GOULDSBORO

COOLBAUGH TOWNSHIP

It was originally known as Sand Cut and was named in honor of Jay Gould.  This area was wild pertaining forests and swamps.  Many survivors fled here from the Wyoming Massacre and its swamps were known as swamps of death of “Dismal Swamp”.

The Battle of Gouldsboro began at 1030am on March 13, 1860 over the possession of the tannery owned by Jay Gould and his two partners, Leupp and Lee.  Leupp confirmed suspicions that Gould was juggling the books and was using the company money to play the hide markets in New York.

The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad was built between 1840 and 1851.  Jay Gould and Zaddock Pratt built the Pratt and Gould Tannery between 1856 and 1861.  The Tannery was the largest in the country in 1857.  The Tannery closed between 1856 and 1861.  Gouldsboro’s first school opened on 2^nd Street in 1870.  Gouldsboro adopted its name on November 1, 1892.

Gouldsboro had its churches, the Simmons Hotel also known as St. Charles and was a popular dance hall.  Another dance hall was located to the rear of a building next door to St. Rita’s Church on Main Street.

Jay Gould the founder of Gouldsboro was originally named Jason Gold and was born in 1837.  He was the son of a farmer of modest means in Roxbury, New York.