FALCONER

A short history of Falconer

The area now known as Falconer was inhabited by the Erie People until the mid-1600s. Five years of war with the Seneca Nation led to the Erie Nation's decimation; their people migrated and were absorbed into the Seneca community, who then inhabited this land. During the Revolutionary War, the thriving Seneca Nation sided with the losing British. In 1779, George Washington organized the Sullivan Expedition, a military campaign intended to weaken Loyalist and Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) communities. The Seneca signed the Treaty at Big Tree in 1797, surrendering most of their lands to the United States government.

By White settlers, Falconer was originally called Worksburg, after Edward Work, who purchased the land from the Holland Land Company in August 1807. The first Falconer to own the land was Robert Falconer, who bought it from Edward Work in 1836. His son, Patrick, later consolidated his land holdings in the future village. In 1874 the community received its present name, after either William T. Falconer (1850–1915) or his father Patrick, who was on the board of directors of the Allegheny & Pittsburg Railroad and donated a large tract of land through town to the railroad concern. This resulted in the railroad line being routed through the middle of the community. Route 380 in the village retains the name "Work Street" after the town's founder (it also now serves as a double entendre as the village's various industrial sites are on the same road and thus many people "work" there).

Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article Falconer, New York, revision 1373510076 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.