Place:Hope, Hamilton, New York, United States

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Hope is a town in Hamilton County, New York, United States. The population was 403 at the 2010 census.

First settled in 1790 and established as a town in 1818, Hope is located in the southeastern corner of the county and is northwest of Schenectady.

History

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

Prior to European settlement, the land occupied by present-day Hope was within the territory of the Mohawk tribe, the easternmost tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy and one of the original "Five Nations" which founded the confederacy sometime around 1450. Despite its longtime control by the Mohawks, Hope was largely uninhabited when, on July 31, 1772, proprietor John Bergen and 23 of his associates purchased 19,589 acres of land from the Mohawk Turtle Clan. The purchase documents were signed by Mohawk Chief Hendricks, who drew a turtle in lieu of a signature. The land that Bergen and his associates bought became known as "Bergen's Purchase."

Hope was first permanently settled in 1790 near the current south town line by Gideon and Jeremiah Homestead, who arrived from Massachusetts.^[1] The first stone house was built in 1801 by David Isdell, on land he had purchased earlier that same year.^[1][2] Wary of Indian attack, Isdell incorporated an escape tunnel in his home for "protection against marauders," but unfortunately, his youngest daughter was notoriously kidnapped by Native Americans while picking berries, and was never heard from again; according to one account she perished in an Indian village. Isdell's home, also known as the "Old Eglin House," collapsed in 1930.

Hope was originally the southern district of the Town of Wells, but after its electors voted to separate and form a new town, the southern district was reorganized as the "Town of Hope" on April 15, 1818, with a population of 608 as of the 1820 census. In the 1830s, Montgomery County ceded Hope to Hamilton County, of which Hope currently occupies the most southeasterly part.^[1] In 1850, with booming agriculture, mining, sawmills, and tanneries, Hope's total population peaked at 1,125, with the subsequent decrease mainly due to residents moving away as a result of industrial decline. The town's area was considerably reduced on April 5, 1860, when a large portion of western Hope, with a population of 380, broke off to form part of the Town of Benson.^[1]

While numerous hotels were built during the late 1800s, the population began to decline with the start of the twentieth century, as the town's formerly dynamic industrial businesses began to cease operations. By 1905 the population had fallen to 317 residents, and by 1925 it had plunged to only 163. Much of the formerly developed land fell into disuse, essentially all industrial operations halted, and a number of the town's one room schools closed. Tourism, however, remained an important industry, and New York Route 30 began to provide travelers with lodging, gas stations, and other amenities.^[1] Currently, Hope is a largely undeveloped residential community, with an estimated population of 387 as of 2014.

Research Tips

External Links

• Outstanding guide to Hope family history and genealogy resources (FamilySearch Research Wiki). Birth, marriage, and death records, town histories, cemeteries, churches, newspapers, libraries, and genealogical societies.