The Town of Bovina was formed from parts of Delhi, Stamford, and Middletown by an act of the state legislature on February 25, 1820.

The name, Bovina, was suggested by Gen. Erastus Root because of the town’s pastoral nature. Elisha Maynard was Bovina’s first European settler, coming to the area in 1792 to lease land from the Livingston family. He was quickly followed by a number of other settlers who also leased farmland. Four years later, Alexander Brush came from Long Island and settled on the site of the present Bovina Center. For nearly a half century after his death the Bovina Center hamlet was called “Brushland” in his honor.

Thirty-six farms and forty-two original families were in Bovina when it became a separate town. Most of the early settlers were of Scottish descent. The population in 1820 was 1267 hitting a high of 1436 in 1845, then gradually decreasing to a low of 507 in the 1970 census. In the 2010 census, the population was 633. In the 1840s, Bovina played its part in the conflict known as the “Anti-Rent War.” Land in Delaware County, as in much of New York, was given by grant or purchase to a few wealthy families, who induced settlers to lease this land with leases that ran sometimes for generations. Settlers came to resent working and improving lands they didn’t own. In hard times, they sometimes couldn’t pay the rent and found their possessions being sold by the authorities to make the payment. Tenants began to protest this system, starting in the Albany area. The movement came to Delaware County in 1844. The first anti-renter meeting in the county took place in Bovina Center. They formed an organization to resist, using tin dinner horns and wearing war paint and calico for a disguise, becoming known as “Calico Indians.” The most infamous moment in the war took place in nearby Andes with the killing of Under-Sheriff Osman Steele during an attempted sheriff’s sale. Eighty-four persons were convicted, with two men sentenced to hang, one of them Bovina resident Edward O’Connor. The governor later commuted the sentences to life imprisonment. The new governor pardoned all the anti-renters.

Making a Living

Early Bovina farmers grew wheat, mainly to pay their rent, but also raised sheep. Wheat fell out of fashion as the rent system was dismantled, while sheep farming gave way to dairying. Bovina dairy farmers earned a reputation for breeding cattle and producing high quality butter. The Bovina Center Cooperative Creamery was established in 1902, milk that time coming from sixty-seven dairies. The creamery closed in March 1973. 

Bovina had industries other than agriculture. Using natural waterpower, various mills, including woolen, cider, grist, and saw sprang up. The first grist mill was erected in 1796. The manufacturing of woolen cloth was first carried out by Thomas H. Johnson and his brother. Blacksmiths, coopers, joiners, tinsmiths and carpenters offered services to the area’s settlers. There were several general stores in the town. 

Organizations

In October 1809, the first organization created in what later became Bovina was established – the “Associate Presbyterian Church of Little Delaware.” Services were held in homes, schools, barns and taverns until 1815 when the first church building was raised on the south side of the graveyard at the end of Reinertsen Hill road. The present church in Bovina Center was built in 1849. Methodists were served by Alexander Brush, the early Bovina settler. The church building was erected in 1849, across from the Bovina Community Hall and post office. The group disbanded about 1915 and the church was demolished in 1926. The Reformed Presbyterian church was organized in 1814. The first church was located in the Mountain Brook area. In 1861, the church was relocated to the hamlet, where the fire hall now stands. It was closed in early 1940s and demolished in 1944. St. James Episcopal was the last church established in Bovina in 1914. The church building was built in 1922 and was designed by Mr. Ralph Cram, a noted architect and funded by Angelica Gerry in memory of her parents. 

When the town was formed there were six one-room schools, with a student population of about 400 children between ages five and fifteen. The number of schools grew to a peak of twelve in the 1840s. With the decrease in population and the formation of central school districts, the one room schools began to close. Bovina’s last school to close was district four in 1961. This school building, built in 1893, is now the Bovina Public Library. The Maynard School has been preserved as it was at the time of its closing in 1959. 

The first library in Bovina was in the basement of the United Presbyterian Church. Later, J.W. Coulter offered the use of his building for a library and willed it to the Bovina Library Association at his death in 1917. In 1970, the library was moved to the old schoolhouse. The old library building is now
the Bovina Museum, owned by the Bovina Historical Society (created in 1974). 

The Town owned Community Hall was built in 1930 with a combination of public donations and tax dollars. The land was donated by John, Jim and Jane Hilson. It still serves as the community hall and is used for a variety of public, recreational and social events. It now also houses the Community Post Office and the offices of the Assessor and Town Justice. 

Bovina Today

Today, the town of Bovina is home to two dairy farms, several beef, pig, and goat farms, a few vegetable farms, and now a flower farm. Farming Bovina was created a decade ago to help preserve and promote agriculture in and around the town of Bovina. In addition, the town has a community of artists, photographers and designers. Bovina has a number of second homeowners and attracts many visitors. Bovina Fire and EMS is a purely voluntary organization with an active membership. The Bovina Public Library has recently been renovated and expanded and the Bovina Historical Society oversees the upkeep and maintenance of historic buildings like Russell’s Store and the historic Bovina Fire Hall. The Bovina Bicentennial Celebration, postponed due to the pandemic, took place July 30 and 31, 2022.