Yates County, New York
Businesses in the Town of Potter
From the History of Yates County, NY
published 1892, by L.C. Aldrich
pg 464- 465
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Businessesof Potter
TheVillage of Rushville - Among the hamlets or small villages of the town ofPotter, that called Rushville, is of the greater importance, both in point ofpopulation and commercial advantage. Thevillage lies partly in this town, while another and possibly a greater part isin the county of Ontario. Onthe site now occupied by Rushville, south of the line, Elias GILBERT, mentionedon a preceding page, was the first settler, followed soon afterward by theLOOMIS family. Beza WHITMAN, whosedescendants still live in the town, was the keeper of the first hotel, whileMrs. Seldon WILLIAMS figured as the pioneer schoolteacher. William and Cornelius BASSETT were the first male teachers. Philander P. WOODWORTH was the first merchant of the settlement, hisplace of business being in the afterward-called Dr. BRYANT House. Mr. WOODWORTH afterward kept store and hotel on the site yet occupied forthe latter use. Chester LOOMISsucceeded WOODWORTH in 1815. On thewest side of the river a tavern was also early started, and near by was thefirst school, in which, also, were held the first Congregational Churchservices. Among the early merchantsand business men of the village, there can be recalled the names of Raymond& Sprague, Stillman & Gilbert, John WISEWELL, Thomas J. DUDLEY, GrantBARNEY, John CLARK, Charles W. HENRY, Wisewell & Henry, Whitman & Green,Randall WHITMAN, Dudley & Colt, Dudley & Bailey, Hamlin & Hazen (a branch of the large store at Penn Yan), Judson JONES, Flinn &Dwelle, LC, Wisewell & Co., Hunt &Armsburger, Mortimer CASE, J. H.BEERMAN, William T. BASSETT, Geroge Howell & Son, A & J. Thomas, andothers, perhaps whose names have become forgotten. The large and attractive union school building was erected in 1868, at acost pf $16,000. An important adjunct to the business interests of the villageand vicinity was the large steam and water power grist-mill.
PotterCenter, which, as the name indicates, is near the center of the town, westwardof Flint Creek, is not more than a hamlet, or convenient trading point forresidents in the surrounding country. Itsbusiness industries have been but few, there not having been more than one ortwo stores in operation at any one time, while a single hotel affords ampleaccommodations to the wayfarer. Thedwellings in the hamlet proper number not to exceed twenty. But the Center has two prosperous church societies.
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