"Museum of NT history planned" by Bob Kostoff

LOCAL HISTORY

    A fairly new and ambitious local history project is being launched in North Tonawanda and we were able to contribute a small piece of history to the planned museum.

    While the North Tonawanda History Museum Interest Group is still looking for a building to house artifacts, an extensive and informative website is in existence.

    Donna Zellner Neal, acting Director and Secretary, said the website has been receiving hits from all over the country.

    One contribution came in the form of a bill for $11.13 from the W.G. Palmer Lumber Mill sent on Aug. 18, 1908 to one Jacob H. Miller, of. Sanborn, who purchased 500 feet of hemlock boards. It can be viewed on the website.

    The lumber company was on Oliver Street at the Erie Railroad tracks and eventually became the Bennett Lumber Company, as per information supplied over the Internet from Caroline Blondin Hamilton from records passed on by her father, Peter Blondin.

    The bill was passed on to us among old newspaper clips that Lockport photographer Pat Lowther came across.

    President of the Board of Trustees Paul A. Rumbold Jr. noted the museum project is community-based and is not a part of city government. A recently adopted Mission Statement said the purpose of the museum is “to assemble, preserve, protect and exhibit collections pertaining to the history of North Tonawanda’s people and community life, focusing especially on our rich immigrant heritage and role as an important shipping and manufacturing center strategically located on the historic Erie Canal and Niagara River.”

    The website has expanded to reflect the immigrant character of the Lumber City, with sections on Polish and German heritage and sections being developed to illustrate the Italian, Irish and Hungarian heritage.

    Interested persons with Internet connections can also ask questions about North Tonawanda history with answers provided by North Tonawanda City Historian A. Daniel Bille.

    Neal said, “We are burning up lines passing inquires around and gathering up the needed information. We are actively pursuing connections with individuals who worked in our former industries, hoping to gather their memories of our city’s industrial past.”

    While the group does not yet have a museum building of its own, Neal said there is appropriate space for cataloging of collections and exhibit creation and storage in two locations, one courtesy of Buffalo Suzuki Strings and the other courtesy of the North, Tonawanda School District.

    North Tonawanda indeed has a unique history.

    It may not be as old as such places as Fort Niagara or Manchester (Niagara Falls), but is interesting because it is entwined with Pendleton, Wheatfield, Tonawanda and Erie County. It separated from Tonawanda because of a dispute over use of gravel from a pit in North Tonawanda.

    Tonawanda Island was a treasure trove of Native American artifacts.

    Officers include the following:

    President Paul A. Rumbold Jr., a member of the fifth generation of the Wagenschuetz family, which founded the first hardware store in North Tonawanda in 1893; Vice President Kay Learned, co-owner of Hodgepodge on Webster Street and a former history teacher; Treasurer Timothy J. Neal, Development Director, Buffalo Suzuki Strings on Webster Street; and Secretary Donna Zellner Neal, who initiated the museum concept in June and has been coordinating the startup phase of the group.

    Neal said the group is developing a research committee and is currently accepting applications for membership.

    Individuals are needed who enjoy pursuing information and reviewing records to assist in researching answers to questions received from website visitors and to develop background information on museum exhibits and collections.

    For information, call Donna Zellner Neal at 213-0554 or e-mail to nthistorymuseum@aol.com.