History

Dryden Village, Incorporated in 1857, the village remains the Town of Dryden’s largest community, with many handsome homes. The Dwight-Gutchess Homestead, 12 E. Main Street, is a striking Italianate-style residence built in 1865 by US Congressman John W. Dwight. It was owned by his family until its 1938 purchase by the Gutchess family, whose third generation occupies it today. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The Dryden Village Green is on the NE corner of the main intersection. The Romanesque Revival-style Methodist Episcopal Church on the corner was built of wood in 1874.

The original fountain, erected in 1894, deteriorated over the years and was melted down in 1941. A second fountain was placed in its footprint in 1997 to commemorate the town’s Bicentennial. Several memorials are also located on the Green. At 14 North Street is the Southworth Homestead, a Federal-style home built in 1836 from local brick and listed on the NRHP. On the NW corner of the intersection is Time Square, created in 2003.

Southworth Library at 24 West Main Street was designed by Ithaca architect William Henry Miller in Romanesque Revival style and completed in 1894. Jennie McGraw Fiske, who gave Cornell University its chimes, bequeathed the idea and the funds for this library. The building is on the NRHP.