Knowersville

, Few settlers ventured into the wilderness prior to the War of Independence. Roads were barely expanded trails between settlements. The Great Western Turnpike (now US Route 20) carried travelers west from Albany. Following ancient routes used by native peoples, a road connecting the Turnpike to Schoharie was developed. The current NY Route 146 generally follows that early track., Benjamin Knower, an Albany merchant, bought land around 1800 and built a hat factory and a home along the Schoharie Road, east of the current Village. A schoolhouse for District 7 was sited across the road after the Town of Guilderland commissioners established school districts in 1813. In 1833, Dr. Frederick Crounse built a house and small office next to the Knower place, and opened his medical practice. His father Jacob opened the Jacob Crounse Inn, also in 1833. Benjamin Knower died in 1839. The following year, due to the respect and esteem his neighbors held for Mr. Knower, an initiative to rename the settlement Knowersville was successful. In 1840, the West Guilderland post office was moved from the Wayside Inn to the Crounse Inn and renamed the Knowersville post office, with Jacob Crounse the first postmaster of Knowersville., The construction of a railroad approximately one mile west of the hamlet resulted in the development of businesses and homes closer to the new railroad station, built in 1864. In the years following the Civil War, the original hamlet was referred to as the "Old Village", as the "new” Village of Altamont grew and prospered.,