened Oneonta office. It was organized by Dr. Charles R. Myers, president of the Hartwick Seminary. Matters such as campus development, property and architecture, full accreditation, organization of departments and faculty, publicity and student enrollment were on the agenda of the meeting, which lasted until the middle of the afternoon.
The following summer, on Tuesday, June 26, 1928, the trustees and many dignitaries climbed "College Hill" again, this time to break ground for the first building, first named Science Hall, later known as Bresee Hall.
On Monday: A Maple Street eyesore gets a facelift.
City Historian Mark Simonson's column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or email him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com. His columns can be found at www.thedailystar.com/marksimonson.
Mark Simonson
Site in Oneonta chosen for Hartwick College in 1927
- Mark Simonson
-
-
Politics, fitness and landmarks dominated local news in May 1968
Area residents mulled over the idea of Gov. Nelson Rockefeller as their next President of the United States. New fitness opportunities emerged for all ages. One area landmark was saved while another was razed. It was only a part of our life and times in May 1968.
-
Local people sought income in many ways in 1933
In the economy that was the Great Depression, there were times people would do what it took to try to earn some money.
-
Local windstorm in 1983 caused tense moments
I realize I've got the wrong month in mind when I say "May came in like a lion." However, that's what happened in 1983 as a number of twisters moved through our region, leaving plenty of damage behind in their trails. Add some melting snow and heavy rain, and scenes of cleanups were widespread 30 years ago this month.
-
Disaster, expansions put people to work in May 1913
-
Job opportunities abounded in area 45 years ago
If you were looking for a job in April 1968 in our area, or perhaps looking to change your employment situation in the near future, opportunities were pointing in your favor.
- Saturday, April 27, 2013
-
Oneonta greeted an aviation giant in 1928
An early aviation superstar came to Oneonta in 1928.
- Monday, April 22, 2013
-
Area saw its own armed standoffs 30 years ago
This past Friday, we watched how the Boston area went into a lockdown during a tense search for the last suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings. Had I still been living and working in that area, as I was in the early 1990s, I would have had a day off from work Friday, as police scoured the city of Waltham.
- Saturday, April 20, 2013
-
U.S.S. Maine explosion, war drew much local sentiment
For most people in our area in early 1898, a growing conflict between two distant nations probably didn't get much attention, other than some glances at the newspaper. When a young Oneonta man was one of many injured or killed in an explosion of a battleship he was aboard, the local attention increased markedly to what was soon to become the Spanish-American War.
- Monday, April 15, 2013
-
Oneonta river walking path came from a surveyor's daydream
Leon Kalmus of Oneonta spent a lot of time surveying land near the Susquehanna River in the early 1970s around the time Interstate 88 was being planned and built in this area. What he saw along the shores of the river, he called “pristine,� and soon had an idea for some kind of walking or hiking pathway along the shores of the river in the town of Oneonta.
- Saturday, April 13, 2013
-
Decline of Prohibition led to return of beer in April 1933
“I think this would be a good time for a beer,� remarked President Franklin D. Roosevelt, when he signed the Cullen-Harrison Act on March 22, 1933. This marked the beginning of the end for Prohibition that year.
- Monday, April 8, 2013
-
Dietz Street shifted from residential to commercial through the years
By taking a walk along Dietz Street today, heading north to Walnut Street, one can see a lot of businesses and the recently refurbished parking lot on the east side of the street. It would take some imagination to see this street lined with houses and a church, but prior to the late 1940s, that’s what was there.
- Saturday, April 6, 2013
-
Oneontans voted for a 'dry' city in 1918
- Monday, April 1, 2013
-
Future city historian kept family busy for Easter and April 1958
- Saturday, March 30, 2013
-
Colliscroft became new Oneonta landmark in 1902
If the Oneonta building trade sector of the economy could have awarded a plaque to a most valuable individual customer of 1902, it would have nearly been a shoo-in. That was Edward H. Pardee, who was listed in the Oneonta Directory around that time as a farmer, on Southside.
- Wednesday, March 27, 2013
-
Historic Cooperstown cottage got a new address in 1988
To unknowing tourists seeking information from the tourism information center at 31 Chestnut St. in Cooperstown, they would probably believe that the mid-19th century cottage had always been on that site. It blends in well with some of the grand old houses along that street, and the same tourists might think it has an interesting history behind it.
- Saturday, March 23, 2013
-
Free mail delivery began in Oneonta 125 years ago
- Monday, March 18, 2013
-
Oneonta enacted first building code 60 years ago
There will be no parade, fireworks display or commemorative coins minted for the occasion.
- Saturday, March 16, 2013
-
Area isolated during historic March 1888 snowstorm
Earlier in the week, we recalled the "Blizzard of 1993," which was one containing historic snowfall that fell on our region on Saturday, March 13. It was the largest recorded in a single local snowfall in the 20th century, and ever since another storm dating back 105 years. The latter snowfall was worse than the 1993 storm, falling overnight into Tuesday, March 13, 1888. It was commonly referred to as the "Blizzard of 1888."
- Monday, March 11, 2013
-
Blizzard of 1993 was a local memory maker
- Saturday, March 9, 2013
-
Oneonta area easily endured bank holidays in 1933
Business had been essentially normal at Oneonta's three major banking institutions during February 1933.
-
Politics, fitness and landmarks dominated local news in May 1968
