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from—"Between the Ocean and the Lakes--The Story of the ERIE"—by Edward Harold Mott--1899

GAZETTEER. Printed, 1899.

OF CITIES AND VILLAGES ON THE LINE OF THE ORIGINAL ERIE AND ITS BRANCHES

NEW YORK (EASTERN) DIVISION.

JERSEY CITY, Hudson Co., N.J. From New York, 1 mile; Buffalo, 424 miles; Dunkirk, 459. Eastern terminus of the Erie since 1851. Second city of New Jersey and capital of Hudson County. Population, 200,000. On the west bank of the Hudson River, one mile from New York, connecting with five lines of ferry-boats. Also the terminus of twelve other lines of railroad. Site originally called Paulus Hook. Chartered, 1820, as "the City of Jersey" name changed to present one, 1838. Population when it became Erie terminus, 7,000.

RUTHERFORD, Bergen Co., N.J. From New York, 10 miles. From an early day known as Boiling Spring neighborhood. Farm and farm-gardening community. Laid out in town plots in 1866. Settled rapidly. Named Rutherford Park. Changed to Rutherford, 1875. Incorporated a borough, 1881. Population, 1898, 3,900. Residential. 7 churches; 1 high school; 3 district schools; 2 banks; 2 newspapers; 2 hotels.

(CARLTON HILL, important as the site of great bleaching works; station for East Rutherford.)

PASSAIC, Passaic Co., N.J. From New York, 12 miles; Buffalo, 413; Dunkirk, 448. First settlement in 1678, when site near Passaic city was bought by Hartman Michielson from the Indians. He got a perfect title to it in 1685 for "one fat henne." In 1678 Christopher Hoogland bought 278 acres of the present site of Passaic and sold it to Michielson. The tract was called Acquackanonk. A settlement of industrious Dutch soon grew up. Acquackanonk was the head of navigation on the Passaic River. It was called "the Landing," and was the shipping and receiving point for supplies for the country as far away as Orange County, N.Y. For a century Acquackanonk had this commercial supremacy. Then the Paterson and Hudson River Railroad was built, and destroyed the importance of river navigation. Dundee Water Power Company incorporated, 1832. In 1861 built the dam which conserved the great water-power of the Passaic and insured the future of Passaic. The Dundee Railroad was built, which is now part of the valuable local possessions of the Erie. Incorporated as a village, 1871; city, 1873. Reformed Dutch Church, 1686. Part of present church building built, 1761, 12 churches; high school; 6 ward schools; 2 banks; 4 newspapers; 2 hotels. Passaic a place of marvellous growth. Population, 1898, 12,000. Manufacturing interests large. One of the wealthiest places on line of Erie. Four Erie stations in Passaic. Beautiful and costly residences.

(CLIFTON and LAKE VIEW. Residential localities between Passaic and Paterson; Lake View part of Paterson.)

PATERSON, Passaic Co., N.J. From New York, 17 miles; Buffalo, 408; Dunkirk, 443. Site, owing to waterpower of the Passaic River, chosen in 1791 by Alexander Hamilton and others for the uses of the "Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures," which was chartered in that year. Place named for the then Governor of New Jersey. Township government until 1851; then incorporated as city; population, 11,000. Ex-Governor Philemon Dickerson first President City Council. Limits enlarged 1854, and present city incorporated under new charter, 1871. Population, 1898, (estimated) 90,000 Third city in New Jersey. Centre of silk manufacturing in United States. 72 churches; 4 synagogues; 6 missions; high school; 19 ward schools; 1 normal training and model school; 1 manual training school; 6 banks (3 national, 1 savings, 2 safe deposit and trust companies); 15 newspapers (5 daily, 7 weekly, 3 monthly); 109 incorporated companies (39 silk, silk fabric, and allied branches of silk manufacture); 2 hospitals; 2 orphan asylums. Electric lighting and gas; electric street railways, and connecting with Hoboken and intermediate points. Fine parks. Public buildings and residences architecturally elegant. Paterson and Hudson River Railroad, one of the first in the country, opened in 1833; now part of Erie main line. Manufacturing began in 1792 with cotton print works, one of the first in the country. During the war of 1812 Paterson was one of the largest producers of cotton goods. This industry was followed by other special enterprises, notably the manufacture of silk and locomotives. The silk factories and locomotive works of Paterson alone have made its fame world-wide. The manufacture of silk was started about three-quarters of a century ago by John Ryle, a weaver from Macclesfield, England. He struggled long with misfortune, but the interest he awakened in this branch of trade brought capital into it, until to-day not less than $8,000,000 are invested in the silk business of the city, giving employment to thousands of hands, and turning out every variety of silk fabric, from a thread to the costliest dress goods. The rolling-mills, iron-bridge works, and hundreds of other factories give employment to other thousands. Preeminence in the silk industry has given Paterson the name of "Lyons of America." Erie, Susquehanna and Western, and Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroads. County seat of Passaic County.

(HAWTHORNE, suburb of Paterson, across the Passaic River. Pastoral and historic.)

RIDGEWOOD, Bergen Co., N. J. From New York, 22 miles. Settled, 1853. Formerly Godwinville. Incorporated. Population, 2,500. In historic Paramus Valley. Home of prominent professional and business men of New York City. 3 churches; public schools; 1 newspaper.

(UNDERCLIFF, HOHOKUS, WALDWICK, ALLENDALE, RAMSEY'S, and MAHWAH, Bergen Co., N. J. From New York respectively 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, and 30 miles. Small stations in historical and pastoral communities. Near Ridgewood, Undercliff, and Hohokus is the old stone mansion, "The Hermitage," in which Aaron Burr wooed, won, and married Theodosia Provost. The Dutch Church, turned by the British into a prison-house for soldiers of the Revolutionary army, is also nearby. Waldwick is the outgrowth of excessive water and other taxes on the Erie at Paterson, owing to which the Company changed the housing of the rolling stock of its frequent "shuttle" trains between Paterson and Jersey City from Paterson to the site of Waldwick, establishing an extensive switch yard and engine and car houses, and bringing a lively village into existence. Allendale and Ramsey's, extensive small-fruit growing. Churches and public schools, hotels. Newspaper at Ramsey's.)


SUFFERN, Rockland Co., N.Y. From New York, 32 miles, Dunkirk, 428; Buffalo, 393. Settled, 1773. Name originally New Antrim, from Antrim, Ireland, native place of John Suffern, first settler. Name changed to Suffern on opening railroad in 1841. Population, 1,100. 3 churches; public schools; 1 newspaper; 3 hotels. Original line of Erie runs from Piermont to Suffern, now called Piermont Branch. Here is the historic Ramapo Pass. The present road through the pass was an old Indian trail, and the settlers found it the nearest and best road between the northern colonies and the southern, when the Hudson River was blockaded—hence during the Revolutionary war it was early watched and fortified. The centre of military operations was about a mile within the gorge. Military was stationed here all through the war to guard the pass and to stop intruders. Col. Malcolm's regiment was here in 1777, and Aaron Burr was assigned to it for duty. It was from this command that Burr won his military reputation by daring exploits in the Paramus Valley and about Hackensack, N. J. Washington had his headquarters in the old Suffern house, now torn down, near Suffern village. On the hills east of Suffern the French army encamped on its way to Yorktown.

(HILBURN, Rockland Co., N.Y. From New York, 33 miles. Hamlet due to Ramapo Iron Works. In the Ramapo Pass. Population, 300.)

RAMAPO, Rockland Co., N.Y. From New York, 34 miles. Settled, 1795. Population, 300. 2 churches; public school. Formerly nail works, rolling mill, cotton mill, steel furnace, wire works, hoe factory, saw and grist mills. First train on Erie ran to Ramapo June 30, 1841. History of Pierson family is the history of Ramapo. Josiah G., Jeremiah H., and Isaac Pierson, brothers, established nail works and rolling mill here in 1783. In 1807 added manufacture of hoops for whale-oil casks. Product of industries, 1,000,000 pounds of iron annually. Established cotton mill in 1816, looms of J. H. Pierson's own invention, to make striped shirting. In 1820 began manufacture of spring steel; 1830 manufacture of blister steel; 1835 manufacture of screws by machinery, invented at Ramapo by a Pierson workman. At that time 300 men employed by Piersons. J. H. Pierson and his son Henry L. leading spirits in the history of the Erie. In 1850 Piersons retired from business at Ramapo. Family large proprietors of the place to-day. Now only car-wheel works and foundry there. Terminus of Erie from July 1, 1841, until September 23, 1841.

(STERLINGTON, junction of the Sterling Mountain Railroad, running to Sterling Lake and mines; SLOATSBURG, a small hamlet, formerly of some industrial importance. From New York, 35 and 36 miles respectively.)

TUXEDO, Rockland Co., N.Y. From New York, 38½ miles. Formerly Lorillard's. Population, 300. Station for Tuxedo Park. Tuxedo, according to the researches of William Waldorf Astor, is from the Algonquin P'tauk-sut-tough, meaning "Home of the Bear." According to local tradition Tuxedo is a corruption of "Duck Cedar," the lake having been once alive with wild ducks and surrounded by cedars. Tuxedo Park was originally the wilderness tract of 13,000 acres belonging to the original Peter Lorillard. At an early day there were iron works on the outlet of the lake on the tract. They were abandoned years ago, and the estate lay idle. Ground was broken in November, 1885, for the Tuxedo Club; June 1, 1886, the club-house was opened. In the club grounds to-day are about 100 houses, ranging from the romantic chalet to the substantial and ornate chateau, church, schools, fish hatchery, game preserves. Within the park enclosure forty miles of drives, twenty-five miles macadamized. Complete police service, fire brigade. Last Erie station in Rockland County, N.Y.

(SOUTHFIELDS and ARDEN, Orange, Co., N.Y. Hamlets; from New York, 42 and 44 miles. Arden, formerly Greenwood, noted for the iron works belonging to Peter P. Parrott, of Parrott gun fame. Abandoned years ago. Picturesque ruins of works near the station. E.H. Harriman, the millionaire New York banker and horse-breeder, resides at Arden.)

TURNER'S, Orange Co., N.Y. From New York, 47 miles; Dunkirk, 412 miles; Buffalo, 377; Newburgh, 16. Came into existence with the Erie. First railroad dining saloon on the Erie, established by Peter Turner, 1841, famous for fifty years. Original building still standing. The Erie erected an immense brick hotel and dining-room at Turner's in 1865. It was run in luxurious style during the Gould and Fisk regime. Destroyed by fire December 26, 1873. Cost, $300,000; never rebuilt. Eastern extremity of Orange County dairy region. Trains for Newburgh Shortcut.

(MONROE and OXFORD, Orange Co., N.Y., 50 and 52 miles from New York. Milk-shipping stations; summer visitors. Newspaper at Monroe; 4 churches; 2 hotels. Population, 700. Brie cheese factories.)

GREYCOURT, Orange Co., N.Y. From New York, 54 miles; Dunkirk, 406; Buffalo, 371; Newburgh, 19. Junction of Newburgh Branch, Lehigh and Hudson, and Orange County railroads. School; hotel.

CHESTER, Orange Co., N.Y. From New York, 55 miles; Dunkirk, 405; Buffalo, 370. Settled, 1751, at the old town, three-quarters of a mile from station; village about the station grew from the coming of Erie in 1841. Incorporated, 1892. Population, 1,200. Agricultural and dairy; business of milk transportation by rail originated here spring of 1842. Chief agricultural pursuit, onion growing on "black dirt" meadow area, 700 acres in extent, between Chester and Greycourt, reclaimed from almost bottomless marsh. Cheese factory, making Neufchatel, Brie, cream, and other fancy brands; uses 10,000 quarts of milk a day. Home of Hambletonian, father of the American trotter; born, 1848; sired 1,200 colts - died, 1876; costly monument marks his grave. Famous trotters bred and owned here. 4 churches; high school; district schools; newspaper; bank; 3 hotels; opera house; gravity water system; preparing (1898) for gas or electric lighting; fire department. Chester was one of the two original stations of the Erie to have an agent, Goshen being the other.

GOSHEN, Orange Co., N.Y. From New York, 60 miles; Buffalo, 364; Dunkirk, 399. Settled, 1712. Incorporated, 1843. Population, 3,000. 6 churches; academy schools; 2 newspapers; 2 national banks,1 savings bank; 4 hotels. Well organized fire department; electric light and gas. Centre of greatest dairy and stock-raising region in State. County seat of Orange County since 1728. Nursery of blooded horses. Some of the greatest horses in the records of the turf or stud were either sired, born, or bred here. Trotters representing a value of $300,000 are (1898) owned in Goshen; among them Stamboul, the champion trotting stallion (2.07½), and John R. Gentry, the great pacer (2.00½), of E. H. Harriman's Goshen stables, alone represent $70,000. $10,000 horses are numerous - $5,000 horses common. Goldsmith Maid, the queen of the turf in her day, was sired here by a Goshen horse, and broken and trained for the turf near by. The Goshen stock farms and race track are historical, the Goshen Driving Park Association being one of the crack turf organizations of the United States. Until the farmers adopted the plan of selling their milk in the New York market instead of making it into butter, "Goshen butter" was famous the country over. The monument in the public square commemorates the men who fell fighting the noted Indian leader Brant, in 1779, in the Delaware Highlands, most of them being from Goshen and vicinity. The monument was erected in 1822, the bones of the men having been collected from the old battle-field in that year and buried in the public park. Goshen abounds in Revolutionary lore. January 22, 1779, Claudius Smith, the notorious Tory " Cow Boy" of the Revolution, was hanged at Goshen. The Goshen Academy was established in 1790. Noah Webster, the great lexicographer, was a teacher in it, and was preparing his great work at that time. The Goshen Independent Republican is one of the oldest papers in the State, established 1812. The first official printing office of the Erie was that of the Goshen Democrat, where the Company's printing was done from 1841 to 1851. Goshen was the western terminus of the railroad from September, 1841, until June, 1843. When the railroad was opened, all the present main business part of the place was a vast common, known as Fiddler's Green. The population was 400. Goshen, besides being one of the oldest, is one of the wealthiest villages in the State. Gas and electric light; water works; electric railroad to Middletown. Junction of Pine Island and Montgomery branches of Erie. Henry Fitch, first general passenger agent of Erie, resigned as teacher in Goshen Academy, 1846, to take the office.

(MONTGOMERY, ten miles from Goshen, on Montgomery Branch, and FLORIDA, on the Pine Island Branch, villages in the dairy regions of Orange County, N.Y. Montgomery originally Ward's Bridge. Settled in last century. Incorporated as village, 1806. Manufacturing as well as agricultural. 4 churches; 2 schools; 1 newspaper; 4 hotels. Florida settled in last century. 3 churches; graded school; 2 hotels. Birthplace of William H. Seward, the great American statesman.)


(NEW HAMPTON, Orange Co., N.Y. From New York, 64 miles. Important only as milk-shipping station.)

MIDDLETOWN, Orange Co., N.Y. From New York, 67 miles; Buffalo, 358; Dunkirk, 393. Agricultural, dairy, and industrial. Citizens paid for finishing railroad from Goshen, 1843. Terminus of Erie until 1846. Incorporated village, 1848; City, 1892. Population, 1898, 14,000. 10 churches; 1 high school; 5 ward schools; 8 newspapers (3 daily, 5 weekly); 4 banks; 14 hotels; theatre; Thrall Hospital; public library. Extensive saw, file, hat, nail, carpetbag, and wood-type factories; milk condensery, iron furnace, and brewery. Paved streets, electric street railroad and lights, superior fire department, gravity water system. Soldiers' monument. State Homeopathic Insane Asylum (only one in State), incorporated 1870. Erie, New York, Ontario and Western, and New York, Susquehanna and Western railroads, and Crawford Branch of the Erie. 4 railroad stations. Orange County Agricultural Society's fair grounds. Middletown began on the lowland by a settlement as long ago as 1778. Here was then a frontier land. The courageous pioneers who preempted the wilderness shared with those of the settlements about them in the bloody scenes evoked by the vengeance of the red men, who struggled long to hold their ancient hills and valleys against the usurping pale-face. At the beginning of the present century development of the splendid agricultural district began in earnest, and the clustering farms grew into a village and an important centre for the surrounding country. It was not until the completion of the Erie to the place in 1843, however, that its era of greatest usefulness and importance was inaugurated. Its growth has been rapid ever since. No place on the Erie between Paterson and Binghamton exceeds Middletown in the extent, importance, and reputation of its manufacturing interests, The disposition of the citizens of this place toward proposed enterprises of every kind in its precincts has been uniformly generous and encouraging. Its hat factories, saw factories, file works, milk condenseries, and carpet factories are among the leading ones of their class in the country. Trade centre of the rich dairy region of Orange, Sullivan, and Sussex counties.

(HOWELLS, OTISVILLE, GUYMARD, Orange Co., N.Y. From New York, 71, 76, 80 miles respectively. Neat villages in dairy region. Important as milk-shipping stations. Churches and public schools. Otisville was terminus of Erie 1846 to 1848. Summit of Shawangunk Mountains. Settled, 1816, by Isaac Otis, subsequently president of Hanover Bank, New York, and founder of Atlantic Bank; 3 churches. From 1863 to 1870 10 mining companies had headquarters hereabout to mine supposed rich lead deposits in Shawangunk Mountains, chiefly about Guymard. Many shafts sunk; all abandoned. Remains of a huge mastodon exhumed near Otisville in 1871.)

DELAWARE DIVISION.

PORT JERVIS, Orange Co., N.Y. From New York, 88 miles; Buffalo, 337; Dunkirk, 372. Terminus New York and Delaware Division of Erie. Settlements made near, in the Neversink Valley, 1690, by Hollanders and refugee Huguenots. Port Jervis settlement due to Delaware and Hudson Canal, 1827. Named for John B. Jervis, chief engineer of the canal. Hamlet until coming of Erie, 1848. Incorporated as village, 1853. Population, 1898, 10,000. 6 churches; Catholic Orphan Asylum; 1 high school; 3 district schools; 2 national banks; 5 newspapers (2 daily, 3 weekly); 5 hotels; theatre; hospital; public library; Young Men's Christian Association (railroad branch). Electric and gas lighting; electric street railway. Excellent fire department; gravity water system. Erie round-houses and repair shops. Suburbs, Sparrowbush, Tri-States, Matamoras, Pa., latter connected by wire suspension bridge across the Delaware. Tri-States formerly Carpenter's Point, at junction of Neversink River with Delaware River. New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania lines meet here. Monument marks the spot, which stands in three States and in three counties. Port Jervis is the outlet of the lower Delaware Valley for twenty miles, and large portion of Sullivan County, N.Y. Port Jervis and Monticello Railroad. Milford, Matamoras and New York Railroad (building, 1898).

When the Erie was opened to Port Jervis none of the present business and residential part of the place was in existence. All between the hamlet and the canal and the Delaware River was a swampy waste. The village now occupies that area. To the railroad it owes its growth and existence. No place in Orange County is more delightfully located. The neighborhood is rich in historic and antiquarian lore. The road that runs on the outskirts of the village, through the Neversink Valley and on down the Delaware, is believed to be the oldest passable road of any length ever constructed in the United States. It is mentioned in very old records as being in existence between Esopus (Kingston) on the Hudson and a Point near the Delaware Water Gap, as long ago as 1690. It has always been known as the "mine road," and tradition says it was constructed by people from Holland, who sought mines of gold or copper along the Lower Delaware River mountains.

(MILL RIFT, POND EDDY, PARKER'S GLEN, Pike Co., Pa. From Port Jervis, 4, 11, 15 miles. Bluestone quarrying, shipping, and manufacturing centres. Parker's Glen, formerly Carr's Rock, scene of the terrible railroad disaster of February, 1868.

SHOHOLA, Pike Co., Pa. From New York, 103 miles. Famous for its Glen, and station for summer visitors to the adjacent resorts in Pike and Sullivan counties. Also bluestone quarrying and shipping point.

LACKAWAXEN, Pike Co., Pa. From New York, 111 miles; Buffalo, 314; Dunkirk, 349. Quarrying; bluestone shipping; summer resort. Junction of Honesdale Branch. Delaware and Hudson Canal crossed Lackawaxen and Delaware rivers here by aqueducts, built by John A. Roebling in 1848, until 1898, when canal was abandoned. Five miles back of Lackawaxen is the spot where Horace Greeley attempted, in 1843, to found a Social Community, after the manner of Fourier, and failed.

(WESTCOLANG PARK, MAST HOPE, TUSTEN, Pike Co., Pa. From Port Jervis, 26, 28, 31 miles respectively. Stations for summer visitors. Bluestone quarrying. Milk.)

NARROWSBURG, Sullivan Co., N.Y. From New York, 122 miles; Port Jervis, 34; Buffalo, 303; Dunkirk, 338. Originally important lumbering centre. First circular-sawmill in Delaware Valley built near by, on Pennsylvania side. Named from narrows in the river, head of Big Eddy, deepest and widest place in the river above tide. Narrows spanned by wooden bridge erected in 1846—last of its kind the entire length of the river. Famous 40 years as railroad dining station. From coming of Erie in 1848 until 1856, nearest railroad station for passengers and freight to Scranton, 50 miles; Wilkesbarre, 70 miles, and intermediate country. Connected with Erie by stage-coaches and freight-wagons. Thomas Dunn and wife, refugees from Wyoming massacre, 1778, buried here. Population, 1898, 300. 2 churches; district school; newspaper. Bluestone; milk; summer visitors.


COCHECTON, Sullivan Co., N.Y. From New York, 131 miles; Port Jervis, 43; Buffalo, 294; Dunkirk, 329. Settlements near, 1757. From 1806 until coming of Erie all travel to Susquehanna Valley near Binghamton from Hudson River at Newburgh passed through Cochecton by Newburgh and Cochecton turnpike and extension through Pennsylvania. 2 churches; district schools; 1 hotel; bridge across Delaware. Milk; summer visitors.

CALLICOON, Sullivan Co., N.Y. From New York, 136 miles; from Port Jervis, 48; Buffalo, 289; Dunkirk, 329. At mouth of Callicoon Creek. Eastern end of 40-mile section of original contract for work on Erie, 1835. Population, 600. Agricultural and dairy. Important water station on Erie. Station for summer visitors; 3 churches; 2 schools; 2 newspapers; 52 hotels and boarding-houses. Largely German population. Bridge across Delaware to Wayne County, Pa.

(HANKIN'S, LONG EDDY, LORDVILLE, STOCKPORT, Delaware Co., N.Y. Hamlets, formerly important centres of lumber and tanning business. Schools, churches, hotels. Milk, bluestone; summer visitors. Long Eddy, also known as Basket. Laid out in 1870 for speculative city named Douglas City. Failed. Lordville, station for Equinunk, Pa., where the last extensive lumbering and tanning in the valley were done. Stockport is the station for an interesting region on the Pennsylvania side of the river, in Preston township, Wayne Co., named for Samuel Preston, the pioneer settler of that part of the valley. The settlement was made in the interests of Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution, and other noted Pennsylvanians, who had purchased immense tracts of wild land in that part of the State.)

HANCOCK, Delaware Co., N.Y. From New York, 164 miles; Port Jervis, 76; Susquehanna, 28; Buffalo, 261; Dunkirk, 296. At junction of East and West branches of Delaware, forming the main stream. Formerly great lumber and tanning centre and gathering place of raftmen, and home of heavy lumber operators and timber-land owners. Population, 1898, 1,200. Churches, schools, newspaper, 3 hotels. Bluestone quarrying. Milk. Scranton Division of New York, Ontario and Western Railroad crosses Delaware to main line of that railroad.

(HALE'S EDDY, Delaware Co., N.Y., hamlet, midway between Hancock and Deposit.)

DEPOSIT, Delaware Co., N.Y. From New York, 177 miles; Port Jervis, 89; Susquehanna, 15; Buffalo, 248; Dunkirk, 283. Old settlement, originally known as Cookaus. Created by the lumber and tanning business. Last Erie station in Delaware Valley. Historic as point where first ground was broken for grading of Erie, 1835. Growth due to railroad. Population, 1898, 1,800. 6 churches, 1 school, 2 newspapers, 1 bank, 7 hotels. Large dairy interests. Extensive milk condensery. Bluestone. Pearl button, malleable iron, hand-sled manufactories. Paul Devereaux Hospital.

(OQUAGA, GULF SUMMIT, midway between Deposit and Susquehanna. Creameries, and milk and bluestone shipping points.)

SUSQUEHANNA DIVISION.

SUSQUEHANNA, Pa. From New York, 192 miles; Buffalo, 233; Dunkirk, 268. Population, 4,000. Settled in 1830; incorporated in 1853; 6 churches, 2 schools, 2 newspapers, 2 banks, 9 hotels. Terminus of the Delaware and the Susquehanna divisions. The great Erie machine and repair shops are located here. They were established in 1864, and employ 1,000 hands. Agricultural and manufacturing community. Steamboat on the Susquehanna River. Electric lights and gravity system of water-works. Among the mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania.

GREAT BEND, Susquehanna Co., Pa. From New York, 201 miles; Dunkirk, 259; Buffalo, 224. Settled, 1737; incorporated, 1861. Population, 1,200. Agricultural and manufacturing. Tannery, silk mill, creamery, broom factory; 3 churches, 1 school, 1 newspaper, 3 hotels. Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, was born near Great Bend. Electric lights, fire department.

(KIRKWOOD, small station named for former Superintendent James P. Kirkwood.)

BINGHAMTON, Broome Co., N.Y. From New York, 216 miles; Buffalo, 209; Dunkirk, 244. Settled in 1800; incorporated as a city in 1867. Erie opened January 8, 1849. Population then, 2,100. Population, 1898 40,000. Manufacturing. Extensive cigar, shoe, wagon, and other factories breweries, tanneries, Pulp mill, etc.; 40 churches, 19 schools, 7 newspapers, 35 hotels, 6 banks (2 savings), State Hospital for the Insane, St. Mary's Home, Susquehanna Valley Home, Commercial Travellers' Home (now building). Birthplace of Major-General John C. Robinson. United States Senator Daniel S. Dickinson had his home and was buried here. Junction of the Chenango and Susquehanna rivers. Also on Albany and Susquehanna, and Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroads. The site of Binghamton was a wilderness when certain land-holders in the Southern Tier, having obtained State aid to extend the Cochecton and Great Bend Turnpike from the latter place to Bath, N.Y., its course was laid through this part of Broome County. Leave was obtained from the Legislature to build a toll-bridge across the Chenango River, and its site was selected at what was known as the lower ferry. The importance of the location led Joshua Whitney and other residents of Chenango village, two miles above the present city of Binghamton, to make a clearing for a settlement which they called Binghamton. This clearing occupied much of the present business site of the city.

(HOOPER and UNION, Broome Co.; and CAMPVILLE, Tioga Co., N.Y., flourishing centres of agricultural and manufacturing communities; in Chemung dairy region.)

OWEGO, Tioga Co., N.Y. From New York, 237 miles; Dunkirk, 223; Buffalo, 188. Settled early in the century; original Indian name of region, Ah-wa-ga. Incorporated village. Population, 9,000. 7 churches; graded schools; 3 newspapers ; 2 banks; 4 hotels. At junction of Owego Creek and Susquehanna River. Manufacturing and agricultural. Centre of famous dairy region. Owego was the birthplace of the Erie, the convention which led to the chartering of the Company having been held there, December 20, 1831. County seat of Tioga County. Birthplace of the noted politician, Hon. Thomas C. Platt, United States Senator. John D. Rockefeller, the great Standard Oil Company magnate, was born near, and got his early education at, Owego. Once the home of N.P. Willis, the poet. No place in the Southern Tier has wielded nor does wield a greater influence in affairs of the State than Owego. Terminus of the second railroad chartered in New York—the Ithaca and Owego Railroad, now Cayuga Division of the D., L. and W. Electric lights, gas. Famous for its fire department. Trade centre for wide and rich surrounding territory.

(TIOGA CENTRE, SMITHBORO, and BARTON, Tioga Co.., N.Y., in the Chemung dairy region; thrifty villages.)

WAVERLY, Tioga Co., N.Y. From New York, 256 miles; Buffalo, 169; Dunkirk, 204. Settled, 1808; incorporated, 1853. Agricultural and manufacturing. 5 churches, 5 schools, 2 newspapers, 2 banks, 9 hotels. Electric lights and railway. Waverly extends across the Pennsylvania State line. When the Erie was opened in 1851, the present thriving village was a hamlet known as Factoryville. The place owes its rise and prosperity entirely to the railroad. Also on Delaware, Lackawanna and Western and Lehigh Valley railroads. Electric railroad connecting with Sayre, Pa., and other railroads.

(CHEMUNG, WELLSBURG, and SOUTHPORT, Chemung Co, N.Y. Thriving suburbs of Waverly and Elmira. Centres of rich farming community.)

ELMIRA, Chemung Co., N.Y. From New York, 274 miles; Buffalo, 151; Dunkirk, 186. Settled in 1784; incorporated as village, 1828; as city, 1864. Erie opened, October 1, 1849. Population then, 3,000. Population, 1898, estimated at 45,000. Manufacturing. Fire-engines, bicycles, boots and shoes, glass, silk, cigars, portable and stationary engines, brass goods, etc.; 40 churches, 20 schools, 6 newspapers, 15 hotels, 3 banks, State Reformatory, State Armory. Arnot-Ogden Memorial Hospital. Female College, first one founded in the United States. Home of ex-Governor Lucius Robinson. Residence of ex-Governor and ex-United States Senator David B. Hill. Summer home of Mark Twain, who married Miss Langdon of Elmira. During the Civil War the barracks, where thousands of Confederate prisoners were confined, were located here. During the Revolutionary War the battle of Baldwin's Creek was fought near Elmira, between the American troops under Gen. Sullivan, and the Indians and Tories under Brant and Col. Butler. An appropriate monument marks the site of this battle, which was a decisive one in Sullivan's campaign against the Indians. Erie, Tioga Division of Erie, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, Northern Central, Utica, Ithaca and Elmira, and Lehigh Valley railroads. Electric street railroads, and to North Elmira and other suburbs. Gas and electric lights. Capital of Chemung County.

NORTH ELMIRA, Chemung Co., N.Y. From New York, 278 miles; Buffalo, 147; Dunkirk, 182. Station for the village of Horseheads, which was settled in 1789; incorporated, 1837. Population, 2,500. Agricultural and manufacturing; 5 churches, Union Free High School, 1 newspaper, 1 bank, 3 hotels. The location of the camp of Gen. Sullivan here in 1779, and the slaying of a number of his worn-out horses, and the finding of their bones by the first settlers, is alleged as the origin of the name of Horseheads for the village. Electric street railway to Elmira. Also on Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, Northern Central, and Lehigh Valley railroads.

(BIG FLATS, Chemung Co., N.Y., near the Steuben County line, is the centre of the great tobacco growing region of the Chemung Valley.)

CORNING, Steuben Co., N.Y. From New York, 291 miles; Buffalo, 134; Dunkirk, 169. Settled, 1830; named for Erastus Corning, one of its founders; incorporated as village, 1851; city, 1886. Erie opened, January 1, 1850. Population then, 1,200. Population, 1898, 10,000. Manufacturing and agricultural. Flint-glass works, glass-cutting factory, stove and furnace works; 14 churches, 4 schools, 2 newspapers, 6 hotels, 2 banks, 1 savings and loan association. Half-shire town of Steuben County. Terminus of the Rochester Division. Electric railroad, electric lights. Also on Delaware, Lackawanna and Western and Fall Brook railroads.

(For Painted Post, see Rochester Division.)

ADDISON, Steuben Co., N.Y. From New York, 302 miles; from Buffalo, 123; from Dunkirk, 158. Settled early in the century. Population, 2,100. Agricultural and manufacturing. 6 churches; 2 newspapers; 1 bank; 2 hotels; 2 schools. At the mouth of Tuscarora Creek. Formerly a prominent lumbering centre in the days of rafting on the Susquehanna waters; originally named Tuscarora from the Indian name of the creek. Outlet of the tobacco region of Tioga County, Pa. Addison and Pennsylvania Railroad, now property of Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad Company, extends from Addison to Galeton, Pa.

(RATHBONEVILLE, CAMERON MILLS, CAMERON, and ADRIAN, Steuben Co., N.Y. Thriving centres of a farming and lumbering region, between Addison and Canisteo.)

CANISTEO, Steuben Co., N.Y. From New York, 328 miles; Buffalo, 97; Dunkirk, 132. Settled, 1798. Incorporated, 1873. Population, 2,200. Agricultural and manufacturing. Silk, lace, button, veneering, and other factories; 2 tanneries; creamery; 5 churches; 1 school; 2 newspapers; 1 bank; 4 hotels; free library. Academy with a staff of thirteen teachers. Fire department; gravity water-works. Outlet for the lumbering and mining country of northern Pennsylvania. In the days of rafting and lumbering Canisteo was the most important point in that valley.


ALLEGANY (FORMERLY WESTERN) DIVISION.


HORNELLSVILLE, Steuben Co., N.Y. From New York, 332 miles; Buffalo, 93; Dunkirk, 128. Settled, 1798, by George Hornell, who owned the entire township. Incorporated as a village, 1852; as a city, 1888. Erie opened September 3, 1850. Population then, 900. Population now, 13,000 Agricultural and manufacturing; silk, glass, shoe, and other factories. 11 churches; 4 newspapers (2 daily); 5 schools; 2 banks; 6 hotels; sanitarium. Hornellsville is essentially a creation of the Erie. It is at junction of the Caneadea Creek and the Canisteo River; 3 divisions of the Erie end and begin here: the Susquehanna, the Buffalo, and the Allegany, formerly the Western. Also on Central New York and Western Railroad.

(ALMOND, ALFRED, ANDOVER, Allegany Co., N.Y. Miles from New York, 337, 341, 350; Hornellsville, 5, 9, 18; Dunkirk, 123, 119, 110, respectively. Old settlements—Almond, 1796; Alfred, 1807; Andover, 1824. Agricultural and local industries; mills; creamery. Almond—3 churches; 1 school; 2 hotels. Population, 1,500. Alfred (originally Baker's Bridge) is the station for Alfred Centre, 2 miles. 2 churches; 2 schools; 2 newspapers; 2 hotels—no license; 9 cheese factories in the locality. Alfred University (Seventh Day Baptist). In one respect this pretty village, in the heart of the rich farming region of Allegany County, is the oddest town in the State. At sundown every Friday evening work of every kind and description ceases. Saturday is the Sabbath of the people hereabout, and the early Puritans of New England observed their Sabbath with no more severe reverence. When the sun sets on Saturday the village springs into busy life again. Stores are opened, promenaders appear, worldly affairs are resumed. Andover—Incorporated, 1893Population, 1,000. 5 churches; 1 school; 1 newspaper; 4 hotels; cheese factories.)

WELLSVILLE, Allegany Co., N.Y. From New York, 359 miles; Hornellsville, 27; Dunkirk, 102. Incorporated village, 1872. Population, 5,000 Agricultural and manufacturing. 9 churches; schools; 2 newspapers; 6 hotels; 2 banks; free library; machine works; leather and furniture factories; tanning. Formerly Genesee station. Outlet and inlet for all the region for 50 miles south in the lumber regions of Potter County for 25 years after coming of Erie. Also on Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad from Coudersport, Pa.

(SCIO, Allegany Co., N.Y. From Hornellsville, 30 miles; Dunkirk, 98. Agricultural.)

BELMONT, Allegany Co., N.Y. From New York, 366 miles; Hornellsville, 34; Dunkirk, 95. Settled, 1816. Incorporated, 1856. County seat. Agricultural and manufacturing. 6 churches; 1 school; 2 newspapers; 2 hotels; 1 bank; free library; county buildings. Was in the great pine belt of western New York; lumbering until 1856. Mill; machinery works; pail factory.

BELVIDERE, Allegany Co., N.Y. From Hornellsville, 38 miles; Dunkirk, 90. Takes name from the late Philip Church's historic residence. Former station for Belfast, Oramel, Angelica. Agricultural.

FRIENDSHIP, Allegany Co., N.Y. From New York, 374 miles; Hornellsville, 42; Dunkirk, 86. Settled, 1807. Incorporated village, 1852. Population, 1898, 1,800. Agricultural and industrial. 6 churches; 1 school; 1 newspaper; 1 hotel; 2 banks. Important shipping point for dairy products, hay, grain, potatoes, live stock. Sash, door, and blind factories; stove company. Prosperous and growing.

CUBA, Allegany Co., N.Y. From New York, 383 miles; Hornellsville, 51; Dunkirk, 77. Agricultural. Population, 1,400. 4 churches; 2 schools; 2 hotels; 1 bank. The last spike in the construction of the Erie was driven at Cuba, April 21, 1851, by Silas Seymour, engineer in charge of that division. Cuba was the terminus of the Erie for five months pending the completion of the road from Dunkirk east. After the close of the War of 1812, emigration became extensive from the Eastern States to Ohio. The direct route from the Hudson to the Allegany through New York State was from Albany to Utica, then to Canandaigua, and from that point to Angelica, or Cuba, thence to Olean Point, from which the Allegany River conveyed them to the Ohio. Oil Creek, a tributary of the Allegany River, rising in the historical oil spring near Cuba, was preferred by the emigrants to the wretched roads. They would come to Cuba in the fall or in the spring, where they would wait for the first freshet in the creek. To accommodate them, boats of logs and planks, 16 to 24 feet long, were made by local builders at Cuba, and sold for from $30 to $50 each. These boats would carry five persons each with their goods, and the emigrant would make the trip to the Allegany at Olean Point, and thence down the river.

(HINSDALE, Cattaraugus Co., N.Y., between Cuba and Olean. An old village, a relic of the Genesee Canal, now long since departed.)

OLEAN, Cattaraugus Co., N.Y. From New York, 396 miles; Dunkirk, 64 miles. Settled, 1803. Incorporated as a City, 1892. Erie opened, May 14, 1851. Population then, 1,000; population, 1898, 15,000. 12 churches; 8 schools; 4 newspapers; 2 banks; 10 hotels; free library; State armory. Acid, barrel, spring-beds, boilers, engines, glue, glassware, horseshoes, hubs, leather, mill machinery, oils, oil-well supply, soap, shoe-findings, stump machines, shirts, tanners' supplies, wagon, and many other factories. Olean is the largest petroleum storage-place in the world. The Standard Oil Company has scores of immense iron tanks here. From Olean the crude petroleum is started to the seaboard through the iron pipes that carry it to the refineries, a great part of the way along the route of the Erie.

ALLEGANY, Cattaraugus Co., N.Y. From New York, 399 miles; Dunkirk, 60. Came into existence with the Erie. The original route of the Erie ran two miles south of its present location, and there a city had been plotted, believing that the railroad would bring to it great importance. The change in the route, however, destroyed that hope. The present village of Allegany sprang up instead. Population, 1,500. Seat of a Franciscan college and convent and of St. Elizabeth's Academy under the charge of the Sisters of St. Francis. Four miles beyond Allegany the Indian Reservation begins.

(VANDALIA, CARROLLTON, and GREAT VALLEY, Cattaraugus Co., N.Y. Stations between Allegany and Salamanca. Carrollton, junction of the Bradford Division. Great Valley, originally Killbuck station. Centre of an extensive lumbering business.)

SALAMANCA, Cattaraugus Co., N.Y. From New York, 415 miles; Dunkirk, 45. Settled, 1865; incorporated, 1878. Population, 5,000. Manufacturing and railroad centre. 7 churches; 5 schools; 3 newspapers 12 hotels; 2 banks; hospital; building and loan association; library; gymnasium. Named by James McHenry for the Marquis of Salamanca, Spain, a liberal contributor to the building of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad. Salamanca is built entirely on the lands of the Indian Reservation, which are held under enabling Congressional legislation by long tenure of leasehold. Salamanca came into existence with the building of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, now the Nypano Division of the Erie, which has its eastern terminus at this point. At that time the site of the present Salamanca was a tangled swamp. The settlement was a mile west of the present station, and known as Bucktooth, now West Salamanca. The first settlers in Salamanca were greatly hampered by the difficulty of securing satisfactory leases of ground to build upon, because of the lack of legal authority vested in the Indian proprietors to make them. After a long effort legislation was at last obtained doing away to a great extent with this difficulty, but it was not until a few years ago that the present beneficial legislation was procured through which the citizens were warranted in making such improvements as the importance and steady growth of the place demanded. Besides the Erie and its system, Salamanca is on the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg and Western New York and Pennsylvania railroads.

LITTLE VALLEY, Cattaraugus Co., N.Y. From New York, 421 miles; from Dunkirk, 39. Settled early in the century. Population, 1,000. Became the county seat in 1868. Cattaraugus County Fair Grounds; 3 churches, 2 schools. Centre of rich dairy country.

(CATTARAUGUS, DAYTON, PERRYSBURG, Cattaraugus Co., N.Y.; SMITH'S MILLS and FORESTVILLE, Chautauqua Co., N.Y. Original Erie stations and old villages on the elevated land between Little Valley and Dunkirk. At Dayton the Buffalo and Southwestern Division from Jamestown and Chautauqua Lake to Buffalo connects with main line. All these stations are thriving centres of the great Chautauqua and Cattaraugus dairy regions.)

DUNKIRK, Chautauqua Co., N.Y. From New York, 460 miles. Settled in 1810. Called Chadwick's Bay, after the original settler, Solomon Chadwick. The land now occupied by Dunkirk originally belonged to De Witt Clinton and Isaiah and John Thompson. In 1817 Walter Smith bought half for $10,000. In 1837 he sold it to New York men for double the price, and bought the other half for $7,000, and purchased 600 acres more. In 1838 he divided it into shares. One-quarter of it was to have been donated to the Erie if the railroad was completed in 1842. Dunkirk, incorporated a village in 1837. Population, 1898, 14,000. Manufacturing. 14 churches; 9 schools; 5 newspapers; 2 banks; 17 hotels. Young Men's Christian Association and Free Library. Port of entry on Lake Erie. Legal western terminus of the Erie. Electric railroads, electric lights. Extensive shops of the Erie were here until 1868 then abandoned and became the Brooks Locomotive Works. Besides the Erie, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, New York, Chicago and St. Louis, Dunkirk, Allegany Valley and Pittsburg, and Western New York and Pennsylvania railroads run through or terminate at Dunkirk.

BUFFALO DIVISION.
(From Hornellsville; see Allegany Division.)

ARKPORT, Steuben Co., N.Y.; BERNE, CANASERAGA, GARWOODS, and SWAINS, Allegany Co., N.Y.; DALTON, HUNTS, and PORTAGE, Livingston Co., N.Y.; CASTILE and SILVER SPRINGS, Wyoming Co., N.Y. Thrifty villages between Hornellsville and Warsaw. Dalton is the station for Nunda, a village of 1,000 population. At Portage is the great Erie Railroad bridge across the Genesee River at the Portage Falls. Silver Springs is the station to Silver Lake.

WARSAW, Wyoming Co., N.Y. From New York, 375 miles; Buffalo, 48. Settled, 1803. Incorporated, 1843. Population, 3,000. Agricultural and manufacturing. On the Great Wyoming Salt Belt, some of the finest wells being here and in the vicinity. 7 churches; high school; 2 newspapers; 2 banks; 5 hotels. Also on the Rochester and Pittsburg Railroad.

(GALE, Wyoming Co., N.Y.; LINDEN, Genesee Co., N.Y. Small places between Warsaw and Attica, in an agricultural region.)

ATTICA, Wyoming Co., N.Y. From New York, 392 miles; Buffalo, 31. Settled early in century. Incorporated, 1837. Population, 2,000, 5 churches; 1 newspaper; union school; 1 bank. At the junction of the Rochester and Buffalo divisions, forming a single line to Buffalo. Also on a branch of the New York Central.

(GRISWOLD and DARIEN, GENESEE Co., N.Y.; ALDEN, TOWN LINE, LANCASTER, CHEEKTOWAGA, Erie Co., N.Y. Neat and thriving villages between Attica and Buffalo.)

BUFFALO, Erie Co., N.Y. From New York, 425 miles. Village laid out by Holland Land Company in 1801. In 1812 it was burned by the British. Congress voted $80,000 to compensate for the loss. Incorporated a city, April, 1832. Black Rock included in city limits, 1852, and new city charter went in force January 1, 1854. Population then, 45,000. Population, 1898, 300,000. Port of entry. Seat of justice of Erie County. Western terminus of Erie Canal. Water-front of 5 miles: 2½ on Lake Erie, 2½ on Niagara River. Lake-front gradually rises to an extended plain, 50 feet above the water. Portion of river-front a bold bluff, 60 feet above the water. City handsomely built. Streets broad and straight. Where the waters of the lake merge in the Niagara River, Buffalo Creek enters the lake from the east and the Erie Canal from the northwest. Over 100 miles of asphalt streets. 15 parks, one of 442 acres. Claims to be the cleanest, best-lighted, and healthiest city in the United States. Water supply obtained from Niagara River through a tunnel extending nearly to the middle of the river. Gas and electric lighting; natural gas for fuel. Electric street railways. Public buildings include customhouse, post-office, State arsenal, State armory, city and county hall and jail, general hospital, insane asylum, four orphan asylums. Several private hospitals and asylums under church care. 167 churches; State Normal School; 50 public schools; 2 medical colleges; Buffalo Library; Grosvenor Library. 7 English and 3 German dailies, and 20 weekly newspapers. Board of Trade organized in 1844; incorporated in 1857. Merchants' Exchange. Preeminent in the grain trade 40 elevators, with storage capacity of 20,000,000 bushels transportation facility, 4,000,000 bushels a day. First elevator built in 1843 by Joseph Dart. In live-stock trade, second only to Chicago. In steel and iron, ranks next to Pittsburg, having Dearly 2,000 manufactories. Annual lumber trade, 400,000,000 feet. Greatest Eastern railroad centre: Erie and branches, New York Central, Lake Shore system, Michigan Central, Grand Trunk, West Shore, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, Lehigh Valley, Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg, Western New York and Pennsylvania, and numerous local railroads.

ROCHESTER DIVISION.
(From Corning; see Susquehanna Division.)

PAINTED POST, Steuben Co., N.Y. From New York, 293 miles; Dunkirk, 167; Buffalo, 132; Rochester, 93. Settled, 1786. Incorporated, 1893. Population, 1,000. Agricultural and manufacturing. On the Chemung tobacco belt. 3 churches; 1 school; 1 hotel; 1 bank. The Seneca chief, Montour, mortally wounded at the battle of Hogback, August 29, 1779, died here. A bronze statue of an Indian is erected in the public square commemorating the event. Junction of main line of Erie.

(COOPERS, CURTIS, CAMPBELL, and SAVONA, Steuben Co., N.Y. Thriving agricultural villages.)

BATH, Steuben Co., N.Y. From New York, 311 miles; Rochester, 74. Settled, 1793; incorporated, 1816. Population, 3,000 Agricultural and manufacturing. 6 churches; 1 school; 3 newspapers; 6 hotels; 2 banks. New York Sailors' and Soldiers' Home; Davenport Orphan Asylum. State fish hatchery near by. Admiral Howell, United States Navy, was born here. Bath was intended by its projectors to be the metropolis of the West. It was the headquarters of the Pultney estate, the proprietor of which was Sir William Pultney of England. His agent, Charles Williamson, founded the place. There was a theatre, a race-course, and a newspaper here as early as 1796. Steuben County fair-grounds, property of one of the oldest agricultural societies in the State, are here. Also on Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, and Bath and Hammondsport railroads, the latter one of the first railroads incorporated in the State of New York, having been chartered in 1831, under the name of the Bath and Crooked Lake Railroad. No railroad was built, however, until 1875, when the present Bath and Hammondsport Railroad was built as a three-foot gauge. It was made standard gauge in July, 1889.

(KANONA, AVOCA, WALLACE'S, Steuben Co., N.Y. Attractive villages in a picturesque region.)

COHOCTON, Steuben Co., N.Y. From New York, 326 miles; Rochester, 59. Population, 1,200. Formerly great lumber centre. Agricultural and manufacturing. 6 churches; union free school; circulating library; 2 newspapers; opera-house; 5 hotels; agricultural society and fairgrounds; water-works. Also on main line of Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.

(BLOOD'S, WAYLAND, Steuben Co.; SPRINGWATER, WEBSTER, CONESUS, SOUTH LIVONIA, LIVONIA, and HAMILTON, Livingston Co. Stations for thrifty villages in a garden spot of Western New York.)

AVON, Livingston Co., N.Y. From New York, 367 miles; Rochester, 18. Population, 1,600. Farming community. 4 churches; 1 high school; 1 parish school; 1 newspaper; 2 banks; electric lights; natural gas belt; superior fire department; gravity water system; sewered; cement sidewalks; telephone, local and long distance; village park; soldiers' monument; opera-house; race-track. Famous health resort. Mineral springs; large hotels and sanitariums. A place of refinement and culture in the Genesee Valley. Junction of Rochester, Buffalo, and Mount Morris branches of the Erie. The sulphur springs here were known and used by the Indians long before the first white settlers came in the Genesee Valley. Two hundred years ago De Nouville, the French explorer, fought a fierce battle with the Indians on the present site of Avon. General Sullivan, in 1779, also invaded the valley at this point, and drove the Indians from it forever.

(RUSH, SCOTTSVILLE, HENRIETTA, and RED CREEK, Monroe Co., N.Y., are bustling stations between Avon and Rochester. Scottsville has 3 churches, a union school, and extensive mills a mile and a half west of the station.)

ROCHESTER, Monroe Co., N.Y. From New York, 386 miles. First settler came in 1788, but first actual settlement began in 1810, made by Col. Nathaniel Rochester. Incorporated as village of Rochesterville, 1817; as city of Rochester, 1834. Population in 1817, 600; in 1834, 11,000; 1898, estimated, 175,000. Port of entry. Genesee River flows through centre of city. Unexcelled waterpower; river falls 226 feet within 3 miles; 3 perpendicular falls, 96, 26, and 84 feet high. City covers area of 18 miles. Manufacturing. 90 churches; high school; 16 ward schools; Rochester University (1846), Theological Seminary (I850), both Baptist. 6 national banks; 4 savings banks; 6 private banks; 7 daily, 16 weekly, 1 tri-weekly newspapers; 15 monthlies. Children's Home, Old Woman's Home, State Industrial School. Hospitals and libraries. Famous for its great milling industry (once called the "Flour City") and for its nurseries of fruit trees and plants, and for flower and garden seed growing. 16 flour mills, manufacturing 3,000,000 bushels of wheat annually. Largest carriage factory in United States. Annual manufacture of boots and shoes and clothing, $20,000,000. Rubber goods, furniture, steam engines, agricultural machinery, tobacco, cigars, blast furnaces, breweries, iron bridge works. Erie Canal crosses Genesee River by cut-stone aqueduct, 848 feet long, 45 feet wide, supported by 9 arches. The architecture of Rochester is beautiful, imposing, costly. Wide, shaded streets, crossing at right angles. Electric railroads with all neighboring towns. Lake Ontario, 7 miles. Two water supplies: Hemlock Lake, 29 miles distant, elevation 400 feet, and Genesee River (Holly system). Paid fire department. Noted buildings: Powers Block and the Arcade." Spirit rappings" had their origin here, with the Fox sisters, in 1850. Erie, New York Central, Western New York and Pennsylvania, Pittsburg, Buffalo and Rochester, and local railroads.

NEWBURGH SHORT CUT AND BRANCH.

CENTRAL VALLEY, HIGHLAND MILLS, WOODBURY, HOUGHTON FARM, MOUNTAINVILLE, CORNWALL, NEW WINDSOR, Orange Co., N.Y. Along Newburgh Short Cut, from Turner's, N.Y.; see New York Division. Villages among the Hudson Highlands. Dairy farming, manufacturing, fruit-growing, stockraising. Important as summer resorts. New Windsor settlements early in last century. Revolutionary association. The Ellison House, built in 1735, where Washington had his headquarters, is still standing. Society of the Cincinnati had its origin at New Windsor, in the "Temple of Virtue," a large frame building erected by order of Gen. Washington in 1782.

NEWBURGH, Orange Co., N.Y. From New York, 63 miles. Settled 1719, by Palatines from the Palatinate of Newburgh, Germany. A church settlement originally. Incorporated as village, 1800; as city, 1865. Estimated population, 1898, 25,000. One of the capitals of Orange County. Situated on the plateau and high hills overlooking Newburgh Bay. Manufacturing, and centre of great dairy and fruit region. Coal storage depot and shipping point of Pennsylvania Coal Company. Shipyards, cotton and woollen factories. 32 churches; free academy; 5 grammar schools; private boarding schools; public library; children's home; Home for the Friendless; State armory; Academy of Music; 4 daily, 5 weekly newspapers; 3 banks; 5 hotels. Rich in Revolutionary associations. Seat of military operations was in the Highlands, in 1782-83. Washington's headquarters in the Hasbrouck Mansion, built in 1750, and still standing in the condition it was left when the army was disbanded, June 23, 1783. Here Washington matured the plans which led to the final triumph of the American army. Newburgh particularly belongs to the history of Erie. Also on West Shore Railroad, Albany and Troy lines of Hudson River steamboats. Ferry to Fishkill Landing (New York Central Railroad connection). Electric street railways and to suburbs. Electric and gas lighting. Hospital.

CRAIGVILLE, BLOOMING GROVE, WASHINGTONVILLE, SALISBURY MILLS, VAIL'S GATE, Orange Co., N.Y. Along Newburgh Branch, from Greycourt, N.Y.; see New York Division. In the historic-valley of the Murdererskill. All ancient settlements. Dairy farming, manufacturing, fruit-growing, stock-raising. Famous summer resorts. At Vail's Gate, the Edmoston House, built in 1755, still standing, was the headquarters of Gen. St. Clair and Gen. Gates. At Washington Square Gen. Clinton's headquarters were in the Falls House, still intact.

HONESDALE BRANCH.
(From Lackawaxen, Pa.; see Delaware Division.)

HAWLEY, Wayne Co., Pa. From New York, 126 miles. Came into existence with the Pennsylvania Coal Company. Original settlement called Paupack Eddy. For years terminus of the Pennsylvania Coal Company's gravity railroad connecting the mines of that company with the Delaware and Hudson Canal, and later with the Hawley Branch of the Erie. Gravity railroad was replaced by the Erie and Wyoming Railroad in 1881. Population, 2,000. Incorporated, 1882. Manufacturing. Silk mills, glass-cutting works, and glass factory; bluestone works. 4 churches; graded school; 1 newspaper; 1 bank; 4 hotels.

(WHITE MILLS, Wayne Co., Pa., a neat village, owing its existence and sustenance to the famous Dorflinger glasscutting works.)

HONESDALE, Wayne Co., Pa. From New York, 135 miles. First settlement, 1823. Came into existence with the Delaware and Hudson Canal and its gravity railroad in 1826. Incorporated, 1831. County seat. Farming, dairy, and manufacturing. Population, including part outside of corporation limits, 6,000. Agricultural and manufacturing. 7 churches; 1 synagogue; graded school; 2 weekly, 1 semiweekly newspapers; 1 national bank; 1 savings bank; 5 hotels. The first locomotive that turned a wheel on the American continent was run at Honesdale on the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company's track, August 9, 1829, by Horatio Allen, who years afterward was President of the Erie. Jennie Brownscombe, the noted artist, and Homer Green, the author and poet, are residents of Honesdale. The lofty cliff rising east of Honesdale, known as Irving Cliff, was named by Washington Irving. John Jacob Astor, Philip Hone, and other distinguished New York men visited Honesdale on the opening of the canal, and climbed to the summit of the cliff. Honesdale was named for Philip Hone, an old-time mayor of New York City and a patron of the canal. Silk mill, glass-cutting works, iron foundry, woollen mills. Coal storage and shipping point of Delaware and Hudson and Erie.

JEFFERSON DIVISION.
(From Susquehanna, Pa.; see Susquehanna Division.)

FOREST CITY, Susquehanna Co., Pa. From Susquehanna, 32 miles. Northern boundary of Lackawanna coal field. Settlement due to discovery of coal. Incorporated as borough, 1888. Population, estimated, 5,000. Coal mining. Erie's coal mine property hereabout. 8 churches, 1 graded school, 1 newspaper, 1 bank, 4 hotels.

CARBONDALE, Lackawanna Co., Pa. From Susquehanna, 39 miles. Settled, 1827, by beginning of coal mining by Delaware and Hudson Coal Company. Pioneer city of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Incorporated, 1850. Coal mining and manufacturing. Silk mill, iron foundry, machinery. First coal marketed to tidewater on the Hudson mined here. 8 churches, 16 schools, 2 newspapers, 2 banks, 6 hotels. Free library; emergency hospital; opera-house. First great mine disaster here in 1845; 16 persons buried by falling roof of original mine. Gas and electric lighting. On Pennsylvania Division of Delaware and Hudson Railroad and western terminus of Delaware and Hudson Gravity Railroad.

Other stations on this division, small farming, lumbering, or mining centres. Lanesboro, Susquehanna Co., Pa.; Starrucca, Wayne Co., Pa.; Herrick Centre, Susquehanna Co., Pa., are old settlements. Starrucca once important in tanning industry. Herrick Centre, Uniondale, Stillwater, Thompson, agricultural. Lanesboro, legal terminus of Jefferson Railroad. Hallenback's and West Carbondale, mining and lumber.

BRADFORD DIVISION.
(Front Carrollton, N.Y.; see Allegany, Division.)

BRADFORD, McKean Co., Pa. From New York,419 miles; Buffalo, 97; Dunkirk, 63. Settled early. Originally Littleton, a lumbering hamlet. City had its rise in the discovery of petroleum. First practical development of the territory, 1875. For many years the oil-producing centre of the world, the region producing 25,000 barrels a day. Manufacturing. In a vast coal and lumber region. Population, 1898, 14,000. 18 churches; 2 synagogues; 3 daily, 3 weekly newspapers; 3 banks; 23 hotels; 3 oil refineries; 6 oil-well supply firms; 3 pipe lines; 47 miscellaneous manufactories; paved streets; electric lights and railways; gravity water system; natural gas; 2 parks; 7 schools; 1 high school; 2 parochial schools; hook and ladder company, and 6 hose companies. Electric railways to Olean and Rock City.

Besides Bradford, the oil business called into importance the stations of Limestone, Babcock, Kendal, De Golia, Lewis Run, Big Shanty, Crawford's, Alton, and Buttsville, along this division of Erie.

NIAGARA FALLS BRANCH.
(From Buffalo.)

TONAWANDA, Erie Co., N.Y. From New York, 432 miles; Buffalo, 13. Early settlement. Population, 7,500. Lumber-trade centre and manufacturing. On Niagara River and at mouth of Tonawanda Creek. Opposite Grand Island. 11 churches; high school; 7 district schools; 2 newspapers 2 banks. Terminus of Lockport Branch. Also on Canandaigua and Niagara Falls Branch of New York Central Railroad.

NIAGARA FALLS, Niagara Co., N.Y. From New York, 442 miles; Buffalo, 24. Settled, 1806. Incorporated as village, 1847; as city, March 17, 1892. Population, 22,000. Manufacturing. Greatest chemical manufacturing city in the world. Greatest electrical centre in the United States; the Niagara Falls Power Company developing nearly 50,000 horse-power, the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company developing 30,000 horse-power. 15 churches; 13 schools; 4 newspapers; 34 hotels; 6 banks public library; Memorial Hospital. Many of the battles of the French and Indian War were fought along the Niagara River. At Youngstown the French made their last stand against the British. Descriptions of the grandeur of the great cataract that gives this place its name are household words.

LOCKPORT BRANCH.
(From Tonawanda.)

LOCKPORT, Niagara Co., N.Y. From New York, 460 miles; Buffalo, 25. Settled, 1810. Incorporated as a village, 1836; as a city, 1868. Population, 20,000. On the rich fruit belt of western New York. Manufacturing. 16 churches, 9 schools, including first union school in the State; 3 daily, 3 semi-weekly, 1 weekly, and 2 monthly newspapers; 4 banks; opera-house. Brick, asphalt, and stone streets; electric lights, electric railroad to Buffalo and Lake Ontario. Water and electric power. 5 hose companies, 1 hook and ladder company. Home of the Holly Water Works system. Upwards of 25 large manufactories of every variety of goods, machinery, and Supplies. 20 miles of sewers. Lockport shipments of fruit in 1896 were equivalent to 1,200,000 barrels. Municipal hall, court-house, and jail. County seat of Niagara County. Lockport is named from having in its limits 10 locks on the Erie Canal, largest in the State. Governor Washington Hunt was born here.

BUFFALO BRANCH OF ROCHESTER DIVISION.
(From Avon; see Rochester Division.)

CALEDONIA, Livingston Co., N.Y. From New York, 374 miles; Rochester, 25; Buffalo, 59. Settled, 1805; incorporated, 1890. Population, 1,100. Agricultural; 4 churches; 1 school; 1 newspaper; 2 banks; 2 hotels; Ladies' Library Association. Birthplace of the late United States Senator Angus Cameron. Originally settled by the Scotch, whose descendants are largely of the present population. The wonderful Caledonia Big Spring is here. This extraordinary spring was early a great rendezvous of the Indians. On its outlet was located the first fish hatchery in the United States, if not in the world. This was established by the late Seth Green, the father of practical fish culture. The hatchery is now the property of the State, and millions of brook-trout fry and fry of all other freshwater game fish are hatched here, and annually distributed to the waters throughout the State. Also near the New York Central and Lehigh Valley railroads.

LEROY, Livingston Co., N.Y. From New York, 381 miles; Rochester, 33; Buffalo, 51. Settled, 1797; incorporated, 1834. Agricultural and manufacturing. On the great salt belt of western New York. 8 churches; union free school and annexes; 2 newspapers; 2 banks; 4 hotels. Indian remains and relics found at Fort Hill, 2 miles north of the village; gypsum and Onondaga limestone. Also near the New York Central and Lehigh Valley railroads.

(STAFFORD, Genesee Co., N.Y. Station for the villages of Stafford and Morganville.)

BATAVIA, Genesee Co., N.Y. From New York, 396 miles; Buffalo, 41; Rochester, 43. Settled, 1801; population, 8,500. Agricultural and manufacturing. Plough, wagon, and other factories. 8 churches; 6 schools; 2 newspapers (1 daily); 4 banks; 3 hotels. State School for the Blind. Batavia was the home of Dean Richmond, the famous railroad magnate, politician, and millionaire. It was the seat of the great Holland Land Company, which owned nearly all western New York in the early part of the century. The original land office of this company, a quaint and historical relic of the pioneer days, is still standing in Batavia. This place was the scene of the alleged abduction of Morgan by the Freemasons of 1826 for exposures of that order which he was charged with having made. This event, whether true or false, led to the anti-Masonic excitement in New York and other States, the result of which was a great political revolution. It was here that the first meeting to advocate the construction of the Erie Canal was held in 1809. The Oak Orchard Acid Springs, a curious collection of bubbling fountains, nine in number, in no two of which the water is the same, are located near Batavia.

ALEXANDER, Genesee Co., N.Y., 29 miles from Buffalo. A small village, the seat of the Genesee and Wyoming Seminary, founded in 1834.

(For stations beyond Alexander, see Buffalo Division.)

MOUNT MORRIS BRANCH.
(From Avon; see Rochester Division.)

GENESEO, Livingston Co., N.Y. From New York, 375 miles; Rochester, 27. Settled, 1790; incorporated, 1832.

County seat. Agricultural. Population, 3,500. 5 churches; 2 schools; 2 newspapers; 3 hotels; 1 bank. State Normal School and union school. Wadsworth Library. The first settlers were William and James Wadsworth, agents for the sale of immense tracts of land in the vicinity. Gen. James S. Wadsworth, who fell at the battle of the Wilderness in 1864, was a son of the original James. The historic home of the Wadsworths is here. Several descendants of the pioneers have seats in the village or vicinity. The Treaty of Big Tree between the Indians and the United States, the most important event in the history of Western New York, was signed here in 1797.

MOUNT MORRIS, Livingston Co., N.Y. From New York, 382 miles; Rochester, 34. Settled, 1794. Incorporated, 1835. Named for Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution. Population, 2,400. Agricultural and manufacturing. 5 churches; 1 school; 2 newspapers,4 hotels; 3 banks.

At Geneseo, Mount Morris, and vicinity, there exists a condition of things common enough abroad, but rarely found in America, a sort of enlightened feudal system, the land being almost exclusively owned by a few individuals, hereditary holders, who, instead of leaving its management in the hands of unscrupulous agents, and living elsewhere on the desired revenue, plant themselves squarely in the centre of their own acres and identify their interests with those of their tenants. The life of the people of this class is not unlike that of the English country gentleman; their work consists in the management and improvement of their land, the bettering of the condition of the farming population, and the breeding and maintaining of thoroughbred animals, preeminently the horse. Their relaxation is found in the entertainment of guests, the exchange of visits, and, more than all else, fox-hunting in its season. Once every year, lured by the Genesee Valley hunt, one of the most famous in the country, "society" comes farther westward than is its wont, and finds in the autumnal splendors of the valley a rival to its own Berkshire Hills.

ON ERIE ROUTE THAT FAILED.

JAMESTOWN, Chautauqua Co., N.Y. From New York, 449 miles; Buffalo, 54; Dunkirk, 40. Settled, 1811. Incorporated as a village, 1827; as a city, 1886. Population estimated, 35,000. Agricultural and manufacturing. 18 churches; high school; 2 daily, 4 weekly, 2 semi-weekly newspapers; hospital; Prendergast Free Library. Jamestown is located at the foot of Chautauqua Lake, on Chautauqua Outlet. Artesian water; natural gas; electric lights and railway. Junction of the Buffalo and Southwestern Division and of the Meadville Division of the Ohio Division (Nypano). Steamboats run to and fro the entire length of the famous Chautauqua Lake. Jamestown was one of the first places connected with Erie history, and the original route was to pass near it, but was changed to its present route from Salamanca through Cattaraugus County.


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This page is from Thomas Ehrenreich's Railroad Extra website, and is reproduced here as a memorial to him and his dedication to preserving the history of railroading in America. Please note I have no access to the original source material and cannot provide higher resolution scans.
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