USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > Rochester and Monroe County: A history and guide > Part 19
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On the FAIR GROUNDS, W. of the city, the annual Genesee County Fair is held every fall.
At 26.5 m. is junction with State 77. The route turns R. on State 77.
INDIAN FALLS, 28 m., was the site of an important ren- dezvous of the Iroquois. The falls are formed by the Tona- wanda River, which here descends over a rocky ledge into a beautiful gorge.
On the L. bank of the river at the falls is GILMORE PARK (visitors welcome, free), with picnic sites.
BASOM, 30.8 m. (723 alt., 90 pop.), named for Samuel Basom, an early settler, marks the main entrance to the Tonawanda Indian Reservation.
The route turns L. into the Reservation.
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TONAWANDA INDIAN RESERVATION, 31 m., is one of three set apart by the Government for the Seneca Indians, "Keepers of the Western Door" of the great League of the Iroquois. About 600 Indians live on its 7,500 acres. The drive around the principal points of interest on the reserva- tion is about 12 miles long.
Although many of the Indians are modern in dress and thought and have to a large extent adopted the mode of life of the white man, yet in this rather wild and aboriginal setting can be observed many of the primitive manners and traditional customs of this once warlike tribe who called themselves the "Men of Men." Individual Indians can be induced to recount the old legends of their race, to point out some of the aboriginal trails, now nearly obliterated, or to tell how the sylvan recesses of the reservation have attracted deer and other wild animals from distant points.
About half the Indians on this reservation have adopted some form of the Christian religion, but the other half still adhere to the teachings of Handsome Lake, the great re- organizer and preserver of the ancient Iroquoian religion. All the children of school age are transported by bus to the public schools in Akron. A large amount of craft work is carried on under the direction of Dr. Arthur C. Parker, director of the Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences, himself of Indian blood. The Indians turn out metal work in sterling silver, copper, and brass; beadwork embroidered upon buckskin clothing; various models to be placed upon exhibition in the museum; copies of ancient weapons, such as war clubs and tomahawks; ladles, mortars and pestles, troughs, and bowls in wood; reproductions of the tradi- tional headdress and war bonnet in silver filigree sur- mounted by scarlet covering and eagle feathers; basketry of all kinds; corn-husk moccasins; and the hideous masks used in the ceremonial rites of the tribes.
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Until late in 1936 the Indians used the former reservation schoolhouse for a community building and library, and had accumulated some 5,000 volumes. After this building was destroyed by fire, the construction of a new community house was undertaken by the WPA. The cornerstone was laid on May 10, 1937, by Lester W. Herzog, State Admin- istrator of the Works Progress Administration, using an etched silver trowel with carved walnut handle designed and made by the Indians on the reservation. Later Mr. Herzog was adopted into the Senecas in an elaborate public ceremony. Among the Indians who took part in the cere- monies were Chief William Jones, president of the Seneca Nation; Chief Aaron Poodry, clerk of the Nation; Chief Nick Bailey and his Indian band; and Jesse J. Cornplanter, descendant of the renowned Chief Cornplanter. The new log-cabin structure, to be opened in October 1937, will in- clude a gymnasium, a library, a medical clinic, an arts and crafts studio, a museum, clubrooms, and an assembly room. A decorative stage curtain for the auditorium will depict the history of the Seneca tribe.
In the northern part of the reservation is the Long House, in which the pow-wows, dances, and traditional cere- monies of the Indians are still held. The vicinity of the Long House is the most densely populated part of the reservation.
In the western part of the reservation stands the former home of Eli Parker (1828-1895), secretary to General Grant. He was a sachem of the Wolf clan with the Seneca title of Do-ne-ho-ga-wa.
SECTION C. TONAWANDA INDIAN RESERVATION- BERGEN. STATE 77, 19, 262, TOWN ROAD, STATE 237, 262. 27 m.
From the Tonawanda Indian Reservation the route re- traces to Basom, 0.2 m .; L. on State 77; at 0.4 m. R. on State 19.
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OAKFIELD, 6.8 m. (780 alt., 1,919 pop.), was first settled in the spring of 1801. A little later Gideon Dunham con- structed the first tavern, and the place was known as Dun- ham's Grove. In 1811 sawmills and gristmills were built. For a time the town was known as Caryville. In 1837 the name was changed to Plain Brook, but soon after was given its present name.
West of the village is one of the finest gypsum deposits in the state. As early as 1842 gypsum was commercially mined, but it was not until after the completion of the West Shore R. R. in 1884 that extensive development of the gypsum beds began. The United States Gypsum Co. built the two largest plants. The Niagara Gypsum Co. began business in 1906, and the Oakfield Gypsum Products Co. and the Phoenix Gypsum Co. in 1920.
At Oakfield the route turns L. on State 262.
ELBA, 12 m. (741 alt., 429 pop.), was settled first by John Young, who came from Virginia on horseback, arriv- ing July 11, 1803. The first gristmill was built in 1810, and the first tavern in 1815. The village was then known as Pine Hill, but when the postoffice was established it was given the name Elba.
At the traffic light in Elba the route turns R. on a ma- cadam town road. At 18.6 m. the route turns R. on State 237.
BYRON CENTER, 20 m. (588 alt., 200 pop.), named for the English poet, Lord Byron, was first settled in 1807; 2 or 3 years later there were both a sawmill and a gristmill. The first cheese factory in Genesee County was erected near Byron in 1867 and carried on a successful business for many years, shipping a large part of its product to England.
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TONAWANDA INDIAN RESERVATION
At Byron Center the route turns L. on State 262, which it follows to Bergen, 27 m.
SECTION D. BERGEN-ROCHESTER. STATE 33. 19 m.
In this section the tour retraces the route of Section A, (see Tour 2, Section a).
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TOUR 4
CALEDONIA FISH HATCHERY
Rochester, Scottsville, Caledonia, Riga, Chili, Rochester. State 35, 253, 36, 33A. Rochester-Rochester, 40 m.
Roads concrete or macadam, open throughout the year. Baltimore & Ohio and Pennsylvania R. Rs. Rochester to Caledonia. Bus service Rochester to Caledonia, Chili to Rochester.
This route traverses an agricultural section of Monroe County in which wheat has been raised since 1787 and is now the most important crop. A few apple orchards dot the hilly landscape, and near the city large tracts are devoted to truck farming.
SECTION A. ROCHESTER-CALEDONIA. STATE 35, 253, 36. 20 m.
For some distance this section borders the Genesee River, following an old Indian trail.
West from Four Corners on Main St .; L. on Plymouth Ave .; R. on Elmwood Ave .; L. on State 35 (Scottsville Road).
BARGE CANAL, 3 m. (city line.)
MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, 3.3 m. (taxi fare from Rochester, $1.25), is recognized by the U. S. Department of Commerce. It is a regular landing field for the planes of the American
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STATE FISH HATCHERIES AT CALEDONIA
Airways. All the runways are hard-surfaced; the largest is 4,300 ft. long. There is hangar space for 40 planes. The field is floodlighted for night flying. Planes may be chartered for short or long private flights, and there is a "fly-it-yourself" service.
At 8.3 m. the road cuts over DUMPLING HILL, said to be a corruption of Doubling Hill, so named because early settlers hauling their grain to the mills in Rochester found it necessary to double their teams in order to get up the hill. In slippery weather autos encounter like difficulties. An- other tradition is that a woman living on the hill served apple dumplings to the fishermen who, in naming the hill, sought to immortalize her cooking.
This section of the Genesee River has long been recog- nized as good fishing. Bait can be purchased along the road throughout the fishing season, and boats can be rented for a small fee.
Many Indian relics have been found nearby. When the present road was cut through Dumpling Hill the skeletons of five Indians, sitting upright, were uncovered.
At 12 m. is the junction (R) with Marsh Rd.
Right on this road is an ANIMAL CEMETERY, 0.3 m., containing carefully kept graves and stone markers indicating the affection of many owners for their pets.
At 12.1 m. State 35 joins State 253. The route turns R. on State 253.
SCOTTSVILLE, 12.3 m. (563 alt., 936 pop.), was settled in 1786, 3 years before the first settlement in Rochester, when Ebenezer "Indian" Allen, Genesee Valley's Daniel Boone, bought the flats along Oatka Creek and the Genesee River within the village boundary. On a knoll on Oatka's northern bank he erected his log cabin; and here, with his
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Indian wife and his white wife, he lived until 1789, when he sold his farm to Peter Sheffer and went to the Falls, later Rochesterville, to build his mills there. A hillock in the middle of a field back of Eugene Brown's house, at the edge of Scottsville on the road to West Henrietta, marks the exact site of Allen's log cabin. The timbers of the Sheffer house have been built into the Brown residence.
Several of the houses erected by the early settlers are still standing in Scottsville. At the corner of Main and Roch- ester Sts. is a HOUSE built in 1814 by Abraham Hanford. His grandson, Rear Admiral Franklin Hanford, was born 3 m. from Scottsville Road, and moved to the village with his parents as a small child. As a youth he entered the Navy, later served in the Civil War, and was commander of the Alert. Upon his retirement he was made a rear ad- miral, and returned to Scottsville, where he resided until his death.
The interior doors of the John Keyes residence are "witch doors," with the panels designed in the form of a cross to keep of evil spirits unleashed by witches.
GARBUTT, 15 m. (597 alt., 300 pop.), is a hamlet so small that it would scarcely be noticed in passing were it not for the large buildings of the Empire Gypsum Company plant standing at the L. of the road.
The STONE STORE (R) of Frank Garbutt, built in 1822 and still in use, once served as the trading center for many miles of surrounding territory. On an iron safe in the store can be seen holes and scars left long ago by yeggs in an unsuccessful attempt to blow off the door. "The safe wasn't even locked," chuckles the proprietor.
Across the road from the store, back of the schoolhouse, stands the weather-blackened frame BREAK-OF-DAY HOUSE, uninteresting in appearance but noteworthy as
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STATE FISH HATCHERIES AT CALEDONIA
having been the first store in Garbutt and the original home of the Garbutt family, for whom the settlement was named. To all the surrounding neighborhood it is known as the Break-of-Day House, for from its place high on the bank of Oatka Creek its windows reflect the first rays of the rising sun.
A ruined STONE MILL stands beyond this house near the creek. Its walls, floors, and ceilings are supported by foot-square beams more than 40 ft. long, hand-hewn, and held in place by wooden pegs and hand-forged spikes. In 1812, when this mill was built, it was used for grinding flour, and three holes in the floor show where the millstones rested; but the stones were removed long ago when the building was converted into a plaster mill. Part of the huge oven of a brick kiln, built against one end of the mill, still remains.
From the rear doorway of the mill one can look across Oatka Creek to where, on the opposite bank, stone arches open into the tunnel of the dolomite mine. Its workings extend 3 m. underground. High-tension overhead wires carry small cars to bring the dolomite from the mine, to be transported over a spur track bridging the creek a short distance above. Because of possible danger to the public the mine is not open to sightseers.
WHEATLAND (CENTER), 16.8 m. (606 alt., 50 pop.), contains the plant of the Ebsary Co., employing over 150 men and manufacturing gypsum products, including wall- board, plaster, and blocks.
At 19 m., at the junction on State 253 and 36, stands a BOULDER (L) with an inscription to the effect that at this point Scottish pioneers built in 1803 the first school- house W. of the Genesee River, and that in 1805 the Cale- donian Presbyterian Kirk, oldest extant church W. of the river, was formed here.
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The route turns L. on State 36.
MUMFORD, 19.2 m. (618 alt., 450 pop.), was first settled in 1804. Its sole industry is the Mumford Paper Mills Co., employing 40 people.
The little PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, built in the Gothic style, is known as "the church of petrified wood." In reality it is constructed of undressed blocks of marl taken from a nearby swamp, but the stones have in some places a fibrous appearance, like asbestos, giving rise to the local belief that they are petrified wood. When first built in 1863 the church was white, but age and weather have stained its walls to a gray that is almost black. Wherever the white surface of the rock is exposed, it sparkles and glitters in the sunlight.
CALEDONIA STATE FISH HATCHERY, 19.6 m. (R) (open to the public; picnicking and overnight camping), estab- lished by Seth Green in 1864 and purchased by the State in 1870, contains 19 acres. Ownership of an additional 712 acres in the rear of the Caledonia High School, which con- tain the main springs, enables the state to control the valu- able water rights of Spring Brook. This stream, which flows through the main hatchery, has a minimum flow of 5,000 gallons a minute with a temperature that varies less than 10 degrees throughout the year, making it ideal for the propagation of trout. Wall-eyed pike eggs, or spawn, are shipped in, hatched, and then immediately distributed. This hatchery has its own trout breeders, so that it handles the entire propagation of the trout from breeding to final distribution. When the trout are 3 inches long they are shipped out as ordered by the State Fisheries office in Albany. In 1936 the hatchery produced 13,000,000 trout- brook, rainbow, brown, and lake. Attendants are at hand to give information, and study-groups of school children are welcome.
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SECTION B. CALEDONIA FISH HATCHERY-ROCH- ESTER. STATE 36, 33A. 19.9 m.
The route passes through a hilly countryside of farms, occasionally marked by neglected and abandoned farm machinery.
Leaving the hatchery at Caledonia, the route retraces through Mumford to junction of State 36 and 253, 0.6 m., and continues N. on State 36.
RIGA (Rī'-ga), 7.3 m. (640 alt., 20 pop.), is also known as Riga Center. Before the coming of the railroad this was a stop-over point for stagecoaches.
The OLD TAVERN, the first frame house and post office in the town of Riga, built in 1808, is still standing. The present occupant welcomes visitors and shows with pride the old double fire-place flanked with bake ovens, the hand- hewn beams showing the marks of the crude adze, the wide board floors, and the antique furniture which crowds the low-ceilinged rooms. Mine host is a "dowser" and will allow his guests to experiment with a branching peach twig which, held reverently in the hands, will twist around and point down to hidden springs of living water.
Across the road from the Old Tavern is another OLD HOUSE (not open to public), built to serve as a tavern but now used as a residence. In it the Riga Academy, once a flourishing school for boarding and day pupils, was organ- ized in 1846.
At Riga the route turns R. (E) on State 33A.
At 18.9 m. the route turns L. on Chili Ave. At the Barge Canal, 19.9 m., is the Rochester city line.
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TOUR 5
LETCHWORTH PARK AND HIGH BANKS OF THE GENESEE
Rochester, Caledonia, Perry, Silver Lake, Letchworth Park, Mount Morris, High Banks, Geneseo, Avon, Rochester. State 35, 253, 36, US 20, State 245, 19A, 39, 63, 36, US 20, State 20D, 5, 2. Rochester-Rochester, 112 m.
Highways mostly concrete, open throughout the year.
Pennsylvania R. R., Rochester to Letchworth Park; Erie R. R. crosses the Genesee Gorge on the high bridge at the park.
This tour penetrates to the heart of the Genesee country, the land of the Algonkins and of the Six Nations of the Iroquois, and the culminating point of Gen. John Sullivan's campaign of 1779.
SECTION A. ROCHESTER-CALEDONIA. STATE 35, 253, 36. 21 m. (see Tour 4, section a).
SECTION B. CALEDONIA-PORTAGEVILLE. STATE 36, 5, 245, 19A. 35 m.
CALEDONIA, 0 m. (669 alt., 1,487 pop.), was settled by Scotsmen who first came to the region in 1803.
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LETCHWORTH PARK AND GENESEE HIGHBANKS
The MASONIC TEMPLE, which also contains the post office, built in 1830 of red brick, was used as an inn in the stagecoach days.
The PUBLIC LIBRARY is housed in a chiseled stone building erected in 1826 by Major Gad Blakesley which served at various times as post office, bank, and apothecary shop.
A stone marker near the Caledonia High School fixes the site of the old elm COUNCIL TREE of the Senecas.
The route continues S. on State 36.
YORK, 7.8 m. (726 alt., 150 pop.), in spite of its English name, was settled by Scottish Covenanters, many of whose descendants are residents of the village. An annual custom of the town is the meeting of the clans.
The conspicuous COBBLESTONE SCHOOLHOUSE on a central corner of the village, still in use, once numbered among its pupils Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States, whose father held a pastorate in York from 1837 to 1840. The land on which the building stands was presented to the town for school purposes by a settler named MacIntyre, with the stipulation that a yearly rental of 1 cent be paid; if the rent were to fall in arrears the land would revert to the MacIntyre family.
GREIGSVILLE, 10.8 m. (924 alt., 45 pop.), is a farming community center with a large central school.
From Greigsville a macadam road leads (L) to RETSOF, 1.5 m. (700 alt., 300 pop.). Here are the SALT MINE and plant of the International Salt Company. The company asserts that the mine is the largest of its kind in the country. The name is the reversed spelling of the name of the first president of the salt company, Foster.
LEICESTER, 15 m. (661 alt., 285 pop.), is distinctive on account of the large green in the center of the village about
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ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY
which the houses are built in the New England manner. Facing the green is a small church with Doric columns and a Gothic tower.
At Leicester the route turns R. on US 20.
At PINE TAVERN, 17.3 m., the route turns L. on State 245.
PERRY, 22 m. (1407 alt., 4,231 pop.), was settled in 1807, and 4 years later a sawmill and gristmill were built. It bore a succession of names-Slabtown, Shakesburg, Columbia, Nineveh, and finally Perry, the last in honor of Commodore Oliver H. Perry, the hero of the Battle of Lake Erie.
At 22.7 m. is junction (R) with a poor macadam road.
Right on this road is SILVER LAKE, 0.5 m. (1,356 alt., 50 pop.), about 4 m. long, lying at an unusually high elevation for lakes in the eastern part of the United States. Several miles of road wind in and out among the summer cottages which surround the lake. Conclaves of religious organizations hold their sessions on the assembly grounds here each summer. The lake offers boating and fishing.
CASTILE, 28.5 m. (1,431 alt., 900 pop.), can be seen from a distance with a white church spire thrusting its point above the shielding trees. This village is the home of the CASTILE SANATORIUM, founded in 1849, with build- ings on both sides of the street.
At 29.5 m. is junction with State 19A. The route turns L. on State 19A.
LETCHWORTH PARK, 33.7 m.
Parking: Free, except in supervised areas, where fee is 25 cents. Picnic Grounds: Near Upper Falls and at Tea Table Rock; tables, fireplaces, shelters, comfort stations, drinking fountains.
Camping: Near Lower Falls, cabins ($1.50 and $2. per day) with tables and beds, outdoor fireplaces and fuel. Permits for overnight
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LETCHWORTH PARK AND GENESEE HIGHBANKS
camping from park superintendent at entrance. Food can be ob- tained from nearby farmers and villages.
Hotel Accommodations: Glen Iris Inn.
Letchworth Park, containing 6,477 acres, is well known for the gorge which the Genesee River has cut here, plung- ing over three cascades with a total drop of 248 ft .: the Upper Falls, 71 ft .; the Middle Falls, 107 ft .; the Lower Falls and rapids, 70 ft. Near the entrance to the park is posted a large-scale map which indicates all the points of interest on the tour through the park.
Upon the withdrawal of the glacier at the end of the Ice Age, the land, relieved of its great burden, rose, and rivers became more active agents of erosion. At this point the Genesee River gouged out a gorge in strata of Devonian shales and sandstones. The falls are due to thicker beds of sandstone that resist the rapid erosion to which the lower shales and thin sandstone beds underneath give way. Deep- ening of the gorge, which is still going on, will cease only when its bottom is cut down to the water level of Lake Ontario.
The GENESEE VALLEY MUSEUM, near the Upper Falls (open free 8-12 and 1-5 May 26-Oct. 15), contains a notable collection of Indian relics. In 1933 a collection of early pioneers articles and implements was brought here from the Log Cabin Museum at Silver Lake.
GLEN IRIS, once the home of Dr. William P. Letch- worth, who donated the park to the state and for whom it is named, is now a hotel.
Near Glen Iris stands a LOG CABIN that once served as the council house of the Seneca Indians. This cabin of square logs, like hewn railroad ties, is one of the oldest buildings of its kind in the state. It was first erected at Canadea, 18 m. S. of the park. After the sale of their lands in this region, the
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Last Council House of e of the Senecas-Moved from Gardeau Flats to Letchworth Park
LETCHWORTH PARK AND GENESEE HIGHBANKS
Indians abandoned the council house, and it became the residence of numerous early settlers. In 1871 the building was moved to its present site.
In front of the council house stands the STATUE OF MARY JEMISON, the White Woman of the Genesee, or Dehewamus, as she was called by the Indians. The inscrip- tions upon the monument tell something of the life and history of this strange character who has become legendary in the Genesee country. Mary was born on the ocean be- tween Ireland and Philadelphia in 1742, the daughter of Thomas Jemison and Jane Irwin. In 1755 she was captured by the Indians at Marsh Creek, Pa., was carried down the Ohio River, and adopted into an Indian family in 1759. Later she removed to the Genesee country and was natural- ized in 1817. She came to Portage Falls in 1831, and died on Sept. 19, 1833, at the age of 91, having survived two Indian husbands and five of her eight children. She was buried in the Buffalo Creek Reservation, but reinterred in Letchworth Park with appropriate ceremonies on March 7, 1874.
From the height of her statue Mary Jemison looks out toward another CABIN nearby, which originally stood on Gardeau Flats by the Genesee River, and which she built about the year 1800 for her second daughter, Nancy Jemison, the wife of John Green.
A short distance down the river from the council house is INSPIRATION POINT, which offers one of the most inspiring scenic views in the eastern United States. The Middle Falls, to the S., show to the best advantage from here; beyond, the mist rises from the Upper Falls, with the tracery of the steel bridge of the Erie R. R. high above. To the N. the gorge extends for a distance of about 10 m. with vivid coloring and remarkable formations which change in appearance as the sun lights up portions with brilliant
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The Middle Falls-Letchworth Park
LETCHWORTH PARK AND GENESEE HIGHBANKS
light or throws other parts into deep shadow. The gray walls of the canyon have been sculptured by the wind and weather into Grecian flutings and flying buttresses that sug- gest medieval cathedrals. Far below lies the green ribbon of the Genesee.
At the LOWER FALLS, still farther down the river the most impressive sight is that of the river plunging between rocky walls which constrict it to one-twentieth of its average width.
The park also has an arboretum containing over 400,000 trees of 55 marked varieties. This tree garden, started in 1912, is now the home of countless birds and animals, in- cluding many wild deer.
PORTAGEVILLE, 34.3 m. (1,134 alt., 460 pop.), is the largest town near Letchworth Park. Portage, at the top of the gorge above Portageville, takes its name from the carrying place around the falls.
SECTION C. PORTAGEVILLE-GENESEO. STATE 39, 63, 36, US 20. 26 m.
At Portageville the route turns L. on State 39, which climbs the steep hill out of the Genesee gorge and at the crest turns R. What was once a narrow trail is now a broad highway, and the primitive wilderness is replaced by pros- perous farms with modern buildings.
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