Gilboa Town

Schoharie County, New York

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Gilboa Town Hall is located at 373 State Route 990, Gilboa NY 12076.
Phone: 607‑588‑6400.

Beginnings [1]

Gilboa was formed from Blenheim and Broome, March 16, 1848. It is the central town upon the south border of the county. The surface is mountainous upland, broken by deep ravines. Schoharie Creek flows north through the center, receiving Plattenkill from the east, and Minekill from the west. The streams are bordered by steep hillsides rising from 2,000 to 3,000 feet.

The post hamlet of Gilboa (on the Schoharie Creek, contains two churches, viz. Methodist and Presbyterian, a hotel, a store, a school house, a milliner shop, two blacksmith shops, two harness shops, a wagon shop, a paint shop, a cabinet shop, and 24 dwellings. A daily line of stages connects this place with the Rondout & Oswego Railroad and with the Middleburgh & Schoharie Railroad.

The settlement of the town was commenced in 1764, by Matthew and Jacob Dise. They joined the British during the Revolution and fled to Canada. Among the early settlers after the war were Richard Stanley, Joseph Desilva, Benoni Frazer, Cornelius Lane, John Breaster, Isaac Van Fort, Daniel Conover and Jacob Homer, all from New England. Ruloff Voorhees kept the first inn, in 1785; John Dise built the first mills, in 1764, and Jonah Soper, the first tannery, in 1800. The town embraces a part of the Blenheim patent, with parts of grants to Ury Rightmeyer and David Buffington, and a part of "State Lands."

The Gilboa Reformed Church was organized about 1800. The population of the town in 1870 was 2,222 and its area 36,538 acres.

  1. Child, Hamilton, Gazetteer and Business Directory of Schoharie County, N.Y. for 1872-3, The Journal Office, Syracuse, 1872.

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