The Town of Nichols, New York will be celebrating their 200th birthday on March 23, 2024. The Nichols Bicentennial Committee recently held a contest, open to the public of Tioga County, for a design to reflect this special occasion.
At a recent meeting, the committee reviewed 13 entries and selected the design submitted by Ava Smolinsky of Nichols, a student attending Tioga Central School, as the winning design. In addition to bragging rights, Ava won the $100.00 prize.
Ava Smolinsky is pictured with her winning logo design, as well as her $100 prize. Provided photo.
As noted in her submission, Ava’s design was chosen because of the history of the railroad and its contribution to the growth of the town.
The Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad (DL&W RR) served the Town of Nichols from 1882 to the early 1960’s. In the early 1960’s the DL&W RR merged with the Erie Railroad because both were near bankruptcy after the floods of 1955.
After the merger, the DL&W gave up their track rights on the south side of the Susquehanna River, as it ran through the Southern Tier and used the Erie tracks on the other side of the river. The old DL&W right of way was turned over to the New York Department of Transportation to be used for the “new” Route 17 Expressway. This new route through Nichols was opened to traffic in 1970.
A lot of trains stopped at Nichols bringing farm products, produce, and especially dairy shipped out of the creamery. Several passenger trains stopped in Nichols to include Westbound – “The Owl”; Eastbound – “The Pocono Express: and the “New York Mail”.
The railroad was an essential part of life for many years in Nichols. The original wooden depot was moved in 1912 (approximate) to behind the Methodist Church and was later torn down. A new brick depot was then built on North Main Street, which is still there today. This building still stands as a memory to “earlier times”.
Congratulations to Ava for her design.
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