History of the Village of Watkins Glen

The name Watkins came from Dr. Sameul Watkins, a sophisticated successful doctor of medicine and a retail and wholesale druggist from New York City who acquired 25,000 acres of land in a settlement then known as Salubria in 1828.  At that time Salubria was in Tioga County as was most of western New York State.  In 1835 the village became part of the newly formed Town of Dix and a year later became part of the newly formed County of Chemung.  Schuyler County was organized in 1855, three years after Dr. Watkins' death.  After acquiring this land Dr. Watkins moved from New York City to Salubira and was determined to make his Village a metropolis and worked hard to develop it.  In 1842 Salubria and Savoy, a settlement directly to the northwest, were combined into one and incorportated into the Village of Jefferson, a name picked by Dr. Watkins.  Dr. Samuel Watkins died in 1851 and his widow, C. Anne Watkins Freer used her influence to have the name changed from Jefferson to Watkins in 1852.  The "Glen" was added to Watkins in 1924, thus making it Watkins Glen as it is known today.  Watkins Glen currently has a population of approximately 2200 and is the county seat for the County of Schuyler.