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Wellsburg is a village in Chemung County, New York, United States. The population was 580 at the 2010 census. The village is named after the pioneer family of Abner Wells (1737–1797) who came from Southold on Long Island. Wellsburg is located in the southeast part of the town of Ashland. It is southeast of the city of Elmira and is part of the Elmira Metropolitan Statistical Area. [edit] History
The area was settled around 1788. The village was incorporated in 1872. Christ Episcopal Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. In the 1930s, there were also a Methodist and a Baptist church. Catholics attended services in a church about across the Pennsylvania border (Centerville or Bentley Creek). The village contained two bars, two grocery stores (Aber and Stanton), Dalton's meat market, two gas stations, a "creamery", an Erie Railroad depot, Dalton's coal yard, a deteriorated Hotel Alcazar, a post office, and Schuyler's Feed, Grain & Lumber Yard. A four-story school served grades 1-12, with a small playground and a ballfield. Some students were bussed in from surrounding areas. One day in 1939, an "autogyro" landed on that ballfield and remained a short time. Wellsburg had a mayor and a constable; the latter being rather "adept" at catching those who overturned outhouses during Halloween. Occasionally the Chemung River would overflow, usually flooding the short road between Wellsburg and Lowman, but it once flooded Wellsburg to the extent that rowboats could enter the Methodist church. Local farmers hired kids to do farm chores, usually at $0.50 per-day. Youngsters driving tractors into town (for gas) were a familiar sight. During the WWII years, students aged 14 and up were allowed days off from school to help local farmers harvest their crops. There was also an "airplane spotter's shack" on the side of a hill, during the war; teens often served as "spotters". [edit] Research Tips
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