The Town of Elbridge was first settled by the English in 1793, when Josiah Buck, a surveyor, who originally surveyed the land for the State of New York in 1791, and Captain William Stevens, a soldier of the Revolution arrived in what is now the Town of Elbridge.  Long before the Native Americans had fortified certain areas of the town and had many settlements in the area, a very large one was still in existence on the Seneca River near what is now Jacks Reef.

On March 29, 1829 the Town had increased in population, 37 lots were broken from the Town of Camillus and the Town of Elbridge was created.  The town was named after Elbridge Gerry, a friend of Captain Stevens.  Elbridge Gerry was a member of the Boston Tea Party with Stevens, a Signer of the Declaration of Independence and Vice President of the United States in 1813-14.  He died in office on the way to the Senate in 1814.

The reason for early settlement was that Josiah Buck and William Stevens followed a trail which had been used by the Native Americans for centuries and is now the present New York State Route 5.  They found great water power in the Skaneateles Lake outlet, thereby making an excellent place to establish mills which were needed by the pople as they arrived to settle the land.  Grist mills and saw mills came first, along with a tavern.  Later stores and doctors arrived in the Town.  In 1800 the first church was organized and in 1801 the first school.

There is a large ridge that crosses the middle of the Town from the west to east with Skaneateles Creek cutting through the ridge as it flows to the Seneca River and Cross Lake.  Cross Lake and the Seneca River are our northern boundary and the lake, in legend, was the home of the great Chief Hiawatha.

Because of this ridge and the creek, two separate settlements developed on the creek.  The Village of Elbridge in the southwest part of the Town, which in the late 1800's had up to 360 workers in its various factories and mills, incorporated April 1, 1848.    

The settlement of Jordan in the northwest section of the Town became incorporated on May 2, 1835.  The Erie Canal was built through the Village of Jordan in 1825 and immediately the Village began to grow and prosper.  Later, the main line of the railroad that traversed New York State was built in Jordan.  Jordan soon became the center of trade and manufacturing in the Town of Elbridge - outgrowing the population of Elbridge.  Today Jordan remains the larger of the two villages. 

By the early 1900's, the industry in the two villages started moving into Syracuse and many went out of business.  There was a need for capital expansion and there were no banks in the area to support this growth.  In 1912, the Erie Canal was closed and moved to the new Barge Canal which is located in the Seneca River and Cross Lake.  The use of the railroad also disappeared as a popular means of shipping in the 1950's.  The NYS Thruway was soon built, but there was no exit created for the Town of Elbridge-  industry came to a stand still.  Today there still exists a few viable industries in the Town:  OWI Wire Mill, Bennett Bolt Works, Northeastern Electronics and Tessy Plastics Corporation.

Even though the Town is considered a bedroom community of the nearby Syracuse and Auburn cities, retail businesses along the Route 5 and 31 corridors have done well.  The Town still includes a number of strong family farms, as well as the historic districts of yesteryear.

Town Historian
John G. Horner

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