Jimerson Town, New York

Last updated

Jimerson Town (also spelled Jimersontown and given the Seneca language name tsyo:nya:tih) is a native planned community on the Allegany Indian Reservation within the bounds of Cattaraugus County, New York. Along with Irving on the Cattaraugus Reservation, Jimerson Town is one of two capitals of the Seneca Nation of Indians.

Contents

The United States Census Bureau does not recognize the community and no population estimates are available. At the time of its founding in the 1960s, the community was developed with 145 residences, each on one-acre plots. It has been developed with several facilities since the 1980s.

History

According to attorney Charles Congdon's book The Allegany Oxbow, Jimerson Town is a corruption of Jemison Town, as it was originally established by the heirs of Mary Jemison around the time the Allegany Reservation was laid out. [1]

Jimerson Town as it is known today was founded in the 1960s adjacent to the City of Salamanca as a resettlement area for some of the more than 600 Seneca displaced as a result of the Kinzua Dam construction. It was one of two communities built for this purpose, the other being Highbanks, south of Steamburg. Jimerson Town (named after the Jimerson family, a prominent Seneca family in the area) is due west of Salamanca. Old Route 17 runs through the community; from 2016 until a "Slow Down Jimtown" campaign lowered the community's speed limit in 2019, stop signs and speed limit signs were posted in both English and Seneca, with U.S. customary measurements used for both. It historically has been accessible only through Salamanca; the highway leading west of Jimerson Town was closed to traffic in the 1970s. (It was reopened in 2014 after a portion of old Route 17 washed out, stranding several of the westernmost residents; the route west of Jimerson Town remains unmaintained.) Loop roads serve the various residences and infrastructure in the area. The Allegheny Reservoir terminates near the hamlet and runs adjacent to the community as the Allegheny River.

Jimerson Town's proximity to Salamanca and its better infrastructure has given the area a more suburban environment compared to the mostly rural Steamburg area. It became the seat of government for the Allegany Reservation after Red House was evacuated in 1967. Since the mid-1980s, it has developed a volunteer fire department, day-care center, Montessori school, SNI buildings for tribal administration and athletics facilities (the current version of the athletic building, the Allegany Community Center, was built in the early 2010s to replace the original and now-demolished JoJo Redeye Building that served that purpose before). [2] Through traffic was discontinued in the 1970s. This was in part because the Seneca Nation wanted to discourage outsiders (at the time of Jimerson Town's founding, the nation had a problem with tourists exploring the new community); other factors for converting Jimerson Town into a cul-de-sac included the reservoir's tendency to flood the roadway west of Jimerson Town, endangering traffic, and an effort to cut Red House (the next community to the southwest of Jimerson Town along old Route 17) off from the highway system and force its few remaining residents to move elsewhere so that that town's land could be claimed for expanding Route 17 and Allegany State Park. Through traffic is slated to be restored in 2024 after a bridge in Red House is replaced, with the road surface converted to gravel to deter unnecessary use of the road. [3]

The Seneca also have several facilities in Salamanca: the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum, the Allegany branch of the SNI library, a Seneca-owned bowling alley (the bowling alley was repurposed as a bingo hall around 1990) and two craft shops, and a restaurant featuring Seneca cuisine. [2] The Seneca Allegany Casino opened just south of Jimerson Town in the early 2000s (decade).

Two churches operate in Jimerson Town: a Presbyterian missionary church and the nondenominational Red House Memorial Chapel, the latter of which is a church that moved from Red House to Jimerson Town in 1967, forcibly and against their will.

In 2017, the Allegany Council House was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allegheny River</span> River in Pennsylvania and New York, United States

The Allegheny River is a 325-mile-long (523 km) headwater stream of the Ohio River that is located in western Pennsylvania and New York in the United States. It runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border, northwesterly into New York, then in a zigzag southwesterly across the border and through Western Pennsylvania to join the Monongahela River at the Forks of the Ohio at Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cattaraugus County, New York</span> County in New York, United States

Cattaraugus County is a county in Western New York, with one side bordering Pennsylvania. As of the United States 2020 census, the population was 77,042. The county seat is Little Valley. The county was created in 1808 and later organized in 1817.

Coldspring is a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 661. It is located in the southwest part of the county, west of the city of Salamanca.

Red House is a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 30, making it the least populous town in the state. The town is on the south edge of Cattaraugus County, south of the city of Salamanca.

South Valley is a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 250 at the 2020 census. The name is derived from the town's geographical attributes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allegany Indian Reservation</span> Indian Reservation in New York, United States

Allegany Reservation is a Seneca Nation of Indians reservation in Cattaraugus County, New York, U.S. In the 2000 census, 58 percent of the population within the reservation boundaries were Native Americans. Some 42% were European Americans; they occupy properties under leases from the Seneca Nation, a federally recognized tribe. The population outside of the rented towns was 1,020 at the 2010 census. The reservation's Native American residents are primarily members of the Seneca, but a smaller number of Cayuga, another Iroquois nation, also reside there, and at least one family is known to have descended from the Neutral Nation. Prior to the 17th century, this area was occupied by the Iroquoian-speaking Wenrohronon and Eriehronon. The more powerful Seneca eliminated these competing groups during the Beaver Wars beginning in 1638, as the Iroquois Confederacy sought to control the lucrative fur trade with the French and Dutch colonists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oil Springs Reservation</span> Indian Reservation

Oil Springs Reservation or Oil Spring Reservation is an Indian reservation of the federally recognized Seneca Nation that is located in southwestern New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the Indian reservation had one resident; in 2005 no tribal members had lived on the property. The reservation covers about one square mile (2.6 km2), divided between the present-day counties of Allegany and Cattaraugus. The reservation is northwest of the village of Cuba. It is bordered by the Town of Cuba and the Town of Ischua.

Salamanca is a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 470 at the 2020 census. The name is from José de Salamanca y Mayol, Marquis of Salamanca, a major Spanish investor in the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, a local railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salamanca, New York</span> City in New York, United States

Salamanca is a city in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States, inside the Allegany Indian Reservation, one of two governed by the Seneca Nation of New York. The population was 5,929 at the 2020 census. It was named after José de Salamanca, a Spanish nobleman and cabinet minister of the mid-19th century. Salamanca invested in railroads around the globe, including the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad in New York State, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinzua Dam</span> Dam on the Allegheny River, Allegheny National Forest, Warren County, Pennsylvania, US

The Kinzua Dam, on the Allegheny River in Warren County, Pennsylvania, is one of the largest dams in the United States east of the Mississippi River. It is located within the Allegheny National Forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York State Route 280</span> State highway in Cattaraugus County, New York, US

New York State Route 280 (NY 280) is an 11.59-mile (18.65 km) long north–south state highway in rural Cattaraugus County, New York, in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the Pennsylvania state line in South Valley, where it becomes Pennsylvania Route 346 (PA 346). The northern terminus is at exit 18 on the Southern Tier Expressway in Coldspring, west of Salamanca. NY 280 follows both the eastern edge of the Allegheny Reservoir and the western boundary of Allegany State Park for its entire length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York State Route 417</span> East-west state highway in New York, US

New York State Route 417 (NY 417) is an east–west state highway located in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. It begins at exit 20 of the Southern Tier Expressway in the city of Salamanca and ends at a junction with NY 415 in Painted Post, west of the city of Corning. At 105.25 miles (169.38 km) in length, NY 417 is the longest of the state highways that were formerly part of NY 17 before the construction of the Southern Tier Expressway. It also diverges the most from the current NY 17, coming within 100 feet (30 m) of the Pennsylvania state line at one intersection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allegheny Reservoir</span> Reservoir in Pennsylvania and New York

The Allegheny Reservoir is a reservoir along the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania and New York, USA. It was created in 1965 by the construction of the Kinzua Dam along the river. Lake Perfidy comes from Peter La Farge's ballad "As Long as the Grass Shall Grow," recorded by Johnny Cash on his album Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian, which alleged that the reservoir's existence violates the 1794 agreement between Seneca chief Cornplanter and George Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York State Route 382</span> Former highway in New York

New York State Route 382 (NY 382) was a state highway in the town of Red House in Cattaraugus County, New York, in the United States. The highway was 0.8 miles (1.3 km) long and served as a connector between NY 17 and the Red House entrance of Allegany State Park, where it connected to Allegany State Park Route 2. NY 382 was assigned in the early 1930s and removed in the early 1970s after the highway's connection to the park was dismantled, and the hamlet it served evacuated, as part of the Southern Tier Expressway's construction. The NY 382 designation is currently reserved by the New York State Department of Transportation as a replacement for NY 88 in Ontario and Wayne counties.

Steamburg is a hamlet in the Town of Coldspring in Cattaraugus County, in western New York, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seneca Nation of New York</span> Federally recognized Native American tribe

The Seneca Nation of Indians is a federally recognized Seneca tribe based in western New York. They are one of three federally recognized Seneca entities in the United States, the others being the Tonawanda Band of Seneca and the Seneca-Cayuga Nation of Oklahoma. Some Seneca also live with other Iroquois peoples on the Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario.

Maxine Crouse Dowler was a teacher, Federal program administrator, member of the Board of Directors of the Seneca Nation Educational Foundation, member of the school board of the Salamanca, New York City Central School District that provides educational services to Seneca and other native American children residing on or near the Allegany Reservation of the Seneca Nation of Indians, Dowler was the first Seneca member of the Board of Education of the Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES.

George D. Heron was president of the Seneca Nation of Indians from 1958 to 1960 and again from 1962 to 1964. In addition to his cultural and community work, he is known as a leader of the Seneca opposition to Kinzua Dam, and for his work organizing the tribal resettlement.

Elko was a town in Cattaraugus County, New York that existed from 1890 to 1965. It was forcibly evacuated in 1965 due to the construction of the Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River in Warren County, Pennsylvania, one of the largest dams in the United States east of the Mississippi. The dam was authorized by the United States Congress as a flood control measure in the Flood Control Acts of 1936 and 1938, and was built by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers beginning in 1960. Other benefits from the dam include drought control, hydroelectric power production, and recreation.

Red House Lake is an artificial lake located within Allegany State Park in Red House, New York. Fish species present in the lakes are brown trout, rainbow trout, and brook trout. There is a state owned beach launch located 6 miles south of Salamanca. No motors are allowed on the lake.

References

  1. ↑ Congdon, Charles (1968). Allegany Oxbow: A history of Allegany State Park and the Allegany Reserve of the Seneca Nation. Salamanca Area Museum Association.
  2. 1 2 Bilharz (2002), Allegany Senecas and Kinzua Dam, p. 111
  3. ↑ Miller, Rick (December 1, 2023). "Removal, replacement of Red House Bridge is underway". Olean Times Herald. Retrieved January 24, 2024.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.