History of Kirkland

The Town of Kirkland with 10,028 residents according to the 2000 census and covering an area of 19,716 acres in the south central portion of Oneida County in Central New York, approximately nine miles southwest of Utica, was originally part of the territory of the Iroquois Nation. Three patents–Kirkland Patent on the western side of the Property Line; Brothertown Patent in the southwestern section; Coxe Patent in the northeastern portion–determined the boundary lines, owing much to the framework set forth by the Fort Stanwix Treaty Line of 1768. This Town was first formed in 1827 from the Town of Paris; two years later the Town of Marshall was set off from the Town of Kirkland, but the present boundary lines were not permanently established until adjustments were made with the Towns of New Hartford and Paris.

Within these boundaries lie the hamlets of Clark Mills, Kirkland (once Manchester), Franklin Springs (formerly Franklin Iron Works), and the Village of Clinton, the latter being almost centrally situated in the Town. In 1846 the Clark Brothers founded a textile mill which operated successfully for approximately thirty years in the hamlet of Clark Mills, located on the Oriskany Creek at the northern portion of the town. Kirkland, north of the Village of Clinton, was the scene of bustling activity from 1873 to 1898 as iron ore was hauled to its 15-ton/day blast furnace, operated by the Clinton Iron Company. In 1852 the Franklin Iron Works, also located in the Oriskany Creek valley south of Clinton, began operations which lasted for sixty years. The name which was changed to Franklin Springs took place after 1888 as a result of the Lithia water discovered by Frederick Suppe on the Dugway Road.