A history of Cattaraugus,
then and now
Postcards, papers and photographs of Cattaraugus from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗In 1828, the brothers Calvin and Arad Rich settled in the hills surrounding the area. Cattaraugus developed most after the arrival of the Erie Railroad in 1851. Shortly after, the village became a boomtown growing to 1,500 inhabitants and even being visited by US President Millard Fillmore. By 1860 the township boasted 305 dwellings, 1557 oxen, 383 horses, and 8 school districts with 649 children in school. In the same year, it is well documented Abraham Lincoln had come to visit. Other prominent visitors include US Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt. As well as Mark Twain who then named his housecat “Cattaraugus" The village was incorporated in 1882. Its name derives from Cattaraugus Creek.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Cattaraugus’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewManufacturing district, 1910: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Cattaraugus
See all 1 →
Cattaraugus, decade by decade
1990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Manufacturing district (1910) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom the Library of Congress (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.