History
Establishment and Growth
FISHER-PETITTE — 1837 — 1132 Silver Lake Rd
A fine example of a simple cobblestone farmhouse which has been well restored. Note the unusual chimney design and the Victorian porch which was added later.
At the northeast corner of Wyoming County, Covington features the Oatka Creek's emergence from a tightly defined valley to a broad plain bordered by gentle uplands. The town's picturesque rolling hills fall off toward the Genesee Valley to the east and the Oatka Valley to the west. This naturally attractive area was named for General Leonard Covington and was permanently settled in 1806.
Covington officially created as a town on January 31, 1817 from the Towns of Perry and Leroy (Genesee County). However, part of the town formed in 1817 was annexed to the Town of York (Livingston County) in 1823.
Covington was another of Wyoming County's "early bloomers," achieving a peak population within one generation of settlement and declining to a low of only twenty-percent of its early high by the Depression a century later.
The Town of Covington in years past was recognized by small hamlets and locations such as:
- Boyds Corner - A location in the northeast Town corner.
- Covington Center - A hamlet located at Route 246 and Court Rd.
- LaGrange - A hamlet on Route 246 on the south Town line.
- Orrs Corners - A location near the northeast corner of the Town.
- Pearl Creek - A hamlet near the north Town line on Route 19.
- Peoria - A hamlet on Route 63 near the eastern Town line.
- Quinlans Corners - A location in the northeast Town corner.
- Spragues Corners - A hamlet between Covington and Pearl Creek.
- Wyoming Valley - A valley on the western edge of the Town, containing Oatka Creek.
Covington Today
Over the years, theses hamlets have lost their identities. The Town of Covington today is a blended community without the distinction of hamlets.
WALKERS-JEFFRES — ca. 1860 — 510 Wyoming Rd
This elaborately executed Italianate home is among the county's best examples. The interior and exterior have changed little since initial construction. The barns associated with the property display the simple gable favored in earlier barns, and the gambrel roof popular later in the nineteenth century.
Today, the Town is comprised of a total of 16,224.78 acres, or 26.13 square miles, with the Oatka Creek flowing through the Wyoming Valley in the Town.
The Town is mainly a residential and agricultural community with a strong rural character anchored by the agricultural businesses located throughout the Town.
Some commercial and industrial activity has increased along the Route 63 corridor which is an appropriate location due to the traffic on this major route. Since the passage of NAFTA,tractor-trailers moving goods between Canada and New York City and points south has dramatically and significantly increased traffic on this route.
The New York State Department of transportation began a study in 2001 investigating increased truck traffic within the Route 63 corridor through Genesee, Livingston and Wyoming counties. The study focuses on travel in the vicinity of Route 63 between the I-90 New York Thruway Exit 48A in Pembroke and I-390 Exit 7 in Mount Morris, Livingston County.
Looking Ahead
Revitalization efforts should take advantage of opportunities presented by having three major routes traversing the Town of Covington, Route 19, Route 246 and Route 63.
CROSSMAN BRIDGE — 1879 — Crossman Road
Thrusting its 124-foot span across the Oatka Creek, this Pratt truss bridge cost $1650 when new. Despite its quaint appearance now, it was a large factory-made prefabricated piece of new engineering.
The Town would like to concentrate commercial and industrial economic development efforts in the vicinity of the Route 63 corridor due to the traffic on this major route.
Small commercial growth would be appropriate in the area of Route 19, while residential development should be directed along the Route 246 corridor where there is potential of municipal water.
Any development in these areas should be guided in the manner that will improved upon the established community character with the continued support of agricultural uses.
BROOKS — 1814,1914 — Pavilion-Warsaw Rd
From its earliest beginnings as a simple Federal structure, the house was periodically added to and improved. In 1914, the noted Rochester architect Claude Bragdon was engaged to design plans for the remodeling in keeping with its original simple design. Much of the furniture was designed and built by traveling craftsmen, and the original bell used to call the farmhands to meals is still in place. Five generations of the Brooks family resided here and figured prominently in the development of the Covington and surrounding areas. Benedict Brooks, the pioneer settler, was a founder of the Middlebury Academy, served as a judge, and in 1821 served as a state legislator. His son, Hugh, helped many immigrants to settle in this area during the potato famine in Ireland in the 1840's by finding residences and work for them. As an avid abolitionist, his home became an Underground Railroad station known as the "Covington Route."