Arkport was founded in 1797 by Christopher Hurlbut. The Canisteo River was used to ship crops, livestock, and timber to Baltimore using arks. The navigable portion of the river ended in Arkport; thus the name of ark-port. This practice of using arks as cargo vessels continued until 1825, when the Erie Canal was built and it became more cost-effective to ship crops via the canal. The existing Post Office was built in 1890.
Passages that mention Arkport, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Steuben County, New York, and its people1911 · page 243Read the page →
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In 1796 Christopher Hurlbert from Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, settled at Arkport, at the head of the Canisteo valley. The next spring he built a small log house, and moved his family from the Wyoming valley to his new home; ascended the Susquehanna in a Durham boat as far as Tioga Point ; from thence traveled by land to his place at Arkport. About 1799 he built a sawmill and storehouse. The following year he obtained the passage of an Nact by the legislature of New York, making the Canisteo river a
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A history of Steuben County, New York, and its people1911 · page 11Read the page →
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Marl and tuffa are found near Cold Springs, between Bath and Hammondsport; also near Arkport in the town of Hornellsville, in Troupsburg, in the valley of Canaseraga creek, in the town of Dansville on the summit between this creek and the Canisteo river, and along the Five Mile creek in the town of Prattsburg. In the Gulf— a high valley in Bath and Wheeleris a bed of clay of unusual depth and tenacity, in which occasional animal remains have been found that dissolved into a fine flour-
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History of Steuben county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1879 · page 321Read the page →
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In the spring of 1797, Judge Hurlbut and his eldest son, John, then a boy twelve years of age, came from Wyoming, Pa., to Arkport, and made a small clearing, planted a piece of corn, and built a small log house where James Hurlbut's saw-mill now stands. Judge Hurlbut had previously purchased over 900 acres of land in the valley of a land speculator, at $4.50 per acre, and afterwards had to pay for the same land the second time at the land-ofiice.
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History of Steuben county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1879Read the page →
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He settled first at Canisteo, and followed farming, lumbering, and was also engaged in rafting on the Canisteo River. He soon settled at Arkport, and was employed for a time in awarehouse. Arkport wa.s the head of navigation at that time. He settled in Dansville before his marriage, in the immediate neighborhood, where he continued to reside till his death, Dec. 14, 1861. He settled on the farm now owned by his son Spencer B. in 1825. He had a farm of some three hundred acres at
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Between 175 and 984 people in every census since 1840.
13 censuses, 1840–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Arkport’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Arkport’s history
What year was Arkport founded?
In 1797, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Arkport’s post office opened in 1806, and the census of 1840 counted 175 people here.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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