WHITESTOWN

Harts Hill Heights

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In 1941, local developer George W. Herthum purchased the former Lewis Farm with plans to subdivide the 50-acre property and form Harts Hill Heights ①.  The subdivision was originally comprised of 34 lots on Crestview Drive, Bedford Drives, Lyndon Road, Lyndon Court, Herthum Road, and 3 lots fronting on Clinton Street.

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​Herthum signed and submitted a Declaration of Restrictions in 1941 that applied the following racial covenant to all lots in the subdivision, "No persons of any race other than the Caucasian race shall use or occupy any building or any lot, except that this covenant shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of a different race domiciled with an owner or tenant ②."

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As late as 1952 -- by which time the subdivision had grown to 131 lots and added Bedford Lane, Cambridge Road, and Cambridge Court ③ --  Herthum continued to reference the 1941 Declaration of Restrictions in deeds, as evidenced in the deed for a lot on Cambridge Road dated June 2, 1952:

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Deeds for lots in later expansions of the subdivision no longer refer to the original Declaration of Restrictions and exclude the racial covenant.

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①  "Harts Hill Heights Property Purchased," Utica Observer, 1941, page unknown.  Accessed via fultonhistory.com

②  Declaration of Restrictions, 21 February 1941 (Deed Book 1007, pages 318-9, Records Department of the Office of the Oneida County Clerk, Oneida County, NY).

③  “Map of Harts Hill Heights” 1951 (Map Roll 464, map 3, Map Room of the Office of the Oneida County Clerk, Oneida County, NY).

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© JULY 2026