Editing Ellington, New York (section)

== History ==
The town of Ellington was formed on April 1, 1824, from the town of [[Gerry, New York|Gerry]], and [[Cherry Creek, New York|Cherry Creek]] was taken off on May 4, 1829. The first real settlement in the area was towards the northeast part of the town. The first settler to this area was Joshua Bentley, who purchased part of lot 7 in 1814, and part of lot 6 in 1815. Once the town was officially formed in 1824, the first town meeting was held on March 1, 1825, at the house of Lucretia French, in the north part of town.  The first religious services were held at the house of James Bates in 1817 by Rev. Daniel Hadley.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Morrison|first=Wayne|title=Morrison's History of Chautauqua County|publisher=Wayne E. Morrison|year=1969}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Young|first=Andrew W.|title=History of Chautauqua County NY, From Its First Settlement To The Present Time|publisher=Heritage Books Inc.|year=1990}}</ref>

In Ellington's early years there were a few saw-mills in the town, in which most of the townsfolk that didn't have other jobs worked. Most notably was the saw-mill at the dead-end of the aptly named Mill St, which was originally named Willow St. It is notable because it was operational from the 1800s to the early 2000s. Ellington also had a high school on Main Street at one point, built in 1910 and constructed directly in front of the former school house which was built in 1852. The school was known as The Ellington Academy, and operated as a high school until 1948. The building is now a private residence. The original School House built in 1852 was known as "The Box of Knowledge" and reportedly started as a teachers college. During Prohibition bootlegging was common all over the country. Reportedly there were moonshine stills hidden in an old root cellar on 28th Creek Rd known as "The Hide Out" and "Hole in the Wall", however it is unknown if this is true or not.

'''The Floods of Ellington'''

On September 8, 1865, a storm caused Twenty-eighth Creek, which runs through the southern part of the town, to turn into a terrifying river of logs and wreckage. Homes, stores, the Hotel, and the Baptist Church were all reportedly destroyed or washed away. On August 2, 1979, another terrible flood from Twenty-eighth Creek ravaged the town. One resident of 28th Creek Rd is reported as yelling, "Move out as many people as you can! There's a wall of water headed towards Ellington!". The flood destroyed a trailer park above the town before sending flood waters through the town proper. The Baptist Church sustained damage as well as the former town hall and around 40 homes. Town records washed out of the town hall were recovered a third of a mile away. The damage to the entire town was determined to be around one million dollars. On September 14, 1979, there was another flood although this one was much less damaging than the one just a month prior in August.