Site of First Permanent Settlement

David Goss, coming from Massachusetts in 1804, took up land on the Holland Purchase at the first permanent settlement in the Town of Pembroke. His dwelling, which he converted into a tavern, was the first public house in the township. To the west 3.25 miles on the Old Buffalo Road stood another tavern. Legend holds that a would-be guest, identifying herself as the "Dutchess of Sligo," so riled "Inn-Keeper Blogett" that he retorted, "I am the Earl of Pembroke" and refused her lodging. His tavern thereafter became known as the "Earl of Pembroke's Castle." Richville became Pembroke.

Pembroke, New York · United States