our community, our history
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Saturday, february 26, 2022
Natural resources, transportation fueled Olean, growth
From creation to world-renown, the growth of By MARCIE SCHELLHAMMER (The following information is from A Brief History of The County of McKean, prepared by the McKean County Planning Commission in May 1982 for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.) The county was created on March 26, 1804, from part of Lycoming County, and named for Governor Thomas McKean, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. When created, McKean County was divided into two original townships of nearly equal size, Ceres
Mckean county
and Sergeant. Ceres Township contained the northern two-thirds of the current McKean County, while Sergeant contained the southern third and parts of what are now Cameron and Elk counties. In 1810, the U.S. Census reported only 142 residents of McKean County. With the exception of Sergeant Township, all early settlements were located along the Allegheny River and its major tributaries. By 1810, settlements had been
established on the Allegheny and near the state line were River at Corydon (Corydon in existence by 1825 (Bradford Township), Allegheny Township). As the lumber Bridge (Eldred Township), industry spread, Turtlepoint and Morrison (Hamilton in 1836 (Annin Township), Township); and on Potato Prentisvale in 1842 (Otto Creek at Farmers Valley Township), and Marshburg (Keating Township). By 1815, (Lafayette Township) in the Canoe Place on the Allegheny 1830s, were settled. The land was densely (Liberty Township) and the Norwich Township settlements on Potato McKean Co. con’t.. page 7 Creek were established. Settlements in the Tuna Valley along Kendall Creek
By RICK MILLER Cattaraugus County’s more than 200-year history boils down to two things: Natural resources and transportation. The county was created in 1808, five years after Maj. Adam Hoops bought 20,000 acres surrounding the confluence of Oil Creek (now Olean Creek) and the Allegheny River. Prior to 1808, this area was part of Genesee County. Even after it was formed, it did not have sufficient population and many of Cattaraugus County’s official duties were carried out in neighboring Allegany County until 1817. The first County Seat was in Ellicottville, where a courthouse and county
jail were built in 1817. The county Poor House was built in Machias in 1833. Little Valley would become the County Seat in 1868. Hoops, a Revolutionary War soldier, was made aware of the importance of what was first known as Olean Point by his nephew, Adam Hoops Jr., who was a land agent for the Holland Land Co. The Allegheny River (it was spelled Allegany back then) would become the seasonal water passage for lumber to Pittsburgh and for thousands of migrants westward. The first raft of lumber to Pittsburgh left Catt. Co. con’t........ page 2
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our community, our history
Saturday, february 26, 2022
Telling our history in the Twin Tiers Folks in the region enjoy reading about their rich history for many reasons — history tells us about where we came from, the challenges our communities faced and how we became who we are today. History can even provide a glimpse — through lessons of the past — of what could be to come. There is certainly a nostalgia that many people feel for days gone by, but even events that were difficult or tested us in some way are remembered with a certain pride because our communities were always able to move forward.
In any case, there seems ever to be interest in our shared local and regional history, and this edition includes much of it. But this is not meant to be a fully comprehensive and definitive survey of the region’s past. Think of it as a first edition of a history periodical, like a magazine, that we hope to continue with in months and years to come. Local and regional history includes happenings and stories that could fill almost endless pages. We hope this edition gets us off to a good start.
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Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1918 By SALLY RYAN COSTIK Bradford Landmark Society The Spanish Influenza happened in 1918, the same year that World War I ended. It is considered by most in the medical profession to be the worst influenza epidemic in the history of the world. The Spanish Influenza killed 25 million people in a single year. The effect of the influenza epidemic was so severe that the
commandeered as isolation hospitals. In Lewis Run, where there were 75 cases of the flu with over half of them children and the schoolhouse was turned into a hospital, with two visiting nurses in charge of the patients. By the middle of October, both nurses were sick with the flu and Bradford canceled all Columbus Day celebrations that year. Deaths occur
record keepers, and sent with doctors on their rounds to keep paperwork up to date. Home remedies It was suggested that all windows be kept open, remove all awnings, open up all the shades, and let in as much fresh air and sunlight as possible. The Colgate Company suggested chewing food carefully and avoiding tight clothes and shoes. People in remote and
Zuma Press/TNS
nty Photo courtesy of Cattaraugus Cou
Museum
an early sawmill on This hand-colored postcard shows Cattaraugus Creek
Olean Point in 1807. By 1834, more than 300 million board feet of lumber had been rafted down the Allegheny. Many of the creeks flowing into the Allegheny were a source of power for grain and lumber mills — and for moving timber to the river in the spring. The rafts of lumber lashed together and other goods bound for Pittsburgh occasionally met steampowered keel-boats carrying merchandise to Olean Point that had made the trip upriver from Pittsburgh. It cost $1.25 at the time to transport 100 pounds. Roads were needed to transport goods to the port at Olean Point and to bring settlers. In 1809, the Lake Erie Turnpike Road opened between Bath in Steuben County and Portland Harbor in Chautauqua County on Lake Erie. In 1810, the state legislature authorized construction of a road “by the most eligible route” from Canandaigua
“to the Mouth of Olean River.” By 1825, the Erie Canal between Albany and Buffalo choked off the flow of immigrants to the west via the Allegheny River. In the late 1850s, the Genesee Valley Canal was completed to the Allegheny River, but due to low water, Olean Point was not always reachable. The canal closed after just over 20 years in service in 1978. Several railroads have played significant roles in the development of Cattaraugus County.The Erie Railway would be the first. It was authorized by the state legislature in 1832 as the New York and Erie Railroad. The route stretched from New York City to Lake Erie. It was completed to Dunkirk in 1851. The rail line was built with large numbers of Irish stone masons whose work is still visible on many abandoned bridge abutments. The railroads enabled cheap transportation of one of the county’s main agricultural products, cheese and other products.
Expanding markets meant the need for more milk. It also meant more jobs. O t h e r e a r l y railroads included: The Atlantic and Great We s t e r n R a i l w a y, the Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburgh Railroad, the Buffalo and Philadelphia Railroad, the Buffalo and Ja m e s t ow n Railroad, the Cattaraugus R a i l C o m p a n y, and Olean, Bradford and Warren Railroad.
created March 11, 1808
Bradford and the
An advertisement for Milton sterilizing fluid, recommended for preventing and relieving influenza at a time when Spanish flu was rapidly spreading across the world.
average life span in the U.S. was decreased by 10 years. In contrast, the World Health Organization reports there have been nearly 6 million deaths worldwide in the two years of the coronavirus pandemic. The influenza virus tended to infect people in the prime of life. The Spanish Influenza caused the death rate for 15to 34-year-olds of influenza and pneumonia to be 20 times higher in 1918 than in previous years. Of the 57,000 Americans who died in World War I, 43,000 died as a result of Spanish flu. Flu arrives At first, Bradford believed that the flu would not affect the city, but the flu was sweeping the rest of Pennsylvania. On Oct. 3, the Pennsylvania state commissioner of health, Dr. B.F. Royer, ordered every place of public amusement and every saloon in the state immediately closed until further notice. Bradford still didn’t believe that the flu would come, but by Oct. 5, the first two homes were under quarantine — the home of P.C. Freeman of 130 Seaward Ave. and the home of Frank Titus of 648 E. Main St. Two days later, with more and more people becoming ill, Bradford was convinced. By Oct. 7, Bradford’s Board of Health took “the most sweeping action ever taken in the interest of public health in the city” and ordered all churches closed, all schools, all gatherings of people for all purposes, social, political, charitable, educational, commercial, patriotic, recreational and public worship. By the middle of October, the city had more than 250 cases of Spanish flu. By Oct. 21, the flu was so bad that the Armory and the Knights of Columbus Hall were
In Bradford, James Stinson, 50, was taken ill with the flu while driving his car on East Main Street. His son, who was riding beside him, took control of the car and raced to the hospital, but his father died before they got there. A baby died on the train, going from Bradford to Olean. In Mount Alton, Dr. William Monagan died of overwork and the influenza. In Custer City, Dr. Rufus Egbert died of the same causes. Little Chester Hockenberry, 6, sent here to be with his grandparents and thus to avoid the flu, died on Oct. 8. Elva Johnson went to Erie to be with her sister, Clara. She died Nov. 30; her sister died two hours later, and her brother-inlaw died four days later. Catherine Chancellor of West Washington Street died on Nov. 14; her mother, Maude Kemp, died a half an hour later. A double funeral was held. By the end of the epidemic, 35 people in Bradford had died, and possibly more. Towns respond The rest of the county and nearby towns were affected as well. In St. Marys, with a population of 3,500 people, 1,500 had the flu. Kane would not allow any trains carrying passengers from St. Marys to stop in Kane, and St. Marys residents resented being made flu scapegoats in the region. Smethport declared itself under quarantine and would not allow any visitors from anywhere into the town. Every day in the newspaper, the names of new patients, those who had died, and those who had improved and the quarantines lifted were listed. Nurses were in short supply, and student nurses from the Bradford School of Nursing were immediately put to use. The Boy Scouts were used as
rural areas found themselves relying on folk remedies to fend off or cure the flu. Tales abounded of mothers insisting that their children stuff salt up their noses and wear goose grease poultices or bags of garlic-scented gum around their necks. For some, onions were looked upon as a potential savior. A Pennsylvania woman boasted of serving up onion omelets, onion salads and onion soup with every meal. Not one of her eight children contracted the flu. Those with an aversion to onions swore by a shovel of hot coals sprinkled with sulfur or brown sugar, which enveloped every room in a noxious blue-green smoke. While it is not certain if any of these remedies worked, it did help with the belief that doing anything to fend off influenza was better than sitting idly by. But the flu started to go away. By the end of October, Bradford health officials began talking about lifting restrictions, and on Nov. 13 they did so, except for those patients who actually had the flu. Smethport lifted its quarantine on Nov. 19. Legacy Historically speaking, the Spanish Influenza is also important for two other reasons. First, it did lead to the idea of germs and viruses being responsible for illness and the invention of vaccines to prevent disease. The public, used to World War I rationing and government authority, reacted calmly to quarantine. There was no panic in the streets. Scientists were thought of in a new light, and supported more than they had ever been. Things learned during the fall of 1918 opened new doors to medicine throughout the rest of the 20 century.
Photo courte
sy of Cattaraugus County Mus This hand-colored Harvey & eum Carey postcard shows the Can Dayton from Cattaraugus, N. nonball Express on its way to Y.
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The Seneca Nation and the
Kinzua Dam
of Cutlery Photo courtesy of American Museum that operated in Little Valley from The Cattaraugus Cutlery Company company in the country to exhibit at 1887 to 1963 was the only cutlery J.B.F. Champlin is the man shown der Foun n. bitio Exhi Am the 1901 Panwith a mustache.
Cattaraugus County stands out with unique cutlery history By DEB EVERTS Cattaraugus County played an important role in the history of the American cutlery industry. This county alone was once home to at least two dozen cutlery operations and approximately 70 established companies within a 50-mile radius of Little Valley that was known as “The Village of Knives.” Information from the publication, “The Cutlers of Cattaraugus County, New York: A History and Chronology,” written by Brad Lockwood and Dean E. Case, says, “The Village of Knives” hosted more cutlery concerns than anywhere in the world. Master bladesmiths from Sheffield, England and Solingen, Germany were recruited and immigrated to Cattaraugus County to be part of this American manufacturing revolution. An excerpt in the same publication said many masters labored unrecognized for decades, including Max Krug of Little Valley who had his own forge off of Mill Street. He manufactured and repaired countless straight razors into the late 1950s. Among his many clients was “DUBL Duck” based out of New York City. Other modest operations known regionally included Hugh Champlin, who had a paring knife factory on Fourth Street; John Engstrom Jr., who made straight razors; as did John Stoll, with his brother Adolph, selling them at Stoll’s Market on Main Street in Little Valley. According to Lockwood and Case, J.B.F. Champlin is responsible for the introduction and evolution of cutlery manufacturing in Cattaraugus County. He entered the industry as a salesman for a cutlery importer after the Civil War. His business savvy and recruitment of both talent and upstart competitors made Cattaraugus County the center of cutlery manufacturing in America. J.B.F. Champlin & Son, later known as Cattaraugus Cutlery gave local farmers gainful employment during western New York’s harsh winters. Champlin and his son, Tint, enabled countless jobbers and moonlighters in the region by encouraging them to use idle machinery
Cattaraugus, the Cutco/KABAR Visitors Center on East State Street in Olean and the Zippo/Case Museum on Chestnut Street Extension in Bradford.
File photo The American Museum of Cutlery was started in 2005 by a group of volunteers led by Patrick J. Cullen.
at night. A few jobbers and/or moonlighters in Cattaraugus County that deserve recognition include J.D. Horning Razor, George Watkins, Seneca Valley and London Razor Company. As the cutlery industry in the county grew, other businesses sprang up providing related products ranging from sheaths, strops and hones, to packaging and shipping materials. One of many companies to emerge was Rock City Hone that produced pressed-paper boxes. The company was later acquired by W.R. Case & Sons and the Rich family of Cattaraugus. Other industries complimenting the cutlery business included leather tanning, tool and dye, steel, coal and rail transportation. Local governments and communities developed around these industries. According to the American Museum of Cutlery, numerous knife companies were located in the region in the 1800s making millions of knives over the years that followed. These companies produced axes, knives and other edged tools in the region making western New York and
northwestern Pennsylvania the highest concentration of cutlery companies in the Western Hemisphere. Companies included Cattaraugus Cutlery, Case Brothers Cutlery, Korn Razor Manufactory, Kinfolks, Burrell Cutlery, The Ten Eyck Edge Tool Company, The United States Edged Tool Company and W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery. The local cutlery industry expanded into northwestern Pennsylvania, exceeding 100 businesses. Known as the “Magic Circle,” it was primarily created by the interrelated families of Champlin, Case, Platts, Brown and Burrell with their own competing cutlery companies over five generations, according to Lockwood and Case. Today, related offshoots W.R. Case & Sons of Bradford, Pa., Cutco Cutlery Corporation and KA-BAR of Olean and and Ontario Knife Co. of Franklinville are still manufacturing fine cutlery in America, This region has created the most collected knives in the world, and its history is proudly on display at The American Museum of Cutlery on Main Street in
File Harry Watt and Abner Jimeson are shown in Plains Indian-style bonnets and dress with the Kinzua Dam under construction in the background. This was part of a public relations strategy that exploited stereotyped images of Native Americans.
By KELLEN M. QUIGLEY The Senecas were the largest of six Native American nations that comprised the Iroquois Confederacy, or Six Nations, a democratic government that pre-dates the U.S. Constitution. Known as the “Keeper of the Western Door,” as they are the westernmost of the Six Nations, the Senecas historically occupied territory throughout the Finger Lakes area in Central New York and in the Genesee Valley in Western New York, living in longhouses on the riversides. The people relied heavily on agriculture for food, growing the Three Sisters: corn, beans, and squash. In addition to raising crops, the
early Senecas were also subsistence hunters and fishers. The Senecas were highly skilled at warfare, and were considered fierce adversaries. But the Senecas were also renowned for their sophisticated skills at diplomacy and oratory and their willingness to unite with the other original five nations to form the Iroquois Confederacy. But in the 20th century, the development and construction of the Kinzua Dam came at a steep price for the Seneca Nation. The Senecas lost nine communities and 10,000 Kinzua Dam con’t.. page 5
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our community, our history
Photo courtesy of St. Bonaventure University Archives St. Bonaventure student volunteers helped save 150 pigs trapped by floodwaters at the university’s barns near the Allegheny River during the flood of 1942. The Kinzua Dam today continues to help with flood management of the Allegheny River, but at the cost of the Seneca people’s history.
Anniversary year of THE GREAT FLOODS OF 1942, 1972 By RICK MILLER anniversary of the Flood of Salamanca, the Southern Tier anniversary of the Olean This year marks the 50th 1972 that inundated parts and northern Pennsylvania. area’s Flood of 1942. of Olean and And it’s the 70th Both floods that left their mark on communities across the Southern Tier and in neighboring Pe n n sy l va n i a are etched in memories. The Flood of 1942 was due to the widespread rainfall that brought the water level of the Allegheny River up quickly in July of that year. This predated the extensive Allegheny River and Olean Creek dike system designed to hold back floodwaters. People were rescued by rowboat from their rooftops as flood water covered first floors in many low-lying parts of Olean. One interesting story of the Flood of 1942 that is not widely known involves St. Bonaventure University. It was told by Fred McCarthy, a summer school student who recalled friars and students — including Olean Times Herald Archives several pigskin players Floodwater from Olean Creek pou — teaming up to save r over a portion of the dike protection system on Fron t Street near Main Street around 150 hogs at the during the 1972 flood from Hur ricane Agnes. university’s barn that was surrounded by floodwaters.
es Olean Times Herald Archiv A wing of Jones Memorial 1972.
Hospital collapsed into the
flood of Genesee River during the
McCarthy related that friars unearthed a 12-foot tub used for ducks from behind Friedsam Library, cleaned it out and carried it to the edge of the floodwaters. Students lined up to help ferry the hogs from the barnyard across the fastmoving water, McCarthy wrote. They managed to get about three hogs weighing between 300 and 600 pounds on each trip. “By noon we had rescued 40 pigs, losing only one — a porker that barrels past Fr. Pete out of the barn’s entrance and into the surging current,” McCarthy wrote. “A goodly number of Bona men now wait in line to ‘haul hawg’ — including a couple of footballers, big, brawny bockos who look to be in top shape.” Ropes lashed to the shores enabled the volunteers to pull the “tub” back and forth across the floodwaters. “By 8:30 that night, we’d saved maybe 150 pigs, minus one. President Plassmann expressed his “heartfelt thanks” to student volunteers, McCarthy wrote. After the brothers had put the pigs to bed for the night, McCarthy wrote that volunteers “Pappy and Mc” (McCarthy) headed to Olean to “help rescue the few floodstranded unfortunates still marooned on rooftops — a happy ending to a hard day’s night.” In nearby Portville, the 1942 floodwater wiped out the railroad trestle at Haskell Road, where the tracks and ties were left hanging in the air. The waters we re 10 feet deep in front of the Main Street
schoolhouse. There was only one home on Main Street that was not flooded. Fifteen people died in the region affected by the flooding, which included northern Pennsylvania. It was estimated that 3,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in the flood of 1942. Agnes rages Many readers still have vivid memories of the 1972 flood in Olean — especially those who lived on the south side of the Allegheny River. It began June 22, 1972, with heavy rains from what was Tropical Storm Agnes. Three days later, it had taken the lives of 117 Southern Tier and northern Pennsylvania residents. Thousands of homes across the Southern Tier were lost in the flood. Olean-area homes were flooded and hundreds of residents with no other place to stay bunked in Olean area schools and churches, where they were also served meals. Motor boats were used to rescue dozens of people and pets — particularly on the south side of the river. The flood damage wasn’t confined to Olean, where waters overflowed flood control dikes along the Allegheny River and Olean Creek. In Portville, Allegany and Salamanca the Allegheny overflowed its banks — dikes or no dikes. In Wellsville, a wing at Jones Memorial Hospital collapsed into the Genesee River. Floodwaters destroyed roads and bridges across the Southern Tier. Many people still remember the difficulties posed by Agnes’ floodwaters. Olean High school seniors had been scheduled to graduate at Bradner Stadium the following week. It was still filled with water and silt. The official water level for the 1972 flood was a record 26.2 feet. In 1942, the river reached its previous peak of 23.3 feet at Olean. A photo that shows volunteers struggling to secure sandbags to the top of a concrete wall near Main and Front streets as water spills over the flood control system is an iconic image from the 1972 flood. So is the photo of employees sandbagging the front entrance of the Olean Times Herald on Norton Drive where water from Olean Creek was lapping at the building. For a video slideshow of the Flood of 1972 featuring photos from the Olean Times Herald archives, check out the following link: Flood of 1972 Agnes - Olean Times Herald Archives
our community, our history
Kinzua Dam
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acres of their Allegany Territory to the reservoir formed by the dam. Built 1966, the Kinzua Dam was authorized under the Flood Control Acts of 1936 and 1938. The dam was constructed to protect Pittsburgh and reduce flood levels in the Ohio River Valley after a series of floods devastated Pittsburgh, Johnstown and other cities downstream the Allegheny River. The Pittsburgh District of the United States Army Corps of Engineers completed construction of the Kinzua Dam in 1965 and manages it to this day. As early as the 1920s the idea of building the dam was heavily protested by the Senecas, primarily by members of their Cornplanter Tract, situated in the “take area” that was to become part of the reservoir. This area to be taken from the 130 families in the tract was the last part of the Seneca land left in Pennsylvania. The Senecas’ battle for their ancestral land, led by their attorney Edward O’Neill, was based on the Pennsylvania grant of territory in 1791, in which Chief Cornplanter’s people were granted title to lands in northern Pennsylvania in perpetuity in gratitude for his work to forge peace in the western part of the state. Many alternatives to the dam project were studied in order to satisfy the Senecas’ objections, but the battle ended Nov. 25, 1958, when three judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia unanimously denied the Senecas an injunction
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against the Army. In 1961, citing the immediate need for flood control, President John F. Kennedy denied a request by the Senecas to halt construction. Following the relocation were major changes to the Senecas’ way of life. Construction of the dam and filling the Reservoir required the condemnation of several towns and communities in the reservoir’s floodplain, including the township of Elko, or lost much of their populations, like the township of South Valley. To partially compensate for the loss of the communities, the government set aside 305 acres of land for Seneca resettlement upstream in two New York communities: Steamburg in the town of Coldspring and Jimersontown, located on the west border of Salamanca. Jimersontown has become designated as one of the two capitals of the Seneca Nation. The plight of the Senecas and the Cornplanter Tract has been recognized by musicians. Sympathetic portrayals of the Senecas can be found in 1964 songs from the time such as Johnny Cash’s “As Long as the Grass Shall Grow” and Buffy Sainte-Marie’s “Now That the Buffalo’s Gone.” In 2014, filmmakers Paul Lamont and Scott Sackett began production of a documentary for PBS titled “Lake of Betrayal,” concerning the construction of Kinzua Dam and creation of Allegheny Reservoir.
from 3
File photo
Seneca Nation members walk along the bank of the Allegheny River where the Kinzua Dam is being constructed in the background.
Kellen M. Quigley The Kinzua Dam today continues to help with flood management of the Allegheny River, but at the cost of the Seneca people’s history.
The Tornado of 1919 By SALLY COSTIK Bradford Landmark Society One hundred and two years ago, on July 10, 1919, a tornado ripped through portions of Bradford’s High Street, Clarion Street, and the Rochester Street area, killing a young child and an old woman, totally demolishing five homes, and damaging 75 others. It was said to have “all the primitive fury of a Hun invasion” as it tore a narrow path across the city…. many buildings were wholly or partially u n r o o f e d , chimneys torn down, trees u p r o o t e d , hundreds of panes of glass destroyed and other damage done along the edges of the path swept by the storm.” It had been a typical summer day, but that afternoon about 3 p.m., the sky turned a dark, inky black, a tremendous rain began, and the strong wind picked up. Lightening flashed. Trees and branches fell onto the various telegraph and telephone wires throughout the city, including the fire alarm system which caused the fire bell to begin clanging uncontrollably. People, worried and frightened, looked up as a strange eerie color was seen in the west. At 3:30 p.m., a black funnel could be seen over Quintuple Hill, coming from the West Branch area. The tornado had first touched down in St. Bernard cemetery, toppling 50 headstones, and knocking down the grave marker of the late Rev. William Coonan who had died in 1915. The twelve ton, thirty-two-foot-high obelisk of the Barry family was lifted and rolled nine feet down the hill. An angel on another obelisk weighing 1,000 pounds belonging to the Kinney family was torn away but undamaged. A nearby barn and 30 apple trees next to the cemetery were leveled. Ahead of the tornado people could see a swirling cloud of tree branches, boards, dirt, and other debris that had been gathered by the wind and heard a roar, sounding like that of a train as it approached. Minutes later, the huge
anything like the scene that unfolded as the tornado came sweeping along. The dark cloud kept spinning along, accumulating an everincreasing pile of refuse. Parts of dwellings, b a r n s , sidewalks, etc. were soaring through the air and there was a constant roar.” He added that he believed the tornado simply skipped over the train he was on. Minutes later, the tornado went on its way, up and over Mount Raub, Sawyer City and Dallas Road lay ahead, and they suffered equal destruction. As soon as the storm had passed, huge crowds of people congregated at the scene of devastation. Volunteers from The Photo courtesy of Bradford Land Bradford Chapter mark Society, Lin The aftermath of dahl Collection. the storm. Roches of the American photo. ter Street is to th e left; High Street Red Cross quickly can be seen near the top of the organized and immediately arranged aid to the homeless South Penn Oil Company victims, finding them The remaining stood. Built of heavy timbers, there.” shelter in private covered with sheet iron with houses were moved from of England and as a soldier a shingle roof, the structure their foundations; roofs torn in the Boar War, I never saw homes and hotels around the was picked up as if it were off, windows smashed and a toy, twisted around and porches ripped away. Next on the tornado’s path dropped back down to the earth, leaving nothing but was Rochester Street. Two a shattered pile of building houses were lifted from their material. It was “as if it had basement walls, carried high been bombed with overseas in the air, and then smashed downward, completely war machinery.” Now the tornado turned to splintered and destroyed. the northeast. Clarion Street, Buildings on both sides of the which branched off Elm street were badly wrecked, Street, lay directly in its path. and those left standing Here, five houses were totally were missing windows and destroyed. The debris from chimneys. Due to fallen trees the home of Joseph Miller, No. and house wreckage, the 49 Clarion St. was scattered street was impassable. On High Street, similar for hundreds of yards. Four of his eight children were in damage occurred, houses the house when the twister shoved off their foundations, hit; two ran to safety in a outbuildings carried away, neighbor’s house, but Frank, trees twisted out of the age 13 and Florence, age 9, ground, and countless broken who stayed behind, were windows. At 162 High Street, injured and later taken to the a 2 x 4 board was driven right hospital. At 53 Clarion, Mrs. through the corner of the Sylvester Hart was holding house. As the tornado climbed up 13 month old Ludwig in her arms when the tornado Mount Raub hill, it reached struck. The wind snatched the old B.B. & K. narrow her up and tossed her across gauge railroad grade where the creek into branches of a the second death occurred. downed tree but she held tight Mrs. Mary Radle, age 82, who and never let go of the child. lived in a small house near the Both were relatively unhurt, old grade was literally carried although in shock. Her 200 yards up the hillside by other child, two-and-a-half- the storm, then dashed to the year-old Anthony Frederick ground. Her body was found Hart was not so lucky — he several hours later. The next day, the suffered severe head injuries and died later that day. Three Bradford Era interviewed funnel touched down on the upper Erie railroad yard where a large warehouse owned by the
other houses across the street were destroyed “stripped of nearly all evidence that human habitations had existed
Jack Middleton, who was on a B.R.& P. train that was stopped in Bradford during the tornado. He said “in all my experience as a resident
city. Mayor North called out extra police to patrol the area. The next day the sun shone, and despite the loss of nearly everything, the people in the damaged neighborhoods greeted the day with optimism and enthusiasm. The newspaper reported that they displayed “cheerful zeal in the work of rebuilding.” Men were seen nailing shingles on roofs; whole families worked at replacing windows, former neighbors and relative brought food, clothing, and furniture and offered temporary housing. People sorted through piles of boards and debris, looking for personal items. Rochester Street was cleared of rubbish and made passable again. Life went on, in testament to the resiliency of Bradford’s inhabitants. A relief fund was established to help the unfortunates. An editorial in The Era praised the relief efforts, saying “Yesterday’s tornado disaster calls loudly to the generous spirit of the community. The heart of Bradford is always moved by the cry of distress and generous response is assured.” In two weeks, the relief fund reached over $12,200 or about $189,000 in today’s value. Today, time has erased all signs of the worst tornado that ever hit Bradford.
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our community, our history
Railroads instrumental in region’s growth
By KELLEN M. QUIGLEY Besides the tremendous impact of the Erie Canal, it would be difficult to discuss the incredible growth and development of New York state without highlighting the role played by railroads. Starting in the 1830s, throughout the length and breadth of the Empire State, railroads large and small tied together the big city and smaller farming villages, bringing foodstuffs and raw materials toward the cities and, in turn, bringing manufactured goods and summer vacationers out to the country. Just about every major and most minor cities in the state were served by
An aerial view of the Erie Railway turntable off Atlantic Street in Salamanca. one or more railroads. The list of railroads that operated in and through the state’s Southern Tier included such important carriers as the Erie, the Lackawanna, the Pennsylvania and the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh. The New York and Erie Rail Road was chartered on April 24, 1832, by Gov. Enos T. Throop to connect
This postcard shows the Penn century. sylvania Railroa d Depot in O
New York City to Lake Erie at Dunkirk. When the company was unable to make payments on the debts incurred for the large costs of building the railroad decades later, it was reorganized as the Erie Railway in 1861. As the century went on, the Erie still did not see profits, and was sold in 1878 via bankruptcy reorganization to
File photo lean near the tu
rn of the 20th
become the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad. By 1893, the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad went into bankruptcy reorganization again and emerged in 1895 as the Erie Railroad. The Erie repair shops were located in Hornell, which was also where Erie’s mainline split into two routes — one northwest to Buffalo and the other west to Chicago. The western line traveled through Allegany and Cattaraugus counties with hubs in Wellsville, Olean, Salamanca and Dayton connecting it to other major railways. The railway flourished throughout the early 20th century before an irreversible decline in the late 1950s, eventually combining with the nearby Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, becoming the Erie Lackawanna in 1960. However, the merged railroad only survived for 16 years before continued decline forced it to join Conrail in 1976. The Pennsylvania Railroad — also known
Salamanca. From there, the main line traveled over the border into Pe n n s y l v a n i a with another hub at Bradford. The Bradford station saw enormous activity at the end of the 19th century. File photo The BR&P had a maintenance facility in this oil town, along with their cross-tie as the “Pennsy” — operated and timber factory, which throughout much of operated its own two-footPennsylvania from its gauge micro-railroad for establishment in 1846 through moving the timbers about. the mid 20th century but Officially, the end came also had connecting lines in 1932, when the line was that reached into New York. absorbed into the Baltimore It eventually merged with its and Ohio Railroad, giving the rival New York Central in 1968 B&O increased access to New to become Penn Central. The Pennsy gained access York. Timber was a major to Buffalo via lease of Western New York & Pennsylvania. industry in New York and A line from Warren, Pa., Pennsylvania in the 19th followed along the Allegheny century, and with Olean and River into New York, running Salamanca as major timber through Salamanca and towns in the region during Olean before going back those times. Both cities down into Pennsylvania to became railroad hubs and Smethport. A line through crossroads of several railroads Bradford, Pa., also came through Olean and followed — as evidenced by their peak today’s Route 16 highway to growths just before railroads declined during the second Buffalo. As the Erie and the half of the 20th century. Pennsylvania primarily Today, the Western New operated east and west lines, York and Pennsylvania a major north and south line Railroad, which began in 2001, also ran through Cattaraugus operates on the Southern County in the form of the Tier Extension, the former Buffalo, Rochester and Erie Railroad line between Pittsburgh Railway. Originally Hornell to the east and Corry, formed in 1885, the company Pa., to the west. was built on taking coal out of In 2007, the WNY&P leased Pennsylvania from Pittsburgh and sub-leased portions north to major cities on Lake of the north-south Buffalo Erie and Lake Ontario. Line, a former Pennsylvania The two major northern Railroad line mostly built by lines converged in a predecessor of the defunct Cattaraugus County in railway. The two lines cross in Ashford with a major hub in Olean.
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McKean County
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forested, and land transportation was difficult. The waterways were the key transportation routes. Oswayo Creek and the Allegheny River were considered as highways very early, and the Tunungwant Creek was declared a public highway in 1828. The lumber industry began in earnest in the 1830s, and prompted settlements and the organization of municipal governments. The settlement of the isolated central and southwestern portions of the county occurred very late, nearly a half a century after the original settlements. This area was occupied by the followers of Thomas Kane (Hamlin and Wetmore townships). Finally, in 1880, Foster Township was divided from Bradford Township. In southwest McKean County, large tracts of the isolated and landlocked area were purchased by Thomas L. Kane of Philadelphia. The territory was surveyed in 1859, and the village of Kane was founded in 1860. F u r t h e r development was delayed by the
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Civil War. Settlers in McKean County were pro-union and anti-slavery. In fact, the King settlement above Ceres was an important depot on the underground railroad, while Smethport was a way station. Kane, very concerned with the preservation of the Union, organized a volunteer unit and just nine days after President Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers, The Bucktails were on their way to Harrisburg. The regiment traveled on rafts down the Sinnemahoning to the Susquehanna. The unit claimed to be the first volunteer regiment organized for the defense of the Union. The regiment became one of the Civil War’s most famous. After the war, Kane returned to develop the town which bore his name. After the completion of the EriePhiladelphia railroad, and the rapid construction of rail lines, McKean County was no longer isolated. The rapidly growing lumber industry was cause for some excitement, but the decade of the 1870s would forever change McKean County — the discovery of oil in paying quantities. The county population burgeoned from 8,825 in 1870 to 42,565 in 1880. Highways and bridges were built, newspapers were formed, communities expanded and services provided. Related industries grew which eventually were able to absorb many of the oil workers
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unemployed as a result of the decline in the oil fields. As early as 1861, oil had been found in McKean County. However, because the drilling was not deep enough, commercial quantities were not found. Late in 1874, the first large producing well in the field was struck northeast of Bradford on the Buchanan farm. It was the first big producer — 70 barrels a day — drilled in the soon-to-befamous Bradford third sand. By 1881, the Bradford field set an all-time maximum production of 23 million barrels of oil. For several years, McKean County led the world in the production of petroleum. Other important industries developed as well, including lumber — sawmills, tanneries and wood chemicals — and railroads. By 1925, the county was largely deforested. Much of the land was purchased by the public. The Allegheny National Forest was established in western McKean County in 1923. The glass industry developed in the same time frame, and from 1895 to 1905, McKean County led the nation in glass production. Other industries included coal in Mount Alton, Marshburg, Clermont and Betula and shale-brick in Lewis Run during the 1920s. The entire history of what McKean County was to become was shaped during the several decades near the turn of the century.
ndmark sy Bradford La Photo courte
ed for into a vehicle us Locals . s transformed rd wa fo ad ive Br ot in om et re 40 & 8 loc t Washington St d enough that babies es W Bradford’s old on 46 19 own here in the street, lou parades, as sh it came down loud boom as ears. eir th r remember the ve co folks would would cry and
The 40 & 8 society in Bradford By SALLY RYAN COSTIK Bradford Landmark Society The Forty & Eight was formed in 1920 by American Legionnaires as a fraternal organization of Army veterans, many of whom had been transported to the battle front in France during World War I on narrow gauge French railroads inside boxcars (Voitures) that were half the size of American boxcars. Each French boxcar was stenciled with a “40/8”, denoting its capacity to hold either forty men or eight horses. These boxcars were stubby, only 20.5 feet long and 8.5 feet wide, and carried little more than half the capacity of American boxcars. Needless to say, it was a real squeeze.
Although memories tof riding in them were not always pleasant, this ignominious and uncomfortable mode of transportation was familiar to all who traveled from the coast to the trenches, a common small misery among American soldiers who thereafter found “40/8” a lighthearted symbol of the deeper service, sacrifice and unspoken horrors of war that truly bind those who have borne the battle. (from www. fortyandeight.org history). Later, many of these same boxcars were used during World War II to transport troops to and from the front. In 1945, many American troops (including POWs) were transported from Germany
to France for return to the States in a rough-riding 40 and 8 — especially in November and December. Veterans’ memories of travel in the rickety, unheated cars are pretty vivid; some men even resorted to building fires inside them to keep warm on the long, slow trips. In June of 1939, Marguerite Shelgren, majorette in the Sons of the Legion Drum Corp, and the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Shelgren of Interstate Parkway, christened the newly-constructed locomotive of the McKean Voiture of the 40 and 8, “Ole Hank” in a ceremony in Bradford.
What’s in a Name? Pigeon Woods, Gistaguat, Genesee … Wellsville
Historic trolley rail is unique exhibit for Landmark
By KATE DAY SAGER What weighs approximately 40 pounds, is covered in rust and is probably one of the more intriguing acquisitions received by Bradford Landmark Society? The staff at Landmark will say it’s a section of an historic steel trolley rail that was found under Congress Street by a utility crew. Described as a flangeway rail, the section of metal is historically significant as there have been very few trolley rails recovered in the more than 100 years since they were first installed in Bradford, said Landmark staff member Mike Fuoco. “I’d say it’s one of our better acquisitions,” Fuoco said of the piece of rail. “It’s historically significant as there isn’t that much (in terms of artifacts at Landmark) on the trolley system.” Simply put, a flangeway rail, which has a groove on one side, was typically installed on city streets that were paved or covered with brick. Fuoco said a flange, or lip, is found on the inside of trolley or train wheels and allows the wheels to hold onto the rail. “You can’t brick up to the inside of the rail or the flange would jump up off a (conventional) rail,” he explained. “Once you got out to the country, you go back to a (conventional rail), you don’t have to worry about flangeways.” In commenting on the acquisition, Landmark genealogist Molly Lindahl said the organization received a call about the find from Chip
Comilla, director of the city’s department of public works
Photo courtesy of Bradford Landmark A section of trolley rail, similar to that which is seen here, was recently dug up on Congress Street and donated to Bradford Landmark Society.
and recreation. Comilla reported the discovery was made by the utility company while digging up sections of Congress Street. “At first they didn’t know what it was,” Lindahl said of the work crews. “The contractor called (Comilla) in because they weren’t sure if they were digging into something and needed to stop, so they did stop.” Lindahl said someone soon recognized what the item was and determined it would likely be an item that Landmark would want for its
archives. Information obtained from the book, “Trolleys of the Oil Rich Enchanted Mountains” by John Dean Wilkins, had a chapter titled Bradford Electric Street Railway. The book said construction of the trolley rails in Bradford began in May of 1896 on Congress Street. Work on two rail lines in town was first conducted on a route that started on Congress Street and connected to a number of streets in the community on through to the “School Street Loop.” The second route was constructed on Main and East Main streets. Contractor for the project was Pierce Construction Company of Massachusetts. The book noted the new rails along East Main Street were installed “to replace the badly worn horse car rails.” Fuoco said Landmark will likely clean some of the rust and scale off the 122-yearold rail before cutting it into smaller sections for display. Several sections will also be distributed to the Salamanca (N.Y.) Rail Museum, the PennBrad Oil Museum in Bradford and individuals. Sally Costik, curator of Landmark, said the non-profit organization, headquartered in Herbig Bakery, is always interested in hearing from people who have found local items that could have historic significance. “We appreciate people who find bits of Bradford history and bring it in,” Costik concluded. “Call us, because we could probably identify it if they don’t know what it is.”
By KATHRYN ROSS WELLSVILLE — Local history has it that the people settled in the area, 9 miles north of the Pennsylvania line and on the Genesee River in what would become Wellsville, first met at the site of Van Buren’s Tavern in 1832 to choose a proper name for the town. The one person who didn’t show up for the meeting was the major landowner, Gardner Wells. At that time, he owned many plots of land in what would become the downtown area. Those at the meeting decided to honor their friend by giving the new town his name — Wellsville. Wells, however, did not stay in the town and village named in his honor. He moved to Cuba where he is buried in a hillside cemetery plot. Meanwhile, Wellsville was not the first or the last name
the area was called. A 1771 map by Guy Johnson for New York colonial governor William Tyron named Seneca villages along the Genesee River and the area that would become Wellsville. It was called Gistaguat. Yet before that the Indigenous people called the site by another name. The Senecas referred to the Wellsville area as “the Pigeon Woods” and held annual festivals and encampments to take advantage of the passenger pigeon flights (see memoirs of Captain Horatio Jones). At the time, passenger pigeons filled the skies by the millions. Tribes and bands came from all over Western New York and northern Pennsylvania to Gistaquat to harvest the pigeons by the thousands. In the “History of Allegany County” written by Minard in the 1800s, he states
tribes “never really lived in Wellsville. (They) came only periodically to hunt pigeon or fish and, in the spring, to make Black Maple syrup. In the Pigeon Woods was an established camp of rude wigwams for use in the pigeon season. Within the boundaries of what is now the Township of Wellsville was useful but to the Indians and to them only as the haunt of deer and other game and the location of a part of their trail along the river from Caneadea to the headwaters of the Susquehanna.” Historical information compiled by the Allegany County Historical Society notes Wellsville was still very small when the Erie Railroad came through in 1851, but its population increased rapidly, and the name was unofficially changed to Genesee Station Wellsville con’t...... page 9
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our community, our history
Saturday, february 26, 2022
Genesee Valley Canal remnants still felt 17 decades later
By BOB CLARK Almost 170 years ago, canal barges made their way to and from Olean. It took more than 30 years, millions of dollars, and an estimated 100 lives to make it happen. It took less than 20 for it to end. The Genesee Valley Canal, once ran from the Erie Canal at Rochester to the Allegheny River at today’s Bradner Stadium in Olean. Today, the corridor is best known as a walking trail, the Genesee Valley Greenway. Whole towns were moved to meet the canal. Rivers and creeks were dammed to provide water for the system — including what was for decades the largest manmade lake in the world. More than 100 locks were built to raise boats almost 1,000 feet above the coastal plains at Rochester. But the remnants of the project are still visible — some have decayed, others torn down, but some remain constant reminders for hundreds of people. Sources, such as the book “History of Allegany County,” written in 1898 by then Allegany County Historian John Minard, noted the lumber of the Upper Allegheny was needed to build Albany and New York City. Food grown on the wide plains of Livingston and Monroe counties also were needed to build populations. The river to the north was usable for shipping down goods to cities, but could not easily handle travel through the region seeking to migrate along the Allegheny and
1820
1827 — State begins reviewing route for canal to connect Allegheny River to Erie Canal, opening up trade between the Mississippi River, the Great Lakes and beyond
Ohio rivers. At what is now Letchworth State Park, huge waterfalls limited shipping to logs dumped into the river. And the overland connection to Olean Point was rugged country, limiting access for migrants and cargo traffic. Seeing the needs, state officials began searching for a
Allegany County — were moved to meet the canal. Rivers and creeks were dammed to provide water for the system but harmed the ecosystem. What was the largest manmade lake in the world — Cuba Lake — was also constructed to supply water.
Genesee Valley Canal used over 100 locks to rise alsomst 1,000 feet from Rochester to Olean. There were 17 locks along the route between Portageville and the Allegany County Line — a distance of less than four miles. But a far bigger problem was delays. A change in
by the arrival of the New York and Erie Railroad siphoning off east-west cargo hauling demand. When authorized, the canal faced no competition, as there was not a single commercial railroad in the state. The Erie Railroad had been in financial trouble in
route in 1827. After a route was decided, the state Legislature authorized $2 million in 1836 for the project. But the development came at a cost that could not be recovered. Officials reported 100 workers died during construction — predominantly newly-arrived Irish immigrants. Whole towns — such as Belfast in
Overall, costs ballooned from an original $2 million to more than $6 million. By comparison, the 363-mile Erie Canal cost about $7 million to build. Part of the reason was the number of locks — sets of doors allowing barges to be raised or lowered to a new water level. The Erie Canal used 83 locks for 571 feet in elevation change, while the
state leadership halted construction in 1842. Work began again in 1847, but not before the state was forced to pay damages to cancel the building contracts. Minard wrote the damages paid out alone might have been enough to finish the system on time and on budget. Those costs overburdened the canal with high overhead — which was compounded
1837 when construction of the canal began. When the canal opened to Mt. Morris in 1840, not a single train had carried a paying cargo load in the state. But all that changed in the following 15 years, by which time rail service could ship goods to Albany and New York markets in a fraction of the time. Minard put total revenue for the canal at about $5
1830
May 6, 1836 — State Legislature authorizes $2 million (about $41 million today)
1840
1850
1860
1851 — After 17 locks April 28, 1858 — The built between Portageville canal officially opens its and the Allegany County full length. The first boat line to head north, “Forrest City,” carried 85,000 Oct. 4, 1856 — The first board feet of lumber to canal boat crosses the Albany Allegany-Cattaraugus line in Hinsdale
1870
June 4, 1877 — State Legislature votes to close the canal after less than two decades
million — resulting in a net loss for the state. By the late 1860s, rail had proven dominant across the continent. The canal was closed Sept. 30, 1878. Barges were left behind to rot in the canal bed or torn apart by locals seeking building materials and firewood. In the 1884 book “Rochester, a Story Historical” by Jenny Marsh Parker, the author noted the evolution of transportation through the region and mused about the future. “The Genesee Valley Canal put an end to the river navigation,” she wrote, “but its triumph short and the railroad along the malarial ditch today seems a prophecy that the iron track will yet be supplanted by some means of transportation as much superior as is the locomotive to the jaded beast of the towpath.” Two years later, Otto Benz patented his “vehicle powered by a gas engine,” the predecessor to the automobile — the killer of the railroad as the primary mover of people and goods. Today, the greatest monument to the canal is its primary reservoir — Cuba Lake. Hundreds of cottages and homes dot the seven-mile shoreline of Cuba Lake, which was once the largest manmade lake in the world. After the Genesee Valley Canal shut down, the lake was used for a short time to supply water for the Erie Canal. By the 1890s, the familiar cottages began sprouting up along the shore.
1880
Nov. 5, 1880 — Canal route sold for railroad bed
Vic Moran’s bubble banks By BRADFORD LANDMARK For only 94 cents in the 1940s, one could purchase a Glass Bubble Bank through Sears and Roebuck. Bubble banks, as they were called, originated right here in Bradford ‚Äî the brain child of a man named Vic Moran. Moran was born in Canada in 1890, and came to Bradford with his family at the age of 9. His father, Harry Moran, ran a small clothing business, and it was here that Vic Moran began to specialize in advertising opportunities. He became interested in the idea of a round glass bank with a removable wooden bottom that could serve as an advertising medium in a fun, yet practical way. Bubble banks came with a wide variety of cardboard inserts, each guaranteed to urge you to save money. Each insert was different, and urged you to save for a variety of reasons. He was first granted
a patent on his “bubble banks” on January 14, 1941 and successfully marketed his design both locally and nationally through Sears and Roebuck catalogs. He described his invention as a “new, original, and ornamental Design for Coin Bank‚Äù. The following list of Bubble Banks (named for their cardboard insert) was complied several years ago in “The Collector’s Guide to Glass Banks” by Charles V. Reynolds. For example, the cardboard insert might be a man bowling, and the base of the bank would say ‚ÄúPin Money.‚Äù Occasionally, the Bradford Era or Star Record, or Sunday Herald (all Bradford newspapers) would offer a free bank for a three-month subscription. Many of these banks are believed to have been sold, or given away, in the Bradford area. Each bank was approximately 6" in diameter,
Vic
made of glass, that either had a two part wooden base with a slot cut in the middle for
the cardboard insert; a one part wooden base with a simple slot for the insert, or a one part wooden base with
larger holds for three black rubber balls to attach the glass bubble to the base. It is unknown how many bubble banks were made in
Moran’s lifetime (he died unexpectedly in Jamestown, N.Y., in 1949) but his family carried on the business for several more years.
our community, our history
Wellsville Name by the railroad. It was the site of where the westbound trains first entered the Genesee Valley. However, the U.S. post office refused to honor this name change due to its close similarity to well-established
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Geneseo in Livingston County, and apparently not due to the fact that Genesee, Pa., was only a few miles south and Little Genesee was just over the hills to the west. On April 4, 1871, the New York Legislature officially changed
Wellsville’s name to Genesee. After much political wrangling, by a special act of the legislature, the name Wellsville was redesignated as the official name of the town on June 8, 1873. The town was formed
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from parts of Scio and Andover on Nov. 22, 1855. The village of Wellsville was first incorporated in 1857 and then again in 1873. It has been Wellsville ever since.
o Archival Phot a century later e would stand us Ho t et ss Fa rn where the
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in downtown an
ve Van Buren’s Ta . med was officially na
‘Hospitable home’ on the Underground Railroad The Olean and surrounding area has an important history as a key way station along the Underground Railroad — helping escaped slaves on their way to freedom in Canada. “For many years, prior to the Civil War, many people in the North were aroused to the enormity of the crime of slavery,” an Olean Times Herald archival article reads, “and the Abolition movement was particularly strong in some of the Northern states. ... In spite of the severity of the penalties of the Fugitive Slave Law (enacted in 1850), secret, or underground methods of rescue were well organized. “It is a well-known fact that Olean was one of the stations on the underground route to Canada.” After the Fugitive Slave Law was enacted, a fine of $1,000 and possible imprisonment was the penalty — but the local effort of helping Black Americans
escape went on. “These penalties were disregarded and the business was continued in secrecy and perfect fidelity. The routes from the south largely followed the waterways from both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh into New York state and so Olean, on the Allegheny River, and other towns in this vicinity were stations along the way to Buffalo and Rochester, from which points they were transported to Canada and freedom. “As early as 1825-26 the route through Olean was well patronized” by slaves fleeing from bondage.” The “hospitable home” of Judge James Brooks, in Pleasant Valley, harbored many former slaves, and was referred to as the “House of Refuge.” From there, at night, they were transported to the next station, most likely in Ischua. In 1836, a Cattaraugus ‘Home’ con’t............ page 11
main street Bradford throughout the ages Bradford Old Home Week, early 1900s
George Edward “Rube” Waddell was a colorful left-handed pitcher who was in both leagues, but who gained fame as a member of the Philadelphia A.L. team, won more than 20 games in the first four seasons with that club and compiled more than 200 victories during his major league career. He was born Oct. 13, 1876, in Bradford.
A look at Bradford’s past By BRADFORD LANDMARK The population of the City of Bradford in 1900 was 17,305 — more than double the current size of the city. And that’s just counting those people that lived inside the city limits. In 1900, the Holley Hotel was built. Erected on the site of the recently burned Riddell House (December 1899), the new red brick Holley Hotel was the dream of Frank Holley, who quite naturally named the new hotel after himself. The brick Carnegie Library on Congress Street was built with $25,000 from Andrew Carnegie of Pittsburgh. It opened in July of 1901 with 1,000 people attending its open house. The Option House, a wooden landmark dating to the days of the original oil boom, was razed and a new, fancy brick and stone building, also named the Option House, was erected in its place in the summer of 1902. The Bradford Brewery on Fourth Street (the location is now under the U.S. Route. 219 expressway) opened in February 1901 with a grand opening of the brewery for men on February 4th and 5th and grand opening for women on February 6th. It was built of Bradford Red Brick. Work on the S. G. Coffin building on Barbour Street, reported to be one of the largest brick structures in the city, was being rushed to completion in 1901. This building burned in 1924, and was replaced by the Star
Garage. Joseph Tammero erected a 3-story brick building at 15 Chestnut Street in 1902. It still stands. The first Bell Telephone building, No. 11 Chestnut Street, also of brick, was built in 1903. The Arcade building, a brick structure that was unique in that it straddled the Tuna Creek from East Washington Street to Pine Street, was completed and opened in June of 1903. The James R. Evans building, designed in brick, was completed in the late summer of 1903. The Schonblom building, at 101 Main Street, on the corner of Kennedy and Main, was built of brick in 1902. The former Salvation Army building on Kennedy Street was built of brick in 1903. The Auerhaim Building, later Forest Oil, was completed in 1901 on the corner of Main and Chestnut Street. It was built of brick. The Odd Fellows building on the public square was destroyed by fire in 1902. It was rebuilt and reopened in January 1904. It was made of brick. The old Pennzoil Building (now the Medical Arts building on Boylston Street) was erected by Solomon Dresser in 1903. It’s brick, of course. The new Bradford Theater, later to be renamed the Shea’s Theater, opened on South Avenue in November 1903; it was also made of brick. Several new, red brick hospital buildings were constructed on eight acres off North Bennett Street,
Pleasant Street, and Summer Street and completed by the fall of 1904. The Bradford National Bank on Main Street was built of brick and stone and completed in 1904. The Dresser Mansion, of creamy pale yellow brick, was built on Jackson Avenue by Solomon Dresser, The family moved in June 1, 1904. And that’s not counting all the other buildings, houses, bridges, roads, fire towers, and factories that were also being built in this time period; many of them in brick as well. City Hall nearly burned to the ground in November 1901; the Era Hook and Ladder company moved into its new headquarters on Pine Street (now part of the former hospital resale shop) in 1902; Carrie Nation visited the city in 1901, Susan B. Anthony visited in 1900; Marilla Reservoir was constructed in 1901; the Tuna Valley Pressed Brick plant at Lewis Run was completed in 1903; Dr. Roswell Park of Buffalo, spoke at the commencement exercises of the Bradford Hospital School of Nursing in 1901; LaStella Lodge was organized in 1902; Fifth Ward School on Elm Street was completed in 1903; and the Wizard of Oz, written by L. Frank Baum, was performed at the new Bradford Theater in 1903.
Main St from E Main St c. 1920’s
The arrival of Company C, 16th, Pennsylvania Volunteers, in 1898, down Main Street of Bradford.
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our community, our history
DERRICK CITY SCHOOL FIRE 1920
Building Third Ward School The building of Third Ward School, 1933, at the head of Mechanic Street. The school, designed by local architect Thomas Hendryx, cost $50,000 to build, and opened for school on September 2, 1935. It was demolished in 2002.
The Johnston Store The Johnston Store, about 1932. Built in 1898 of Lewis Run brick, the store sold women’s clothing of all kinds. It was extensively remodeled in 1933, moving the stairway to the front of the store, and generally modernizing the interior. The store remained in business until 1969; other businesses here were Michelle’s Clothing, Richards, Movie Magic, and now, the Tin Ceiling Gift Shoppe.
BRADFORD PARADE, JULY 4, 1946.
BRADFORD POLICE IN PARADE, 1947.
Shea’s Theater on South Avenue The movie “Lawless Street” starred Randolph Scott and was released in 1955.
Cleveland’s Sheet Metal Works
Cleveland’s Sheet Metal Works at 21 East Corydon Street, about 1951. The Bell Telephone Business Office was located here by November of 1961, later M & M Answering Service, and in 2007 became the location of the Friendship Table which relocated here from Campus Drive.
our community, our history
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‘Home’
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County Anti-Slavery Society was formed at Ellicottville, the Rev. Sylvester Cowles being one of its principal organizers. A leading Olean resident, Dr. Lambert Whitney, was also active in the anti-slavery movement. A leading member of the local Baptist church, he conducted a Bible class for former slaves, before the Fugitive Slave Act made such activities almost impossible. Nevertheless, and despite the fact that agents representing slave owners’ interests operated in this area, “The statement is made that no runaway slave was ever returned to the South from Olean and that no claim for bounty was ever paid in this community.” Local stories include the episode of how, in 1828, four escaped slaves stopped in Olean, seeking food and and directions at Martin’s Hotel — at the site of what is now the Olean House. While the four were eating, two agents and their guide arrived in town and asked for information about the fleeing men. The agents and their guide were sent on their way with false information — but returned after they realized they had been deceived. The guide for the agents, a teamster known in Olean, was
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particularly incensed over the episode and, “making more and more of a nuisance of himself, was soon tarred and feathered.”
Book chronicles history of trolley service in region For the many rail history buffs in the Bradford area — and beyond — there is a new book out that you are going to want to get your hands on. “Trolleys of the Oil Rich Enchanted Mountains” is the story of the Western New York & Pennsylvania Traction Company, its predecessors and successor, which represents the life’s work of author John Dean Wilkins, a native of this region who now lives in Gillette, N.J. In an impressively produced self-published work, Wilkins lays out the early origins of horse-drawn trolley service in Bradford and the surrounding area, the electrification of lines and
the eventual consolidation of trolley services by Wilson R. Page into what would be the Western New York & Pennsylvania Traction Company. The hardcover book is more than 200 pages filled with more than 200 period photos from the later 1800s to the early 1900s, showing trolley cars and employees, lines and depot and maintenance buildings, from Bradford, to places like Allegany, Seneca Junction, Salamanca, Bolivar in New York and Ceres and Shingle House (yes, the Potter County town was known as “Shingle House” at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries). Impressive foldout maps
showing the different trolley service areas throughout the region are also included. Wilkins, who was born in Hornell, N.Y., moved at an early age to Wellsville, N.Y., “in the midst of the Enchanted Mountains.” His late wife, Margaret Sawyer Wilkins, grew up in Bolivar, a village that played an important role in the development of the railway system. Their parents were professionally involved in the oil and gas industry that fueled the need for a turn-ofthe-century, efficient trolley and interurban rail system. The book covers the beginnings of the narrow gauge network that sprang up in Bradford when the oil boom
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485 East Main Street Bradford, PA 814-368-6880
hit, and fanned out to connect Bradford to Eldred, Olean and Mount Jewett. From there, streetcars followed. “Revenue service commenced on Monday, September 15, 1879,” Wilkins wrote of a line that transported passengers a mile-and-ahalf from Main Street to the Borough of Kendall. By 1893, meetings were underway to electrify the service, rather than rely on horses. The books tells of the saga of competition to be the first to bring electric railways to Bradford. It was July 29, 1896, when the first electric trolley service operated between the St. James Hotel and the American House Hotel in
East Bradford. The last horse car service operating in Bradford was likely on July 28, 1896, Wilkins noted. The Olean, Rock City & Bradford Railroad is featured, along with reports of its continuing accidents. “Some of the more notable ones included April 9, 1900 — Car derails near State Line due to bad track about two weeks after the major accident. The conductor and two passengers walked into Bradford. August 12, 1901 — Car derailed at Derrick City after hitting a cow. The car went down a 20 foot embankment but no one was injured. The cow was killed.”
More features of the book include the Western New York & Pennsylvania Traction Co., and the Olean, Bradford & Salamanca Railway, as well as chapters on freight service, the roster and operating statistics. Throughout the 224-page book are photos from the period, including of streetcars on Main Street in Bradford, passengers riding the “loop” along the Lewis Run line in the vicinity of Custer City. “Trolleys of the Oil Rich Enchanted Mountains” can be ordered from 4th Lake Publishing, 245 Deer Path, Gillette, N.J., 07933. The hardcover book is $54.95 plus shipping of $8.
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