Dolgeville is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Herkimer Herkimer may refer to: People: * Johan Jost Herkimer (1732–1795), United Empire Loyalist, brother of Nicholas Herkimer * John Herkimer (1773–1848), American lawyer and politician from New York * Lawrence Herkimer (1925–2015), American innov ...

and Fulton counties, New York, United States. The population was 2,206 at the 2010 census. The village is named after the industrialist Alfred Dolge. The village is mostly in the eastern part of the town of Manheim (Herkimer County), but is partly in the western edge of the town of

Oppenheim Oppenheim ( or ) is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location The town lies on the Upper Rhine in Rhenish Hesse between Mainz and Worms. It is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde (special ad ...

(Fulton County). Dolgeville is east of Utica.

History

The village was founded in 1794 by Samuel Low with the construction of two mills. A

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

and later a

saw mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

were built by Captain John Favill on Ransom Creek about 1795. Soon a little settlement sprang up as other settlers moved in; with a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

shop,

tannery Tanning, or hide tanning, is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to produce leather. A tannery is the place where the skins are processed. Historically, vegetable based tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound derived fr ...

and school house. Families by the names of Ayers, Spencer, Ransom, Spofford, Lamberson, Brockett and Rundell soon followed and settled the adjoining lands which they cleared for farms. The area was at first called "Green's Bridge" in 1805, as a settler named Green built a bridge over

East Canada Creek East Canada Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed October 3, 2011 river in upstate New York, United States. It is a tributary of the Mohawk River and flows southwa ...

. In 1826 the area received its first post office, with Zephi Brockett as postmaster, and the area was renamed "Brockett's Bridge" in his honor. In 1881 the citizens unanimously petitioned the authorities at

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

to change the name of the place from "Brockett's Bridge" to "Dolgeville". The village of Dolgeville was incorporated in 1891. The village changed its name to Dolgeville because of the economic growth promoted by Alfred Dolge (1848–1922), a pioneering and benevolent

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

. In addition to factories, Dolge built a railroad, laid out the village, built two schools, installed an electric system, a water system, sewage, a fire department, a free library, a concert hall, a gymnasium, public parks, a newspaper, and pioneered in a pension and profit sharing system for employees.

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...

's first water-powered

dynamo "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos employed electromagnets for self-starting by using residual magnetic field left in the iron cores ...

was installed in Dolge's factory. Dolge's factory largely produced parts and materials for

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

s. The Daniel Green shoe company partnered with Dolge after finding that the factory's piano felt was also well-suited for slippers. Dolge's factory and social endeavors failed financially in 1899, and the Dolge Company Factory Complex became property of the Daniel Green company. Daniel Green was the largest employer in the village until 1999, when it shuttered its operations there. Lyndon Lyon, who lived in Dolgeville until his death in 1999, developed about 800 hybrid varieties of

African violet ''Streptocarpus'' sect. ''Saintpaulia'' is a section within ''Streptocarpus'' subgenus ''Streptocarpella'' consisting of about ten species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae, native to Tanzania and adjacent sout ...

and helped popularize its use as a houseplant. Lyon's

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

in Dolgeville still operates and is known for violets and

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

s, and Dolgeville's annual Violet Festival commemorates him. In 1965, a

caver Caving, also known as spelunking (United States and Canada) and potholing (United Kingdom and Ireland), is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is the scientific ...

named James G. Mitchell became trapped under a waterfall while exploring a cave near Dolgeville. Despite a team of cave rescuers arriving on Air Force 2, Mitchell died. Mitchell's entrapment and death became a national news story and raised awareness among cavers of the risk of

hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe ...

. Part of the cave collapsed during the initial attempt to retrieve Mitchell's body, and the attempt was abandoned. At the time, the cave mouth was dynamited shut to prevent future mishaps. Mitchell's corpse was finally retrieved in 2006 and returned to his family. In late 2014, Alfred Dolge's 1895 mansion, which stood behind the historic factory complex, was destroyed by fire. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined. The

Breckwoldt-Ward House The Breckwoldt-Ward House is a historic house located at 90 Van Buren Street in Dolgeville, Herkimer County, New York. Description and history It was built in 1893, and is an asymmetrically massed, -story Queen Anne–style single family dw ...

, Menge House Complex, Alfred Dolge Hose Co. No. 1 Building, Dolge Company Factory Complex, and

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The Beaversprite nature preserve is partially in the Fulton County portion of Dolgeville.

Geography

Dolgeville is located in east-central Herkimer County and western Fulton County at (43.102233, -74.772294). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the village has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.38%, is water. The main part of the village is in the northeastern corner of the town of Manheim, on the west side of

, a southward-flowing tributary of the

Mohawk River The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson R ...

. The section of the village on the east side of the creek is in the town of Oppenheim. The northern end of the village near the East Canada suffers from periodic flooding, with major floods in 2006, 2019, and 2022.

New York State Route 29 New York State Route 29 (NY 29) is a state highway extending for across the eastern portion of the U.S. state of New York. The western terminus of the route is at NY 28 and NY 169 in Middleville, Herkimer County. The ea ...

(North Helmer Avenue/State Street) and

New York State Route 167 New York State Route 167 (NY 167) is a north–south state highway in the Mohawk Valley region of New York in the United States. It extends for from an intersection with U.S. Route 20 (US 20) in the Otsego County village ...

(Main Street) intersect in Dolgeville, with NY 167 having its northern terminus at the intersection. Route 29 leads east to Johnstown, the Fulton County seat, and west to Middleville, while Route 167 leads southwest to Little Falls on the Mohawk River.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 2,166 people, 915 households, and 592 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 1,018 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 97.41%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.23%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.69% Native American, 0.42% Asian, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.09% from other races, and 1.11% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.97% of the population. There were 915 households, out of which 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.2% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.91. In the village, the population was spread out, with 24.3% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 23.9% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 18.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.1 males. The median income for a household in the village was $30,863, and the median income for a family was $38,646. Males had a median income of $29,667 versus $17,500 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $14,787. About 7.4% of families and 10.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 12.3% of those under age 18 and 10.9% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The Dolge factory complex remains vacant, notwithstanding some failed revitalization attempts, but other factories operate in the village. A

Rawlings Rawlings may refer to: *Rawlings (company), a U.S. sports equipment company *Rawlings, Maryland, an unincorporated community in Allegany County, Maryland *Rawlings (surname) Rawlings is an English-language surname. Notable people with the name in ...

plant in Dolgeville makes a large percentage of the

baseball bat A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal Club (weapon), club used in the sport of baseball to hit the Baseball (ball), ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more t ...

s used by

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

under the brand "Adirondack", as well as other wood products. North Hudson Woodcraft Corp., which had manufactured piano parts for

Steinway Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in New York City by German piano builder Henry E. Steinway, Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth le ...

since the 1800s until about 2005, now manufactures other wood products such as kitchen cabinets and caskets. Other companies include Gehring-Tricot, which manufactures textile products, and Tumbleforms and Bergeron By Design, which manufacture

physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

products.

Education

The Dolgeville Central School District covers the village. The high school was built in 1954, and an attached elementary school was built in the 1980s after the Stratford school district was annexed.

Media

Most of the village is served by television stations in the Utica

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...

as well as the ''

Observer-Dispatch The ''Observer-Dispatch'' (''The O-D'') is a newspaper serving the Utica-Rome metropolitan area in Central New York, circulating in Oneida County, Herkimer County, and parts of Madison County. Based in Utica, New York, the publication is o ...

'', also in Utica. The small portion in Fulton County is served by stations in the Albany market and ''

The Leader Herald ''The Leader Herald'' is a daily newspaper, serving the upstate New York Fulton, Hamilton, and Montgomery counties with a strong emphasis on Fulton County. The newspaper headquarters is located in Gloversville, New York. History A three-pa ...

'' in Gloversville. ''

The Times Telegram ''The Times Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper published in Herkimer, New York. It serves southern Herkimer County and the westernmost part of adjacent Montgomery County in the Mohawk Valley region of New York State. It was formed on Au ...

'' in nearby

also serves the entire village.

Notable people

* Alfred Dolge (1848–1922), industrialist and village namesake *

Rudolf Ruedemann Rudolf Ruedemann (October 16, 1864–June 18, 1956) was a German American paleontologist, widely known as an expert in graptolites, enigmatic fossil animals. He worked at the New York State Museum for over 40 years, including a decade as State ...

(1864–1956), German-American paleontologist * Henry I. Patrie (1874–1935), businessman and politician *

Hal Schumacher Harold Henry Schumacher (November 23, 1910 – April 21, 1993), nicknamed "Prince Hal", was an American professional baseball player and right-handed pitcher who appeared in 391 games pitched (and 450 games in all) in Major League Baseball for t ...

(1910–1993), baseball player * Harold C. Luther (1915–1973), politician *

John Neulinger John Neulinger (April 26, 1924 - June 20, 1991) was a German-American psychologist and Professor Emeritus of psychology at City College of New York. Neulinger is best known for contributing a social psychological theory of leisure to the field of ...

(1924–1991), psychologist * Peter Fehlner (1931–2018), Roman Catholic priest, writer, and theologian, was born in Dolgeville.

Organizations based in Dolgeville

North American Vegetarian Society The North American Vegetarian Society (NAVS) is a charity and activist organization with the stated objectives of supporting vegetarians and informing the public about the benefits of vegetarianism. It was initially founded in 1974 to organize th ...

has been headquartered in Dolgeville since it was founded in 1974.TaxExemptWorld profile for North American Vegetarian Society (showing location). Updated on September 19, 2023.
/ref>

References

External links

Village of Dolgeville official website

Dolgeville Central School District
{{authority control Villages in New York (state) Utica–Rome metropolitan area Villages in Herkimer County, New York Villages in Fulton County, New York