Steamburg Band, circa 1900
Front (left to right): Unknown, Fred Johnson, Brace Reeves, Frank Staples, Wallace Woodford
Back (left to right): Unknown, Eugene May, Luther Story, Newman May, Earl Jaquay
Coldspring was formed from Little Valley in 1823. Coldspring was renamed Napoli in 1828. Coldspring was formed from Napoli in 1837. In 1847 and again in 1848, portions of the town were annexed to South Valley. The Town of Elko, formerly a part of the Town of South Valley, was annexed to Coldspring and South Valley in 1965, leaving Coldspring with an area of 40,819 acres.
The Allegany Indian Reservation, whose entire boundary is marked by iron posts, encompasses a portion of the town, while Allegany State Park accounts for 12,210 acres of the town.
The town was originally covered by the finest growth of timber (pine and hemlock) of any town in the county. The Holland Land Company's first sale in Coldspring took place in 1819. The streams within the town afforded excellent water power for milling and transportation to market. The first sawmill in the town was built by the federal government for the Indians on Saw Mill Run. This lumber town saw the erection of a large number of mills, including Morse & Wyman's and Price & Culver. The first grist mill, Quaker Mill, was located in what was known as Elko. The first steam sawmill in Cattaraugus County was erected at Coldspring by Nye & White in 1846.
Following the exhaustion of the timber supply, agricultural activity became the primary industry, including dairying with staple products of hay, grain, and potatoes.
Built under the name Atlantic & Great Western Railroad in 1860, the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio (Nypano) Railroad ran east to west through Coldspring with a station at Steamburg (Steamburgh). In 1872, a passenger and freight train collided at the Steamburg depot, killing three people. The Steamburg depot burned in 1881, and a new structure was built in 1882. In 1888, an eastbound train rear-ended a stationary freight train at the depot, killing three people and injuring four.
The Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad crossed the southeast corner of the town but had no station there. The Cold Spring Railroad Company was incorporated in 1839 with plans to build a wooden railway that would employ "steam, animal or mechanical power" to transport persons or property. This railroad was never built.
One of the various communities within the Town of Coldspring was the hamlet of Cold Spring. Famous as a lumbering center, Cold Spring saw the diversion of its principal business interests to Steamburg with the coming of the railroad. The hamlet of Cold Spring was eventually left to the Indians. It once contained three hotels, sawmills, a store, three taverns, and a doctor. Mail was received weekly by horseback, with the post office once officially designated as "Ten Mile Spring."
The Village of Steamburg derived its name from the number of steam mills located in the area. Its development is attributed to the arrival of the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad and station. At one point, Steamburg contained three general stores (the first established in 1856), two hotels (the A. & G. W. House, also known as the Travelers' Home, and the Steamburgh House, both dating to 1863), a saw and planing mill, a shoe shop, a post office (1861), two blacksmith shops, a meat market, a Union church, a town hall, a school (1873), a physician's office, and several grocery stores.
Other communities within the town included Hardscrabble, known for its high hills and deep valleys; Lebanon, a fertile valley bounded on all sides by high elevations; Price Corners, named in honor of the Price families; and Bunker Hill, which received its name after a tavern fight prompted the remark, "Gosh! That was a regular Battle of Bunker Hill!"
Annin Fish Hatchery began in 1868 as Trout Grove Fishery. It contained a large number of pure soft-water springs that never freeze and approximately twenty ponds. Brook trout were principally bred there, along with brown, German, and California mountain trout.
During the 1800s, the Town of Coldspring saw the development of a shingle mill, a schoolhouse (1835), a spoke and hub factory (1873), the Price Creamery (1874), a town hall (1891), taverns, three hotels, sawmills, a store (1837), churches, and numerous other businesses throughout its hamlets and villages.
Source: Cattaraugus County Book, 1808–1995/96