Watkins

Watkins, a village and the county-seat of Schuyler county, New York, U.S.A., at the head (south end) of Seneca Lake, about 22 m. N.N.W. of Elmira. Pop. (1890) 2604; (1900) 2943 (1905) 2957; (1910) 2817. Watkins is served by the New York Central & Hudson River, the Northern Central (Pennsylvania) and the Lehigh Valley railways, by an electric line to Elmira and by a steamer line on the lake. There are mineral springs, whose waters, notably those of an iodo-bromated brine spring, are used in bath treatment for rheumatism, gout, heart, kidney and liver diseases, &c. Partly within the village limits is Watkins Glen, a narrow winding gorge about 2 m. long, with walls and precipices from loo to 300 ft. high, through which flows a small stream, forming many falls, cascades and pools. The Glen property, about 103 acres, was opened as an excursion resort in 1863, and in 1906 was made a free state reservation or park and was placed in the custody of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society. About 3 m. S.E. is Havana Glen, about it m. long. The first settlement here was made in 1788, and Watkins was incorporated as a village in 1842.