. Harpers' New York and Erie rail-road guide book .. . ce compar-ed with that of theirWestern rival. Situ-ated on the north bankof the Chemung, we enter its streets by a covered bridgeof wood. Adjoining is the bridge over which the turn-pike to Owego crosses. The traveler, as he skirts alongits suburbs to its busy station in the west end, and thenpasses to his hotel through those compact streets, crowd-ed with business and intersected by a canal, can hardlybelieve that Elmira, 20 years ago, was a little obscurevillage, though its settlement goes much further was settled in 1788 by a Ca
. Harpers' New York and Erie rail-road guide book .. . ce compar-ed with that of theirWestern rival. Situ-ated on the north bankof the Chemung, we enter its streets by a covered bridgeof wood. Adjoining is the bridge over which the turn-pike to Owego crosses. The traveler, as he skirts alongits suburbs to its busy station in the west end, and thenpasses to his hotel through those compact streets, crowd-ed with business and intersected by a canal, can hardlybelieve that Elmira, 20 years ago, was a little obscurevillage, though its settlement goes much further was settled in 1788 by a Captain John Hendry. Atthat time it was on the only pathway from Wilkesbarreto Canada. Its original name was Con-e-wa-ivah, or, head on a pole, from the fact that the head of an In-dian chief was found here thus mounted—a good, sono-rous title, and far better than the present lackadaisicalname of the town. Captain Hendry, however, Anglicizedit into Newton. In 1791 the village was located by oneMoses De Witt, and, of course, its name was again changed. 156 GUIDE-BOOK OF THE —this time to Deicittsburgh. Under that title it figuresin the original plot and conveyance. In that year thefirst frame house was erected. The lands were sold to set-tlers at eighteen pence per acre. The town finally re-ceived its present title from some gentleman who namedit after his wife. Though at once made a prosperous set-tlement by its advantages as a lumber depot, and the mill-seats on Newton Creek, that not far off empties into theChemung, it did not assume remarkable growth until theconstruction of the Chemung Canal in 1830-32. Thisimportant work, extending 20 miles to Seneca Lake, atonce supplied an outlet for its lumber by way of the ErieCanal, and brought here, in return, valuable exchanges ofmerchandise, to be sent in large quantities into Pennsyl-vania by the Williamsport and Elmira Rail-road, alreadyin good part constructed, opening into the heart of North-ern Pennsylvania. This period may
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