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History of Hammondsport, New York

Lazarus Hammond founded the village around 1827. The village was incorporated in 1856. The village later became a center for the New York wine industry.

The American motorcycle designer and manufacturer, and recognized expert on gasoline engines Glenn Hammond Curtiss resided at Hammondsport, where he was born in 1878. Early development of aircraft and seaplanes was carried out at Hammondsport by Glenn Curtiss who had joined with Alexander Graham Bell and others in the Aerial Experiment Association.

In 1921, five local men purchased a wood barrel factory just south of the present D.W. Putnam Wine Company, and named it the Aerial Service Corporation. Two of these men, Henry Kleckler, the President and William Chadeayne, Vice President, were formerly with the Curtiss Aeroplane Company, founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss. Today this company is known as the Mercury Corporation.

Hammondsport was the birthplace of American film critic and writer Charles Champlin, in 1926.