Garbutt, New York | |
|---|---|
  Garbutt  Garbutt | |
| Coordinates:43°00′45.89″N77°47′30.11″W / 43.0127472°N 77.7916972°W /43.0127472; -77.7916972 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Monroe |
| Town | Wheatland |
| Settled | 1804; 221 years ago (1804) |
| Founded by | Zachariah Garbutt |
| Elevation | 597 ft (182 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP Code | 14546 (Scottsville) |
| Area code | 585 |
Garbutt, New York is ahamlet inMonroe County,New York,United States. It is located within the town ofWheatland between the village ofScottsville and the hamlet ofMumford. It sits at the intersection ofScottsville-Mumford Road andUnion Street. The hamlet grew rapidly through the mid-nineteenth century, but starting in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the collapse of the local economy caused the population to severely decline.
In its 19th-century prime, Garbutt boasted atrain station andrail yard, service by two railroad companies, several industrial plants, a hotel, two schools, a church,mines, threeOatka Creek bridges, a dam andmillpond, abarrel factory, and a number ofgeneral stores. Yet, as long ago as 1937, it was said, "Garbutt is a hamlet so small that it would scarcely be noticed in passing were it not for the large buildings of the Empire Gypsum Company."[1][2] Now, even these are gone.
The history of Garbutt was written by Carl F. Schmidt, an architect locally noted for his histories of the area, and George Engs Slocum, a local business and civic figure whose history of the town appeared in the very early twentieth century. In 1998 (Slocum) and 2002 (Schmidt), the Wheatland Historical Association reprinted their books.[3] TheGarbuttsville Cemetery was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 2006.[4]
TheUS Census Bureau does not maintaindemographic data for Garbutt.
While out of sight, the biggest legacy of Garbutt's past is thenetwork of mines not far beneath the surface, extending an unknown distance beyond the locations of the erstwhile factories. To this day, construction in the area is limited by thethreat posed by potentialmine collapse.
In 2016,Kevin D. Williamson writing in theNational Review criticized small towns such as Garbutt; he wrote that such "dysfunctional, downscale communities ... deserve to die."[5][6]Opioid dependency is allegedly epidemic in Garbutt.[5]
If any single natural feature has shaped Garbutt's history, it isOatka Creek. Draining some 215 square miles (557 km2) of land, the Oatka is the third largest tributary of the Genesee River's lower basin. Although too shallow for any but the lightest of boats, its water provided the power for milling first lumber and grain and then gypsum products in Garbutt.
Municipalities and communities ofMonroe County, New York,United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |