Map from the Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Chautauqua New-York from actual surveys and records, published by F.W. Beers & Co., New York, 1881.

1881 property owners in Niobe:
Allen, Miss. A. P.
Allen, D.
Allen, V.
Bohall, G. G.
Bohall, Est.
Cornell, A.
Crum, C.
Daniels, Mrs. M.
Fowler & Co. (Store)
Fowler, C. T.
Fowler, C. T. (Store)
Green, S. J.
Mather, Allen
Mather, G. A. (Hotel)
Mather, Mary
Norton Heirs
Packard, W.
Phillips, A. R.
Robbins, Mrs.
Robinson, C.
Terry, Mrs. M. A.

"Mather House" hotel, no date

NIOBE
Historical Leaflet No. 7
 
NIOBE

Information about Niobe is taken from The History of the Town of Harmony by George C. Fowler and Irene B. Nagel published in 1976.

How Broken Straw — Grant Station — Niobe Were Named
The U. S. Post Office Department named the post office in this area Broken Straw when it was established on October 22, 1861. This name no doubt was taken from Broken Straw Creek which flows through the village.

Grant Station was the name given the railroad station by the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad when they opened their station in January 1870. This name probably came from General and President Ulysses S. Grant who was popular at that time. Mr. Fowler noted that it was not known why the railroad company did not take the name Broken Straw. The railroad had been running through the village for 10 years before the station was opened. There was only a switch for carloads of shipments and the railroad company called the place "Aliens" or "Allen's Switch" until they opened a station at that location. There was no reason given for not keeping the name Allen. The two names for the village caused much trouble as the Post Office Department had a post office named "grant" in the eastern part of New York State and many letters came for this place, addressed Grant instead of Broken Straw P. 0. and vice versa.

In 1904, the Post Office Department and the railroad company agreed to change to one name for both the post office and the railroad station. They asked the citizens to select a name which could be used for both. Mrs. Levi Way suggested the name "Niobe" which she took from a book on Greek mythology that she was reading. The name was adopted and went into effect on July 1, 1904. The Broken Straw Post Office name was changed to Niobe on April 29, 1904 and was effective July 1, 1904.

Grant Town Well
Some time around 1890 or a little later, some of the citizens of Grant Station felt their water supply was poor. All wells at that time were stoned up dug wells. They held a meeting and decided to drill a water well. They located the site to drill on the east side of Main Street about midway between George Mathers store and Roy Warner's house, just over the sidewalk towards the street. The well was drilled and at about 150 feet they got a very fine well which flowed with very fine water. The well was capped and a "Town Pump" installed. Soon it was tapped and piped into the homes of each one who financed the well, and also into their places of business. This was the first water well drilled in this vicinity. The men who financed the well were: Lewis Warner, Roy Warner, Fred Sands, George Mather, Horace Baker and possibly others. This was just a gentlemen's agreement, no papers were drawn up, and no company formed. This well served the people of Grant (Niobe) for many years. Other s connected with the pipeline at a later time. In 1960 most of the residents had their own wells and very few, if any, used the town well system. The town pump had been removed.

For more information, contact the
Harmony Historical Society:
1934 Open Meadows Road Ashville, New York 14710
Phone:(716) 782-3074
Website: harmonyhistoricalsociety.org