Gratwick

GRATWICK REMEMBERED AS UNIQUE COMMUNITY
by Valeria Mayer Heller

On Sept. 1, 1906, my family and I moved to Gratwick from the Black Rock section of Buffalo. My father was employed as a machinist at the Buffalo Bolt Co. and had been commuting by train and decided it would be much easier to live near the place of his employment. Because I had a birthday on Sept. 2, my special birthday present was to ride on the moving vans. Two large, strong horses pulled the van and all went well until we reached the old Delaware Bridge. There was quite a steep incline and the horses, pull as hard as they did, could not make the grade. We were stalled on the Niagara Falls trolley tracks, but soon the trolley came and pushed us over the hump.

My father bought a cottage on Fredericka St. and after a bit, we were comfortably settled in. Our street had been named after our new neighbor, Mrs. Fredericka Dawson.

Gratwick was quite a unique little community. It had stores and places of employment for all its citizens. Many men worked in the various lumber yards, which were still in their heyday and considered the largest lumber companies in the country. Barges regularly brought lumber from Canada via the St. Lawrence River and many men were employed unloading the boats.

Young boys could find work as water boys, especially in the summertime.

In addition to Buffalo Bolt, which employed many men and young women, there was Buffalo pumps, and later Creo Dipt shingle factory. We had several meat and grocery stores - Strassburg, Kinzly and later Schulz.

We bought shoes at John Bollier's shoe store on Felton St. When a customer appeared, Mrs. Bollier waited on him, many times with a baby in her arms. Harold, the oldest boy, became NT postmaster.

Niese's had a dry goods store on Allen St. Later, they built a more modern store on Oliver St. I am told this building has been converted into apartments now.

We had our own neighborhood doctor, too. I am sure many older folks remember Dr. Henry Smoyer with love. He was available any hour, day or night and was friend to everyone.  He lost an arm in a planing mill accident in Salamanca, but it didn't hinder him in his duties.  He was one of the first men in our community to drive a car.
Riverside Chemical Co. had its modest beginnings on the corner of porter Ave. and Oliver St., opposite St. Peter's Church. Mr. August Rasch was the owner. There were four children in the family. Grace, the oldest, was my best friend from second grade through high school, George, Carl and Joan completed the family.

Our fuel was also supplied by a local family. John Calkins owned the Calkins Coal Co. on Cottage St. Their daughter, Isabel, was also a good friend.

Gratwick School was attended by most of the children, but St. Mark's Church, at that time on Washington St., operated a German parochial school; grades one through six. Those who wanted to continue school then went to seventh and eighth grades at Felton Grammar. Miss Florena McKeen was principal and boss at our school. I can still see her with a starched apron and carrying a ruler, marching through the halls keeping strict watch over one and all.

Some of our teachers boarded in the Gratwick section, but some boarded uptown and carried a bag lunch. Mr. Lewis was our janitor and he lived almost in the school yard, on Payne Ave.

We had no lunch room or cafeteria and were discouraged from carrying our lunch except on very stormy days. Then we sat in the boiler room and ate with Mr. Lewis keeping order.  We had wooden sidewalks, but most of our walking was across lots.  Worn paths led us to school. When the snow was deep, my grandmother, hardly taller than I, accompanied me so I wouldn't fall into the drifts.

Our path went close to many houses, but one I remembered was the Karre home on Jackson Ave. There were several children who joined us from that family, and the smallest one, Hiram, stood and cried when he saw us all troop off.

After we finished sixth grade, we attended Felton Grammar. That was a good two - mile hike, but we were issued trolley tickets. We had our choice of riding the Kenmore or Niagara Falls trolley, whichever was nearest to our homes. I rode the Kenmore trolley.

We met so many of our friends on that trip and exchanged a lot of news and gossip.  Two of the minister's daughters, Bertha and Ruth Westerman were good companions.  Mr. Westerman was at St. Peter's Church on Oliver St.

On nice days, sometimes we decided to walk home from school and save our car tickets for use some evening to go to the movies. We could get 5 cent occasionally for the movie, but not ten cents more for car fares. We could walk to the movie before dark and use our car ticket to ride home.

Many families owned boat houses in those days. My dad built one on shares with his friend John Weingartner.  It was located next to Voetsch's ferry landing.  The men went down after supper on Saturday night and spent the night and Sunday tending night lines.

Fishing was a major sport then too. Sometimes a large sturgeon was caught on the night line, as well as a mullet. It was our joy to carry a cooked dinner to our Dad on Sunday. The road was long and dusty along the River Road, but it was a privilege to be trusted to cross the many railroad tracks and not get into any trouble on the way. Later my dad owned his own boathouse right at the foot of Fredericka St.

We were allowed to take the flat bottomed boat, which my dad had built himself, and go for a boat ride up and down the river. When we become proficient rower, we even rowed across the river and picked violets on Grand Island.

Gratwick made the news when Weston's Lumber Yards were destroyed by fire in 1913 or 1914.  Every available fire truck, manpower and water brigade turned out, but it was destroyed.  Many men were out of work and that began the trend of men seeking and working farther from home.

Gratwick was thought to extend from East Ave. to Ward Rd.  There were very few houses on the east side of Payne Ave.  Most of it was woods.  Across from the Gratwick School there were woods and swamp and that part of Gratwick was known as “Frog Town.”  There were empty fields were we could play, pick strawberries and wild flowers.

 At that time, we could have chickens and cows on our property.  We bought our milk across the street from Mrs. Knopf.  We knew her milking time and got fresh, warm milk every day.   Mr. Lorenz was the fish peddler.

We had our own garden, but other folks bought their fish and vegetables from a huckster who came through the streets regularly.  We bought ice by the block, either 25 or 50 cents, depending on the size.  There was no refrigeration.  Ice was put into a wash tub and taken into the cellar.

A ragpicker called, “Any rags, any bones, any bottles today?” and children ran to sell what they had salvaged.  Pennies were precious in those days.

Felton St. was our main street. Weidman's had a small private shop in which they made trailers. There was Bollier's shoe store, both Strassburg and Kinzly had grocery stores, and Ralph Collette's Drug store, all on Felton St. Third Presbyterian Church was there, too.

Mr. Horvath had his shoe repair shop and made a fair living.  Mrs. Wrigley had a small candy store in her home, too.  Mr. Lichtenberger had a barber shop on Oliver St. so the men didn't have to go far for a haircut.

Gratwick was about the last section of the city to have paved streets and cement sidewalks.  It was rather neglected by the rest of the city, but it was a good, little, German neighborhood.  There were three German Lutheran churches in that small area and one Presbyterian.  That should be a good reputation for any community.

GRATWICK 50 YEARS AGO
by Betty Meyers

Gratwick was the name given to the northernmost section of N. Tonawanda extending from Linwood Ave. to the city line on Ward Rd.

I have never known how it got the name, but presume it was taken from the name of the White, Gratwick and Mitchell lumber yard which was one of the thriving businesses in this area at the turn of the century.

The people who settled in this area were mostly descendants of German parent, or immigrants from Germany. There were, however, some Hungarian, Irish, English and Polish derivations.

The people who settled here usually worked at the old Niagara Radiator, Buffalo Bolt, Wurlitzer Company or American District Steam. They usually walked to and from work as there were few cars at that time.

There was a means of public transportation known as the High Speed Line, which ran from Buffalo to Niagara Falls and made very regular trips.  The line ran right through the Gratwick Section ,and at times it was a rather hair-raising experience to be en route to church or to the store and find yourself on the tracks walking along, and hear the sound of a trolley approaching from the front, and another on the other track, from the rear.  This meant a hasty retreat into the bushes along the tracks.  One of the biggest treats a young child could have was a ride to Buffalo on the trolley car, and that swing and sway of the car along the roadbed was an experience one never forgot.

About 1930 the High Speed Line was replaced by the Carpenter Rapid Transit Bus line, and the tracks were torn out. Cars had become more prevalent and there was not such an urgent need for public transportation.

The people in the Gratwick area were very self-sufficient, with most having chickens, cows, horses, ducks, geese and even a small garden.

There was one family, who raised cows and sold the milk. That was Mr. Schuler, who lived at Stenzil St. and Payne Ave.  Every night at about 7 he would come down the street with his little express wagon, carrying his harmonica with him, and as he stopped to deliver milk he would also play a tune on his harmonica, and at times even do a little dance for the customers.

Every child who attended Gratwick School experienced the joy of taking a field trip over to the Gau home on Payne Ave. and getting some well water from Mrs. Gau's well.  Behind her home she had a loom shed, and there she wove rugs to sell.  Thats were the women in the neighborhood brought their bags of rags, and she would weave them into beautiful rugs for a small sum.

The ice man would come down the streets of this section every day in the summer, and everyone would run out and try to get a chip of ice from the truck, to wet your tongue during the hot summer afternoon. For ten cents one could get a 25 lb. chunk of ice, delivered right to your ice box.

Supermarkets were unheard of, but we had several good general stores in this area. Strassburg's Market at Oliver and Linwood was run by Julius Fisher, with Art Leverentz handling the meat market in the rear.  Also there was Ben Shulz's store at Oliver and Felton, Kinzly's on Felton near River Rd. and the Red and White store at Oliver and East Felton.  These stores carried everything a family would need.  Joe Kohler handled the fruit market at Oliver and Washington, and every Tuesday and Thursday would drive his truck around the area with corn, strawberries or whatever was in season for the housewives to purchase for their evening meal.  Families generally purchased their week's groceries on Saturday.  At that time their weekly bill was paid, and the children usually received a big bag of candy.

Niese's Dry Goods store on Oliver near Washington carried all the clothing that was needed for a family, except dresses or suits or a winter coat.  There was material by the yard, shoes, rubbers, curtains, thread, buttons, underwear and linens. Anything you could not find upstairs would surely be found in the basement storage area.

Strassburg's hardware store carried all the hardware articles that would be required by the average family as well as all sorts of painting, carpentry and maintenance supplies.

However, the little corner delicatessen was always the favorite with the children. For a penny you could get a grab bag of old stale candy to chew on, perhaps 10 or 15 pieces, you could get a little barrel of peanuts, or cinnamon candies, and you could get five green leaves for a penny.

When it was time to pack the lunches, the children would go to the store, we could purchase 10 cents worth of lunch meat, and 10 cents worth of cookies, and this would pack four lunches.  My brother and I always looked in the cookie bag and if there were more than eight or nine cookies, we would help ourselves to one on the way home, as we were sure it would not be missed.

When the wash boiler sprung a leak, we would walk over to Kohlman Mayer's home on Fredericka St. and he would mend it with some solder for 10 or 15 cents, and it would last another year or so before needing mending again.

Everyone walked to school, whether it was one more or three miles. Any complaints our children had as to the distance from Payne and Linwood where our family lived would be quickly stifled because we would be told about the other children walking from Ruie Road, Ward Road, Witmer Road or other distant places.

There was plenty of room for children to play as everyone had a big yard, and there were many empty fields, and the woods behind the Gratwick section extending all the way back to Ruie and Nash Roads. This was the place to run and play when the chores were finished.  The boys had a place to swim in the woods, and none of the girls would go near that spot - the boys called it B.A.B. which I think you can decipher very easily.

The Niagara River was forbidden territory, and no one was allowed to go there to swim. Big piles from the days of the lumber boats stuck up out of the water and the current was swift. Many of the boys did swim there anyway, and could be found there on a hot summer afternoon.

We had one shoemaker in the Gratwick section - his name was Louie. We made weekly trips there to take our shoes for mending, as most children at that time were allowed no more than two pair of shoes a year.  Shoes were well made and worth soling. Many times they might have two new soles or two new pairs of rubber heels before they were thrown out.

Few people had phones. We had a phone, and most of the neighbors came to our house to call the doctor, dentist, or drug store. Everyone always knew when there was sickness in the neighborhood because we'd see the doctor's car in front of someone's house, and see the doctor going in or coming out with his black bag.

One of the doctors in Gratwick, Dr. Henry Smoyer, would come “putt-putting” up to the house, and it was quite a feat for him to drive with no automatic shift as he only had one arm. He would often make all the necessary calls for the winter that were needed by a family with four children, and charge only $10.00 for the season.

During the depression, families were very hard pressed because most of the plants were only working a few days weekly. It was finally decided that all the families in the neighborhood would band together and every 10 families that put $1 in the pot could have a man come to do their chores one-half day a week. This meant that someone who was not working would call on the 10 families who were contributing to his fund, and ask if there was a chore he could do. It might be chopping wood, washing windows, raking the lawn or whatever was needed. He would spend a half day there and go on to the next place. The $10 that the “Man of the Block” received would buy a family their food, and pay the utility bills.

There was no crime. One could walk the streets of Gratwick any time of the day or night without fear, and a few people ever locked their doors. It was a quiet existence, and the families were very close knit. They helped each other at times of sickness, childbirth and death.

At 8 p.m. in the winter and 9 p.m. in the summer a curfew was sounded, and this meant all children had to be off the street and home in their own yard. No one had to be hired to enforce this rule because parents did that themselves. In fact, most discipline problems were settled by the parents. It was unheard of for a policeman to come to the house, or for a child to be taken to court.

Life was peaceful in Gratwick 50 years ago.

Article: Transcribed from a collection of "Try To Remember" articles developed by the Historical Society of the Tonawandas, which appeared in the Tonawanda News from 1976 - 1978, by Melville J. Batt. This collection was provided by Melville's son, Douglas Batt.

Does anyone know the identity or date of this photo?

Louie "The Shoemaker" Keppen

Louis Keppen was a shoemaker in the Gratwick section of North Tonawanda in the early 1900's. Louis lived at 112 Felton Street. He died November 8, 1930 and was buried in Elmlawn Cemetery.  He and Gertrude Fromm Keppen had six children,  Henrietta Sophia, Harold Franklin, Herbert Charles, Lewis Adolph,Gertrude Eloise, and Donald George.  His widow married Ralph Fire, who helped her raise her family, and they had twins, Ralph, Jr, and Marguerite.  Louis and Gertrude were the paternal grandparents of Donna (Keppen) Zellner Neal.