History · Whitney Point

Whitney Point’s history is mostly unwritten

The public archives hold just one old photo of Whitney Point. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

1old photo or paper

1historic places

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Whitney Point’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Whitney Point’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Whitney Point’s homes were built before 1954.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Whitney Point’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Whitney Point’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewPlan-of-Whitneys-Point-Broome-County-18…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

The story

How Whitney Point came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Whitney Point.

Read it all →

The village area was first settled around 1791 and began to flourish after the arrival of the Whitney family around 1800.

The village of Whitney Point (originally called "Whitney's Point") was incorporated in 1871. A catastrophic fire almost destroyed the village in 1897. After serious flooding in 1935 and 1936, work began on a dam north of the village on the Otselic River. It was completed in 1942 and — after decisions were later made to impound water on a year-round basis for recreational purposes — formed the Whitney Point Lake (Reservoir).

The village has been the site of the Broome County Fair since 1874.

The Whitney automobile was briefly manufactured in this village around 1902.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Whitney Point, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item

Plan-of-Whitneys-Point-Broome-County-1855-Gifford-Wenig-g3803b-la000476

1855Plan-of-Whitneys-Point-Broome-County-1855-Gifford-Wen…

Today5 recent

2010Whitney Point, New York

2010Grace Episcopal Church Whitney Point NY Feb 10

2009Whitney Point, New York 2

2009The western terminus of NY 206 in

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewPlan-of-Whitneys-Point-Broome-County-1855-Gifford-Wenig-g3803b-la000476, 1855

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Whitney Point’s page.

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

1 historic place in Whitney Point

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

2017

Henry Whitney House

in New York

#577

by listings

All 1 listings

Henry Whitney HouseBuilding · listed 2017

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

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From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1) and Wikipedia. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.