Town of Jefferson - The Old Stone Fort Museum

A Brief History of the Town of Jefferson

Submitted by:
Jefferson Historical Society President Kevin Berner and Treasurer Stephanie Ruquet
With special thanks to town Historian Ingrid Zeman

In the southwest corner of Schoharie County, nestled among peaks of the Catskills, lies Jefferson, a town blessed with natural beauty, an abundance of wildlife, enterprising citizenry, and a rich history. Its mountain springs and rills are sources of three great river systems of the Northeast: the Delaware, Susquehanna, and Hudson.

The original settlers who arrived in the early 1790s were hardworking, progressive New Englanders who carved their community from the town of Blenheim and incorporated it in 1803. The town and its people prospered and grew, and by the time of its first federal census in 1810 the population had increased to 1740, several hundred more than today’s Jefferson.

Old Main Street with shops in a photo taken around 1900. The first building was a hotel, hardware store, and now the Breakfast Club restaurant. The building with the gable was the Clark Block of Dr. Almond Clark who was a dentist and optometrist. Many other businesses were housed there. The flat roofed building on the right included the funeral parlor/furniture and other businesses.

**Here is Herschel Veley and his mother in a cow-drawn sleigh on Main St. Jefferson in the early 1900s.**

Most of the early residents were self-sustaining farmers. A thriving hub of supporting businesses and services quickly grew with doctors, dentists, lawyers, shoemakers, harness makers, blacksmiths, milliners, carpenters, dressmakers, groceries, post office, hotels, taverns, hardware stores, feed stores, a newspaper, drug store, mills, churches and schools.

The dairy industry was extremely important in Jefferson’s early years. The town became known as “Buttertown” due to the large amount of high-quality butter produced by its two creameries. This photo shows the “Farmers’ Creamery opposite the current school site on Main St.

Later in the 19th century, dairy farming became the primary income source. Two creameries were operating in the town producing literally tons of butter and giving Jefferson the nickname “Buttertown.” Today, with only two dairy farms remaining, beef cattle and horses are more often seen in its acres of rolling pastures.

The Green — one of two New England town greens in Schoharie County, the Jefferson green was given to the town by founding father, Col. Stephen Judd. Over the years, the green has been used as a militia training ground and a public pasture, and has been the venue for veterans’ encampments, church picnics, festivals, band concerts and dances. In 1879, Reverend Charles H. Travis, minister of the Jefferson Methodist Church, had 120 maple trees planted on the green, some of which still survive. This year the Jefferson Historical Society organized the planting of new young sugar maples on the green.

The Town Green in the center of Jefferson is reminiscent of those formed by English settlers in New England. The land was donated in 1817 by Col. Stephen Judd who was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Judd also donated the adjacent land for an early academy as well as the old Jefferson cemetery north of Main St. The Green was originally used as a military training ground. In 1900 the Jefferson Cornet Band built a bandstand on the Green for their concerts and it remains as a focal point of the area today.

The cornet band was formed in 1879 and for decades played regular concert from the bandstand, in other local venues, and throughout the region.

The main business district of the town was along the north side of the Green and included several general stores, drug stores, jewelry businesses, millinery shops, a funeral parlor/furniture store, a meat market, a newspaper, physicians, a dentist/optometrist, lawyers, hardware stores, harness shops, and restaurants.

**This is the two-room school that was adjacent to the Green until 1900. This photo was taken in 1895.**

The west side of the Green featured a guest house and the 1837 Presbyterian Church. The first school in the hamlet was a log cabin on the Green. Later came the Jefferson Academy on the east side of the Green. It eventually was replaced by a two-room school, and later a large framed school.

This school was built by George W. Harris in 1900 as the Union Free School. A few years later it met the higher standards of a “high school”. It was used for all grade levels in its early days and as an elementary school until 1953 when addition on the newer brick school.

The Methodist Church which was built on the west end of Main St. was moved in the mid-1800s to the lot adjacent to the schools and later moved again to school site when the students moved to the new brick school farther to the east on Main St. On the south side was a building that served numerous businesses including hardware, a newspaper, a restaurant, and a billiards parlor.

This is the Methodist church as it appeared in the early 1900s. Numerous additions have been added over time. In the 1950s it was moved to the former site of the school at which time a basement was added.

In 1912 an opera house was opened on that site. It was used for school plays, graduations, concerts, and later movies for many years. The town hall and fire hall were housed in the basement. Just to the east there was a tailor shop in the mid-1800s that later became a law office.

The Presbyterian church was built in 1836 to replace one that burned on the Green itself. The building next to it was the Presbyterian parsonage and later became a guest house which is now known as the Virginia Queen. The old church is now known as the Maple Museum. The Jefferson Historical Society leases it from the Town, and it is now venue for concerts and other special events.

Today’s Jefferson features restaurants, inns, antique shops, auto repair businesses, fire department, a central school, post office, churches, and a Senior Center. Jeffersonians produce maple products, honey, soap, and other niche agricultural products often sold through online businesses and farmers markets.

A popular hunting, fishing, birdwatching and leaf-peeping destination, Jefferson includes three beautiful public areas. The 818-acre Clapper Hollow State Forest features hiking, snowmobiling & cross-country skiing trails. Paulson Preserve, 342 acres that straddle Jefferson and neighboring Summit, offers trails for hiking and wildlife observation.

Visitors can step back in time at the Fuller District One-Room Schoolhouse located near the Jefferson Town Hall. The schoolhouse is one of two historic buildings owned by the Town and managed by the Jefferson Historical Society in a cooperative partnership.

Jefferson’s newest public area is the Schoolhouse-Mill Trail, a nature walk that starts at the one-room Fuller District schoolhouse near Town Hall. Created by the Jefferson Historical Society in cooperation with the Town of Jefferson and with funding by a grant from the Schoharie County Soil and Water District, the trail features the ruins of an old steam mill, as well as native flora and fauna.

This is the ruins of the Old Mann Brothers Mill. The Jefferson Historical Society recently had a history and nature trail built, starting at the old Fuller District schoolhouse, going to a newly developed picnic area at the mill site, and continuing through woods and fields.

Jefferson Events

Jefferson Farmers Market

Saturday mornings, 9 – 12 from Memorial Day to Columbus Day

Featuring local producers of meat, eggs, maple products, honey,jams, pickles, granola, baked goods, griddle cake mix, natural soaps, fudge, herbs, fruit, veggies & more

Concerts
Lectures
Alumni Reception
History Day
Open Mic Nights
Main Street & Old Cemetery History Walks

*The above regularly scheduled events sponsored by the Jefferson Historical Society are currently cancelled or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the planned concerts may be rescheduled. Please visit our Facebook page for the latest information on rescheduled events.

The Schoharie County Maple Festival was held on the Jefferson Green and at other locations through the town from 1966 to 1993 when it was moved to the fairgrounds in Cobleskill. This photo from 1973 shows a demonstration of tapping a sugar maple tree. While the Festival is no longer held in Jefferson, it has been replaced with the annual Heritage Day in July.

Jefferson celebrates Heritage Day on the second Saturday of July. However, Heritage Day 2020 is cancelled due to the pandemic.

Jefferson Historical Society

The Jefferson Historical Society meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 5:15 p.m. in the Maple Museum or Judd Hall. The meeting location is dependent on COVID virus conditions and the season.

The Jefferson Historical Society has published several books including three volumes of the popular Jefferson Then and Now series which features old photos of the town paired with new photos of the same scenes.

Keeping Up with the Jefferson Historical Society

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Jefferson-Historical-Society-309739662479973/
Website: TheJeffersonHistoricalSociety.com
Email address: historicalsocietyjefferson@gmail.com
Snail-mail address: PO Box 143, Jefferson 12093

*The Jefferson Historical Society Newsletter is published twice a year. Contact JHS to get on the mailing list.

Jefferson Historical Society Officers

Kevin Berner, President
Carol Bodnar, Vice President
Joan Powers, Secretary
Stephanie Ruquet, Treasurer

Jefferson Town Historian
Ingrid Zeman