East side of Genesee St. Oxford Road to Pearl St.

In 1871, a year after the Village of New Hartford incorporated, the Sauquoit Creek was established as the eastern boundary of the village. Today the town is bounded on the north by the Town of Whitestown; the northeast by the City of Utica; the southeast by the Town of Frankfort, Herkimer County; the south by the Town of Paris; and the west by the Town of Kirkland.

Many of the early settlers came from Connecticut, near Hartford, which is probably how the town got its name. The settlers were primarily of Dutch and German descent. There were several families each of Kelloggs, Risley, and Higbys. Others had been friends and neighbors in Connecticut. Sanger sold several hundred acres north of the Sauquoit Creek to Joseph Higby. This land covered the hill on which Higby Road is located. Sanger deeded much of his land for churches, cemeteries, and manufacturing purposes. The early settlers were largely self-sufficient, using logs for their first houses and growing their own foodstuffs. Farming developed on the rolling hills.

The presence of the Sauquoit Creek proved to be a great asset for community development. A gristmill (1789) and a sawmill (1790). Erected by Sanger utilizing water power, served as a nucleus. Thereafter, manufacturing development progressed along the banks of the creek. Cording mills, a cap factory, and knitting mills were established within the present Village of New Hartford.

Olympian Knit Goods

At New York Mills, the Upper Mills of the New York Mills Manufacturing Company included an old wooden building know as the Buhr Stone Mill that had been converted from an early gristmill. The Upper Mills manufactured some of the first fine shirting in this country. The Utica Cotton Mill was established about 1814 on the creek between the Villages of New York Mills and New Hartford, and it was known as the Capron Factory. A woolen factory was established in Checkerville, now Washington Mills. A tannery was converted to a bleachery by George W. Chadwick in Willowvale. Sawmills, a cider mill, and a plaster mill are among the other industries that located on the banks of the creek.

The development of the Seneca Turnpike by the Seneca Road Company in 1800 added to New Hartford’s commercial importance. Sanger invested in that company to assure that it would include the existing settlement. As it was one of the earliest east-west routes through the state, it provided opportunities for the establishment of many inns and hostelries. The hamlet of Middle Settlement was the site of Palmer’s Inn, one of the earliest local landmarks, which was razed in the 1960s to make way for a shopping center.

Throughout its history, New Hartford has had many schools. The first teacher in the area was Samuel Dakin. He was a young lawyer who arrived here from New England about 1815. He was unable to establish a practice until he had been a resident for three years. He made his living preparing young men for college. In the early 1 800s, Joshua Palmer, proprietor of Palmer’s Inn on Seneca Turnpike, gave several acres for a school. The Middle Settlement School was built. It was moved and replaced in 1922. That school was torn down in 1973.

New Hartford has known many churches. Some still exist; many have disappeared. It is known that the first church meeting were held in Sanger’s barn on Mill Street in 1790. It was decided that a church should be built. In 1791, the First Religious Society of Whitestown was founded as a Congregational Society. In 1802, it became the First Presbyterian Church, a village landmark and has the distinction of being the oldest public building in Oneida County. Sanger gave the land on the corner of Genesee and Pearl Streets for the location of the church.

Middle Settlement School 1936

In the 1820s a Quaker Meetinghouse existed on Oxford Road. No mention of it can be found after 1885. In 1825, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church was built on Oxford Road on land donated by Sanger. In 1842, the Methodist Episcopal Church was built on Oxford Road, having held services in various locations since 1826. In 1869, a larger church was built nearby.

St John the Evangelist Catholic Church was built on Oxford Road and Sherman Street in 1885. A new church was built in 1966. A convent and Catholic school are located on Sherman Street and Pearl Street. About 1890, the Welsh Church was established and housed on Pearl Street. It was defunct by 1941, and the building was given to the Amicable Lodge. Later churches were the Moravian Church, the Messiah United Church, the Bible Baptist Church, and the Clinton Road Baptist Church.

The construction of the Horatio Arterial and the Sauquoit Valley Arterial has diluted the main flow of traffic from the original Seneca Turnpike. Increased population, most of whom work outside of New Hartford, has established this as a suburban community.