Editing Waterville, New York (section)

== History ==
Long the traditional territory of the [[Iroquoian]]-speaking [[Oneida people]] of the [[Haudenosaunee]], the Waterville area was first settled by European Americans ''circa'' 1792 after the United States' victory in the [[American Revolutionary War]]. The US forced the Iroquois Confederacy to cede most of its land in New York state. The settlement was known as "The Huddle". In 1808, the settlement formally took the name of Waterville. The village is named after [[Waterville, Maine]].<ref>{{cite web|url=  http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=1887 |title= Profile for Waterville, New York, NY|publisher =ePodunk|access-date= March 9, 2014}}</ref>

[[Hops]] ''(humulus lupulus)'' were introduced to the area in about 1820; by 1875, Waterville was considered the "Hops Capital of the World."<ref name="Waterville Historical Society">{{cite web|url= http://www.watervilleny.com/WHS.htm |title=   Waterville Historical Society |publisher = Waterville Historical Society |access-date= March 9, 2014}}</ref> Several inventions related to the cultivation and curing of hops were developed locally, the most important of which was liquid hop extract. The International Hop Stock Exchange was established in the 1860s.

[[File:Waterville, N.Y., 1885 LOC 78692967.jpg|thumb|[[Perspective map]] of Waterville from 1885 with list of landmarks by [[L.R. Burleigh]]]]
With the introduction of [[railway]] service in 1867, chiefly the [[Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad]], Waterville became a major shipping point for hops-related cargo; "Waterville Hops" and hop extract were shipped to brewers all over the world. The economic prosperity fueled by the hop industry was reflected by merchants building fine [[Victorian architecture|Victorian-style]] homes. By the 1920s, hop production began to wane, due primarily to poor agricultural technology. By the close of the 1940s, Waterville's working hop farms had all been converted to other uses. Some locals continue to grow hops as a recreational "tip of the hat" to Waterville's past.

The [[Loomis Gang]], a notorious group of horse thieves, lived and operated in the Waterville area during the mid-nineteenth century.<ref name="Waterville Historical Society"/> Beyond documented history, there is much folklore associated with the Loomis family, including legends of ghosts that haunt the Nine Mile Swamp area located one mile south of Waterville.

Also of interest is the former home of [[George Eastman]], the father of the [[Kodak]] Company. Kodak made, and continues to make, high-quality cameras and accessories. The parking lot across from St. Bernard's Church is the approximate site of Eastman's former residence.