Those Places Thursday

     When my great, great grandfather James O'Hora arrived on America's shores, he immediately traveled to Cayuga County in upstate New York where he had friends and relatives from County Carlow, Ireland already living.  James secured a job on a local farm where he would spend the next several years laboring for J C Reed, a gentleman farmer who lived part of the time in Auburn, and the rest in Aurelius where his farm was located.

     Aurleius was part of the old Military Tract of New York, land reserved for soldiers who had served the state during the Revolutionary War.  The tract was divided into towns, each bearing  a classical name such as Aurelius, Romulus, Cato, Scipio, Ovid... well, you get the idea.  

     The part of Aurelius where Grandpa James lived was known locally as the Half Acre, but it had another moniker, one not so flattering.  In some quarters it was called Hell's Half Acre.  The reason behind this was the number of drinking establishments.  There was one on three of the four corners that made up the center of the area.  Today it is just a quiet crossroads a few miles from Auburn, but it must have been quite a place in the olden days.