Written by
Douglas Clarke
In 1806, Allegany County was created from lands that previously had been part of both Steuben and Genesee Counties. Within a year of the County's formation, Clark Crandall and Nathan and Edward Greene walked into the area from the hills of Rensselaer County three hundred miles east. They and those who followed came from families who called themselves Seventh Day Baptists, some of whose ancestors had branched off from Roger Williams' Baptist Church in Newport, Rhode Island. They had developed a distinctive faith, unique for their keeping of the traditional Jewish Sabbath, the seventh day of the week (Saturday). Some of the members of this loose federation of autonomous churches had descended from members of the Millyard Sabbatarian Baptist Church in London, England, while many others joined the churches that sprang up as members moved west.
These and later settlers came with strong commitments to church life and education, and were accustomed to hard, honest labor. They began building homes near the junction of two valleys that are still rich in geological variety, where a prehistoric lake had once been blocked at its northern extremity by a glacier and its debris. This combination seems to have forecast the kinds of industries and educational pursuits which developed in the community.
The settlement at the junction of the two valleys took its first name from an early inhabitant, and is still known to many as Baker's Bridge. But as settlement expanded up the two valleys, business and residential changes resulted in the choice of the name of Alfred for the Baker's Bridge settlement. The development of the railroad through the eastern valley caused another name change, so that area became known as Alfred Station. Those who settled further up the Canacadea Creek, to the west, later chose the name Alfred Centre for their home, but it is now known simply as the Village of Alfred. Both remained within Alfred township.
In 1809, Clark Crandall built a pail factory, probably the first of several small "tinker" businesses which later lent their collective identity to the hamlet between Bakers Bridge and Alfred Centre now known as Tinkertown. A diverse economy followed it, in home-building, tanneries, sawmills, cooper shops, carding mills, and asheries, all preceding the later manufacturing in brick and ceramic products.
The first religious society was formed in 1812, bound together by a covenant of high moral standards and strong community dedication. The inhabitants, many being church members, built a school in 1816. The first frame house built in what became the center of Alfred business became the home of the select school for male and female students in 1836, which emerged as the nation's second co-educational college. The private college evolved into Alfred University, chartered in 1857, from which was formed the New York State College of Clayworking in 1900 (now known as The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University), and New York State College of Agriculture, which became an independent institution in 1948, now known as Alfred State College.
Alfred Station's residents founded the Alfred Clay Company, and Alfred (Centre)'s inhabitants founded the Celadon Terra Cotta Company, both of which produced roof tile which is still an Alfred distinctive, although both companies ceased operations in this area many years ago. Celadon was bought by Ludowici after the tile works were destroyed multiple times by disastrous fires. The operation was moved to Ohio, where manufacturing continues.
Other businesses sprang up to meet various needs, and some gained national prominence. They included the Rogers Machine Works, the Sabbath Recorder Publishing House, The Alfred Sun Publishing House, Glidden Pottery, Southern Tier Concrete Products, Hi-Tech Ceramics - Vesuvius, Buffalo Crushed Stone, Alfred Atlas Sand and Gravel, and many others.
The Celadon Company built a small office building about 1890 using decorative roof and wall tiles, as a means of displaying their products. The Alfred Historical Society saved it from destruction in the 1970s, moved it to the grounds of the College of Ceramics, where it serves as a small museum. The Society has also assembled a collection of artifacts, periodicals, and documents, which are housed in Hinkle Memorial Library on the campus of Alfred State College, and assembled a history of the town, for which many families submitted their own (hi)stories.
At the turning of the new century and millenium, Alfred retains much of that tradition and unique character that has made it a dynamic rural community, while it embraces the new possibilities that present themselves.
If you would like more information, you can contact the Alfred Historical Society at P.O. Box 1137, Alfred, NY 14802, (607) 587-8358, or at clarkedj@infoblvd.net