A
Brief History of the Town
The town of Caroga was formed in 1842. Soon after
the town was formed, mills and tanneries could be found
in the area. Logging was also big. Roads were developed
to get around the town at first, and then to get back
and forth to Gloversville.
The town’s first schools that were formed were the Wiley School, and the
Shaw School which were both located in North Bush. The first post mark was the
North Bush Postmark, which was used for many years. The Post Office was located
in John Cosselman’s store, which was located on the intersection of
Beech Ridge and North Bush Roads.
Around the time of 1982, the town was divided almost equally between Baptists
and Methodists. The principal symbol of the community at that time was
the North Methodist Church, since it was the only church at the time. Before
the church was built, Church Services and Sunday School were held in the
North Bush School House (formerly known as the Shaw School).
Throughout the evolution of the town of Caroga Lake, people continued to
find many ways to use the area for a source of income. People cut ice blocks
from the lakes to keep ice houses cold during the summer, logged trees
from the forest, lumbered the trees and tanned in the area, using the local
Hemlock bark supply to cure the leather. Residents eventually began to
go to nearby towns and cities for more job options. Along with people looking
at outside towns to go to work, those residents from other towns began
to live in the outside towns and come into Caroga Lake during the summer
months. People owned summer homes here and a lot of people still do. Any
town resident knows that there is a huge population of seasonal residents.
This is a very brief description of our town’s history. If you would
like more information, you can purchase the Caroga Book at the town's municipal
building for $20.00 plus tax. The goes through each and every historical
moment that was recorded, in detail. Another way to learn more about the
history, is by visiting the Caroga Museum, which is open during the summer
months.
