The Beginning
| Caledonia was in its beginning a settlement
located by a series of great springs and by a road. Unceasing streams of
water bubbling up from the bottom of clear pools to flow away in a clear
yet turbulent stream, gave the location a special status among its earliest
human population. Before the Europeans came, the great trail of the
Iroquois passed by the Springs. Abundant trout attracted fishermen
to the locality from the remote past down to the present . After
the Whites had established the fort at the mouth of the Niagara another
trail veered off to the northwest, and another dropped south up the Valley
to the Canaseraga, the Cohocton, and the Susquehanna. The Springs
were near a cross roads of the Iroquois world.
The first organized meeting as a Town took place in March of 1803. At that time, it ws known as the Town of Southhampton and was located in the County of the Genesee. There were a total of 24 officials present at the meeting which took place at the dwelling house of Jotham Curtis. The first meeting as the Town of Caledonia was held in April 1807. This was a result of action taken by the New York State Legislature to change the name. The Town of Caledonia became part of a new county known as Livingston in 1821.
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