Thurston New York

Located almost in the center of Steuben County, bordered by Bath, Savona, Campbell, Cameron, Rathbone, and Addison, the Town of Thurston was formed on February 28, 1844, when 22,000 acres were split off from the eastern section of Cameron.  Rolling hills with small farms and houses blanket its countryside.  A deep valley runs through the town.  A creek makes its way from Risingville, flowing through the Thurston Pond with its white lily pads and continues down to Campbell.  There it empties into the Conhocton River, part of the Susquehanna River Basin.  Thurston has many winding country roads that lead to the hills overlooking a spectacular valley view below. 

Thurston was named for William Thurston, a principal landowner in the area.  The first town supervisor was Joseph Cross.  In what was previously Indian country, Luke Bonny or Bonney, as some historians indicated, and William Smith established the first settlement on Bonny Hill adjacent to the Town of Bath in 1813.  Luke Bonny cut the road from Bath south to the present Risingville.  In 1822, Stephen Aldrich and his four sons from Rhode Island settled in the southern part of Thurston near Friends Pond, later called Cranberry Lake because of the abundant cranberry bogs available to the settlers. James and William Jack also moved from Maryland to the Friends Pond location in 1822. For more info, please click here.

Take a Walking Tour of Historic Thurston--click here

1873 Map of the Town of Thurston--click here

Cemeteries:

THURSTON BONNEY HILL CEMETERY - On Harrison Road from Bonny Hill Road Northbound off County Route 11 Northbound