Town of Freedom was formed from Ischua in 1820 and in 1844 was reduced in size by the annexation of a portion to the Town of Yorkshire.
The first contracts for land purchase were entered into with the Holland Land
County in 1809. Settlers came in 1811. The soil is of good quality, well
adapted to grazing, dairying, fruit culture and other agricultural pursuits.
Cheese making and maple sugar production were the leading source of income.
Improvements within the Town included the first highway in Freedom (1813) following
the valley of Ischua Creek passing through Sandusky; and the Rochester and
State Line Railroad (1878). The Tonawanda & Cuba Railroad ran from Sandusky to
Cuba (discontinued 1886), was renamed the Attica & Freedom railroad (1892) and
terminated at Sandusky. In the northwest corner of the Town, a black lubricating
oil was discovered in 1865. Three wells found oil at depth from 150 - 175 feet.
The hamlet of Freedom, a station of the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg railroad,
and located southeast of Sandusky, in the 1890's contained a post office, a store,
and a church.
Village of Sandusky in the 1870's contained 2 churches, 3 religious societies, a
hotel (1833), a cheese factory, a cheese box factory (1868), a carriage factory
(1867), a woolen mill (1830), 2 grist mills, 3 saw mills (i . e. Arthur T. &
George C. Norton), 1 tannery (1828), a school house, post office, 5 general
stores, a drug store, a hardware store, a stove and tin store, 1 boot and shoe
shop, 2 millinery stores, 2 harness shops, a tailor, 3 blacksmith shops, 2 shoe
shops, 2 meat markets, a tavern (1824), 2 physicians, a post office, and a dentist.
Elton, (known in the early days as Cole's Settlement ) in the southwest part of
the Town (1870's), contained a church, a store, a cheese factory, a saw mill
(1827), a blacksmith shop, 2 asheries (1830), and a brewery (1835). Elton was
also a station on the Buffalo, Rochester, & Pittsburgh Railroad and by the 1890's
had grown to contain a post office, 2 churches, a school house, 2 stores, a saw
mill, a feed store, a grist mill (1876) a cheese factory, and 2 blacksmith shops.
Source: Cattaraugus County Book 1808-1995/96