Pierstown is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

located on CR-28 north of

Cooperstown Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ...

and west of

Five Mile Point Otsego Lake is a lake located in Otsego County in the U.S. state of New York. It is the source of the Susquehanna River and largest lake in Otsego County. The Village of Cooperstown is located at the lake's southern end. Glimmerglass State Pa ...

in the Town of Otsego, in

Otsego County, New York Otsego County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,524. The county seat is Cooperstown. The name ''Otsego'' is from a Mohawk or Oneida word meaning "place of the rock." History In 178 ...

, United States. Pierstown Grange No. 793 is located here and is one of three remaining in Otsego County. It is a contributing building to the Glimmerglass Historic District.

History

Soon after Pierstown was formed, mills were built on

Leatherstocking Creek Leatherstocking Creek is a small creek in central Otsego County, New York. It begins northwest of Pierstown and flows southeast then south before flowing into Otsego Lake north of Cooperstown, and just south of Three Mile Point. The historic ...

, the water eventually flows over

Leatherstocking Falls Leatherstocking Falls also known as "Panthers Leap", "Bear Cliff Falls" and "Deowongo Falls", is located on Leatherstocking Creek north of Cooperstown, New York. Deowongo translates to "place of hearing", coming from the Oneida Iroquois nation’ ...

, was used to generate power. At one point there were three sawmills, three gristmills and a carding machine in operation. There were also at different times five taverns, three stores, two tanneries, four blacksmith shops, a pottery, a brewery, a wagon shop, a lead pipe factory and several weaver shops. By 1886 all that remained of the businesses was a blacksmith shop. Pierstown was becoming more of an agricultural zone. But like any other area in upstate New York, farming declined in the last quarter of the 20th century. Pierstown was named after the Pīer family, who were among the earliest settlers in what was called the Great Barrington Purchase and arrived c. 1786. There were six brothers in the family, who occupied what was called the Brick House Farm. One brother kept a tavern. Another brother, Abner, was in the Revolutionary War and during the famous Cherry Valley Massacre, Abner was tomahawked by an American Indian,

scalped Scalping is the act of cutting or tearing a part of the human scalp, with hair attached, from the head, and generally occurred in warfare with the scalp being a trophy. Scalp-taking is considered part of the broader cultural practice of the tak ...

and twice wounded, but lived.

References

{{Otsego County, New York Hamlets in Otsego County, New York Hamlets in New York (state)