Elko, New York
Elko was a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, that existed from 1890 to 1965.
History
Elko was founded in 1890 from territory previously belonging to South Valley. Its creation (Elko was the last township to be created in Cattaraugus County) was allegedly a political maneuver to move the balance of power in the county southward and get the county seat moved to Salamanca, an effort that failed (the county seat was, and remains, situated in Little Valley). The town's formation came at a time when the lumber industry in southwestern Cattaraugus County was briefly booming; over 2,000 people were resident in the towns of Elko, South Valley and Red House in 1890, ten times as many residents as there are in the area as of 2010. Most of its usable land was located on the Allegany Indian Reservation, which complicated the town's development. The development of Allegany State Park further restricted growth.
Elko was forcibly evacuated in spring 1965 as part of the Kinzua Dam construction. In September of that year, the remaining residents voted 13–1 to dissolve the town and give its remaining equipment and land to the neighboring town of Coldspring.
William Smallback, a Democrat, was the town's last supervisor, serving from 1960 to 1965 and breaking a string in which the town had almost universally voted for Republicans. His wife served as town clerk. Smallback's son has speculated that the state's frequent personal disputes with Smallback had played a role in the government's handling of the Elko evictions; Smallback defied the eviction order and returned with his family to Elko to participate in the dissolution vote.
Geography
Elko was situated in the southern portion of the county. Coldspring bordered it to the north, South Valley to the west, Corydon, Pennsylvania to the south, and Red House to the east.
Elko straddled the Allegheny River and the Allegany Indian Reservation, with the majority of the town's land situated southeast of the river and the population mostly centered in the northwest. In all, 14,393 acres of territory were within Elko's bounds.
New York State Route 280, in its original configuration, was the primary road through the town's population centers. Prior to this, the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad served Elko.
Demographics
In a curiosity, the pages containing information about Elko in the 1960 and 1950 United States Census surveys are missing from the online copies of both surveys.
Communities and locations in Elko
- Quaker Bridge, also known as Tunesassa, was the center of government and most heavily populated place in Elko; most people knew of the territory by "Quaker Bridge" and not "Elko." It was the site of a large bridge across the Allegheny River and a Quaker school dating to the days of Cornplanter. Of Elko's territory, Quaker Bridge was most directly affected by the Kinzua Dam construction and was made uninhabitable by the flooding. The Friends Boat Launch is located in the general vicinity of where the hamlet used to be.
- Elko, also known as Wolf Run, was a relatively minor hamlet in the central/southern portion of the town. It was unaffected by the flooding, but nothing remains; it is within the bounds of Allegany State Park but has not been developed.
- Frecks straddled the border between Red House and Elko.
References
- Place, Rich (September 24, 2015). "50 years later, Elko remembered". The Salamanca Press. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
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Coordinates: 42°03′25″N 78°52′52″W / 42.057°N 78.881°W