North Tonawanda: The First 100 Years

1797 – 1897 

The Holland Land Purchase

The Holland Land Company purchased land in 1797 including what is now part of the City of North Tonawanda through Robert Morris, who was the financier of the Revolutionary War.

Creation of Niagara County  

On March 30, 1802, Genesee County was formed as a separate county. Present day Niagara County was included in the Town of Batavia, which was established in March 1803. The Town of Batavia was divided into four towns on April 11, 1804, and became official in February 1805. Present day Niagara County was included in parts of the Towns of Erie and Willink.

Niagara County was established in 1808, with the County seat created in Buffalo. It included present day Niagara and Erie Counties. The act that established Niagara County also established Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties. It left them joined temporarily to Niagara County for administrative purposes, and also set up the Towns of Clarence and Willink in what is present day Erie County. At that time, the Town of Cambria included all of what is present day Niagara County.

The March 11, 1808, act establishing Niagara County took effect in April 1808 and read in part, “..that that part of the county of Genesee, bounded east by the meridian line, being the division line between fourth and fifth ranges of townships of the land aforesaid (Holland Land Company’s land), north by Lake Ontario, west by the middle of Niagara-river and Lake Erie, and south by the middle of the main stream of Cattaraugus-creek, from the mouth thereof up to the point in said creek at which it is intersected by the division line between the sixth and seventh tiers of townships of the land aforesaid, and thence by that line to the east boundary aforesaid be erected into a county, by the name of NIAGARA.”

“…that that part of the county of Niagara, lying north of the main stream of Tonndwota-creek (sic), and of a line extended west from the mouth of said creek to the boundary between the United States and the dominions of the king of Great Britain, be erected into a town—CAMBRIA.”

The first meeting of the Town of Cambria took place at the house of Joseph Hewit.

The Holland Land Company: Ranges and Townships

After the Holland Land Company purchased the land, they surveyed it and divided it into “Ranges and Townships.” The Ranges ran north and south and were numbered from right to left. The Townships ran east and west. The lines separating Ranges and Townships were frequently used as the boundaries for the counties and towns. Ranges were shown by Roman numerals. The Townships were shown by Arabic numerals.

One of the lines laid down by the Holland Land Company surveyors was the transit meridian line between Ranges six and seven. This line is commonly known as the “Transit” but is different from the “East Transit” which marked the eastern boundary of the Holland Purchase.

The line which ran parallel with the western boundary of Niagara County indicated the eastern margin of the “Mile Strip” which was not part of the lands purchased by the Holland Land Company.  

Tonawanda Creek:

Early Settlements on Both Sides  

The first bridge over Tonawanda Creek was erected by the U.S. government in 1802 for military purposes to connect Fort Niagara with Buffalo Creek. Military Road was built in 1801 in present day Niagara County, and extended in 1802 from Tonawanda Creek to Buffalo. It was burned during the War of 1812. It was at approximately the location of the present day Renaissance Bridge, bringing people from the military road on the south side to what is now Webster Street on the North Tonawanda side. It was a temporary bridge. When it fell as a result of flooding in the creek, a rope ferry was used until 1824.

A toll bridge was then built by the contractors who built the 4-ft. high dam across the creek in pursuance of a charter and to prepare for the construction of the Erie Canal. The toll bridge was in place for 21 years until 1845. Before the Charter expired, the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad Company bought the interest in the bridge and rebuilt it with a roadway and sidetracks for their rails. When the charter expired, it became a Town and County toll charge. A third bridge was built by Erie and Niagara County in 1845 and remained until it was superseded in 1875 by a wrought iron structure weighing 50 tons and erected by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio.

The Three Tonawandas: City, Town, and North

“The Evolution of North Tonawanda”  

“ Tonawanda” was formed from Buffalo on April 16, 1836, and at first included what is now the City of Tonawanda, the Town of Tonawanda, and the City of North Tonawanda, and also included the area now known as Grand Island. That was later removed or split off from “ Tonawanda” in October 1852. The part known as the City of Tonawanda and the City of North Tonawanda today was also known as the hamlet of “Niagara.” The community was not yet incorporated, however.

What was referred to as “ Tonawanda Village,” in the northeast corner of the town of “ Tonawanda,” had been laid out in 1823 by Albert H. Tracy, Charles Townsend, and other Buffalonians. At the time, there was a log tavern on the south side operated by Peter Taylor and one on the north side operated by Garrett VanSlyke. VanSlyke also operated and maintained the rope ferry across Tonawanda Creek.

The first town (Town of Tonawanda) meeting was not held until the spring of 1837. At that time, James Carney was among those elected to positions, becoming a justice of the peace. John Simson was elected commissioner of highways. These are two gentlemen whose names appear frequently in the recorded history of what is modern day North Tonawanda. Both are buried in Sweeney Cemetery.

According to written history of the Town of Tonawanda dating back to 1898, early town re cords had been destroyed. However, among the records of early town supervisors are names which became identified with North Tonawanda: James Carney, 1846-47; Benjamin H. Long, 1864-65, and 1870, from what became the City of Tonawanda, whose daughters married into North Tonawanda families; and James H. DeGraff, 1875 and 1881.

The southeast corner of “ Tonawanda” was settled first, beginning in 1805. The first settler in the southern part of “ Tonawanda village” was Henry Anguish, who opened the first tavern in the town in 1811. Others settled along Ellicott Creek, Wright’s Creek, and Tonawanda Creek. A blockhouse was built at the mouth of Tonawanda Creek in “ Tonawanda” around 1811. This blockhouse was destroyed by fire by the British in December 1813. At this time , nearly all of the buildings in the area were also destroyed by fire. One house was saved by a heroic Tonawanda woman who rose from her sickbed to extinguish the fire.

In the meantime, what settlement in what is now North Tonawanda had preceded the Anguish settlement by two years.  

The First Settlers Arrive in North Tonawanda  

The earliest known settler in what is now the City of North Tonawanda was George N. Burger. Burger built and lived in a log tavern in 1809 on the site later occupied by the lumber yards of Vincent Koch & Company.

In 1810 Garrett Van Slykebuilt his tavern on the north side of the original Tonawanda Creek, which was later used to complete the Erie Canal route. Another log tavern was built that year by Joshua Pettiton the shore of the Niagara River where Fisherman’s Park is today.

In 1811 Colonel John Sweeney and his brother James first settled and bought a substantial amount of land north of Tonawanda Creek from the Holland Land Office. The Sweeney brothers and George Goundry were speculators who hoped that the land along the creek, chosen to carry the Erie Canal, would attract buyers. Almost everything between Buffalo and Fort Niagara was destroyed by fire during theWar of 1812.

Post War of 1812

Edward Carney settled on what is now Tonawanda Island in 1816 and it was commonly known as Carney’s Island. His son James was born on the island. In 1817 Stephen Jacobs cleared land for a farm and furnished the timber for the first guard lock across the Tonawanda Creek between the south and north sides of what was then one unincorporated community known as “Tonawanda,” with what is now North Tonawanda known as the hamlet of “Niagara” within “Tonawanda.” This area is now two cities in two different counties, located at the spot where the Erie Canal enters the Niagara River.

Erie County Removed from Niagara County  

In 1821 the part of “ Tonawanda” on the south side of Tonawanda Creek was removed or split off from Niagara County when present-day Erie County was created from the area removed from Niagara County. The area which is present day Erie County was removed from Niagara County on April 2, 1821, when the legislature deemed, “…that all that part of the county of Niagara, lying north of the Tonewanta (sic) creek, comprising the towns of Niagara, Lewiston, Porter, Wilson, Cambria, Hartland, and Royalton shall be and hereby is erected into a separate county and shall be called and known by the name of NIAGARA; and that all the remaining part of the present county of Niagara, shall hereafter be called and known by the name of Erie.” The Towns of Somerset, Lockport, and Newfane were established in 1823 and 1824, Pendleton in 1827.

Beginning of Canal Construction  

In 1823 Judge Samuel Wilkeson and Dr. Ebenezer Johnson of Buffalo were awarded a contract by the Erie Canal Commissioners for the construction of a dam across the mouth of Tonawanda Creek and three-fourths of a mile of the Erie Canal. This construction was the stimulus that led to “ Tonawanda” being laid out that year. The contractors built a toll bridge over the creek. The opening of the Erie Canal was two years off—to occur in October 1825.

It is important to note that initially after completion of the Canal, a number of buildings were constructed, but soon growth of the village stopped. The Canal was, however, to become a definite influence on the growth of the area then known as the hamlet of Niagara in the village of Tonawanda.

The South Side of the Creek is Settled  

The Benjamin Long Homestead, which is operated today by the Historical Society of the Tonawandas, was constructed in 1829 on Long’s Point at the confluence of the Tonawanda and Ellicott Creeks, when Benjamin Long and his wife, Mary Hershey Long, arrived from Pennsylvania to start their family. Their Pennsylvania German style home was constructed eight years after present day Erie County was removed from Niagara County, located in what is the present day City of Tonawanda.

The Longs held the first Sunday School in the Tonawandas in this home. The house reflects its Pennsylvania German influence in that the north stone wall is built into a dirt bank to help keep the house warmer in the winter. Another Pennsylvania German feature is the presence of two front doors. The six Long sisters and their descendents married into many North Tonawanda families, including the Rands, Simsons, Smiths, Fassetts, Harringtons, and Hathaways. The only Long son never had any children.

Benjamin Long and Mary Hershey Long are buried in North Tonawanda’s Sweeney Cemetery.

The Erie Canal – Gateway to the West  

The Erie Canal officially opened on October 26, 1825, and was a definite influence on the growth of the area that was then known as the Village of Niagara. Niagara was a terminus for Canal boat passengers en route to Niagara Falls. The Canal, the first great canal in the United States, helped establish financial and commercial growth throughout the area. It was designed to connect the interior of New York State and eastern markets with the Great Lakes Region and farmers of the heartland.

The first real work in what would later become the two Cities of Tonawanda and North Tonawanda at the western end of the Erie Canal was the construction of the dam across the mouth of Tonawanda Creek between the south and north sides of the Village of Niagara in the spring of 1823. This dam raised the water level of the creek about 4 feet so that the waterway between Niagara and Pendleton could be used for canal navigation without dredging.

Teams of mules would tie up to boats and barges, then walk the towpaths along the sides of the canal, pulling the loaded vessels through an original water depth of only 4 feet.

To signify the opening of the canal on Oct 26, 1825, a relay system of cannons firing along the banks of the waterway sent the message across the state (taking one hour, 21 minutes). The Erie Canal was officially open!

Completion of the canal started the migration to the West, which at that time was all the territory west of the Allegheny Mountains. Scores of wagon trains at a time, filled with farm implements, furniture, tools for clearing the land, and live stock came from the Mohawk Valley to halt in Western New York. No longer a highway for mules and barges, the Erie Canal, then the Erie Barge Canal, and still later the New York State Barge Canal, now serves as a pleasure boater’s path across the state. From our state’s capital, Albany, on the Hudson River, to the mouth of the mighty Niagara River in Tonawanda, this man made canal extends over 350 miles.

Vandervoort, the Sweeneys, and Goundry Become the First Permanent Landowners in North Tonawanda  

William Vandervoortarrived in 1825, purchasing Farm Lot 80 in 1826. He and Colonel John Sweeney, his brother, James, who was married to William Vandervoort’s sister, and George Goundry,a nephew of John Sweeney’s first wife, were the first permanent landowners and residents of what is now North Tonawanda. The Sweeney and Vandervoort families came from Mahopac Falls, north of New York City.

The Sweeney brothers and George Goundry were speculators who hoped that the land along the creek, chosen to carry the Erie Canal, would attract buyers. A Sweeney mill was on the north side of the dam. There was another mill on the south side.

William Vandervoort constructed what is said to have been the first home in North Tonawanda. This home was located at the approximate site of the present Gateway Center on Sweeney Street between present day Webster and Main Streets.

On the site of the present Sweeney Building at 15 Webster at the southeast corner of Sweeney Street, and next to the Vandervoort mansion, he erected the first hotel or public house in 1827-1828, the Niagara. The office for the first stage coach traveling from the Tonawandas to Lockport, Niagara Falls, and Batavia, was in the hotel. It went to Lockport, Niagara Falls, and Batavia once a week; twice a week to Buffalo. The hotel was, however, destroyed by fire in 1844.

Establishment of the Town of Wheatfield  

On May 20, 1836, the Town of Wheatfield was created, “All that part of the town of Niagara, in the county of Niagara, situated easterly of the line running southerly from the north line of said town, between township thirteen of the eight range, and township thirteen of the ninth range of the surveys of the Holland land company, to the Mile reservation on the Niagara river; thence along said reservation to the northern reservation, and thence southerly along said line between said lots, to the southerly line of said town of Niagara.” 

Martinsville is Settled

In 1842, the Sweeney brothers and George Goundry bought two large parcels from the State of New York, Lots 81 and 82. Martinsville, a German section to the east was established on April 10, 1842. In 1844, a third adjoining parcel of 1,700 acres was acquired by William Vandervoort from the Holland Land Company. He sold these lots to German immigrants.

These huge lots made up the First Ward of the original village of Tonawanda, about three-fourths of the area which would later become North Tonawanda.

This First Ward extended east to Division Street, known also as Mile Road. The Mile Line had been drawn from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, one mile from the Niagara, to mark the indemnity in land taken from the Senecas for the Devil’s Hole Massacre.

Vandervoort’s mansion was torn down in 1912, also believed to have had a fire. Pieces of the hotel or possibly a later brick home were moved brick by brick, charred beams as well, and reconstructed at 50 Bryant Street, where you can still see them as the front part of the house, which in recent years has had a more modern addition added.

Vandervoort was a partner in a store started by the East Boston Timber Company. He purchased oak for the Boston market.

Railroads Played a Significant Role in Our History

The Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad was opened through “ Tonawanda” in 1836, having been completed on September 6, 1836. It ran down Webster Street. It was the first steam railroad in Western New York.

The Canandaigua and Niagara Falls Railroad arrived in 1854. Both were part of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad system.

The Niagara Falls branch of the Erie Railroad would be built in 1870. Later, in 1890 - 1891, the Buffalo and Tonawanda Electric Railway, and in 1895, the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Electric Railway would aid in the movement of people and goods through the area.

Street Maintenance Dispute Among Merchants Results in The First Ward Becoming a Part of the Town of Wheatfield  

North Tonawanda was first settled as part of the hamlet of Niagara which, with what is now the City of Tonawanda, was part of the Town of Tonawanda. When present day Erie County was removed from Niagara County in 1821, the “Old First Ward” remained in Niagara County, and the three southern wards were now in Erie County.

“Tonawanda” had this unique position of being in two counties until 1857.

On January 7, 1854, the village of Tonawanda was finally incorporated, from the Town of Tonawanda, but using the name “ Tonawanda,” and including four wards, three on the south side, and one, the First Ward, on the north.

Almost immediately after the incorporation, in early 1854, a dispute began with merchants and residents of the First Ward desiring that monies collected from the taxable residents of the First Ward be expended for the benefit of the streets of that Ward. There were frequent disputes over which side of the creek, which was now known as the Erie Canal, should receive the most improvements. Initially a dispute between merchants on the two sides of the Canal, it escalated into a major situation requiring separation of the northern ward from the Village of Tonawanda.

There was a resolution at the May 6, 1854, meeting of the Village Board of Trustees, providing that all monies collected from the taxable residents of the First Ward (previously known as North Tonawanda) should be expended for the benefit of the streets of that Ward. The new village was only four months old!

Dispute over highway money to be spent was settled temporarily in 1855 by leaving the decision to the street committee which had equal representation. However, in 1855, the Tonawanda Village Board authorized the First Ward to withdraw from the Village of Tonawanda, after only one year of being one community.

The dispute came to a head evidently because of the inability of the Trustees to decide that gravel could be taken from Tonawanda to improve highways in North Tonawanda. Because of this street maintenance disagreement over the distribution of resources, now commonly referred to as “the gravel incident,” only a year after the incorporation which included the north side (Niagara County) portion in the new Village, the Village of Tonawanda Board agreed to the withdrawal of the First Ward from their village.

For that one year, the officers of the combined entity were: John R. Wheeler, President; Theron W. Woolson, Henry Hill, Jesse F. Locke, and Henry P. Smith, Trustees; Elijah Cooley, Gideon Hulbert, and Thomas J. Keith, Assessors; Franklin T. McCuller, Clerk; Hiram Newell, Treasurer; William Hay, Collector; and Levi Waite, Poundmaster.

The 1854 act was re-introduced in the New York State Legislature in 1857 to separate North Tonawanda’s ward from Tonawanda. The Tonawanda Village Board then authorized the First Ward to withdraw from the Village of Tonawanda.

In 1857 North Tonawanda officially withdrew from the young corporation, the Village of Tonawanda, and North Tonawanda began its trek to become a municipality by joining with and becoming a part of the Town ofWheatfield. For eight years, the whole ward was known as the Village of Wheatfield, until North Tonawanda’s incorporation as a village on May 8, 1865.

The Village of North Tonawanda is Established

In 1865, we had sufficiently developed to become an incorporated village. The northern boundary of the ward was Wheatfield Street, called Wheatland on some old maps. This name came from the town in which it was located at the time.

When North Tonawanda was incorporated as a village on May 8, 1865, it had a population of 440 and an area of 681 acres. The name Village of Niagara was originally considered and briefly used. However, since there already was a City of Niagara Falls and a Town of Niagara, the name of North Tonawanda was adopted. Boundaries were increased from the original Niagara River, Tonawanda Creek, Division (Mile) Street, and Wheatfield Street to the present boundaries of the City of North Tonawanda. The first Village President was James Carney.

Gratwick

The Gratwick section of present day North Tonawanda is named after William H. Gratwick, an owner of White, Gratwick, and Mitchell Lumber Company. The lumber firm was located on present day River Road in the area occupied since 1906 by Riverside Chemical, Inc. He purchased fifty acres along the river to open a planing mill. In addition to the planing mill, he also owned Wm. Gratrick & Co. and Gratwick, Smith, & Fryer Lumber Company, controlling through his lumber companies 31,000 acres of northern Michigan forests.

William Gratwick lived in a wonderful Romanesque mansion at 775 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo at the northwest corner of Summer Street, a home designed by architect H. H. Richardson, his last architectural commission. The home was demolished in 1919. Gratwick also had a large estate outside of Batavia.

The northwestern part of modern day North Tonawanda is still referred to as Gratwick. It was settled primarily by the German workers who came to work in Gratwick’s lumber enterprises.

The City of North Tonawanda Powered by AC Current

The first transmission of AC electrical current came through North Tonawanda in 1895. The industrialization of North Tonawanda was powered by this 25-cycle current. The same water routes that provided for the lumber industry now provided cheaper transportation as well for the other industries powered by electricity. We went from a strip village along the water to an incorporated city in a very short time after electrification.

North Tonawanda became a City on April 24, 1897. Albert E. McKeen was the last Village President and First Mayor in 1897. The Villages of Martinsville and Gratwick were annexed to North Tonawanda.

© North Tonawanda History Museum 2006

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