Division Street

The Mile Reserve

We have all been down Division Street to visit the businesses or to simply make our way through the city, but most people are not aware of the rich history connected with this strip of road. In 1795 part of Western New York lands were still claimed by the state of Massachusetts, the Iroquois owned the remaining areas and the United States was still trying to recover from the Revolutionary War.

As payment for his financial backing during the war, importer / exporter Robert Morris was granted the lands of Western New York excluding a one-mile strip of land on the eastern bank of the Niagara River stretching from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, which was reserved by the State of New York for the purpose of commercial development and the secure travel of people and goods. The Morris land grant was contingent on Morris extinguishing all Iroquois land claims.

In 1796 Morris negotiated a treaty with the Iroquois for their land which established the New York State Reservation System, and a convention between the State of New York and Massachusetts, settled the Massachusetts land claims. The mile strip was reserved for the State of New York and while negotiating with the Iroquois, Morris sold his granted land to a consortium of 6 Dutch banking houses organized as the Holland Land Company. The company was owned by Pieter Stradnitski and Son, Jacob Van Strophorst, P. & C. Vaneegham, Ten Cate and Vallenanen, and Rudger Jan Schemmelpennick.

In 1798 Joseph Ellicott of Pennsylvania was appointed deputy surveyor of New York and given the authority to determine the boundary of the mile strip, which he accomplished with the help of Connecticut surveyor Seth Pease. The boundary they created is today known as Division Street but it started as a line established in 1798 marking a one mile boundary from the east bank of the Niagara River. On a 1875 map of North Tonawanda the Street was called Mile Strip Road. Ellicott was also employed by the Holland Land Company to survey the extent of the company's lands.

In 1803 the New York Surveyor General, Simon Dewitt assigned his deputy Joseph Annin to divide the Mile Strip Reserve into Great Lots that were later auctioned off to private individuals for commercial development. Residents of Geneva, New York purchased many of the Great Lots. Geneva coincidentally was the location of the Pulteney Land Office, which was the employer of George Goundry. Goundry and his City of Buffalo based associate, James Sweeney, handled many of the land transactions on the Niagara Frontier. Goundry is often referred to as one of the founding fathers of North Tonawanda although he never lived here. He was born in England and is buried in Geneva, New York .

Other large investors that purchased many of the Great Lots were the Porter Brothers of Niagara Falls and Benjamin Barton of Connecticut along with Barton's uncle Joseph Annin. The Porter Brothers, Barton and Annin formed an association called Porter, Barton and Company. It was through this company that they purchased land. In those days the country was new and the lines between public service and private business were not as well defined. Today, we might call this “insider trading.”

From 1796 to the present day, the history of the mile strip is important because it effects our property dealings. A present day example is the Seneca's recent lawsuit to recover the islands in the Niagara River. Treaties of 1795, 1798 and 1815 were cited when the Seneca's claim to the islands was denied. All property within the strip can be traced on property searches back to the Great Lots surveyed by Joseph Annin, in many cases the names of the original surveyor appears.

To further study the mile reserve visit the North Tonawanda Public Library, Local History section and consult the 1803-mile strip reserve map surveyed by Joseph Annin, and the Holland Land Grant map surveyed by Joseph Ellicott.

Credit: Submitted by North Tonawanda City Historian, Daniel Bille