Railroad Stations: 69 Lewis St. for Delaware, Lackawanna & Western R.R.; S. Depot St. W. of Chenango St. for Erie R.R. and Delaware & Hudson R.R.
Bus Stations: 81 Chenango St. for Greyhound, L.D. Dickinson, Hudson Transit, and Susquehanna Motor Coach Lines; 73½ Chenango St. for White Bus Lines; 56 Henry St. for Rapid Transfer, Blue Motor Coach, Hudson Transit Lines, and the Short Line.
Airport: Tri-City Airport, 10 m. W. on Campville Rd.
Accommodations: 10 hotels; tourist homes.
Information Service: Binghamton Auto Club, 124 Chenango St.; Binghamton Chamber of Commerce, 66 Chenango St.
Radio Station: WNBF (1,500 kc.).
Motion Picture Houses: 13.
Baseball: Johnson Field, N.Broad St. and Brocton Ave., Johnson City, home of the Binghamton Triplets of the Eastern League.
Golf: Ely Park, Ridge St. and City Line, 9 holes, greens fee 50¢.
Tennis: Ross Park, Park Ave. and Morgan Rd.; Recreation Park, Beethoven and Seminary Sts.; free.
BINGHAMTON (845 alt., 78,278 pop.), largest Southern Tier city, Broome County seat, and metropolis of the Triple Cities, which include Johnson City and Endicott, is at the confluence of the Chenango and Susquehanna Rivers. All main approaches to the city lead to the courthouse square, hub of the city’s business district. Here, within a four-block radius, are the principal stores, hotels, and theaters, housed for the most part in plain, three-story brick blocks. On the west side of the Chenango River is the chief residential section. South of Main Street are stately old homes and modern stone and brick dwellings set in spacious, landscaped grounds. Northward, is a large foreign settlement of Polish, Russian, and Czechoslovakian factory workers; to the east is a large Italian colony.
Binghamton and its two sister cities have 107 industries, giving employment to 34,500 workers and distributing an annual pay roll of $48,500,000. The significant co-operation between capital and labor, established in the early days of the shoe industry, has been reflected in all channels of the community’s business, social, and educational life. Round-table conferences between workers and employers promoted employment stability, which in turn contributed to a high ratio of home ownership.
Little is known of the Binghamton area before the Revolution. The site was ceded to the whites by treaty at Fort Herkimer in 1785, and was sold in 1786 to William Bingham, a Philadelphia merchant. Joseph Leonard, first permanent settler, built his log cabin near by in 1787, and was soon joined by other pioneers, who called the new settlement Chenango. The following year Joshua Whitney learned that a bridge was to be built across the Chenango River near its confluence with the Susquehanna. At his suggestion a ‘chopping bee’ was organized, and land near the designated bridge site was cleared of timber. Several buildings were moved from the old village and the new settlement was called Chenango Point. In 1816 the first stagecoaches began weekly trips from Newburgh and Owego. Later the name was changed to Binghamton in honor of Bingham, who made liberal donations of land to the settlement. In 1834 Binghamton was incorporated as a village.
Completion of the Chenango Canal in 1837, establishing an important link between the coal regions of Pennsylvania and the Erie Canal at Utica, began an era of progress in transportation and industrial development. During this period the manufacture of photographic apparatus was begun by the E.& H.T. Anthony Company, progenitor of the Agfa-Ansco Corporation. In 1848 the Erie Railroad brought direct connection with New York and shortly thereafter with Buffalo and the Great Lakes. In 1851 the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad opened the way into Pennsylvania, and was followed by the Delaware & Hudson, which established a direct route to New England.
At the time of its incorporation as a city in 1867, Binghamton had a population of 11,000. Cigar making, its first important participation in manufacture for other than local consumption, was firmly established by 1870 and its rapid growth put the city in second place in the tobacco industry of the country. But the popular shift to cigarette smoking, combined with a cigarmakers’ strike in 1890, caused a permanent slump. The manufacture of shoes, modestly begun in 1854 by Horace N. Lester and his brother George, developed into an industry that caused the founding of Johnson City and Endicott, brought a large-scale immigration of foreign factory workers, and resulted in the building of 22 factories, six tanneries, and two rubber mills located in Binghamton, Johnson City, Endicott, and Owego.
POINTS OF INTEREST
The BROOME COUNTY COURTHOUSE, on a plot bounded by Main, Collier, and Exchange Sts., erected in 1898, is constructed of Ohio sandstone trimmed with bluestone, the main entrance marked by a classic portico with tall Ionic columns. It is the last of a long line of courthouses, the first of which was erected in 1802, when Chenango Point was constituted a ‘half-shire’ of Tioga County. Broome County was separated from Tioga in 1806 and named for Lieutenant Governor John Broome, who, in appreciation of the compliment, presented the silver seal that is still used.
A plaque in the courthouse commemorates the founding in Binghamton in 1911 of the first farm bureau in the United States. The office of the bureau (open 9–4 weekdays) is in Room 302.
In front of the courthouse stands a statue by A.G. Newman of Daniel S. Dickinson, U.S. Senator, 1844–51. In the Democratic National Convention of 1852 Dickinson refused the nomination of Virginia, which might have made him the Democratic candidate for the Presidency, because of his loyalty to General Lewis Cass, to whom he was pledged.
The BINGHAMTON PUBLIC LIBRARY (open 9–9 weekdays), 78 Exchange St., a yellow brick building trimmed with limestone, neoclassic in style with pedimented, two-story front portico, is a Carnegie library and houses the MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS (open 11–5 Mon.–Fri., 7–9 p.m. Sat.), a small permanent collection of paintings, sculpture, and prints, and a collection of Indian artifacts.
CHRIST CHURCH (Episcopal), SW. corner of Washington and Henry Sts., built of stone, with steep slate roofs and a square, buttressed tower terminating in a dormered spire, was erected in 1855 from plans of Richard Upjohn, Sr. The tower was added in 1903. The congregation, incorporated in 1810 as St. Anne’s and reorganized under its present name in 1816, is the oldest in the city.
ROSS PARK, Park Ave. and Morgan Rd., consists of more than 100 acres of wooded slopes, shady drives, paths, and picnic sites. It contains a deer park, a wading pool, tennis courts, and the Municipal Zoo, a large collection of American and foreign wild life.
MEMORIAL PARK, Washington and Water Sts., is an irregular oblong of about three acres bordering the Chenango and Susquehanna Rivers, which converge at this point. Here a detachment of General Clinton’s army encamped during its expedition against the Indians in 1779.
RIVERSIDE DRIVE SOLDIERS AND SAILORS WORLD WAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE spans the Chenango River, connecting Riverside Drive with Water and Washington Streets. The eastern end of the bridge terminates in a circular plaza, in the center of which is the Spanish War Veterans Monument.
SUN BRIAR COURT (open), Riverside Drive near Helen St., model training stable owned by the estate of the late Willis Sharpe Kilmer, is named for the race horse that was credited with the largest cash winnings for 1917, and in the period 1917–20 sired several other famous horses. Within the large, circular wood building facing the entrance are an indoor track, a series of box stalls, and an equine hospital, including maternity clinic and nursery. In the clubhouse are displayed the trophies won by horses racing under the Kilmer colors.
The ENDICOTT–JOHNSON PLANT (open during working hours upon application at office; guides), 16 Susquehanna St., comprises three factories housed in red brick and wood buildings. The B.B.B. (Binghamton Busy Boys) factory is engaged mostly in the manufacture of children’s shoes; the George F. Johnson factory fills orders for Army and CCC shoes; and the Binghamton Work Shoe factory makes everyday shoes. Other factories are in neighboring towns (see Tour 3).
The BINGHAMTON STATE HOSPITAL (open 1–3 Mon., Wed., Fri.), State Hospital Hill, east city line, housed in native stone and brick buildings, was founded in 1854. It is virtually a city in itself, with its own power plant, fire-prevention system, farms, shops, and nurses’ homes. The institution provides treatment and care for the insane and the mentally deficient.
The AGFA-ANSCO PLANT (not open to public), 40 Charles St., contains the laboratories and film production units of the Agfa-Ansco division of the General Aniline and Film Corporation. It is the second largest and second oldest manufacturer of photographic supplies in the country.
POINTS OF INTEREST IN ENVIRONS
Johnson City, 2.1 m.; Endicott, 7.3 m. (see Tour 3). Chenango Valley State Park, 11.3 m. (see Tour 10).