Oneonta is the only city in the large Central New York counties of Otsego, Delaware, and Schoharie. The earliest settlers in 1780 knew the place as a “dammed hemlock swamp.” By 1930, it had become an established regional metropolis towering over all area localities. Oneonta is an exciting story, and this comprehensive book is a unique treasure. The big stories are all there, such as the turnpikes, Albany and Susquehanna Railroad, D&H, cigar rolling, normal school, Hartwick College, and more. Yet so are accounts of sidewalks, cemeteries, boardinghouses, Barn Hill, charity, piano manufacturer, and many others. Maybe more important still was the predominant thought about business affairs. There is much on that too. With rich detail and over 350 heavily annotated pictures, those 150 years to the Great Depression are described as never before and, most likely, never again.