USA > New York > Niagara County > Souvenir history of Niagara County, New York : commemorative of the 25th anniversary of the Pioneer Association of Niagara County > Part 37
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DEPOT AND HOTEL FACTS.
With the advent of railroads on both sides of the river the suspension bridge point of crossing became most im- portant, and James and Thomas Vedder controlled the freight and passenger transfer business over the bridge and river previous to the completion of the railway suspension bridge in 1855. Travel at that time was plunging west- ward. On this side of the river the depot, where the Vedder wagons loaded, stood on North Avenue opposite the present Tenth Street station and another at the west end, north side, of Niagara"Avenue. In 1855 Josiah H. Crump had charge of moving the old North Avenue depot across the tracks to the present depot site, where a very large covered depot was in time erected, and this was destroyed by fire
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January 2, 1883. The present Tenth Street depot was built in 1887. Niagara always has been, and always will be, a junction point. Today the hotel interests have been con- centrated to a great degree at the south end of the city, but in the fifties the hotel life at the north end of the city was very vigorous indeed. In those early days there were no sleeping cars. Suspension Bridge was the half way point between New York and Chicago, and people who could af- ford it stopped over at one of the hotels to get refreshed for the next day's journey.
A VAST RAILROAD CENTER.
The early-day anticipations that the locality would be a great railroad center have been fully realized. Today the trains of the New York Central, the Michigan Central, the West Shore, Lehigh Valley, Canadian Pacific, Grand Trunk, Erie and Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg, run into the city. The coming of all these various lines has de- veloped some consolidations, notably that of the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg with the New York Central on March 17, 1891, the offices being turned over on April 19, 1891, and that of the West Shore with the New York Cen- tral in April, 1899. At the time of this latter consolidation George H. Stevens was agent of the West Shore and his office was on the north side of Depot Avenue on Eleventh Street. His position was vacated, but he was called to New York and is now Assistant General Superintendent of the New York Central. Today F. K. Paddock is Freight Agent of the New York Central; L. J. Simon of the Michigan Cen- tral; Charles R. Thorne, of the Lehigh Valley ; John J. Beck, of the Grand Trunk and Wabash, and Henry L. Colpoys of the Erie. Each year the travel to Niagara has increased rapidly, and on March 1, 1901, the New York Central ap- pointed B. B. Denison District Passenger Agent, to be located in Niagara Falls. Michael Donohue, who came to Niagara on June 1, 1862, has been Stationmaster at the Falls Street station since October 25, 1881.
MORE HOTEL HISTORY.
When it was evident that the gorge was to be spanned by a railroad bridge, enterprise took a great leap at Ni- agara City. The Monteagle Hotel was begun, and was opened in November, 1856. It was built by the Tomlinsons and Charles Stuart. Stuart opened it with a great flourish. From 1861 to 1865 Oscar De Camp and John Durnin made money in the house but others lost money there. In 1889 or 1890 it passed into the hands of the Van Horns and was turned into a cold storage warehouse.
Previous to the opening of the Monteagle, the New York Central House, a frame hotel that stood on Depot Avenue, just east of the present Main Street, enjoyed a wonderful business, clearing $14,000 the first year. It was built about 1854, and was destroyed by fire May 28, 1871.
The house known as Atwood's Western Hotel, Depot Avenue, was started by "Boney" Cole in 1855. When the house was about a year old Amasa Atwood bought it. He was familiarly known as "Pap" Atwood, and was a good- natured gentleman. This house had the patronage of the drovers then passing across country, for Suspension Bridge was at one time a big stock yard center. Atwood rebuilt and enlarged the hotel in' 1866. George Brock ran it for three years, and then Mr. Atwood again took charge, con- tinuing until he died, January 20, 1881. Hon. Walter P. Horne then ran it until May, 1901. It was kept ( pen as a hotel during 1901, but later closed and then reopened as a lodging house.
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J. Felix Nassoiy, the present proprietor of the New York Central Hotel, on Depot Avenue, who came to Ni- agara May I, 1854, has long been identified with the hotel interests at the north end of the city. He succeeded the Monro Brothers at the Monteagle, and in 1876 took charge of the house a second time. His present hotel was opened as a boarding house by De Camp and Durnin. When Mr. Nassoiy secured possession, he enlarged it and gave it its present name.
The Falls View Hotel, on Whirlpool Avenue, was built by James Vedder early in the fifties. It was first known as the Vedder House and then as the Frontier House. The late Jacob Gutbrodt kept it many years. Previous to his going to the Frontier House Mr. Gotbrodt kept the old American Hotel, a mammoth frame building that was torn down in the latter eighties to make way for the Silberberg block on Main Street.
Josiah H. Crump, father of Henry Crump, came to Ni- agara City about 1854. The house now standing at the southwest corner of South Avenue and Tenth Street was his home. Christian Barthau built the front section of what is now the Fink block, corner of Main Street and Niagara Avenue. Isaac Colt built the stone house on Ontario Av- enue east of Tenth Street. Silas Olmstead, the miller, built a brick house that now stands in the rear of August Rieck- hoff's on Main Street. Mark Whitbeck, who was really the first general agent of the New York Central here, built the brick house on the south side of Ontario Avenue east of Main, so long the home of the late Peter D. Lammerts. August Rieckhoff and the late Peter D. Lammerts came from Germany together, arriving in Niagara City June 15. 1850. John Kraemer came in 1854, going to Buffalo and returning here later. On the site of the present United States Hotel, between Ontario Street and Niagara Avenue, stood the "Farmers' Home," kept by Lewis E. Glover.
FOUNDING OF DE VEAUX COLLEGE.
Samuel De Veaux has been spoken of as the first merchant of the locality, and it is due to his generosity and appreciation of the locality that the city today possesses that magnificent educational institution De Veaux Col- lege. Samuel De Veaux was a descendant of the Hugue- nots. On the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, his great grandfather, Louis De Veaux, fled from Paris, his native city, and came to America. Samuel De Veaux was born in New York 1789. In 1803 he entered the land office of Phelps & Gorham in Canandaigua, and in 1807 he was appointed commissary at Fort Niagara. In 1813 he married Maria Woodruff and took up a residence in Le Roy, where he lived two years. In 1815 his wife died and he married her sister. He came to the Niagara locality, and it is said that his store contained everything from a yard of cloth to ox-bows and sap buckets. Articles were traded between customer and merchant. In 1826 he was Super- ivsor, and for many years Town Clerk. He served as judge and legislator with great credit. He died in 1852, and by his will, dated August 3, 1852, after providing for relatives, he left $174,652.52 to Bishop De Lancy, Peter A. Porter. Rev. Dr. William Shelton and Richard H. Woodruff, as trustees, "for the purpose of establishing, founding and maintaining a benovelent institution, to receive and support orphans and destitute children; to train them up to industry; to learn them trades and professions; to give them mental and manual, and a social and religious education." It was further provided that the institution should be 'inder the
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care of the Protestant Episcopal Church, the diocese of Western New York to have charge. The college was in- corporated April 15, 1853. The buildings were begun in 1855 and completed on the original plans in 1857 or 1858. However, the college was opened in March, 1857. By care- ful management in 1856 the fund was increased to $187,- 135.40. In 1877 the college domain consisted of 364 acres, and some of this land has been a factor of sale and purchase for many years.
Fifty years have passed, and no other man has erected such a monument to his memory as did Judge De Veaux.
NAVIGATION OF THE LOWER RIVER.
Down in the gorge in front of the falls the steamers Maid of the Mist ply and allow visitors most magnificent views of the great cataract. The navigation of these waters started further down the river in 1846, or thereabouts, when the first Maid of the Mist was constructed in an eddy sev- eral hundred feet above the site of the present bridges. Previous to this steamer construction a roadway had been built from the foot of what is known as Ontario Avenue at an easy grade to a point on the lower river below Divi- sion Street, and there the original Maid of the Mist land- ing was located. This roadway was wide enough for car- riages to pass, and it was a picturesque walk or ride, but the dock had for years been going to decay, so that when the Gorge Road was built the excavated material thrown down upon the old landing concealed it from sight. In 1854 a new Maid of the Mist was built in Buffalo and launched in the lower river July 14 of that year. The story is told that in 1861 the boat was likely to be seized. However this may be, it is known that on June 6, 1861, Joel R. Robinson ran the boat through the rapids to Queenston, Ont., successfully. James McIntyre and James H. Jones were aboard the boat and also made the trip, involuntarily, it is said. This feat won for Robinson great fame, and it has gone on record as the opening of navigation in the whirlpool rapids.
HYDRAULIC CANAL CONSTRUCTION.
In 1853, when Niagara City was feeling the effects of the big boom consequent upon the starting of the railway suspension bridge, the sister village of Niagara Falls also had something to keep her courage up. For years great confidence had been felt in the future of the place because of the water power resources. In 1840 General Peter B. Porter and Augustus Porter had devised a practical plan for the development of power. General Peter B. Porter died in 1844, and in 1847 Augustus Porter issued a circular describing a plan practically the same as now in use by the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power & Manufacturing Com- pany. Hope ran high in the village. There was a belief that the expectations of years were about to be realized. The Porters most generously offered to give 'he land necessary for a canal construction, and in 1852 they did give the right of way and negotiations were commenced with Caleb J. Woodhull and Walter Bryant. An agreement was reached whereby these men were to construct the canal, and they received a plot of land with 600 feet frontage on the upper river and 100 feet wide the entire length of the canal, which is 4,400 feet long from the upper to the lower river. They also received about seventy-five acres about the lower end of the canal, having a frontage of nearly a mile along the high bank. In March, 1853, the Niagara Falls Hy- draulic Company was incorporated. Caleb J. Woodhull was President, and Walter Bryant, Agent. This company at
once contracted for the construction of a canal seventy feet wide and ten feet deep, with wharves along their land on the upper river. Ground was broken. There was speech- making and applause. The occasion was a glorious one. Work went on for sixteen months, and then it was sus- pended for lack of funds. In 1858 work was resumed and carried on for a time by the Niagara Falls Water Power Company, of which Stephen M. Allen was President. Soon after this, on Saturday, September 1, 1860, Horace H. Day secured control of the property, and by July 1, 1861, had completed a canal thirty-six feet wide and about eight feet deep. Then came the Civil War with its industrial set- backs. For years the stream from the canal opened from the upper to the low river fell over the bank unusued, known by the name "Bridal Veil." In the early seventies Charles B. Gaskill built a grist mill, now the Cataract City mill.
THE COMING OF THE SCHOELLKOPFS.
In 1877 the canal and all of its belongings and rights were purchased by the late Jacob F. Schoellkopf, father of Arthur Schoellkopf, and the late Abram M. Chesbrough, and they organized the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power & Manufacturing Company. Of this company, Jacob F. Schoellkopf was President to September 15, 1899, the day of his death. |Looking back over the years since the Schoellkopfs became interested in the Niagara power de- velopment it is plain to be seen that their coming to Ni- agara was of vast benefit. They came full of enterprise, strict integrity, fine ideas, generous natures, disposed and determined to develop their new possessions to their fullest extent. This they are doing, and every day thousands of people profit by the work they have done and are still doing.
Arthur Schoellkopf has been a great factor in the de- velopment of Niagara Falls. He came to the Falls in 1877 to take charge of the hydraulic canal and to assist in the erection of the Niagara Flouring mills, which have capacity for 2,000 barrels daily. Since 1878 Arthur Schoellkopf has acted as Secretary, Treasurer and General Manager of the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power & Manufacturing Company. He is President of the Niagara Falls Milling Company ; President of the Gluck Realty Company; President of the International Theater Company ; President of the Cliff Paper Company; President and Treasurer of the International Hotel Company; President of the Power City Bank; Di- rector of the Bank of Niagara and Trustee of the Niagara County Savings Bank. He was elected Mayor in 1896 and made an excellent record in that office.
The development of the canal power has gone steadily on with no interruption. The first users of the canal power bought or leased from the company the right to draw water from the canal, installing their own power plants. In 1881 the company built a new wheel-pit and commenced supply- ing power to customers, delivery being made by means of belts, shafting and wire cables, which were then the most practicable means of transmitting power. Later com- pressed air was tried, and this power is being used in the operation of the drills on the canal enlargement today. Under the agreement between the Porters and Messrs. Woodhull & Bryant the land conveyed to them extended only to the edge of the high bank and granted a right to excavate down the bank 100 feet, it not being felt that a higher head would be available, as it was deemed impossible to construct wheels that would stand up under a higher pressure, and the fact is that from fifty to sixty feet was the
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head used by the majority of the mills. But hydraulic engi- neering made rapid strides in the early eighties, and every stride was of benefit to Niagara. Alert to the possibilities, the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power & Manufacturing Com- pany in 1886 secured a deed of portions of the debris slope below the bank, and have since secured other portions, so that today they are using a head of 210 feet. In 1886 Wal- lace C. Johnson became the company's chief engineer, and
ARTHUR SCHOELLKOPF.
has since had charge of the development, with the exception of a few months when David P. Jones was chief engineer. In 1892 the Cliff Paper Company leased a part of the debris slope below the high bank and erected a pulp mill. This pulp mill was started in March, 1892, and on March 23, 1893, it was turning out its product. In the pulp mill 2,500 horse power is developed under 120 feet head by using the water discharged from wheels in use above, thus proving that the mill can be operated by water that is passed. The wonderful possibilities' offered by electrical transmission of power actuated the Hydraulic Power & Manufacturing Company to erect a power station at the water's edge in the gorge. The first section of this station was started in August, 1895, and in November, 1896, the first power was delivered from it. Since then two additional sections have been added. Today the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power & Manufacturing Company is developing and supplying about 20,000 electrical horse power, 400 mechanical horse power, and 7,000 hydraulic horse power. The canal has nearly reached the width of the original right of way, 100 feet, and it is being materially deepened. There has been no interruption of benefit to the city since the present com- pany was organized.
BELLEVUE CHANGED TO NIAGARA CITY.
It was on June 8, 1854, that the name Bellevue gave way to Niagara City, this being the date of incorporation. The petition for this step was dated April 21, 1854. The name Niagara City gave way, officially, to Suspension Bridge, on June 6, 1874, but long before that Suspension Bridge was the popular name. Niagara Falls is one of the prominent ports of entry of the United States, but previous to 1863 the port of entry was at Lewiston. Fifty years ago the residents of the Town of Niagara were hopeful that the government would construct a ship canal about the falls, and a leader in that movement was Colonel John Fisk.
CHERRY STREET NAMED.
The Prospect Park House, originally the residence of General Peter B. Porter, was erected previous to :840, the grounds about it extending from Grant's block to Falls Street. Around on First Street B. H. White owned land, and he and Albert H. Porter gave land to open the street now known as Cherry Street, so named because when it was opened it passed through a cherry orchard. As this street was opened early it was settled early. It was here that the old harness shop of William Sturdy stood, being about the same today with additions. On the east side Abner Swallow lived. His widow is still alive in Buffalo, and is among those who have clear recollections of Niagara. Main Street was the principal street.
HOTEL HISTORY.
The Falls Hotel stood at the northwest corner of Falls and Main Streets. Among those who kept it were Thomas Fanning, B. F. Childs, Mr. Redding, Fred West and Jonas Minton. While Minton was proprietor the house burned and was not rebuilt, the name being later taken by the present Falls Hotel, which was kept for seven years by R. A. Ferguson and after him by the late Chester R. Whiting and now by his relatives. This house was previously known as the Western Hotel. The St. Lawrence Hotel stood on the site of the E. M. Clark property on Main Street. The Niagara House was built by John Shelterburg. The site of the Gluck Block on Falls Street has a history as a hotel site. The first hotel there was the Clarendon, kept by E. R. Avery, who in February, 1859, sold it to E. T. Chappell, who changed the name to "The American." The American was destroyed by fire, and the new house was called "The Empire." This house also burned. Soon after, Alvah Gluck, and a man named Spence, rebuilt it and called it "The Spencer House." It was opened in 1867 and on the night of Wednesday, March 16, 1892, the house burned. Hancock & Samways kept the old Empire at one time. The present Empire Hotel on the southwest corner of Falls and Second Streets was formerly the United States Hotel, having been kept for years by Michael McMahon. The house was renamed the "Empire" in 1901, when the fourth story was added and the house improved.
The northwest corner of Falls and Second Streets is also famous in hotel history. Years ago this corner was owned by Jeremiah Binkley who built a two story tenement house of stone. Then it crept into hotel life and was known as the New York Central. Later the west end was known as the Franklin House and the east end as the Western Hotel. Alvah Gluck kept the Franklin House and John Salt the Western. James Salt and S. J. Tobey kept the Western after John Salt for about two years. The Western gave way to the Imperial and the Franklin House to the Hotel Porter, named after the late R. D. Porter, who also owned the Niagara House on Main Street. Later the Hotel Porter lost its individuality by being merged with the Im- perial. William Hearst was the first landlord of the In- perial, and Robert Murphy ran the Hotel Porter. C. N. Owen took possession of the Hotel Porter in September, 1895. On October 8, 1898, it was damaged by fire, the interior suffering badly but the walls standing. It was soon after repaired, and the present arrangement of stores made on the Falls Street front.
In the fifties Dr. Conger kept a drug store on Main Street opposite the Cataract House. North of this was W. E. Hulett's grocery and dry goods store, in which was
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kept bead work and Indian curiosities. It is said that W. E. Hulett and T. G. Hulett were the pioneers in this souvenir business at the Falls. A. W. Allen's tailor shop was close by. John Hancock had a candy store on the street, and next to it was Dr. W. O. Davis' office, he being a brother of the late Cyrus Davis, so well remembered. Christy & Waddell had a tailor shop in the Porter block. The post- office was in Conger's drug store. W. F. Evans came to the Falls April 3, 1849, and in the fifties kept a grocery store on Main Street north of Falls Street, west side, the store still being occupied for grocery purposes. The Frontier Mart was erected in 1854 by A. S. and P. B. Porter. The Niagara Falls Shooting Club had its quarters on the second floor. This was a popular organization in those days. In 1857 the Frontier Mart was occupied by H. Nielson, wine and liquor store ; James Waddell, merchant tailor; & variety store ; W. E. Barber, boots and shoes ; P. O. Bachman, flour and feed; Mr. F. Tomkins, groceries and provisions. Pool & Sleeper, publishers and printers, were upstairs as was also J. W. Slater, dentist, and the canal office.
NIAGARA'S VETERAN EDITOR.
This review gives an idea of the conditions that existed in the two former villages at the time both were leaping to greatness in the fifties. Bellevue, or Niagara City, was joy- ous over the bridge construction, and Niagara Falls boomed because of the power development project. The year 1854 saw Hon. William Pool, a resident of Niagara Falls. He had been on the Lockport Courier, and with Augustus Porter and B. F. Sleeper became interested in starting the Gazette as a weekly newspaper. Mr. Porter took great interest in the paper, and was a frequent contributor to its columns, having written the leader in the first number, in which he predicted a great future for Niagara. His writ- ings were widely copied. Mr. Pool continued in this con- nection until 1864, when he became sole proprietor of the Gazette. In 1880 he sold it to the Hon. Peter A. Porter, and under his able management the Gazette continued, as it still continues, to advocate all that is good for the lo- cality.
When Peter A. Porter acquired possession of the paper the late Don C. Collins was made editor. In January, 1884, Hon. William Pool and his son, Rupert Pool, started the Niagara Courier. Ever since Mr. Pool has wielded the editorial pen his writings have been in support of the up- building and advancement of the Niagara locality, and in this he has aided in no small degree.
The year 1854 also brought the late Hazard H. Sheldon to Niagara. Thomas Tugby came to Niagara Falls in 1852. Among the old residents now deceased none will be better remembered than the late James F. Trott, Franklin Spalding and S. F. Symonds. For a half century James F. Trott was President of the Board of Education, and in this ca- pacity had to do with the early education of many present residents. Morris L. Fox, Captain Filkins, Osborne Can- field and George W. Holley, who came in 1840, and pub- lished a book on Niagara, will also be recalled. Henry Smith, father of Joseph Smith, came to the Niagara City in 1854, and Theodore Hager in 1853.
NIAGARA SADDENED BY COL. PORTER'S DEATH.
The breaking out of the Civil War had a disastrous ef- fect on the Niagara locality. Previous to it many Southern- ers came to the falls, and both sides of the river enjoyed their patronage. Their visits were extended to weeks at a time, and old hotel keepers love to recall those days. With the breaking out of the war business came to a standstill,
but the citizens of Niagara responded nobly to the call for men. Of this much has been written. In June, 1864, the entire Niagara locality was saddened by the death of Colonel Peter A. Porter, who fell while gallantly leading his men at the Battle of Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864. One week later his funeral occurred from St. Peter's Church, the ser- vice being conducted by Rev. Mr. Starkey, the pastor, Rev. Dr. Shelton, of Buffalo, and Rev. Mr. Clarke, of Syracuse. IJe was Colonel of the Eighth New York Heavy Artillery, and his death was a sad blow to Niagara.
In the five years from 1860 to 1865 the population of Niagara Falls fell off 636, and that of Niagara City increased 269, and the Town of Niagara lost 39 residents. The loss of Niagara Falls and the gain of Niagara City was ex- p'ained "by Irish shanties moving from the canal lands to the bridge." .At that time there seemed to be many new buildings, but there was much inquiry for houses. In the succeeding years both former villages grew. The railroad business at Suspension Bridge increased rapidly.
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