Crumm Mountain Timeline1821-Thomas Crumm of Binghamton, NY settles area in Schoharie County
1822-The Vly's follow suit and settle near the Crumms
1824-Settlement becomes known as Crumm Mountain
1829-Official population is estimated at 150
1832-Architect Samuel Weller designs Schoharie Rd., later to become Podpadic Commercial Corridor
1835-Village of Crumm Mountain created by New York State
1860-Village of Crumm Mountain becomes City of Crumm Mountain
1861-Melvin Blunk elected Mayor of Crumm Mountain
1870-Schenectady-based banking and agribusiness magnate Raymond Manchester acquires Wyckoffs Feed Company, opens up a factory in Crumm Mountain
1874-Manchester opens up second industrial facility in Crumm Mountain: Manchester Mills
1882-Bart Podpadic, Herman Szary, Cassandra Karas, James Harroway, Luther and Esther Winegard, and E.W. Winzler found the Council of Industrial Workers
1884-Raymond Manchester dies leaving his businesses to his son Harold.
1885-Builds home in neighborhood, later to become Josephs heights.
1887-Harold Manchester acquires Bank of Crumm Mountain, and Crumm Mountain Daily Times
1888-Josephs Heights expands as wealthy bankers, bureacrats, newspaper editors, attorney's, and factory managers buy huge sprawling mansions to accomodate their luxurious tastes
1889-The Council of Industrial Workers leads a strike against Manchester Mills and Wyckoffs Feed Company, and eventually takes over operations at the plant
1889-National Guardsmen are called in to restore control of the factories to Manchester, but fail as workers lock themselves in factory and threaten to destroy it. After an eleven day stand-off, (See the book Eleven Days That Shook Crumm Mountain, NY, 1968 Nellie Pappas)
1890-The CIW decides to deprive the city government of revenue, because rich bearucrats are ripping off the taxpayers.
1894-Mayor Melvin Blunk resigns in frustration, leaving mayors office vacant for several years, city council disbands as a result of having no revenue.
1895-Residents begin leaving Josephs Heights
1902-Harold Manchester elected mayor, election results disputed
1909-Manchester expands bank of Crumm Mountain
1910-Manchester empowers City Comptrollers office to collect taxes and enforce property foreclosures
1912-Groups of Crumm Mountain Anarchists flee the city establishing farm collectives such as Woodchuck Hollow, White Birch Acres, and Ledgeville
1919-Sylvester Podpadic, James Harroway lead successful coup against Manchester regime, toppling his administration, leaving the mayors office vacant once again.
1920-Crumm Mountain officially becomes Chlymidia Mountain
1921-Timothy Baker opens a textile mill owned and operated soley by workers.
1923-Chlymidia Mountain Grocery Collective opens
1926-Harold Manchester takes Council of Industrial Workers to court over expropriation and illegal use of private assets. Court orders Council to surrender the plants over to Manchester.
1928-James Harroway and Frank Podpadic, George Podpadic's youngest son, make a deal with Harold Manchester to secure workers rights, and a union presence on the jobsite
1928-An elderly George Podpadic commits suicide
1931-The state police violently put down a strike at Wyckoffs Feed Company
1935-Due to the depression Manchester Mills and Wyckoffs Feed Company close down.
1937-Frank Podpadic elected mayor.
1938-Conditions in Chlymidia Mountain become so bad, that children gather around the railroad and beg railway workers for spare food. Giving Chlymidia Mountain the nickname Hungry Hollar.
1940-James Harroway dies
1942-Frank Podpadic freezes to death in front of City Hall. Leaving his position vacant
1943-Chlymidia Mountain population reaches all time low.
1950-New City Charter is established
1950-DB Van Dusen, a Democrat is elected Mayor.
1952-Manchester Mills and Wyckoffs Feed Company reopenned
1956-Halperin Moot Industries, a maker of glass, opens a plant in Chlymidia Mountain.
1962-Jonothan Warner Whalen is elected Mayor. A wealthy Republican industrialist.
1966-Whalen resigns in frustration, after failing to reign in corruption in various government agencies.
1968-The Charter of 1950 collapses, work begins on a new charter.
1975-Adam Quigley, James Amon, Geoffrey hatlee, and Arthur Guinn draft new city charter, after ordered to do so by the State of NY.
1976-Adam Quigley is elected mayor
1979-Halperin Moot Industries leaves Chlymidia Mountain
1981-Manchester Mills is closed down and bought up by Rollins Firearms
1982-James Amon elected Mayor
1983-Schorex Chemicals opens a plant in the Gomorrha Heights section of Chlymidia Mountain
1984-Wyckoffs Feed Company closes down
1988-Scott Bennett elected Mayor
1989-APO Bensen, a computer chip manufacturer opens a plant in Gomorrha Heights
1992-James Amon elected Mayor
1994-Bill Walling elected Mayor
1994-Rollins Firearms is acquired by Klein Weaponry
1994-Plassert Industries, brings it's corporate headquarters to Pomegranate Valley, a neighborhood of Chlymidia Mountain
1995-Central Leatherstocking Logging Company brings headquarters to Downtown Chlymidia Mountain
1996-Independent Heather McCarthy is elected Mayor
1997-Thompson Industrials, a maker of vacuum cleaner parts leaves Chlymidia Mountain.
1998-Democratic-Socialist Coalition candidate Stanley Grouke is elected mayor, and declares Chlymidia Mountain, a peoples liberated zone
2002-Chlymidia Mountain's local Wal-Mart becomes the first ever to unionize.
The Council of Industrial Workers, although was intended for the involvement of as many workers as possible, the more the merrier, it came to be dominated by a few individuals. Primarily Bart Podpadic, Herman Szary, James Harroway, Luther Winegard, and Salvatore Castelvetrano. While these individuals, for the most part always maintained an amiable working relationship, they were not always in agreement. Questions over tactics, became the largest source of division, but there were also ideological differences between the leading members of the CIW. Let's first look at Bart Podpadic, because he was by far the most influential figure in the CIW. Both in theory and in practice. Podpadic was the son of Russian and Polish immigrants who came to the United States in the late 1860's. Bart Podpadic was born in Boston, MA in 1873. In 1887, he left to work in the textile mills of Massachusetts. He was a young, ambitious man, who had done well in school, and thought that he could get a job at a mill and gradually work his way up to becoming a manager or foreman. At this time Podpadic had no exposure to radical politics and was quite indifferent to the plight of the working class. This was all about to change very soon. Podpadic had become disenchanted by the conditions in the textile mills. There was none of the opportunity that he had imagined. He saw that people were being taken advantage of, and that there was very little room for advancement. He decided that he should go to college. Still he hadn't given up on getting ahead in America, Podpadic decided to study business. It was at a small college in Boston, MA where Podpadic had tried to study business and economics. It was here that Podpadic was introduced to socialism. It wouldn't be a life-changing discovery, but it would help to sow the seeds of discontent in Podpadic's mind. After studying at the school for a short time, Podpadic became disenchanted with higher education and found it unfulfilling. He decided to rejoin the workforce. Shortly after getting a job in northeastern Massachusetts, Bart Podpadic became involved in union organizing. In this, Podpadic saw an opportunity for the workers to win better working conditions, he did not see it as a means of revolution, just yet. Podpadic thought that unions would be helpful to the capitalist system, because they would raise the status of the workers, thus making them more satisfied with their lot, and thus making things run smoothly. But after witnessing the sheer brutality with which the big companies who owned the mills, defended their fortunes against union efforts, Podpadic became more disenchanted. And so he became more involved in union activity, and gradually modified his beliefs with regards to the role of unions. He now felt that unions should assume an antagonistic role towards management. And that the working class probably could never peacefully co-exist with management. And so naturally this personal drift towards a revolutionary attitude towards capitalism, starts Podpadic reading
Crumm Mountain's neighborhoods
Crumm Mountain: Named after the cities founder Thomas Crumm
Pomegranate Valley: Supposedly dubbed this, because there was a mentally disturbed man, who was obsessed with pomegranates, and thought he could grow them in the valley, but never could. How charming.
Hickory Ridge: This northern part of Crumm Mountain, probably got this name because, the area is slightly elevated, and there are a lot of Hickory Trees.
Quinn Hill: This area comprising the southwestern part of the city, was first developed by a man named Joseph Quinn. For awhile the area was called Josephs Heights, but as it grew, they decided to call it Quinn Hill. The area is predominantly populated with white, middle class Christians, or WASPs.
Gomorrah Heights: Not really sure where this name comes from, although at one point it was said that Crumm Mountain resembled Sodom and Gommorrah rolled into one. But I doubt that has anything to with the name. The neighborhood is multi-ethnic, working class, home to several factories. Crumm Mountain's industrial center.
Outer lying areas
Melvin: Although this suburb, borders on Crumm Mountain to the south, and is very populated, it is not considered part of Crumm Mountain proper. It is however an incorporated village, with it's very own Mayor and Board of Trustees. Some have suggested that the city annex the area, to enlarge the city.
Peterskill: This is another outlying neighborhood. This one lies to the north of Hickory Ridge. Peterskill is not an incorporated village.
Organize!
Words and action
Peoples whose deeds have influenced the city of Crumm Mountain, NY
Thomas Crumm: A wealthy developer from Binghamton, NY. Buys property in the Town of Richmondville, NY in 1869. Begins building homes
Samuel Weller: Close friend of Thomas Crumm, responsible for the planning and development of Crumm Mountain.
Dawson Vly: Utopian industrialist, and chief investor in Crumm Mountain, leads group of investors in building Wyckoffs Feed Company. A mill in which animal feed was bagged for shipping.
Raymond Manchester III: Schenectady-based industrialist, considered the antithesis of Dawson Vly, takes control of Wyckoffs Feed Company upon the death of Dawson Vly in 1897. Manchester immediately attempts to make the facility more profitable. He increases hours, lowers wages, and revokes many generous privileges enjoyed under the leadership of Dawson Vly. For ten years working conditions in the Wyckoffs Feed Company slowly deteriorate.
Harold Manchester: Son of Ray Manchester, takes control of Fathers business ventures upon his death in 1907. He is so fond of Crumm Mountain that he moves one of his factories to the city in 1908. With the introduction of Manchester Mills, the city begins to expand tremendously.
Bart Podpadic: Crumm Mountain labor leader, worked in mills since 14, a man with an admirable audacity. He meets Salvatore Castelvetrano, an anarchist from Utica, in 1903 and is gradually introduced to revolutionary unionism, and joins the IWW in 1906. In 1909, Podpadic helps organize the Council of Industrial Workers, which organizes the workers of Manchester Mills and Wyckoffs Feed Company with the purpose of overthrowing the capitalist bosses and reorganizing the factories to benefit the workers.
City Fathers and MothersJohn Platt:
Binghamton based real-estate developer, largely responsible for the design and construction of the city. Platt was always an unconventional man, with a strong desire to take on seemingly insurmountable challenges. Thus explains Platts enthusiasm for building Crumm Mountain. Normally a real estate developer will look for a physically hospitable piece of land on which to build. Platt would hear of no such thing. It was his dream to build a city along side beautiful, scenic Crumhorn Lake, atop Otsego County's Crumhorn Mountain. While the center of Platts city would certainly be on the top of the mountain on the shores of the lake, Platt knew that he would have to accomodate for growth on either side of the mountain and along it's quite steep slopes. And so Platt would develop land all around the mountain. At the South Eastern foot would lie Platt Hollow, where John Platt would proudly make his residence. To the north, where the mountain gently eases downward, would become known as Hickory Ridge, for the seemingly limitless stock of Hickory trees. To the South West, Hubbard Hill would become the most exclusive section of the city. Housing doctors, lawyers, and businessmen. And finally to the North West, Norton Heights.
Why Crumhorn Mountain? Well Platt was very particular in his pursuit of the perfect site for his dream. He wanted a vibrant lakeside community, somewhere in Otsego County or Schoharie County, approximately equidistant between Albany and Binghamton. Of all the other sites Platt examined Crumhorn seemed to be the optimum choice. For a while it seemed as if he was going to build on what is now Portlandville along Goodyear Lake. And then Platt focused on Hyde Bay, in northern Otsego Lake, in which he proposed what could be hailed as Central Leatherstocking's Bay Area. Imagine for a moment that Platt had indeed built his city as Hyde Bay instead of Crumm Mountain. That along with Cooperstown, at the southern end of Otsego Lake could have made Otsego Lake one of larger urban centers in the state. After both of these proposed sites fell through, Platt then turned his attention to Richfield Springs, situated near the northern end of Canadarago Lake. Platt thought that maybe he could expand upon this small village and turn it into the city he dreamed of. But alas, it was not to be. Platt was almost set to give up entirely when on a routine country jaunt, he set eyes upon Crumhorn Lake, and almost immediately thereafter resolved himself to make that the site for his city. And so it was.
Samuel Weller:
John Platts No2 guy, designed the cities infrastructure. Samuel Weller, a Democrat, was elected as the very first Mayor of Crumm Mountain in 1878, and served until 1894. Despite the fact that Weller always was his own man, as he had been forced to demonstrate over and over again during his mayoralty, he was seen by some as merely a puppet of John Platt. This wasn't a bad thing, for John Platt was very popular and could have been Mayor himself had he chose to be. But Weller found the assumption degrading and insulting and would repudiate it whenever and wherever he needed to.
Dawson Vly:
Utopian industrialist and principle investor in Crumm Mountain. Built and operated Wyckoffs Feed Company until his death in 1897.
Raymond Machester:
A ruthless industrialist, who seized upon Wyckoffs Feed Company upon the death of Dawson Vly in 1897. Upon doing so, Manchester clamped down on Vly's lax treatment of workers and generous wages. This would lead to discontent among Crumm Mountain's workforce.
Bart Podpadic:
Union organizer, who led the legendary city-wide general strike of 1910
Stephen Podpadic: Son of Podpadic who became Mayor of the city during the 1920's.
Gordon Blunk: Conservative anti-labor Democrat elected Mayor in 1894, and served until
City officially established in 1878
Bart Podpadic leads general strike in 1909, shutting down the city, Harold Manchester then goes and get's himself elected. Then he uses the power of the city government to break the backs of the strikers. After serving just one term, Manchester is challenged by none other then John Platt himself. Needless to say, Platt wins by a landslide, and Manchester, disgraced, hides his head in shame. Platt was elected to a second term in 1918, but died while in office in 1920. Stephen Podpadic, a socialist is elected in 1922.