Oneonta is the only city in the large Central New York counties of Otsego, Delaware, and Schoharie. The earliest settlers in 1780 knew the place as a “dammed hemlock swamp.” By 1930, it had become an established regional metropolis towering over all area localities. Oneonta is an exciting story, and this comprehensive book is a unique treasure. The big stories are all there, such as the turnpikes, Albany and Susquehanna Railroad, D&H, cigar rolling, normal school, Hartwick College, and more. Yet so are accounts of sidewalks, cemeteries, boardinghouses, Barn Hill, charity, piano manufacturer, and many others. Maybe more important still was the predominant thought about business affairs. There is much on that too. With rich detail and over 350 heavily annotated pictures, those 150 years to the Great Depression are described as never before and, most likely, never again.

In 1873 a pair of Oneonta businessmen initiated the Oneonta Fair, an endeavor that would grow into the second largest fair in the State and become known as the Central New York Fair. For one week in September thousands of visitors would fill Oneonta streets and hotels, coming from as far away as New England and Pennsylvania. The Fair offered acrobats, wild animals, midway rides, public weddings, parachute jumpers, horse races, and even the Golden Globe of Death The most popular attraction was the Floral Parade, a procession of horses and floats decorated with hundreds of thousands of flowers, and which drew crowds of 30,000 in a single day. The Fair always tried to provide sensational new attractions, featuring an airship in 1906 and the first airplane in 1910. But, due to the increasing popularity of the automobile during the 1920's, fairgoers began staying only one day, and attendance began to drop off. In 1927 the Fair was canceled, its iconic and beautiful buildings torn down, and the fairgrounds developed into building lots to create what is today the Belmont Circle neighborhood. Peppered with colorful characters and a sense of nostalgia, the story of the Oneonta Fair has been recovered by author and historian Jim Loudon, who has collected images, facts, and personal memories from those who can still recall this fond chapter in Oneonta's history. Illustrated and indexed. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jim Loudon is a native of Otsego County and currently resides in the West End of Oneonta. He graduated from the State University of Oneonta in 1972 with a BS in Liberal Arts, majoring in art and history. In 1982 he organized the Leatherstocking Railway Historical Society which currently operates the Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley Train Ride, on which he as worked as Brakeman and Conductor. Jim has written three books on local history: The Oneonta Roundhouse, Leatherstocking Rails, and Electric Lake.

In its 114th year, Billboard remains the world's premier weekly music publication and a diverse digital, events, brand, content and data licensing platform. Billboard publishes the most trusted charts and offers unrivaled reporting about the latest music, video, gaming, media, digital and mobile entertainment issues and trends.

Tales of early railroads, like veins of historical gold, sparkle with rich nuggets of the nations past, as well as enchanting images of small-town life. This is the story of one such vein: the Delaware & Hudson Railroad in the Tri Valley area of New York, along the path of old Route 7 and the Schohanna Trail. The stories of communities that grew up along the railroadOneonta, Colliersville, Maryland, Schenevus, Decatur, Worcester, East Worcester, Richmondville, Cobleskill, and Central Bridgereveal historical treasures long buried in the archives of rural valleys and bustling towns.

In its 114th year, Billboard remains the world's premier weekly music publication and a diverse digital, events, brand, content and data licensing platform. Billboard publishes the most trusted charts and offers unrivaled reporting about the latest music, video, gaming, media, digital and mobile entertainment issues and trends.