History of the hamlet Jewell in the town of Vienna

History of the hamlet Jewell

Written by Charles in December, 2000 -

Jewell is a hamlet on the North Shore of Oneida Lake, on State Route 49 in the Town of Vienna, Oneida County, New York. At present it consists of a church, a cemetery, and year-round and summer residences. In the past it was a thriving community with a store, hotel, mills, boat-building and lumber industries.
The first settler is said to have been Eliphalet Jewell who owned land there in 1814. Silas Jewell may have come about the same time. After coming to Jewell, Silas moved to Constantia for about 5 years and then came back to Jewell about 1822. It was known as West Vienna until 1921 when the name was changed to Jewell, in honor of the Jewell family. In one historical write up it indicated that Silas and Eliphalet were unrelated; however, in fact they were distant cousins, both descending from Thomas Jewell of Connecticut.