1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Binghamton

BINGHAMTON, a city and the county-seat of Broome county, New York, U.S.A., in the south part of the state, on both banks of the north branch of the Susquehanna river, at the mouth of the Chenango river. Pop. (1880) 17,317; (1890) 35,005; (1900) 39,647, of whom 4272 were foreign-born; (1910), 48,443. It is an important railway centre, being served by the Delaware & Hudson, the Erie, and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railways; and an extensive system of electric railways connects it with the suburbs and neighbouring towns. Binghamton is picturesquely situated and has a number of parks, the most attractive of which are Ross Park of 100 acres, and Ely Park of 134 acres. Among the principal buildings are the city hall, the court-house, the post-office, the Binghamton city hospital, Stone opera-house, the Carnegie library (1904), the central high school, and a state armoury. Binghamton has also some fine office buildings. Among the city’s educational and charitable institutions are the Lady Jane Grey school (for girls), St Joseph’s academy, St Mary’s home for orphans, the Susquehanna Valley orphan asylum, and a state hospital for the insane. Binghamton is a manufacturing centre of considerable importance, ranking twelfth in the state in 1905 in the value of factory products, $13,907,403, which was an increase of 32·0% over the value of the factory products in 1900; among its manufactures are tobacco, cigars, chewing tobacco and snuff (value in 1905, $2,879,217), patent medicines (value in 1905, $2,133,198), flour and grist mill products ($1,089,910), men’s clothing ($833,835), and, of less importance, commercial and computing scales and time recorders, chemicals, distilled liquor, beer, fire-alarm apparatus, overalls, agricultural implements, wagons, electrical apparatus, refined oil, sheet metal, paper bags and envelopes, tacks and nails, window glass, glass-ware, clocks, whips and furniture (especially Morris chairs). In the village of Lestershire (pop. in 1910, 3775; incorporated in 1892), about 2 m. west, and in Endicott, another suburb, are large boot and shoe factories. The municipality owns and operates the water-works. When Binghamton was first settled, about 1787, it was known as Chenango Point. Its site was originally included in the so-called “Bingham Patent,” a tract on both sides of the Susquehanna river owned by William Bingham (1751–1804), a Philadelphia merchant, who was a member of the Continental Congress in 1787–1788 and of the United States Senate in 1795–1801, being president pro tempore of the Senate from the 16th of February to the 3rd of March 1797. In 1800 a village was laid out by an agent of Mr Bingham, and was named Binghamton. In 1834 it was incorporated as a village, and in 1867 was chartered as a city.