TOWN HISTORY

The Town of Ulysses was surveyed and mapped by 1790 as part of New York State's "Military Tract" (lands set aside to compensate men who fought in the Revolutionary War). The first known settler in the town was Samuel Weyburn who took up residence on land where Taughannock Creek flowed into Cayuga Lake...part of Taughannock State Park today. He was followed in 1792 by the veteran Abner Treman and family who settled on Lot #2 that eventually became the location of the Village of Trumansburg. Ulysses is 36.84 square miles, including 32.98 square miles of land and 3.86 square miles of water. It is bounded by the Town of Covert in Seneca County to the north, the Towns of Ithaca and Enfield to the south, and Town of Hector in Schuyler County to the west. The eastern town line is Cayuga Lake. The Town’s character is defined by agricultural lands and open space interspersed by pockets of residential development, a variety of small-scale commercial uses, and a well-defined village center in Trumansburg. The Village of Trumansburg was incorporated in 1872 and became the commercial and residential center of the Town of Ulysses. While much of the Town is devoted to farms, the proximity to Ithaca has brought a large number of professionals, academics and artists to the Town. There were historically a number of small “communities” within the larger Town, including: Dubois Corner, Halseyville, Jacksonville, Krums Corner, Podunk Waterburg and Willow Creek.

LOCAL HISTORY INFORMATION: Where you can go to learn more about...

Document and Secondary sources:

• Town Historian
• Ulysses Historical Society -39 South St., Trumansburg, (607)387-6666. Research hours: Mondays 10am-12 noon
• Ulysses Philomathic Library-
  74 E. Main St., Trumansburg
  Shelves of town history and the Lydia Sears Historical Collections Room

Historical Newspaper Accounts:

• Microfilm of Ulysses and Trumansburg newspapers from 1832-1975 is available at the the Town of Ulysses, the Ulysses library, and the Tompkins County Public Library.
• Hard copy originals are available at the Ulysses Historical Society.
• Finger Lakes Community Newspapers has bound volumes of the Trumansburg Free Press newspaper from 1979 to the present.

More historical information can be found through the following links:

A Brief History of the Town of Ulysses

The History Center of Tompkins County

Village of Trumansburg's history page

A History of Trumansburg
Published in 1890 by the Free Press. Free to read online at the above link.

NY Historic Newspapers

Tompkins County GenWeb

Town Cemeteries:
- Jones (Goodwin) Cemetery
- Updike Cemetery
- Bower Cemetery
- Quaker Cemetery

Town Historian's book shelf at the town hall: (Make an appointment to stop by to view)

• Landmarks of Tompkins County by Selkreg
• A History of Trumansburg, 1792-1967 by Lydia Sears
• A Continuing History of Trumansburg, 1968-1981 by Phyllis Lutes
• A History of Trumansburg, 1890 by the Free Press
• Trumansburg NY Incorporation Centennial, 1872-1972 by Carolyn Martin
• Bicentennial Celebration USA, 1976 by Ulysses/Trumansburg