The town of Wellsville is located in the rolling hills of the northern reaches of the Allegheny Range of the Appalachian Mountains, east of Allegany County, just a few miles north of the Pennsylvania border. Wellsville was established in 1855, making it a relatively young town in comparison to others in New York. When the Erie Railroad was completed through Wellsville in 1851, tanning and lumber concerns gained much larger markets, and in the next 10 years, the population grew fourfold. The discovery of oil in 1879 brought even more people. George "Gabby" Hayes was as at home on the stages of Wellsville as he was on a Hollywood screen, and William Duke, world-famous trainer of the 1925 Kentucky Derby winner, Flying Ebony, called Wellsville his home. In addition to its steam turbine and heat recovery industries, Wellsville hosts a vibrant and growing campus of Alfred State College.