Historic Tales of Seneca County, New York

Located in the Finger Lakes region of New York, Seneca County has a fascinating history. Early settlers courageously fought off wild animals from wolves to panthers to tame the land and keep the new settlements safe. The rise and fall of the mill industry led to the demise of ghost towns like the Kingdom. The jailhouse murder of John Walters in 1887 fostered improved conditions in the county jail. From the first home-run hitter in major-league baseball to the insidious activity of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s and the unfortunate burning of a traveling embalmed whale, author and historian Walter Gable shares many of the defining moments of Seneca County history.


About the Author
Gable, Walter: - Walter Gable has been the Seneca County Historian since August 2003. A lifelong resident of Seneca County, he is a graduate of the Romulus Central School District and earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at Syracuse University. His last thirty years of social studies teaching were at Mynderse Academy in the Seneca Falls Central School District. He was president of the New York State Council for the Social Studies (1997-98) and was recognized as its Distinguished Social Studies Educator in New York State in 2000. He received the Seneca Falls Community Service Award in 2013 and the Seneca County Chamber of Commerce's 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award. As the county historian, he writes history articles on a monthly basis for two local newspapers and presents over forty programs a year to community and school groups. He credits his lifelong interest in history to the late Miss Ethel Buckley, his enthusiastic high school history teacher.