"Besemer Station. The Elmira, Central & Northern Railroad (EC&N) built a water tank approximately six miles southeast of Ithaca, near the home of Josiah Besemer, whose family had settled the area before 1820. Mr. Besemer sought a station near the water tank, but when the railroad refused to build one, in 1875 Besemer and his son Willis built it themselves. It was known as Besemer’s Depot until January 1883 when the name was changed to Besemer (pronounced Bees-mer).
The railroad ceased to operate in 1935, but Besemer Station had become the center of community activities, and Willis Besemer had served as station agent for 60 years. Besides being used as a passenger terminal for the health resorts in Slaterville Springs, the building was used to store coal, lime, flour, and feed. The old Catskill Turnpike, now State Route 79, passes through the settlement."
Barbara Kone,
"Town of Caroline," in Carol Kammen, ed. Place Names of Tompkins County, Ithaca, NY: Office of the Tompkins County Historian, 2004, 17.