top of page

Publications

Explaining Tompkins: Its Growth and Government

Explaining Tompkins

describes how Tompkins County government has evolved over two centuries to become a critical part of the state and national social safety net and provider of an array of services that distinguish it from other levels of municipal government.  (7.5MB PDF)

Living in Tompkins

presents 37 essays by a diverse group of community members about what living in Tompkins County has meant to them.  (457KB PDF)

2small.jpg
3small.jpg

Permanent Residents

profiles 35 people who are buried in cemeteries throughout Tompkins County--war heroes and heroines, medical professionals, servants, educators, authors, architects, benefactors, scientists, and government officials going back to the early 19th century. (9.4MB PDF

Political Tompkins

traces the shifting political winds and partisan preferences in Tompkins County by tracking the local results of presidential elections since (property-owning white males) were first allowed to vote for presidential candidates in 1828.  The pamphlet documents the County’s remarkable shift from being “rock-ribbed” Republican, handing FDR four consecutive landslide losses, to one of the most liberal counties in America.  (1.8MB PDF)

4small.jpg
5small.jpg

The Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ People in the Cayuga Lake Region

is Cornell University professor Kurt Jordan’s scholarly account of the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫɁ (Cayuga) people, particularly those who lived along the southern basin of Cayuga Lake, from the ice age through today.   Professor Jordan tells a fascinating story that replaces common lore with a carefully-researched history based on archeological evidence and written records.  

Send These to Me

tells the story of ethnicity and immigration in Tompkins County--of who came and when, how these newcomers were perceived, and how the county evolved from being a place where newcomers were met with suspicion to a time when the ethnicity of the recently arrived is honored and celebrated. (691KB PDF)

6small.jpg
image.png

The Statues of Frances Perkins and Lucy J. Brown: A Brief History

provides a complete explanation of the statues unveiled on August 17, 2024 in Ithaca, New York, with biographies of the subjects and sculptor, and a look at how the statues were designed and made. (3.3MB PDF)

So what did happen here?

 Built as a grand hotel in 1828-29, The Clinton House was recognized as the best hostelry between New York City and Buffalo, and the place to stop before a visit to the Auburn Prison where for 25 cents, visitors could view the prisoners.

The original register for the hotel can still be consulted, and there are stories told about it, too. Before his Missouri execution, James Seward, a Black man told of an 1832 secret love affair conducted with a white woman in the Clinton House. Four U.S. presidents stayed in the Clinton House, as did stars of movies made in Ithaca, and it was the site of community meetings and festivities.

Many suffrage events in the 1890s were conducted in the Clinton House and business deals were made there in the tap room. Close to demolition, in 1866 Historic Ithaca formed to save it and other downtown treasures.

While the roof line has been altered, why,  if you look at the building’s façade, just below the pediment, is there a period following the buildings name: CLINTON HOUSE? 

©2025 by Tompkins County Historical Commission

bottom of page