CORTLAND COUNTY, NEW YORK

A question from a friend last night is the impetus for this article. He wanted to know what the area where I grew up was like and what the farmers around there grow, etc.
Well, to begin with, Cortland, the seat of Cortland County, is located about 35 miles south of Syracuse almost in the center of upstate New York. The area is very hilly and a lot of the farms around the area have relatively steep fields. In addition, the area was (along with most of central New York), formed by receding glaciers, and as a result, the fields around the area grow a new “crop” of stones every year! The soils are clay loams and gravels, and the area gets lots of moisture . Nobody in upstate New York irrigates- Instead we work very hard to drain the soils so we can farm them without sinking!
Hardwoods dominate the forests, and if a field is not actively farmed for a few years, you will wind up with woods. Some farmers also sell some of their hardwood trees every ten or twenty years for a little extra income.
Winters are hard compared to those in southern Colorado where I now live. When the snows start to fall seriously, usually in December, they will remain on the ground until spring. Spring thaws usually start in late March. I remember a 40 inch overnight snowfall when I was about 4 years old. My Dad has a picture of me with my “kiddy” snow shovel “helping” him shovel this monster snow.
Summer temperatures can reach the high nineties, and so can the humidity! It makes for a hard time sleeping some nights.
Farming in the area is largely dairy related. Most dairies (at least when I grew up there), also grew their own forages and grains, possibly along with some for cash crops. There are also lots of orchards and truck gardens, and a few Christmas tree farms.
Industries in the area in the 1950’s and 60’s included the Cortland Corset Company, Cortland Fishing Line Co., Wickwire Nail Co., Monarch Machine Tool Co., Brewer Tichener Co.(a maker of drop-forged high line hardware and other forgings), Brockway Trucks, and Smith Corona, which was headquartered in nearby Groton NY. Unfortunately, many of these industries have either closed down or left the area today. Cortland is also home of S.U.N.Y. Cortland, which is primarily a college for future teachers.
The population of Cortland was about 20,000 when I lived there, and I believe it is about the same today.
All in all, Cortland and Cortland County were and are a beautiful area to live in, and I always thought it was a great place to be a kid!