Half Shire Historical Society

Northern Oswego County Half Shire Historical Society

Nine Half-Shire townships along the lower eastern shore of Lake Ontario share a rich two-hundred-year history: Albion, Amboy, Boylston, Orwell, Parish, Redfield, Richland, Sandy Creek, and Williamstown. Northeastern Oswego County explores this region, following its journey from rugged pioneer settlement through forestry, agriculture, and brief industrialization into the twentieth century. Highlighted are well-known and lesser-known citizens, including steam wagon inventor Will Smart, the Castor sisters, artist Milton Avery, entrepreneurs John Ben Snow and Harry Moody, Case Wall builder Jerome Case, and Colonel Thomas Meacham, who produced the "great cheese" presented to President Andrew Jackson. Pictured are many fine examples of New England-style churches and rural American architecture, Salmon River's majestic falls, Albion's sand-covered Arabia district, Port Ontario's ill-fated river port, the dune-side cottages of Sandy Pond, and the sugar shacks on Tug Hill.