Elmira - Elmira, NY - New York Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

text: "Elmira in 1808, "Newtown" was officially renamed "Elmira" after the daughter of Nathan Teall, Tavern Owner & prominent local citizen Chemung County Historical Soc."

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"According to legend, Captain Nathan Teall came to Newtown (now Elmira) around 1794 and opened Teall’s Tavern on Sullivan Street near East Water. One of the frequent guests was State Assemblyman Judge Emmanuel Coryell, who lived somewhere between Athens and Owego. Judge Coryell was head of a committee to change the name of Newtown, as there were several other Newtowns in the state.
According to the Star-Gazette on June 27, 1939, “One night in 1806, little Elmira Teall, Nathan’s youngest daughter, climbed into (Coryell’s) lap and went to sleep.” Noticing her beauty, Judge Coryell thought it matched the beauty of the surrounding country and later, according to the story, asked for the Board of Trustees to change the name of Newtown to Elmira. The name Elmira is said to come from Spanish words of Moorish origin: “El Mira,” meaning “beautiful outlook.” Wellington’s troops took the name back to England from their Spanish campaigns, and eventually, it became the name of a character in a book. It is surmised that Mrs. Teall had read the book and named her youngest child after that character."

wikipedia
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"The population was 29,200 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Chemung County...Elmira served as a transportation hub for New York's Southern Tier in the 1800s, connecting commercial centers in Rochester and Buffalo with Albany and New York City, via the canal system and railroads...In 1950, the population of the City of Elmira peaked at about 50,000, which represented 57 percent of Chemung County’s total population at that time...The Chemung River flows eastward through the city. Elmira is built almost entirely in the flood plain of the Chemung River and has suffered many floods over its history, the worst from Hurricane Agnes in 1972. "
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Marker Name: Elmira Marker Type: Roadside Agency: Chemung County Historical Soc City/Town/Village Name: Elmira County: Chemung Region: Finger Lakes (Region 3) Website: [Web Link] Dedication Date: Not Listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   08/27/2018 ARTSGeocacher visited it