Ellsworth and the Ellsworth Society

Very early in the history of Sharon the area known as Ellsworth developed an identity separate from that of the larger town, culminating in the establishment of a second ecclesiastical society in 1800. Ellsworth also supported Reverend Daniel Parker's large boarding school (1805) where within three years 200 young men came to study from as far away as Ohio, Maine and Virginia. Construction of the Sharon-Goshen Turnpike (1803) increased traffic through the settlement, which by mid-century supported two churches, two district schools, two sawmills, gristmill, blacksmith shop, cemetery, doctor's office, and two stores. The Methodist Church building, an excellent example of Greek Revival architecture, was erected shortly after 1839 when worshippers acquired land from Erastus Lord and Lewis Peck. In the late nineteenth century (1894) the Morey brothers acquired the property and operated a store here for a time. In 1928 the Taghhannuck Grange #100 purchased the property and retains ownership to this day.

In the 1880s French immigrants coming to work as colliers in the iron industry, often took up farming in Ellsworth-Sharon Mountain area. Later Ellsworth became home to Sharon's newest group of Jewish immigrant farmers who began arriving after 1905.

The following are TIFF files that contain historic documentation on Ellsworth in the 1800's. TIFF files are graphics, similar to JPEGs.