Editing Richford, New York (section)

==History==
European-American settlement began around 1808 when Evan Harris brought his family here. Samuel Smith was the first to settle within the present village site in 1813. The first tavern was built in the village in 1817 at the site of the Richford Hotel (now the Richford Quickway) by Beriah Wells. Ezekial Rich moved to the town in 1821 when he purchased the tavern from Beriah Wells. He established a glove and mitten factory, and later opened a general store. The town was first formed from the [[Berkshire, New York|Town of Berkshire]] as the "Town of Arlington" in 1831. In 1832 it changed its name to the Town of Richford.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://history.rays-place.com/ny/richford-ny.htm|title=History of Richford, NY|access-date=May 28, 2005|archive-date=May 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523171542/http://history.rays-place.com/ny/richford-ny.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Local oral history links several properties in Richford with the [[Underground Railroad]] in the antebellum period, by which residents aided refugee slaves to reach freedom.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nvhistory.org/tiogapast.shtml#undergroundrailroad |title=Newark Valley Historical Society - Stories of Tioga's Past |access-date=August 18, 2008 |archive-date=July 4, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704124210/http://www.nvhistory.org/tiogapast.shtml#undergroundrailroad |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1816, the Catskill Turnpike was brought through the village on its route to [[Ithaca, New York|Ithaca]] and generated considerable traffic to the village.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.crookedlakereview.com/articles/136_167/137fall2005/137palmer2.html|title = The Catskill Turnpike in Stage Coach and Tavern Days by Richard Palmer}}</ref>
This was the dominant route into or out of the village until 1869, when the [[Southern Central Railroad]] was completed between [[Auburn, New York|Auburn]] and [[Owego (village), New York|Owego]].
<ref>{{Cite web| title=The Grading of the Track Between Owego and Athens Nearly Completed. Prospects of the Road | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1870/09/05/83472007.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016235031/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1870/09/05/83472007.pdf | archive-date=2021-10-16}}</ref>