West Carthage, NY

West Carthage is the village on the Champion side of the Black River, across the water from Carthage, with Routes 26, 45, and 126 meeting at the eastern town line. Its story begins with movement across the river: a ferry operated before 1800, David Coffeen built a hydraulic grist mill in 1806, and an 1813 toll bridge replaced the crossing. Waterpower brought a blast furnace, iron work, mills, and other businesses to the bank, and the village incorporated in 1889.

The river also accounts for why West Carthage and Carthage have always had separate stories that overlap. In 1884 the Great Carthage Fire spread from the western bank and burned about 70 acres of Carthage, while factories in West Carthage included pail and tub makers, a tannery, planing mills, and sash-and-blind shops. Today the village remains a compact neighbor to Carthage, and the river and bridge crossings still show how the two villages fit together. The old crossing still shapes the village's street plan.