HORNELL

Belmont Addition

​

N.P. Dodge, of Omaha, Nebraska, purchased three plots of land on 21 October 1913, from John J. O’Neil (totaling 20 and 88/100 acres) in the City of Hornell and the Town of Hornellsville ①.  On 28 October 1913, N.P. Dodge purchased an additional 12 acres of land from Charles W. Etz in the City of Hornell ②.  These 32 acres were subdivided into more than 100 lots to form the Belmont Addition along Fairlawn Avenue and Hartshorn Street.  The earliest reference in local newspapers to lots for sale in Belmont appears in 1915, assuring potential buyers that "You can never sell it to a colored person or an undesirable foreigner”:

​​​

​​​

​​​

​​​

​​​

​​​

​​​

​​​

​​​

​​​

​​​

​​​

​​​

​​​

​​

​​

​​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​In 1919, N.P. Dodge, Jr., signed and submitted a deed for Lot #19 in the Belmont addition of the town of Hornellsville that included the following racial restrictive covenant:

​​

​​

​​

​​​

​​

​​

​​

​

​

​The subdivision was relatively unsuccessful and in October 1925, 133 unsold lots in the Belmont Addition went on auction.  N.P. Dodge again advertised 123 remaining lots for sale in the subdivision 1931:

​​

​​

​​

​​

​​

​​

​​

​​

​​

​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

On 28 October 1933, Steuben County put up for auction 8.5 acres of land in “Belmont Park” and another 10 acres on Hartshorn Street that had been seized from N.P. Dodge for failure to pay taxes ③.

​

 

①  Deed Book 333, pages 348-9, Office of the Steuben County Clerk, Steuben County, NY.

②  Deed Book 333, pages 351-2, Office of the Steuben County Clerk, Steuben County, NY.

③  Deed Book 455, pages 203-5, Office of the Steuben County Clerk, Steuben County, NY.

​​

© JULY 2026