Alfred, New York
| Alfred | |
| Town | |
 Remains of the Terra Cotta Tile Co. fire, December 1909
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| Country | United States |
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| State | New York |
| County | Allegany |
| Elevation | 1,916 ft (584.0 m) |
| Coordinates | 42°15′22″N 77°47′23″W / 42.25611°N 77.78972°WCoordinates: 42°15′22″N 77°47′23″W / 42.25611°N 77.78972°W |
| Area | 31.6 sq mi (81.8 km2) |
| - land | 31.5 sq mi (82 km2) |
| - water | 0.1 sq mi (0 km2), 0.32% |
| Population | 5,237 (2010) |
| Incorporated | 1808 |
| Town Supervisor | Tom Mansfield (R)
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| Timezone | EST (UTC-5) |
| - summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 14803 |
| Area code | 607 |
  Location of Alfred in New York
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Website: townofalfred |
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Alfred is a town in Allegany County, New York, United States. The population was 5,237 at the 2010 census.
The Town of Alfred has a village named Alfred in the center of the town.
Alfred University and Alfred State College are located in the Village of Alfred.
Allegany County was re-organized on March 11, 1808. "At the same time, the town of Alfred was named and organized by the state legislature as one of five towns formed from the larger town (actually co-extensive with the county) of Angelica: Angelica, Alfred, Caneadea, Nunda, and Ossian."
"The naming of Alfred has traditionally been attributed to Alfred the Great. That attribution may never be definitively verified because there appears to be no extant document from the period when the town was named that ties it to King Alfred – i.e., no town, county, or state record regarding the source of the name. Despite that missing documentation—There is, however, evidence in support of the legend, and there are no records that point to any other source for the name. Nineteenth-century accounts do cite Alfred the Great as the source. In addition, there was no early settler named Alfred (first or last name) for whom the town might have been named."
"The Seneca Indians were the original owners of this land, but following the American victory in the American Revolutionary War, "all foreign claims of ownership were extinguished, and the power of the Indian Confederacy was broken... but New York and Massachusetts each claimed ownership under conflicting patents. In 1786 New York conceded the lands to Massachusetts but retained the sovereignty." Ownership of the land changed hands several times until 1791, when "most of the lands of Alfred were sold to the settlers at from $2 to $4 per acre."
"The earliest settlers followed Indian trails, the chief one leading from Fort Niagara to and down the Canisteo, Chemung and Susquehanna rivers. This passed near the northeastern corner of Alfred and had become well worn by war parties during the Revolution. Settlers from the far east might come by Albany, and the Schoharie and Susquehanna valleys or by Schenectady, Utica, Geneva and Bath. Whatever way they chose the roads were mostly bridgeless and of the most primitive kind, making travel tedious and difficult. From Hornellsville westward for many years the only roads were little more than wood paths marked by 'blazed trees'."
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Wikipedia