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Gilboa
Gilboa is a town in southern Schoharie County. First settled in the 1740's, it was located on the banks of the Schoharie Creek. The settlers were industrious people and soon the town had a large cotton mill, several general stores, a post office that received and delivered mail to New York City twice a day, two busy hotels, and their own electricity plant and phone system.
The Town of Gilboa was formed in 1848 from the towns of Broome and Blenheim which included the hamlets of South Gilboa, Flat Creek, Blenheim and Broome Center.
Local mythology says that the name Gilboa was chosen after a long town meeting; no one could agree what the place should be called so finally a town leader picked up a Bible and let it fall open. It fell open to the book of Samuel which told the story of the battle of the Philistines and Israelites on Mount Gilboa in Israel.
In 1869 the village was destroyed by a massive flood. The citizens rebuilt it and prospered until the 1920's when the City of New York, using the power of eminent domain, condemned the village in order to build the Gilboa Dam and the Schoharie Reservoir, the last in a chain of reservoirs known as the Catskill Watershed. The dam was placed into service in October of 1926.
The former residents of Gilboa scattered throughout the area and into the western part of the United States. Today, the town population is 1,200 and about half the land is owned by weekenders who come to the area from New York City to enjoy its beautiful scenery.
In the 1960's, the New York State Power Authority chose to build the Gilboa/Blenheim Power Project in a valley that borders on the two towns.
The Gilboa Historical Society is very active in the community and has created the Gilboa Fossil Exhibit which contains 360 million year old tree fossils from the time when Gilboa was on the shores of the Devonian Period Sea and the Gilboa Museum. More information about the town can found by going to gilboahome.com.
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