Peterboro, located about twenty-five miles southeast of Syracuse, New York, is a historic hamlet situated in the Town of Smithfield, Madison County, New York.
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In 1795, Peter Smith, Sr., a partner of John Jacob Astor's who built his fortune in the fur trade, founded Peterboro, naming the town after himself. Smith moved his family to Peterboro in 1804 and built the family home there.
In the 1820's, Gerrit Smith, took over his father's, Peter Smith, Sr.'s, business interests, managing his family's property holdings in the town and the surrounding area. The Peterboro Land Office was built as the office for these activities.
Gerrit Smith's commitment to both the abolition and temperance movements led to the Smith estate in Peterboro becoming a stop on the underground railroad and to Smith building one of the first temperance hotels in the country in Peterboro. The Smith estate also served as an important meeting place for abolitionists from both New York and other parts of the country, including John Brown and Frederick Douglass.
In 2001, the Gerrit Smith Estate was designated a National Historic Landmark. The Peterboro Land Office building and Smithfield Presbyterian Church are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1]