Place:Edinburg (town), Saratoga, New York, United States

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Edinburg (originally Edinburgh) is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,384 at the 2000 census. The town is named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland.

The Town of Edinburg is in the northwestern part of the county and is north of Schenectady. It is within the Adirondack Park.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The Town of Edinburg is located within the Adirondack Park on the shores of the Great Sacandaga Lake in northwestern Saratoga County.

The first recorded settlers arrived in the Sacandaga River Valley area via Fish House in 1787. Abijah Stark came with his family from Coleraine, Massachusetts and settled first just north of Fish House near the Providence town line. They were followed shortly by the Andersons, Westcotts, Randall and Bass families

Many of the first residents had seen the valley before, when serving their country during the Revolutionary War. They had heard that land was cheap and "the living was better for less work."

Settlement on the west side of the river near Beecher's Hollow started in the early 1790s with the Sumner, Barker, Deming and Partridge families. Batchellerville on the east side started in the late 1790s and early 1800s with the Noyes, Gordon, Batcheller and DeGolia families---just to name a few.

The town was originally part of the Town of Providence but the area quickly grew. In 1801 the settlers decided that the town was big enough to have a name of its own and at an informal meeting on March 13, 1801 it became Northfield. However, in 1808 it was renamed Edinburgh because another Northfield was discovered in New York State.

The first town meeting was held on April 7, 1801. Some of the laws enacted were to raise $50.00 to take care of the towns poor and that hogs could run at large. That law did not work out because at a town meeting in 1802 it was decided that hogs could run at large but should wear "a good and sufficient yoak." Boar hogs were not to run, after being two months old, after the first of May until the 25th of December. Every boar hog being found to run after the above date the owner of such hog was to pay $1.00 or forfeit the hog.

Ram sheep were also restricted from running at large from September until November. By March 1824 fence viewers were paid $.75 per day.

In February 1825 there was a special meeting and it was voted unanimously that "we do not wish to comply with the Acts of the Legislature for the erection of a county poor house."

Farming, logging and woodenware manufacturing were the three largest industries. Batchellerville became a manufacturing community having several large woodenware mills. The area on the west side of the river tended to be more farming-oriented although some manufacturing was done in Beecher's Hollow and Tennantville. These two areas had large saw and woodenware mills.

The town was divided into several communities, most of which had their own school and often a cemetery as well. Some of these besides Beecher's Hollow and Batchellerville were: Tennantville, Edinburgh Hill, Clarkville, Sand Hill, Cold Brook, Anderson and Partridge Districts. Industry prospered until early in the 1880s when several terrible fires destroyed many of the mills and about one-third of the townspeople moved elsewhere to seek jobs.

By the early 1920s the handwriting was on the wall, a dam was to be built and the valley to be flooded, many more people moved away knowing they would lose their homes.

On March 27, 1930 the gates on the Conklingville Dam were closed and by 1931 what had once been a beautiful river valley with the many communities along its banks was lost forever as the Sacandaga Reservoir was created.

Tucked away in the northwestern part of Saratoga County, Edinburg has one of the few covered bridges left in New York State, the only one left in the county. Today the shores of the reservoir, renamed The Great Sacandaga Lake in the 60's, are dotted with hundreds and hundreds of seasonal homes. Only two farms remain with logging and tourism being the major industries.

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