Bound Volumes, Hometown History

November 20, 2025

90 YEARS AGO

Principal Charles W. Hunt of the Oneonta State Normal School will lay before Governor Lehman’s budget committee a proposal for the acquisition by the state of a 25-acre plot west of the present campus upon the hill overlooking the city as a site for an athletic field. The plot is located west of Elm Street and extends from Arnold Avenue north to Sherman Avenue and over the hill nearly to Clinton Avenue. There are four houses included within the plot, some of which are on Elm Street. It will also afford a location for a school dormitory in close proximity which is needed to centralize the social activities of the school. The application for state funds at the present time is only for the $25,000 required to secure the site.

November 1935

40 YEARS AGO

When downtown bars start turning away customers under 21 after December 1, local fraternities and sororities are expecting the younger students to turn to them. “When the drinking age goes up, I think people will be looking for more of a social outlet, as compared to the bar scene,” said Kay Melia, vice-president of the Alpha Kappa Phi sorority at 56 Maple Street, and president of the State University College at Oneonta Greek Council. “It will have an effect on the fraternities and sororities around here—membership will be going up.” Bernie Toole, president of the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity on Maple Street, said he expects Oneonta to become ripe for more national fraternities to open local chapters or “colonize” locally established organizations. Phi Kappa Sigma is only a year old, he said, and already it has become the largest of the five houses in SUCO’s Greek Council, with 40 members and eight pledges.

November 1985

30 YEARS AGO

November 1995

20 YEARS AGO

Because of an amendment to New York State hunting regulations, deer hunters in Otsego, Chenango and Schoharie counties may be hunting with rifles for the first time in memory. The state decided to expand the area where deer hunting with rifles is allowed after a study showed that rife-hunting counties are typically as safe as the shot-gun only counties. However, David Allen, a veteran hunter, said he worries about high-powered rifles in inexperienced hands. “With their longer range, rifles can be more dangerous than shotguns,” Allen said, “especially near settled areas, or in crowded hunting areas. I’ve seen land around here posted for shot-guns only.”

November 2005