When Cortland was incorporated as a village in 1853, its population was mainly transplanted New Englanders and Irish immigrants, and it encompassed territory 1 mile from east to west. By 1871, two rail lines crossed the village, and their cargos of coal encouraged the development of industries, particularly carriages and sleighs. The 1890s brought Cortland's first urban renewal with industrialists replacing wooden mansions with ones of brick, stone,...