Town Of Hopkinton Historical Tour - Part 2

The first recorded settlers arrived in what is now Hopkinton, New York around 1802. The town was first organized in 1805 and is one of the original ten towns of St. Lawrence County. In February 1814 (during the War Of 1812), the British troops raided Hopkinton, seizing 300 barrels of flour which were stored for the U.S. Government in the barn of Col. Hopkins, for whom the town was later named. This tour of historic places in the town was written and printed by Mary Converse, Hopkinton Town Historian, and I followed the booklet to the sites and used her descriptions in my captions for the photos. Many of the buildings had been modernized, some were abandoned, but all had interesting historical notes:

Lyd Brook, called Hopkinton Brook on Google Maps, runs through the town between Miller Farms Adirondack Market and the Catholic Church. It was named Lyd Brook after Lydia Dewey, the first wife of Roswell Hopkins and its banks have been the home of several sawmills, a blacksmith shop, a trip-hammer shop, a carriage shop, a tannery and a milk factory over the years:

The Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church was founded by Father Normando and a church was built on the west side of Lyd Brook in 1878-79. The materials and labor were furnished entirely by the congregation. In 1978 the steeple was replaced with one donated by ALCOA. A kitchen and meeting room were added about this same time:

The Ashbel Squire house. Mr. Squire was one of the first settlers in town and built his first log cabin on this land in 1803. The present house dates back to 1828, though clearly it's had extensive remodeling in recent times:

Aaron Warner was one of the pioneers of 1803. His first cabin was built near this house and he purchased the land to build this one in 1806. It appeared to me that the Warner house was no longer occupied:

Mr. Seth Abbott, a shoemaker, came to Hopkinton in 1806 and built first a log cabin, then this home. The house appeared to be no longer occupied:

George S. Wright was born in Hopkinton in 1824 and was one of the foremost men in town. He built this brick house in 1857. The slate roof was imported from France:

Durfey's Inn was built in 1828 by Phineas Durfey. It is made of yellow sandstone which was quarried in Hopkinton. Shortly after the road was "cut through" to Potsdam and the stage coach run from Port Kent came past the house, Mr. Durfey opened his home as Durfey's Inn. The original ballroom on the second floor still exists today:

Samuel Abbott was 14 years old in 1806 when he came to Hopkinton with his father, Seth Abbot. He hunted fall and winter as a business and built this house about 1825:

Joseph Durfey was born in Ellington, Ct. and came to Hopkinton in 1805. He was a brother to Phineas, the Innkeeper. His first log house was built a few rods west of the present house, which was built around 1826. Today it is owned by Joe Miller, Hopkinton's first Amish family (though there are many Amish today):

Mr. Lee Eastman was six years old in 1804 when he came to Hopkinton with his father, Samuel. He took up this land soon after he was twenty-one and built the sandstone house in 1829. The house appeared to me to be no longer occupied:

The Asahel Kent House is on the corner of Middle Road and Route 72. Mr. Kent was born in Dorset, Vt. and he was a brother to Artemus, the school teacher. He arrived in Hopkinton in 1814 by means of an ox-team and built this house the same year:

The Truman Post house. Mr. Post was a grandson of Reuben Post, one of Hopkinton's earliest settlers. The Post house was built in 1808 or 1809. The barns were destroyed by fire in the 1990s. The red sandstone foundation is a sign that the nearby quarry was in operation as early as 1808. This house is no longer occupied:

While not a historic house or public building, I thought I'd include Norco Farms as a point of interest, just as it is in the Historic Tour booklet. Norco Farms is one of the most modern in northern New York. They milk 980 cows in rotating cycles, 24 hours a day. They employ 14 full time workers and have 3,250 tillable acres which originally made up 32 separate farms in the area. This enterprise is owned by the Eakins family:

Town Of Hopkinton Historical Tour - Part 1

The first recorded settlers arrived in what is now Hopkinton, New York around 1802. The town was first organized in 1805 and is one of the original ten towns of St. Lawrence County. In February 1814 (during the War Of 1812), the British troops raided Hopkinton, seizing 300 barrels of flour which were stored for the U.S. Government in the barn of Col. Hopkins, for whom the town was later named. This tour of historic places in the town was written and printed by Mary Converse, Hopkinton Town Historian, and I followed the booklet to the sites and used her descriptions in my captions for the photos. Many of the buildings had been modernized, some were abandoned, but all had interesting historical notes:

The Hopkinton Village School. Now the fire station, the original part of this building was built in 1869 at a cost of $3500 and was used for grades one through six until 1952. In 1954 it was purchased  by the Hopkinton-Ft. Jackson Fire Department and Ladies' Auxiliary:

This house has long been an important part of the town. Dr. James Q. Flood had his office in the room off the kitchen with a separate entrance on the right back corner. In the same room, Marion Hopkins had her church meetings and parties. Edith Regan had the Post Office in this room from 1945 to 1946. Erwin Zahler had the Town Justice offices there for twenty years and his wife, Margaret, had the Town Clerk's offices there for four years. Margaret still lives in this house:

King S. Chittenden had this house built by the Brush brothers around 1865. Jason Brush was married to King's sister, Olivia. King and his brother, Varick, were co-owner's of Chittenden's Store after their father retired:

The Clark S. Chittenden home was built in 1840. He was the founder of Chittenden's Store, Town Supervisor for seven years and was a member of the State Legislature. The Chittenden family has been been in Hopkinton for 181 years but no longer lives in this house:


The former Chittenden's Store, mentioned several times above, has been an active business in Hopkinton since 1821. The current building was built in 1927 after the original store was destroyed by fire. The store was restored by Jerome Wilber who currently operates it as a hardware store:

Murphy's Inn, directly across the road from Chittenden's Store, was originally used for a wheelwright, cabinet and shoe shop, store and school house. Mr. Howe remodeled the building into a Hotel. Cornelius Murphy bought it and it was called Murphy's Inn for many years. It was a stage coach stop for the Port Kent to Hopkinton coach run. It is now a private residence:

This home was built by Thaddeus Laughlin in 1814 and operated as a hotel for many years. The front west (right side) room was used as a bar room. At one time there was a fireplace with a swinging crane, bake oven and boiler arch in this house. Thaddeus and his father, Henry Laughlin, came from Bristol, Vt. in 1804 and built a log hotel nearby. Thaddeus Laughlin was appointed Hopkinton's first Postmaster in 1808 and served for several years as Town Supervisor:

The Hopkinton Village Green is on land given to the town in 1808 by Roswell Hopkins. The deed reads that the land is "for the inhabitants of the town, to be used for public green and for no other use whatever." The Hopkinton Village Green is on the National Register of Historic Places:

The Hopkinton Town Hall was erected in 1870 at a cost of $4,093.12, replacing the Old Stone Schoolhouse, Hopkinton's first public building built on this same site in 1815. It was remodeled in 1958. The Hopkinton Town Hall is on the National Register of Historic Places:

The Congregational Church, founded in 1808, was originally called the Church of Christ of Hopkinton. The first church building was built in 1828 and burned in 1891. The present building was built in 1892 at a cost of $6000. The Congregational Church is on the National Register of Historic Places:

The Hopkinton Historical Group Museum. The back part of this house was built in 1817 by Samuel Wilson and now houses the Town Library. The front part of the house was built 1838-1839 by Zoraster Culver. Both Mr. Wilson and Mr. Culver kept stores at this location. The building was purchased in 1985 to be used as a museum:

The Sprague house. Dr. Sprague came to town in 1811 and was the second physician to settle here. He acquired this lot in 1814 and either built or moved into this house in that year. He remained in Hopkinton until his death in 1859. Some of the flour seized by the British in the raid of 1814 was stored in a barn which stood on this property:

The Goodnow house was built between 1822 and 1834 by Bushnell Moore, who also built the first tannery in Hopkinton, where Nathaniel Goodnow learned the trade of tannery. The original burying ground of the pioneers was located behind this house and the house next door. The graves were later moved to the present Hopkinton-Ft. Jackson Cemetery during the 1840s: