German Flatts, New York, USA
1824 - German Flatts

GERMAN FLATS, a Post-Township on the S. shore of the Mohawk, in Herkimer County, 5 miles SE of Herkimer, and 75 miles from Albany; bounded N. by the Mohawk, or by Herkimer, E. by Danube, S. by Warren and Columbia, W. by Frankfort. The extensive alluvial flats in this Town, as well as those in Herkimer, were settled at any early period by German families, and have now been known as the German Flats, about 100 years, from which the town has its name. The soil of these flats is remarkably rich, nor is its fertility hardly diminished by German husbandry, through such a long series of years. The uplands are rich and productive, and the whole is under cultivation. A canal has been cut around the Wolf Rift in the Mohawk, which is 5 miles above the Little Falls. This canal is 1 1/ 2 mile in length, and affords sites for water-works, and there are 2 small mill streams. There are 7 grain mills, 10 saw mills, 2 carding machines, 2 fulling mills, 1 oil mill, and 1 ashery. There is one meetinghouse, which has been built about 75 years, and 13 school- houses. The inhabitants, in common with those of the adjoining towns, suffered much in the early wars and in that of the Revolution; and here was Fort Herkimer. In 1756, after the surrender of Oswego, the French over-ran this country; and in 1757, after the surrender of Fort William Henry, the settlements at the German Flats were laid desolate by fire and sword. The Post-Office is on the Turnpike, the river road, 1 1/ 2 mile from Herkimer V., where there is a hamlet of houses, on the site of Fort Herkimer. Population, 2665; taxable property, $464626; 468 electors; 11737 acres of improved land; 2327 cattle, 803 horses, 4334 sheep: 19921 yards of cloth made in families in 1821; school districts, 13; schools, kept 9 months in 12; public monies received in 1821, $373.27; 864 children between 5 and 15; 707 attended school that year. The Erie Canal runs a short distance in the old Canal, noticed above, and there are a number of Locks in this Town, which has the Grand Canal along the Mohawk through its whole extent.

1824 Gazetteer of the State of New York, by Horatio Gates Spafford

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