A history of Hamburg,
since 1812
Postcards, papers and photographs of Hamburg from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Historical evidence shows the area was settled originally by the Erie people. Around 1805 the settlement was known as "Barkerville", named after Zenas Barker, the postmaster. The earliest invaders were Nathaniel Titus and Dr. Ruth Belden in 1804, and the first landowner in the area was John Cummings, who built the first grist mill in 1806.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Hamburg’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 viewWatertown (Village); Watertown Bu…, 1864: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Hamburg, decade by decade
CommonsEast Hamburg (Township)1880
CommonsHamburg (Village)1880
CommonsResidence of Capt. B.K. Buxton, Town of Hamburg; Braley K. …1880
CommonsResidence of Ira C. Woodward.; Woodward and Churchill's Gen…1880
CommonsResidence of Mrs. A. K. Dart, Hamburg.; Residence of S. H. …1880
CommonsWater Valley (Village); Griffins Mills (Village); Abbotts C…1880
CommonsWest Falls (Village); East Hamburg (Village)1880
1990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Watertown (Village); Watertown Business Directory (1864) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (10) and the Library of Congress (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.