Among New York’s forgotten places, Elko, New York stands out for its historical significance. This abandoned settlement, once full of promise and activity, now serves as a haunting reminder of how communities rise and fall. Its quiet streets echo with the footsteps of those who came before.
County: Cattaraugus
Zip Code: Not available
Latitude / Longitude: 42° 3′ 25.2 N, 78° 52′ 51.6 W
Elevation: Not available
Time Zone: Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
Established: 1890
Disestablished: 1965
Comments: Historical surveys confirm that elko was a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, that existed from 1890 to 1965.
Remains: Physical evidence of the town it was forcibly evacuated in 1965 due to the construction of the Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River in Warren County, Pennsylvania, one of the largest dams in the United States east of the Mississippi. The dam was authorized by the United States Congress as a flood control measure in the Flood Control Acts of 1936 and 1938 and was built by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers beginning in 1960. Other benefits from the dam include drought control, hydroelectric power production, and recreation.
Current Status: Modern maps show the location is elko was forcibly evacuated in spring 1965 as part of the Kinzua Dam construction. In September of that year, the remaining residents voted 13-1 to dissolve the town and give its remaining equipment and land to the neighboring town of Coldspring. The landmark Quaker Bridge was demolished and replaced with one several miles upstream, near Steamburg when the Southern Tier Expressway was built, and the highways serving Elko were all reconfigured to eliminate most of the town’s infrastructure.
Remarks: Elko represents an important chapter in New York’s history, showcasing how economic shifts and changing transportation patterns could dramatically alter a community’s fortunes. Its legacy continues to fascinate historians and visitors alike.
Elko, New York represents a fascinating chapter in the history of ghost towns in the Empire State. Unlike many abandoned settlements that faded gradually due to economic decline, Elko’s story ended abruptly through government action, when the entire town was forcibly evacuated in 1965 to make way for the construction of the Kinzua Dam. Today, this former town in Cattaraugus County exists only in historical records and the memories of former residents, its physical presence having been largely erased from the landscape.
Origins and Early Settlement
Elko was one of the first areas in Cattaraugus County to be settled by Europeans. The history of the area begins in 1798 when Quakers, with the blessing of Seneca diplomat Cornplanter, established a mission on the Allegany Indian Reservation. This early interaction between European settlers and the indigenous Seneca people set the stage for the complex relationship that would characterize the region’s development over the next century and a half.
The first permanent settlements in what would become Elko were established in 1803. A significant milestone in the area’s development came in 1867 with the construction of the landmark Quaker Bridge, which spanned the Allegheny River and served as a vital transportation link for the community. This bridge would later lend its name to one of the primary settlements within Elko.
The Town of Elko itself was officially founded in 1890, carved out from territory that previously belonged to South Valley. Interestingly, Elko’s creation was reportedly a political maneuver aimed at shifting the balance of power in Cattaraugus County southward in an attempt to relocate the county seat from Little Valley to Salamanca. While the county board of supervisors approved this move by a vote of 18-15, it was ultimately rejected in a public referendum, and the county seat remained in Little Valley.
The town’s name came at the suggestion of an agent of oil magnate Amasa Stone, who had built a significant portion of his estate in the area. Stone’s influence in the region reflected the economic potential that many saw in this part of southwestern Cattaraugus County during the late 19th century.
Economic Development and Community Life
Elko’s formation coincided with a brief boom in the lumber industry in southwestern Cattaraugus County. In 1890, the combined population of Elko, South Valley, and Red House was approximately 2,000 people—ten times the number of residents in the area as of 2010. This demographic peak reflected the economic opportunities that drew settlers to the region, despite the challenges posed by its remote location and rugged terrain.
The town’s economy was initially driven by its natural resources. The numerous creeks in the area—including Quaker Run, Hotchkiss Hollow, and Wolf Run—provided ample hydropower for sawmills, which were central to the early economic development of Elko. However, as steam power became more prevalent in the lumber industry, the advantage of these water-powered mills diminished, contributing to economic challenges for the community.
A significant shift in Elko’s economic focus came in 1921 with the opening of Allegany State Park. Recognizing the potential for tourism, Elko positioned itself as a gateway town, catering to visitors traveling to the park. This strategic pivot reflected the community’s adaptability in the face of changing economic circumstances, though it would not be enough to ensure the town’s long-term survival.
By 1941, when the Buffalo Courier-Express published a summary of the town, Elko had the distinction of being the smallest town in Western New York. The newspaper noted that the town was too small to cover interest payments and thus could not afford to incur any debts—a reflection of the financial constraints that shaped life in this rural community.
Education in Elko was provided through one-room schools, with one in each of the town’s three districts: Hotchkiss Hollow, Quaker Bridge, and Wolf Run. This traditional approach to education persisted well into the 20th century, long after many other communities had consolidated their schools. The town lacked churches of its own, with residents traveling to nearby Steamburg for religious services.
Commercial activity in Elko was limited but sufficient to meet the basic needs of its residents. The town’s businesses included a processing plant operated by the Fairmont Creamery, a general store (which also served as the post office), a garage, and a service station, along with several family farms. Despite its small size and limited resources, Elko maintained a vibrant civic life, with organizations such as the Farm Bureau, 4-H, Home Bureau, and Nursing Committee all operating out of the town hall for community gatherings.
Geography and Physical Setting
Elko was situated in the southern portion of Cattaraugus County, bordered by Coldspring to the north, South Valley to the west, Corydon, Pennsylvania to the south, and Red House to the east. The town straddled the Allegheny River and the Allegany Indian Reservation, with the majority of its land located southeast of the river while most of its population was concentrated in the northwest.
In total, Elko encompassed 14,393 acres of territory, a substantial area for a town with such a small population. The landscape was characterized by the meeting of Quaker Run and the Allegheny River south of Quaker Bridge, and by Mount Tuscarora, which was located in the geographic center of the town. This diverse topography contributed to both the natural beauty of the area and the challenges of developing infrastructure and maintaining connections between the scattered settlements within the town’s boundaries.
The primary transportation route through Elko’s population centers was New York State Route 280 in its original configuration. Prior to the development of this highway, the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad (WNY&P) served the town, providing a vital link to the wider region and facilitating the movement of goods and people.
Demographics and Social Structure
According to the 1940 United States census, 125 people were resident in Elko, all of them White, not counting those on the reservation. A separate internal Seneca Nation of Indians census of the portion of the reservation within Elko counted 110 people. This dual demographic profile reflected the complex jurisdictional arrangement that characterized Elko, with part of its territory falling within the boundaries of the Allegany Indian Reservation.
The town’s population was distributed among approximately 30 families: five in Hotchkiss Hollow, 24 in Quaker Bridge, and one on Wolf Run. There were 13 children of school age served by the two active schools in Elko, ten in Quaker Bridge and three on Wolf Run. The small number of students reflected both the town’s limited population and the demographic challenges faced by many rural communities in the mid-20th century.
Politically, Elko leaned Republican, with approximately twice as many registered Republicans as Democrats among its 75 registered voters. This political orientation was typical of rural communities in Western New York during this period, though it would shift somewhat in the town’s final years when William Smallback, a Democrat, was elected as the town’s last supervisor, serving from 1960 to 1965.
Communities within Elko
Despite its small overall population, Elko contained several distinct communities, each with its own character and history. Quaker Bridge was the center of government and the most heavily populated place in Elko. In fact, the area was better known as ‘Quaker Bridge’ than as ‘Elko’ to many people. The settlement was named for the large bridge across the Allegheny River and was also the site of a Quaker school dating to 1816, which was still operating as a summer school as late as 1941.
Prior to 1921, the United States Postal Service referred to the town as Tunesassa, after the location’s Seneca language name. This linguistic connection highlighted the ongoing influence of indigenous culture in the area, even as European settlement and American governmental structures became dominant.
Other communities within Elko included Wolf Run, Hotchkiss Hollow, and Frecks. Each of these settlements had its own distinct identity and history, though all were ultimately bound together by their inclusion within the town of Elko and by their shared fate when the town was evacuated in 1965.
The Kinzua Dam and Forced Evacuation
The story of Elko’s demise begins with the authorization of the Kinzua Dam by the United States Congress as a flood control measure in the Flood Control Acts of 1936 and 1938. The dam, which would be built on the Allegheny River in Warren County, Pennsylvania, was one of the largest dams in the United States east of the Mississippi. Construction by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began in 1960, setting in motion the events that would lead to Elko’s evacuation.
In the spring of 1965, the residents of Elko were forcibly evacuated to make way for the dam’s construction. This traumatic displacement marked the end of a community that had existed for 75 years, disrupting lives and severing connections to the land that had been home to multiple generations. The human cost of this infrastructure project was significant, though it was justified by the benefits the dam would provide in terms of flood control, drought management, hydroelectric power production, and recreation.
In August 1965, following the evacuation, the remaining residents of Elko voted 13-1 to dissolve the town and transfer its remaining equipment and land to the neighboring town of Coldspring, which concurrently voted 45-0 to annex the town. This formal dissolution marked the official end of Elko as a political entity, though the community had already been effectively destroyed by the evacuation.
The landmark Quaker Bridge, which had been a symbol of the community since 1867, was demolished and replaced with one several miles upstream, near Steamburg, when the Southern Tier Expressway was built. The highways serving Elko were all reconfigured, eliminating most of the town’s infrastructure. After the construction of the dam, the town was left with only one road to maintain, Hotchkiss Hollow Road, a stark reduction from its previous transportation network.
William Smallback, the town’s last supervisor, played a significant role in the final chapter of Elko’s history. His son has speculated that the state’s frequent personal disputes with Smallback may have influenced the government’s handling of the Elko evictions. In a poignant act of defiance, Smallback returned with his family to Elko to participate in the dissolution vote, despite having been evicted from the town.
Legacy and Remembrance
Today, Elko exists primarily in historical records and in the memories of former residents and their descendants. The physical evidence of the town has been largely erased, with the land now part of the neighboring town of Coldspring. The waters impounded by the Kinzua Dam have transformed the landscape, creating the Allegheny Reservoir (also known as Kinzua Lake), which now covers areas that were once part of Elko’s territory.
The story of Elko serves as a reminder of the complex trade-offs involved in large-scale infrastructure projects. While the Kinzua Dam has provided significant benefits in terms of flood control, drought management, and hydroelectric power generation, these benefits came at the cost of displacing communities and forever altering the cultural and physical landscape of the region.
For the former residents of Elko and their descendants, the memory of the town represents a connection to a way of life that has been lost. The forced evacuation of the town remains a painful chapter in their family histories, a reminder of the power of government to reshape communities and lives in pursuit of broader policy objectives.
At the same time, the story of Elko is part of a larger narrative about the development of New York State and the nation as a whole. The town’s creation in the context of the lumber boom of the late 19th century, its adaptation to changing economic circumstances with the rise of tourism in the early 20th century, and its ultimate destruction to make way for a major dam project all reflect broader patterns in American history.
In this sense, Elko stands as a microcosm of the forces that have shaped and reshaped communities across the United States, from the initial settlement of the frontier to the large-scale infrastructure projects of the mid-20th century. Its story, though not widely known, offers valuable insights into the complex interplay of economic, political, and social factors that determine the fate of small communities in the face of larger historical currents.
Visiting Elko Today
For those interested in connecting with the history of Elko, there are few physical remains to visit. The town’s infrastructure was largely demolished following the evacuation, and much of its former territory is now either underwater or has been reclaimed by nature. However, the Allegheny Reservoir created by the Kinzua Dam offers recreational opportunities in the area where Elko once stood, allowing visitors to experience the natural beauty that was once part of the town’s setting.
Local historical societies and museums in Cattaraugus County may have exhibits or archives related to Elko and other communities affected by the construction of the Kinzua Dam. These resources can provide valuable insights into the town’s history and the impact of its dissolution on the region.
For those with a deeper interest in the history of Elko, archival research may yield additional information. Newspapers such as the Buffalo Courier-Express, which published a summary of the town in 1941, and government records related to the Kinzua Dam project and the evacuation of Elko may be available in libraries, archives, or online databases.
While the physical town of Elko may be gone, its story remains an important part of the history of New York State and a poignant reminder of the human cost of progress. By remembering Elko and communities like it, we honor the experiences of those who called these places home and ensure that their stories are not forgotten as the landscape continues to change.
Sources:
1. ‘Elko, New York.’ Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elko,_New_York
2. ’19 Deserted and Forgotten Towns in New York.’ NewsBreak. https://www.newsbreak.com/a-z-animals-1693032/3116817874462-19-deserted-and-forgotten-towns-in-new-york
3. Buffalo Courier-Express. Summary of Elko, 1941.
4. United States Congress. Flood Control Acts of 1936 and 1938.
5. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Records on the construction of the Kinzua Dam.
6. 1950 United States Census data for Elko, New York.
