Transcribed from the Wellsville Daily Reporter by Crist Middaugh.
Passing through…Alfred Station
By Robert J Roberts
Staff Writer
One of Allegany County’s most colorful hamlets began as a quick way to get to Andover.
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Shortly after the first white settlers founded in 1807 what eventually would become Alfred Station, a man named Baker - in a hurry to get to Andover - quickly threw up a log-pole bridge over Canacadea Creek.
The community, for years afterward, was called Baker’s Bridge, a name that live on in the local historical society.
It became a bustling little place, according to Alfred town Historian Jean Lang, with shops, a brick factory using clay from creek banks, and a school house. For a time, it was larger than neighboring Alfred Centre.
In both Baker’s Bridge and Alfred Centre, an important role was played by a large influx of Seventh Day Baptists, a splinter group of Rhode Island Baptists who took advantage of free land tracts available after the revolution.
Another key role was played by local postal offices. By 1893, the Alfred Centre post office decided to drop the “Centre” from its name; the community’s government followed suit a year later.
Meanwhile, in Baker’s Bridge, which also was known as Alfred, disgruntled residents formed to choose a new name to distinguish themselves from the “other” Alfred. Taking a cut from the railroad that run through town, it became known as Alfred Station.
Today, Alfred Station - framed by Tinkertown/Route 244 and Route 21- is a small, bustling community.
A small part of Route 244 includes one of the most picturesque streets in Allegany County, as historic homes are nestled with quaint shops, giving the heart of Alfred Station the look of New England.
Alfred Station also boasts of industry, too: two mining companies and Hi-Tech Ceramics. Its importance may grow in coming years due to its proximity to the Alfred end of the Ceramics Corridor.