from the Ithaca Journal: Saturday, October 12, 2002 Including the right details key to town history writings By CAROL KAMMEN KAMMEN Writing a town history requires a delicate balance. There is, in the first place a very particular audience -- residents of the town, and historians and researchers of other nearby towns. And there are very particular expectations of a town history. It might show how the town progressed through time from its geological base, Iroquois phase and origins of early settlers. It should describe how the town grew to develop institutions, industry or commercial enterprise. How the roads came through, where the railroads went and what happened when they were no longer running are always of interest. And too, there is an expectation that the important, or funny, or odd stories about the town will be told: What happened in the flood of 1935, for example. And stories about a town character, or in the case of Ulysses, a historian could not omit information about the Trumansburg Giant, his origins and demise. But there are other things that people might look for in a town history, and they are the specifics of who held office, who were the local doctors, the location of schools before centralization-and when that happened. A town history, in other words, is both a story -- or a series of stories --and a reference book. It should also be illustrated (everyone likes pictures), it should be easy to read and it should be logically organized. Town histories, of course, cannot tell everything even though a town, or a place within a town, is a small geographic unit. So writing a modern town history, when we have 200 years of written history, and several layers of human habitation before that, can be a daunting enterprise. One of the best town histories is George Goodrich's "Centennial History of the Town of Dryden: 1797-1897" published in 1898. Goodrich does not include everything, but he manages narrative history of the town from prehistoric conditions, Indian occupation, to the histories of the village and hamlets and other communities within. In the process, Goodrich also tells us how the use of the land has caused the land, and the weather, to change; he gives family histories, and lists of those who fought in the Civil War, and good maps. Goodrich's comprehensive list of topics have been emulated by others over the succeeding century. The people in Enfield might point out that Goodrich had 100 fewer years than they had to cover in their history, which has just been published by the Enfield Historical Society, a group that was convened in 1992. Now, 10 years later, that group has put together a book entitled "The Town of Enfield New York: Christian Hill to Enfield Falls." The book contains a map, a description of the land, a comprehensive timeline of events in the town, information abut early settlements, the Military Lots, the division from the Town of Ulysses, early settlers, transportation, buildings in the town, businesses and doctors, town government, the various religious groups to be found in the town, education. It also includes a very interesting and useful chapter of social organizations in Enfield from the grange to the mother's club and other groups that have formed for companionship, improvement and recreation. There are lists, too, of soldiers who have served in this country's wars, and a chapter on agriculture in Enfield. The various chapters were written by different individuals and edited by members of the Enfield Historical Society and Sue Thompson, Enfield town historian. The first thing I had to look up was Christian Hill. Where was it? According to the description (page 29) it centered on the schoolhouse at the intersection of Waterburg and Iradell Roads. I longed for a somewhat better map in the book on which to locate Christian Hill, but the one provided clearly shows the early Military Lots and that is useful. This book about Enfield is clearly intended to tell some of the stories of the people and activities of the town and to also be a reference work -- who received Military Lots can be tracked; who served as town officer can be traced; the origins of the names of many of the town's roads are given, as are the members of the Enfield Women's Christian Temperance Union. The book is useful to residents and will provide information for historians throughout the county. More, of course, always needs to be known, researched and told. That is the continuing job -- and pleasure -- of the appointed town historian and the Enfield Historical Society. Carol Kammen, whose column is published every other Saturday, is the Tompkins County historian and the author of several books on local history.