Whether you approach it by today’s state Route 7 or 206, you’d be hard pressed to miss the village green in Bainbridge, a public space in the center of the village dating back to 1829.

Back in that time the village was called Jericho. Benjamin S. Carpenter owned the land and decided to donate it for public use.

This act of generosity didn’t proceed very smoothly. Carpenter made the donation to encourage the establishment of a church and school, and to provide a good parade ground on certain conditions, which afterward he claimed were not complied with.

Carpenter reclaimed the land and put a fence around it. This didn’t sit well with the villagers, as they tore down the fence. The opposition was so intense that Carpenter gave up on his reclamation efforts. Eventually a church was built on the site around 1831. The Bainbridge Academy was later built in another part of the village.

Before the park was converted to its present form, the space was used for other purposes. For instance, it became a lumberyard in 1846. This came after the second-known bridge in the village, built in the summer of 1845, was carried away by a flood. This is likely at or near the site of today’s state Route 206 bridge over the Susquehanna River. Timber for the next bridge was brought in and sawed on the site.

Later the green was used as a parade and drill ground by the area militia, probably around the Civil War years. The land was owned one-third by the village and two-thirds by the Society of Silicia, a Presbyterian Church organization. Later the area was used as a ball ground, and it became an unsightly and neglected spot.

The idea for a much nicer park was inaugurated by Harrison L. Beatty in 1901. The first action came after Beatty offered to erect a fountain costing $500.

It came with a condition, requiring that the Society of Silicia deed its portion of the land to the village to be used for park purposes only. Beatty’s offer also required the village to raise $500 for grading and beautifying the park.

Beatty’s conditions were met and the fountain was purchased. A New York City landscaping gardener was brought in to lay out the park.

The shrubbery was purchased and set out by an expert in that line of work. The benches and lights were donated by interested citizens.

Beatty also acted to make sure the park was maintained. In his will he left $3,000 in trust for the village to upkeep the grounds. If the park wasn’t kept up, the money was to be reverted to Cornell University. It was estimated that annual maintenance was about $100.

Not everyone was in favor of making this place an attractive spot. Beatty’s idea was strongly opposed by the younger men and boys who had long used the area as a baseball field. Not a day after an elevation was built in the center of the park for flowers and the trees were set out, unknown people pulled them up during the night. No doubt the opponents were in the minority against the park, as plans carried on.

A soldier’s monument was purchased by the Hon. Henry A. Clark for $2,500 and presented to the village in 1904. It was erected in memory of the brave men of the Civil War era, 1861-65.

"It is a beautiful memoir and adds greatly to the attractiveness of our delightful park," was a comment from The Bainbridge Republican of Nov. 10, 1904.

The band pagoda was erected around the same time by the Village Improvement Society.

Several other war memorials and historic markers have been added to the village green in years since.

Next weekend: We’ll go on tour with Go-Won-Go Mohawk, a talented American Indian who once called Greene her home.

City Historian Mark Simonson’s column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or e-mail him at simmark@stny.rr.com.

His website is

www.oneontahistorian.com.