The City of Oneonta today is a much different
place than in its not so distant past. The
City's population has remained steady at just
under 14,000 persons since the mid twentieth
century. The city has grown from an Indian
council site to trading post, to city, to the
educational, cultural, business, retail and
professional center for the tri-county area
(i.e., Otsego, Delaware and Schoharie Counties).
Times have changed the employment scenario in
Oneonta. Most families once depended on the
railroad for employment. Today, the labor market
is much more diverse. Major employers include
A.O. Fox Hospital, Hartwick College and SUNY
College at Oneonta, the Oneonta Job Corps
Center, New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG),
Corning Incorporated, Community Bank, the ARC
Otsego, Springbrook, NBT Bank, Astrocom
Electronics, F.N. Burt Company, Custom
Electronics, Ioxus, Medical Coaches, The Daily
Star, Key Bank, and the Mold-a-Matic
Corporation. The retail and service sectors also
employ a significant number of residents.
Additionally, many of the surrounding school
districts and Otsego County Government employ a
significant number of City residents. The
tourism industry also is a source of significant
employment opportunities in and around the City
of Oneonta.
Residents and tourists have no problem finding
recreational activities in and around the City
of Oneonta. The area abounds with lakes, streams
and scenic countryside. A number of golf
courses, located outside the city, provide
golfing pleasure to many. Oneonta has two major
parks, Neahwa and Wilber, which are oriented to
both passive and active recreational activities.
A centerpiece to the community is Damaschke
Field, home to the Oneonta Outlaws of the New
York Collegiate Baseball League. Additionally,
Hartwick and SUNY Oneonta both provide
competitive athletic enjoyment for the region.
Furthermore, the Boys and Girls Club, YMCA,
Sixth Ward Athletic Club and the Oneonta Tennis
Club provide residents with alternative
recreational and social activities.
The city today provides numerous cultural
activities for its residents and visitors.
Relatively new in the city is the Foothills
Performing Arts and Civic Center, providing a
venue for many social and cultural activities.
Hartwick and SUNY College at Oneonta both
provide a variety of programs, which include a
dinner theater, noted speakers, and television
and press notables. Furthermore, SUNY College at
Oneonta provides the city with a public access
television channel, which offers a 24-hour
visual information source in addition to
governmental, cultural and educational
programming.
Additionally, there is the Orpheus Theater, the
Catskill Symphony, the Catskill Conservatory,
and the Upper Catskill Community Council of the
Arts, the Catskill Choral Society and the
Oneonta Concert Association, the Glimmerglass
Opera, located in Cooperstown, providing musical
enjoyment for the entire region. The city,
further, supports a summer concert series in
Neahwa Park every summer.
The area is also serviced by a number of museums,
most notably the Leatherstocking Railway Historical
Society, the Greater Oneonta Historical Society’s
History Center, Yager Museum at Hartwick College,
SUNY College at Oneonta’s Science Discovery Center,
National Baseball Hall of Fame, Fenimore Art Museum
and the Farmers’ Museum.
