Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Industry & Commerce, Site

Location

8 W Malloryville Rd, Freeville, NY 13068, USA

Lat/Long

42.534057, -76.308183

Grant Recipient

Dryden Town Historical Association

As early as 1829, a gristmill had been established on Fall Creek in the town of Dryden in Tompkins County, New York. Due to the availability of waterpower harnessed from Fall Creek, the area continued to develop into a small community eventually known as the hamlet of Malloryville. By 1860, Malloryville included homes, a school, and a prosperous cooperage and sawmill, both powered by water from Fall Creek. According to an 1860 nonpopulation census industry schedule, the cooperage employed 7 men and produced approximately 5,000 wooden pails, 1,000 tubs, and 8,000 buckets that year.

Malloryville saw devasting fires in 1836, 1855, and 1875 that destroyed the manufacturing facilities in the community. However, the 1898 Centennial History of the Town of Dryden, compiled and edited by George E. Goodrich, noted “as often as it has been burned down it has been rebuilt, and in spite of the changes in the times the manufacturing industries at Malloryville still survive and have a promising future” (p.150).

According to the Dryden Town Historical Association, manufacturing persisted for decades in Malloryville, helping to shape the region’s economic landscape. As of 2025, only a few homes along Malloryville Road remain from this once thriving community.