1 200 18 https://nthistory.com/files/original/2ae9f750dfdc8fcb0720ebca2d0b8696.jpg 6578b2ceaad70590c4be6b738eb098cf Photo A photographic depiction of a person or place. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Early barges in the river, North Tonawanda, cabinet card (c.1890).jpg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890 barge boat cabinet card river https://nthistory.com/files/original/d66f9c06f1bafac2d3b18af1a7788bf5.jpg d154850552571329e21329eed69c82eb https://nthistory.com/files/original/e601e4fe990d1540814d0dc57c70e3b2.jpg 30b30ca7377d3e3c109a045cf5dd07ba Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Buffalo Bolt, Roblin Steel Description An account of the resource Formerly situated on Oliver Street near East Ave., this longtime employer got its start in Amsterdam, N.Y. in 1855. They moved to a small two-story brick at the corner of Clinton & Adams Streets in Buffalo, where the brilliant Orrin C. Burdict joined the firm, and began inventing many superior machines. They were known as Plumb , Burdict & Barnard for a time. Eventually they extended to Eagle Street. In 1897 they were forced to suspended activities as patent expiration hurt their business. Soon after R. H. Plumb, the senior partner, removed the machinery to North Tonawanda, using steam for a few years until Niagara Falls electricity prevailed. From: <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=uo5PAQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA225&ots=HsKZ916Mg0&dq=%22Buffalo%20Bolt%22%201855&pg=PA225#v=onepage&q=%22Buffalo%20Bolt%22%201855&f=false">History of the Bolt and Nut Industry of America</a> by W. R. Wilbur Photo A photographic depiction of a person or place. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Buffalo Bolt and environs, aerial photo (From War Effort magazine, c.1945).jpg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945 avenues factory hd ironton oliver river https://nthistory.com/files/original/4f026da2e7b75c54be52e94eb6de6084.jpg ac369df787c93cd264992bf065319c73 https://nthistory.com/files/original/60927c42aca57ff727be5f85f3a22482.jpg 14e48cd9aab15cd200628eaf375a2f89 Photo A photographic depiction of a person or place. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Canal boats not in commission, cabinet card (1897-05-15).jpg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1897-05-15 Description An account of the resource Tonawanda Island White mansion visible? canal creek river swingbridge tonawandaisland https://nthistory.com/files/original/ba913912de40dcb9c72a58ecb114aecc.jpeg 953b41d2c7e49888e734ffec8c227ae4 https://nthistory.com/files/original/59f78b27295cbed814a9bf485ac23a0e.jpeg ae83b4ba0cba558648400a214a3e3ed6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Tonawanda Iron and Steel (Niagara River Iron Company) Description An account of the resource <img class="cover" alt="Tonawanda Iron and Steel, illustration" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/16.jpg" />Illustration: Dennis Reed Jr., 2025. For a century, a massive riverfront iron works dominates the skyline of North Tonawanda near Wheatfield Street and present-day Fisherman's Park. The furnaces cast a ruddy glow over the west, and power the birth of the village of "Ironton," later known as "The Avenues." From <a href="https://nthistory.com/items/show/2891">History of Niagara County (1878)</a>: <blockquote>The Niagara River Iron Company was formed in pursuance of the general manufacturing law, in 1872, with a paid-up capital of $400,000. The first purchase of real estate was of 165 acres from M. Bush. The buildings were erected in 1873, and manufacturing operations commenced the same year. The engine house stands in a prominent position, and by one not knowing its design might be taken for an elegant mansion or villa; the building is 68 by 74 feet, with a proportionate elevation, and finished in tasteful style. The boiler house, judiciously separated, located 45 feet by 70, contains ten ponderous boilers, four feet in diameter and sixty feet long; an octagon chimney eighty feet high rises in front. The blast furnace was constructed to run out fifty tons of pig iron per day, and is 60 by 200 feet and two stories high; a tower rising above the rounded kert contains the machinery for elevating ore and brick by steam power. The oven is 30 by 41 feet, with iron-bound exterior. The buildings named are massive and substantial brick erections, upon stone foundations. The stock house is a frame building, 72 by 500 feet and two stories high. The dock fronting on the river is 500 feet in length, reaching ten feet depth of water. Located upon the dock is an engine for raising freight from the vessels. Two branch tracks of the Central railroad pass over the docks and into the stock house, to deposit and remove material. The buildings cover an area of four acres. The trustees are P. P. Pratt, president; Josiah Jewett, vice-president; S. S. Jewett, H. H. Glenny, George B. Hays, F. L. Danforth and B. F. Felton. During the present general depression in business the works are not operated; but as they are controlled by men of permanent wealth, willing to use it and able to hold their own until the day dawns upon brighter prospects, the advantages of this great concern will yet be felt by the community that has clustered about it in anticipation. The premises and machinery are kept in the most perfect order and neatness under the care of Alexander Reid.</blockquote> Pascal P. Pratt, a "hardware man" from Buffalo, is president and principal stockholder.  <blockquote>Mr. [Pascal P.] Pratt also helped to organize the Niagara River Iron Company in 1872. That company operated a blast furnace in North Tonawanda capable of turning out fifty tons of pig iron daily. Pascal Pratt was President of the firm, and among the other principals was S. S. Jewett. This company was later succeeded by the Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company, with William A. Rogers as President.</blockquote> <blockquote>- <a href="https://www.olmstedinbuffalo.com/pascal-p-pratt/#:~:text=city%20of%20Buffalo.-,Mr.,and%20the%20Bank%20of%20Attica.">Olmsted in Buffalo</a></blockquote> By 1875, in the midst of a general depression in the iron industry, the works are stopped, and lie dormant for years, possibly the next 14. In January 1889 it is reported that the Baird Bros. of Ohio will buy the plant and resume operations. It will require about $50K. 30 workers are expected in March. Ore begins arriving in great quantities in June, and on August 28 the furnace roars again. 100 men work the facility, day and night. The production of 100 tons of iron and steel a day is planned. <a href="https://archive.org/details/historyofcityofb00buff">Seemingly owned</a> at one point by "Rogers, Brown and Company, one of the largest iron companies in the country." The iron plant draws workers to the area, many Hungarian and Polish, who settle in a village called "<a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/83">Ironton</a>," just north of North Tonawanda proper. Frank Burkett Baird (b.1852 d.11/15/1939) organizes the Tonawanda Iron & Steel Co, in 1899. (Baird's singular accomplishment is as "Father of the Peace Bridge" - <a href="https://buffaloah.com/h/panam/forestL.html">Buffalo Architecture & History</a>). The new venture is a success, and expanding. President Rogers. New "monster" engine in June 1896. President McKinley fires up its mighty Furnace B with great ceremony and the flip of a switch from his home in Ohio in November 1896.  Somewhere around 1912 poor management and a poor economy stop the furnaces again. The plant lies unused until purchased by Tonawanda Iron Corp. in 1922. Gilmore. By 2017, the site has been cleared and converted into a small medical park and Fisherman's Park. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "Tonawanda Iron Corp., Is One of Largest Manufacturers of Pig Iron." Tonawanda News, 1929 (in this collection). Postcard A pictorial representation of a place or entity, intended to be written upon and mailed. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Tonawanda Iron Works, postcard (1909).jpg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909 avenues boat ironton river https://nthistory.com/files/original/9a6024e82d3c44508de551c849e61a14.jpeg 50a9cae3955735f986fb21baec367ed4 Letters and Letterhead Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Calkins and Co. Planing Mill, Tonawanda, envelope (1889).jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1889 factory river tonawanda https://nthistory.com/files/original/5658d19fc65b7573f5ff8a3287cc27b7.jpg 282d6b87e2bdef97bc7622741485ae88 https://nthistory.com/files/original/3dba7c157f765d79e0c6551b8bec2924.jpg 8d8de36561c74d3411e1bdf251aacb93 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Erie Canal Description An account of the resource The Erie Canal in North Tonawanda followed the existing Tonawanda Creek from Pendleton. The first work done locally was the 1823 construction of a wooden dam near present-day Gateway Park to raise the level of the creek four feet. A lock was also built to permit passage between the Niagara River (and Great Lakes) and the canal. Early documents also mention a guard lock just east of the lock. After the Civil War, the depth of the entire canal was increased to accomodate larger boats. Starting around 1909 work was done on our section of the canal as part of Contract 19 to improve the prism, or bottom shape (see <a href="https://nthistory.com/collections/show/152">photos of Contract 19</a>) In 1918 the dam was removed when the length of the Erie was re-engineered to become the Erie Barge Canal. The Tonawanda and Buffalo portions of the canal were abandoned at that time, making North Tonawanda the canal's new western terminus. In 1923 Tonawanda began filling in the old canal. The work was not yet complete in 1929. Photo A photographic depiction of a person or place. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Erie Canal lock at Tonawanda, photo (Tonawanda and North Tonawanda, Images of America, Volume 1).jpg Description An account of the resource Locking into the Niagara River. See also <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/1717">Erie Canal lock into the Niagara River</a>. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Tonawanda and North Tonawanda, Images of America, Volume 1. canal lock river https://nthistory.com/files/original/6ffdd0b990049aa0707348b68bdc9f1f.jpg 0134641471c68fd6f986a5f9dc080e67 Illustration An abstracted line drawing or depiction. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Map of the Village of Tonawanda, illustration detail (1857).jpg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1857 creek map river https://nthistory.com/files/original/e1ef849b731f4412b34aaf655ea98c9a.jpg 4d65fef129fe8299c72472479a9985d8 https://nthistory.com/files/original/e5e03dbd91ebdb4e353a2ffc5b0da22a.jpg 95920466d59c811dcb0e2ae1ae1d5ded https://nthistory.com/files/original/1fa4bf8e8c8dc6b09b0489f449753be5.jpg a9176f3ff413af3b88fc5296e7a9c161 https://nthistory.com/files/original/8560fc801bdd1d3929767b5c516b18eb.jpg 7e8e8f18d5c3a4681c1e3ae5d19967f0 https://nthistory.com/files/original/56e916c9bdfd71c1e1680b5196421984.jpg a49b97722981d4f7fc77a03677f92150 https://nthistory.com/files/original/a92e9396c443c521884a49d19123da42.jpg e58e87d6db1689e4aba07f0d5f113eb6 https://nthistory.com/files/original/774ed2752704061be38f9b8ce7ebf55a.jpg fed5bdadcbb74ef561766051f3419af4 https://nthistory.com/files/original/366e8e75fea8ad1c8c26830d08fff058.jpg 3f735064761fc4fe2cd8f8b523bc49d2 https://nthistory.com/files/original/bee257d7f3655b0b99bcdbc5f887e349.jpg fa613a81c4b3cab774a6d59bef546fa2 https://nthistory.com/files/original/afec807295d1e55d6c932b205f60de2f.jpg 86c8d79d420577f569b94f16d5deedbc https://nthistory.com/files/original/08cb21c3d80517f18c4ab3e1cdf33080.jpg ddec084b6e922f85779bef685909e54a https://nthistory.com/files/original/b95fa633b08d898718005a6be242db86.jpg 0221191e818d7a94e95ed4ac8cb3cbc7 https://nthistory.com/files/original/3913a878257c039f02bc4f181d53b9e4.jpg d427c1ba485b38ff095508e7f8467a9e https://nthistory.com/files/original/07cd5012ef2571ecdc9caacaa44051a4.jpg b91e43eb0b631716815a4996a5cc77ee Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Boathouse Park, Weatherbest Slip Description An account of the resource <img class="cover" alt="Boathouse Park" src="http://nthistory.com/custom/cover/124.jpg" /> PHOTO: Dennis Reed Jr. Around the junction of Tonawanda Creek and the "Little River" three small slips cut into the land. The slips were dug in the 1870s to accommodate Great Lakes and other vessels necessary to North Tonawanda's world-class lumber industry (<a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/2668">Buffalo News</a>, 2006). Great piles of lumber towered around them. That lumber industry, as residents know, eventually moves elsewhere. By the 1950s* dozens of private boathouses occupy the area. The city owns the property; the boaters own the structures, pay taxes on them, and lease the land annually. In 1965 the city of North Tonawanda sells the land to the boathouse owners at their request, only to have the sale almost immediately deemed illegal by Mayor Durkee, and nullified. Still, the annual lease continues. In the 1970s the boathouse residents' status becomes contentious when the county health department threatens to fine the city steeply for the effluvium the boathouse residents are releasing into the Little River. The city threatens to evict tenants, to stop renewing leases, and—at the nadir of the clash—to turn off water service to the area. After all, the city argues, the lease does not permit use of the boathouses as living quarters. The park residents' right to enjoy the waterfront property at the exclusion of all other city  residents is also called into question. One mayor wants to evict the tenants and turn the area into a carousel park. In the 1980s developer Wilbur Holler wants to turn the area into townhouses. None of these plans is successful. In 2008 a row of boathouses is demolished, as they are built over a city sewer. But in 2021 the community appears to be all but intractable. *It is unclear how long the structures have been there; <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/2688" style="font-size: 0.8em;">a similar slip at Gratwick</a> (since demolished for the wastewater plant) appears to have had boathouses since at least 1905. Photo A photographic depiction of a person or place. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Boathouse Park, photos (Dennis Reed Jr, 2021-05-03).jpg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-05-03 boathouse river village https://nthistory.com/files/original/6b69da81aad625da66f52473d5d22ac1.jpg 4e6997881d3516653913b546d9e1b27c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Swing Bridges Description An account of the resource <img class="cover" alt="Both swing bridges in one photo. North (“Chutes”) bridge in the foreground. South swing bridge visible in the distance at the entrance to the Erie Canal. Photo: Dennis Reed Jr (2016)" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/91b.jpg" />Both swing bridges in one photo. North (“Chutes”) bridge in the foreground. South swing bridge visible in the distance at the entrance to the Erie Canal. Photo: Dennis Reed Jr (2016) North Swing Bridge (Chutes Bridge) Apr 21 1883 "An act to incorporate the Tonawanda Island Bridge Company, for the purpose of constructing and operating a bridge from Tonawanda island to North Tonawanda [passed]" - <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=IYJZAAAAYAAJ">Gen Statutes of State of New York.</a> <a href="https://archives.nypl.org/mss/2372#c1061817">Tonawanda Island Bridge Co. Minutes in NYPL</a> (some maps too) TIBC ceased to be with the absorption of subsidiary lines in 1913:  "The [New York Central Railroad Co.] merged with itself, on March 7, 1913, the following named [ten] companies, whose properties had been operated under various leases and agreements and whose entire capital stock was owned by The New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company."  There is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonawanda_Island_Railroad">Tonawanda Island Railroad</a> operated from 1983 until a February 12, 1996 emergency order deems the swing bridge its single piece of rolling stock deficient. "While inspecting the bridge on January 2, 1996, Inspector Anderson fell through the bridge due to the deteriorated condition of the bridge timbers." Bridge #7708810. "On June 28, 1965, the entire bridge caught on fire and the creosoted deck planks burned up in a spectacular blaze." (Taylor). This event hurried in the <a href="https://nthistory.com/items/show/4026">Durkee bridge</a>. South Swing Bridge "March 2, 1885 - Petition was received from A. M. Dodge & Co., asking permission to construct and maintain a swing bridge across Tonawanda Harbor, landing in Erie County to be at or near foot of Clay Street" - Tonawanda News, 1941-11-07. December 18, 1886, Susupension Bridge Journal reports "Engines and cars have been passing over and back on the swing bridge of the N. Y. Central Railroad which spans the Tonawanda Creek." According to a Tonawanda News article, the southern bridge is last used in the 1940s, when the Continental Can company closes. <ul> <li data-start="2511" data-end="2545"> Bridge IDs: B18-A and B18-C. </li> <li data-start="2546" data-end="2594"> Car limits: 120 tons max per coupled cars. </li> <li data-start="2595" data-end="2704"> Engine classes restricted because of weight — lighter switchers only. </li> </ul> Photo A photographic depiction of a person or place. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource North swing bridge in operation (c1970).jpg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1970 river swingbridge https://nthistory.com/files/original/fce501025f5a8b95431bc0d4239c6277.jpg 000b2906f1dac20d4f9555886517d31a https://nthistory.com/files/original/a940b91c579a163457b9ceaa6aa878ef.jpg 8f6a3cb5d6568ae12cdbe77acfd7acbd https://nthistory.com/files/original/ba45afb84cae8ae25d6dc16056b20395.jpg 6c7e88de883f16c774eaaca5575fb80d https://nthistory.com/files/original/bcd1ee32c3415a4fb3b2d0f0c5bde663.jpg 67e063c08e6f34ec0190c46901e46dbf https://nthistory.com/files/original/9e030feac404320411b326ac997b264f.jpg 3f6c9070b10b984e829e3f16ad449d62 https://nthistory.com/files/original/3687fad671ecc1ada3f9658217181466.jpg 3028e801dda3b055a105a82bddeb173f https://nthistory.com/files/original/f4ab0a9602c4afe481ed2f7ca8c55660.jpg 509a1f82525557fe9ba960d2a58af303 https://nthistory.com/files/original/22a8f3334eea644af9b36b64f92a80f4.jpg b2cdb5ae1f08eb8b41fdd0b4c56154fb https://nthistory.com/files/original/fc1629a27063a63dba3f2332266164df.jpg 18a54f8ff735fa0e7a3a55503e672a96 https://nthistory.com/files/original/c29dfb233e014b8210c61adac530d927.jpg 05d5f0f7eea14185c22319df839538e3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Lumber Business of the Tonawandas Description An account of the resource <img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/48.jpg" alt="Map of the Lumber District of the Tonawandas, 1893" />In the heyday of the Tonawandas' lumber years, practically every available inch of the Niagara riverfront and Tonawanda Island is covered in lumber (shown as lettered, colored portions in the map above). <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1848">1893 Sanborn Insurance map</a>. In the mid-to-late 19th century, vast forests of Midwest timber are cut, dressed and shipped by water to the exploding towns and cities of the east, largely through the Tonawandas. The villages' advantageous location (between the Great Lakes and the Erie Canal) and the natural harbor afforded by Tonawanda Island make it one of the largest lumber ports in the country by 1890. A lock allows small craft to jump between the Niagara River and the Erie Canal via the non-canalized portion of Tonawanda Creek. Scores of lumber comanies spring up here, and their yards vaccum up almost every available inch of real estate along the Niagara River, Tonawanda Creek, and Tonawanda Island. Docks are built over the water, and millions of feet of lumber stored in great blocks are stacked to the sky. They are brought here largely on lake vessels from Lake Erie, where they are moved onto canal boats by lumbershovers and stevedores and hauled by canal boat captains (along with other goods) to points east. The big business means big money, and conflict between the laborers and employers sometimes turns deadly. Articles in this collection describe the lumbershovers strikes of 1892 and 1893, the first of which resulted in the death of a police officer, and both of which required the National Guard to be deployed. A separate collection, "<a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/136">Murder at the Docks</a>," digs into the 1895 double murder of canal boat captain Lorenzo Phillips and his son Charles as the captain attempted to haul a load of lumber from P. W. Scribner's Tonawanda dock in defiance of a boatmen's union agreement. As the forests of the midwest were depleted and shipping routes and technology changed, the lumber heyday of the Tonawandas receded into the past. Book An extensive textual resource. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Gratwick, Smith and Fryer Lumber Co., promotional booklet (1880).jpg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1880 Description An account of the resource This illustrated booklet details the business of the Gratwick, Smith and Fryer Lumber Company, showing how they were able to be successful by controlling all phases of lumber cutting, transporting and refining for market. Their Tonawanda dock, yards and planing mills would fuel the growth of the village of Gratwick, named for them. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_William_H._Gratwick">SS William Gratwick at Wikipedia.</a> boat lumber river https://nthistory.com/files/original/8d9a21863f3e808157dabb84b6aeb434.jpg 4ec61fc0a0329d8d01079b32f977706b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Tonawanda Iron and Steel (Niagara River Iron Company) Description An account of the resource <img class="cover" alt="Tonawanda Iron and Steel, illustration" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/16.jpg" />Illustration: Dennis Reed Jr., 2025. For a century, a massive riverfront iron works dominates the skyline of North Tonawanda near Wheatfield Street and present-day Fisherman's Park. The furnaces cast a ruddy glow over the west, and power the birth of the village of "Ironton," later known as "The Avenues." From <a href="https://nthistory.com/items/show/2891">History of Niagara County (1878)</a>: <blockquote>The Niagara River Iron Company was formed in pursuance of the general manufacturing law, in 1872, with a paid-up capital of $400,000. The first purchase of real estate was of 165 acres from M. Bush. The buildings were erected in 1873, and manufacturing operations commenced the same year. The engine house stands in a prominent position, and by one not knowing its design might be taken for an elegant mansion or villa; the building is 68 by 74 feet, with a proportionate elevation, and finished in tasteful style. The boiler house, judiciously separated, located 45 feet by 70, contains ten ponderous boilers, four feet in diameter and sixty feet long; an octagon chimney eighty feet high rises in front. The blast furnace was constructed to run out fifty tons of pig iron per day, and is 60 by 200 feet and two stories high; a tower rising above the rounded kert contains the machinery for elevating ore and brick by steam power. The oven is 30 by 41 feet, with iron-bound exterior. The buildings named are massive and substantial brick erections, upon stone foundations. The stock house is a frame building, 72 by 500 feet and two stories high. The dock fronting on the river is 500 feet in length, reaching ten feet depth of water. Located upon the dock is an engine for raising freight from the vessels. Two branch tracks of the Central railroad pass over the docks and into the stock house, to deposit and remove material. The buildings cover an area of four acres. The trustees are P. P. Pratt, president; Josiah Jewett, vice-president; S. S. Jewett, H. H. Glenny, George B. Hays, F. L. Danforth and B. F. Felton. During the present general depression in business the works are not operated; but as they are controlled by men of permanent wealth, willing to use it and able to hold their own until the day dawns upon brighter prospects, the advantages of this great concern will yet be felt by the community that has clustered about it in anticipation. The premises and machinery are kept in the most perfect order and neatness under the care of Alexander Reid.</blockquote> Pascal P. Pratt, a "hardware man" from Buffalo, is president and principal stockholder.  <blockquote>Mr. [Pascal P.] Pratt also helped to organize the Niagara River Iron Company in 1872. That company operated a blast furnace in North Tonawanda capable of turning out fifty tons of pig iron daily. Pascal Pratt was President of the firm, and among the other principals was S. S. Jewett. This company was later succeeded by the Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company, with William A. Rogers as President.</blockquote> <blockquote>- <a href="https://www.olmstedinbuffalo.com/pascal-p-pratt/#:~:text=city%20of%20Buffalo.-,Mr.,and%20the%20Bank%20of%20Attica.">Olmsted in Buffalo</a></blockquote> By 1875, in the midst of a general depression in the iron industry, the works are stopped, and lie dormant for years, possibly the next 14. In January 1889 it is reported that the Baird Bros. of Ohio will buy the plant and resume operations. It will require about $50K. 30 workers are expected in March. Ore begins arriving in great quantities in June, and on August 28 the furnace roars again. 100 men work the facility, day and night. The production of 100 tons of iron and steel a day is planned. <a href="https://archive.org/details/historyofcityofb00buff">Seemingly owned</a> at one point by "Rogers, Brown and Company, one of the largest iron companies in the country." The iron plant draws workers to the area, many Hungarian and Polish, who settle in a village called "<a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/83">Ironton</a>," just north of North Tonawanda proper. Frank Burkett Baird (b.1852 d.11/15/1939) organizes the Tonawanda Iron & Steel Co, in 1899. (Baird's singular accomplishment is as "Father of the Peace Bridge" - <a href="https://buffaloah.com/h/panam/forestL.html">Buffalo Architecture & History</a>). The new venture is a success, and expanding. President Rogers. New "monster" engine in June 1896. President McKinley fires up its mighty Furnace B with great ceremony and the flip of a switch from his home in Ohio in November 1896.  Somewhere around 1912 poor management and a poor economy stop the furnaces again. The plant lies unused until purchased by Tonawanda Iron Corp. in 1922. Gilmore. By 2017, the site has been cleared and converted into a small medical park and Fisherman's Park. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "Tonawanda Iron Corp., Is One of Largest Manufacturers of Pig Iron." Tonawanda News, 1929 (in this collection). Photo A photographic depiction of a person or place. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Tonawanda Iron and Steel, photos (Greater Buffalo & Niagara frontier, Buffalo Chamber of Commerce, 1914).jpg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1914 factory river https://nthistory.com/files/original/e19e30cc5f6b26da99b75995225d98ff.jpg db445307e4cdce8275770deacbfba220 https://nthistory.com/files/original/dddd8267ba34bc2e9801e48d14bedf65.jpg 9a5a4db8ad68ee54579207696834d553 https://nthistory.com/files/original/fdd792c439e563dabeb21b9fb3229379.jpeg 0147c9fc4ac8defc00196b877a3f022d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Erie Canal Description An account of the resource The Erie Canal in North Tonawanda followed the existing Tonawanda Creek from Pendleton. The first work done locally was the 1823 construction of a wooden dam near present-day Gateway Park to raise the level of the creek four feet. A lock was also built to permit passage between the Niagara River (and Great Lakes) and the canal. Early documents also mention a guard lock just east of the lock. After the Civil War, the depth of the entire canal was increased to accomodate larger boats. Starting around 1909 work was done on our section of the canal as part of Contract 19 to improve the prism, or bottom shape (see <a href="https://nthistory.com/collections/show/152">photos of Contract 19</a>) In 1918 the dam was removed when the length of the Erie was re-engineered to become the Erie Barge Canal. The Tonawanda and Buffalo portions of the canal were abandoned at that time, making North Tonawanda the canal's new western terminus. In 1923 Tonawanda began filling in the old canal. The work was not yet complete in 1929. Photo A photographic depiction of a person or place. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Erie Canal lock into the Niagara River, Tonawanda.jpg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890 Description An account of the resource The lock in this first (c. 1890) photo allowed canal boats to pass from the canal in Tonawanda over into the Niagara River. The non-canal part of the Tonawanda Creek is straight ahead, leading into the Niagara River. Notice the tugboats waiting on the far side of the lock. They could tow canal boats through the river to be loaded up with lumber on Tonawanda Island, or at another dock along the river, and return them to lock back into the canal. In other photos, a weather tower can be seen at right, hung with flags that alerted boaters to the weather conditions outside the safe confines of the canal walls. Today, if you walk alongside Urban Paint on Niagara Street in Tonawanda, in its parking lot you can see a little sign commemorating the lock. canal lock map river swingbridge tonawanda https://nthistory.com/files/original/515cbd44fd02cb33ecca0e17149cfe84.jpg cf928e47b91403cd0a7d4e18a3c118de Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Lumber Business of the Tonawandas Description An account of the resource <img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/48.jpg" alt="Map of the Lumber District of the Tonawandas, 1893" />In the heyday of the Tonawandas' lumber years, practically every available inch of the Niagara riverfront and Tonawanda Island is covered in lumber (shown as lettered, colored portions in the map above). <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1848">1893 Sanborn Insurance map</a>. In the mid-to-late 19th century, vast forests of Midwest timber are cut, dressed and shipped by water to the exploding towns and cities of the east, largely through the Tonawandas. The villages' advantageous location (between the Great Lakes and the Erie Canal) and the natural harbor afforded by Tonawanda Island make it one of the largest lumber ports in the country by 1890. A lock allows small craft to jump between the Niagara River and the Erie Canal via the non-canalized portion of Tonawanda Creek. Scores of lumber comanies spring up here, and their yards vaccum up almost every available inch of real estate along the Niagara River, Tonawanda Creek, and Tonawanda Island. Docks are built over the water, and millions of feet of lumber stored in great blocks are stacked to the sky. They are brought here largely on lake vessels from Lake Erie, where they are moved onto canal boats by lumbershovers and stevedores and hauled by canal boat captains (along with other goods) to points east. The big business means big money, and conflict between the laborers and employers sometimes turns deadly. Articles in this collection describe the lumbershovers strikes of 1892 and 1893, the first of which resulted in the death of a police officer, and both of which required the National Guard to be deployed. A separate collection, "<a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/136">Murder at the Docks</a>," digs into the 1895 double murder of canal boat captain Lorenzo Phillips and his son Charles as the captain attempted to haul a load of lumber from P. W. Scribner's Tonawanda dock in defiance of a boatmen's union agreement. As the forests of the midwest were depleted and shipping routes and technology changed, the lumber heyday of the Tonawandas receded into the past. Postcard A pictorial representation of a place or entity, intended to be written upon and mailed. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Harbor View, postcard (c1905).jpg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1905 river tonawandaisland https://nthistory.com/files/original/ffc0f88516c711d342edb1999ba61156.jpg c3a7d74dbaf19559d00f28a85e0e1983 https://nthistory.com/files/original/85096703cea73466d54b216ff059c564.jpg 2eaae6ec0858ecfc436845cdd66e7041 https://nthistory.com/files/original/c689a7459435964ed3cfdb370f2cc2bc.jpg 5111a444d4d29147721204d119d710a3 https://nthistory.com/files/original/87d0fd9202dad8082792beb5c20655d2.jpg 4b992ab25509d142e059269d7f4423a8 https://nthistory.com/files/original/a298b12d49dc9b48af671f01403beaa2.jpg 2b61b656797d090313757fb172ebb61e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Tonawanda Iron and Steel (Niagara River Iron Company) Description An account of the resource <img class="cover" alt="Tonawanda Iron and Steel, illustration" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/16.jpg" />Illustration: Dennis Reed Jr., 2025. For a century, a massive riverfront iron works dominates the skyline of North Tonawanda near Wheatfield Street and present-day Fisherman's Park. The furnaces cast a ruddy glow over the west, and power the birth of the village of "Ironton," later known as "The Avenues." From <a href="https://nthistory.com/items/show/2891">History of Niagara County (1878)</a>: <blockquote>The Niagara River Iron Company was formed in pursuance of the general manufacturing law, in 1872, with a paid-up capital of $400,000. The first purchase of real estate was of 165 acres from M. Bush. The buildings were erected in 1873, and manufacturing operations commenced the same year. The engine house stands in a prominent position, and by one not knowing its design might be taken for an elegant mansion or villa; the building is 68 by 74 feet, with a proportionate elevation, and finished in tasteful style. The boiler house, judiciously separated, located 45 feet by 70, contains ten ponderous boilers, four feet in diameter and sixty feet long; an octagon chimney eighty feet high rises in front. The blast furnace was constructed to run out fifty tons of pig iron per day, and is 60 by 200 feet and two stories high; a tower rising above the rounded kert contains the machinery for elevating ore and brick by steam power. The oven is 30 by 41 feet, with iron-bound exterior. The buildings named are massive and substantial brick erections, upon stone foundations. The stock house is a frame building, 72 by 500 feet and two stories high. The dock fronting on the river is 500 feet in length, reaching ten feet depth of water. Located upon the dock is an engine for raising freight from the vessels. Two branch tracks of the Central railroad pass over the docks and into the stock house, to deposit and remove material. The buildings cover an area of four acres. The trustees are P. P. Pratt, president; Josiah Jewett, vice-president; S. S. Jewett, H. H. Glenny, George B. Hays, F. L. Danforth and B. F. Felton. During the present general depression in business the works are not operated; but as they are controlled by men of permanent wealth, willing to use it and able to hold their own until the day dawns upon brighter prospects, the advantages of this great concern will yet be felt by the community that has clustered about it in anticipation. The premises and machinery are kept in the most perfect order and neatness under the care of Alexander Reid.</blockquote> Pascal P. Pratt, a "hardware man" from Buffalo, is president and principal stockholder.  <blockquote>Mr. [Pascal P.] Pratt also helped to organize the Niagara River Iron Company in 1872. That company operated a blast furnace in North Tonawanda capable of turning out fifty tons of pig iron daily. Pascal Pratt was President of the firm, and among the other principals was S. S. Jewett. This company was later succeeded by the Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company, with William A. Rogers as President.</blockquote> <blockquote>- <a href="https://www.olmstedinbuffalo.com/pascal-p-pratt/#:~:text=city%20of%20Buffalo.-,Mr.,and%20the%20Bank%20of%20Attica.">Olmsted in Buffalo</a></blockquote> By 1875, in the midst of a general depression in the iron industry, the works are stopped, and lie dormant for years, possibly the next 14. In January 1889 it is reported that the Baird Bros. of Ohio will buy the plant and resume operations. It will require about $50K. 30 workers are expected in March. Ore begins arriving in great quantities in June, and on August 28 the furnace roars again. 100 men work the facility, day and night. The production of 100 tons of iron and steel a day is planned. <a href="https://archive.org/details/historyofcityofb00buff">Seemingly owned</a> at one point by "Rogers, Brown and Company, one of the largest iron companies in the country." The iron plant draws workers to the area, many Hungarian and Polish, who settle in a village called "<a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/83">Ironton</a>," just north of North Tonawanda proper. Frank Burkett Baird (b.1852 d.11/15/1939) organizes the Tonawanda Iron & Steel Co, in 1899. (Baird's singular accomplishment is as "Father of the Peace Bridge" - <a href="https://buffaloah.com/h/panam/forestL.html">Buffalo Architecture & History</a>). The new venture is a success, and expanding. President Rogers. New "monster" engine in June 1896. President McKinley fires up its mighty Furnace B with great ceremony and the flip of a switch from his home in Ohio in November 1896.  Somewhere around 1912 poor management and a poor economy stop the furnaces again. The plant lies unused until purchased by Tonawanda Iron Corp. in 1922. Gilmore. By 2017, the site has been cleared and converted into a small medical park and Fisherman's Park. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "Tonawanda Iron Corp., Is One of Largest Manufacturers of Pig Iron." Tonawanda News, 1929 (in this collection). Postcard A pictorial representation of a place or entity, intended to be written upon and mailed. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Tonawanda Iron and Steel, SS Jupiter, postcard (c1910).jpg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1910 factory iron ironton lumber river tonawandaisland https://nthistory.com/files/original/b118aa3c277078e58455b56b02bbb8cf.jpg 8ceadc5e02e71227127507f4f94aa194 https://nthistory.com/files/original/f2052b4426ed378ec7cf11ea39f95295.jpeg 7149b2bfda60f49f1e9e8565d09c4e48 https://nthistory.com/files/original/beefdfa23e19379d2f818e6b2b23bb29.jpeg 3cca6b04ec8640e25364bb4adac29e7f https://nthistory.com/files/original/2a3c47977a86942a34d1d13758183d69.jpeg 40419a240c2eebd017c487cfe590ae2f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Lumber Business of the Tonawandas Description An account of the resource <img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/48.jpg" alt="Map of the Lumber District of the Tonawandas, 1893" />In the heyday of the Tonawandas' lumber years, practically every available inch of the Niagara riverfront and Tonawanda Island is covered in lumber (shown as lettered, colored portions in the map above). <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1848">1893 Sanborn Insurance map</a>. In the mid-to-late 19th century, vast forests of Midwest timber are cut, dressed and shipped by water to the exploding towns and cities of the east, largely through the Tonawandas. The villages' advantageous location (between the Great Lakes and the Erie Canal) and the natural harbor afforded by Tonawanda Island make it one of the largest lumber ports in the country by 1890. A lock allows small craft to jump between the Niagara River and the Erie Canal via the non-canalized portion of Tonawanda Creek. Scores of lumber comanies spring up here, and their yards vaccum up almost every available inch of real estate along the Niagara River, Tonawanda Creek, and Tonawanda Island. Docks are built over the water, and millions of feet of lumber stored in great blocks are stacked to the sky. They are brought here largely on lake vessels from Lake Erie, where they are moved onto canal boats by lumbershovers and stevedores and hauled by canal boat captains (along with other goods) to points east. The big business means big money, and conflict between the laborers and employers sometimes turns deadly. Articles in this collection describe the lumbershovers strikes of 1892 and 1893, the first of which resulted in the death of a police officer, and both of which required the National Guard to be deployed. A separate collection, "<a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/136">Murder at the Docks</a>," digs into the 1895 double murder of canal boat captain Lorenzo Phillips and his son Charles as the captain attempted to haul a load of lumber from P. W. Scribner's Tonawanda dock in defiance of a boatmen's union agreement. As the forests of the midwest were depleted and shipping routes and technology changed, the lumber heyday of the Tonawandas receded into the past. Postcard A pictorial representation of a place or entity, intended to be written upon and mailed. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Lumber District, postcard (1919).jpg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1919 Description An account of the resource A view from the southern portion of a lumber-bedecked Tonawanda Island across the "Little (Niagara) River" onto a lumber-bedecked North Tonawanda. boat bridge collection lumber river swingbridge tonawandaisland https://nthistory.com/files/original/d304a012c43f13ee7db05b0e36566f9e.JPG d52d426fb6d41a84aba310330b1ff251 Photo A photographic depiction of a person or place. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Men camping by Niagara River, stereogram detail (c1870s, RJ Clench).JPG Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1870 clench person recreation river https://nthistory.com/files/original/db40985125036d5aec12a8600eaa0bc1.jpg 0a96718e06dfbaf91309a0e665a3433f Photo A photographic depiction of a person or place. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Whitehall Ferry from end of [Grand Island] state road to Tonawanda, photo (c1925).jpg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1925 grandisland river tonawanda https://nthistory.com/files/original/6a55dbeafe1ef2fb8735de2ae8191d82.jpg 917724626d4527b8b4065d1b2c41bb1e https://nthistory.com/files/original/aea7fdcd4457066149db62e7d5630b4f.jpg 64e1aec1dd72684762be2e06d17ed289 https://nthistory.com/files/original/af4f52acd7543ccd0ff40980f84880c1.jpg ce51d6fa342f03c2600f5cbb30a9fc30 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Tonawanda Iron and Steel (Niagara River Iron Company) Description An account of the resource <img class="cover" alt="Tonawanda Iron and Steel, illustration" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/16.jpg" />Illustration: Dennis Reed Jr., 2025. For a century, a massive riverfront iron works dominates the skyline of North Tonawanda near Wheatfield Street and present-day Fisherman's Park. The furnaces cast a ruddy glow over the west, and power the birth of the village of "Ironton," later known as "The Avenues." From <a href="https://nthistory.com/items/show/2891">History of Niagara County (1878)</a>: <blockquote>The Niagara River Iron Company was formed in pursuance of the general manufacturing law, in 1872, with a paid-up capital of $400,000. The first purchase of real estate was of 165 acres from M. Bush. The buildings were erected in 1873, and manufacturing operations commenced the same year. The engine house stands in a prominent position, and by one not knowing its design might be taken for an elegant mansion or villa; the building is 68 by 74 feet, with a proportionate elevation, and finished in tasteful style. The boiler house, judiciously separated, located 45 feet by 70, contains ten ponderous boilers, four feet in diameter and sixty feet long; an octagon chimney eighty feet high rises in front. The blast furnace was constructed to run out fifty tons of pig iron per day, and is 60 by 200 feet and two stories high; a tower rising above the rounded kert contains the machinery for elevating ore and brick by steam power. The oven is 30 by 41 feet, with iron-bound exterior. The buildings named are massive and substantial brick erections, upon stone foundations. The stock house is a frame building, 72 by 500 feet and two stories high. The dock fronting on the river is 500 feet in length, reaching ten feet depth of water. Located upon the dock is an engine for raising freight from the vessels. Two branch tracks of the Central railroad pass over the docks and into the stock house, to deposit and remove material. The buildings cover an area of four acres. The trustees are P. P. Pratt, president; Josiah Jewett, vice-president; S. S. Jewett, H. H. Glenny, George B. Hays, F. L. Danforth and B. F. Felton. During the present general depression in business the works are not operated; but as they are controlled by men of permanent wealth, willing to use it and able to hold their own until the day dawns upon brighter prospects, the advantages of this great concern will yet be felt by the community that has clustered about it in anticipation. The premises and machinery are kept in the most perfect order and neatness under the care of Alexander Reid.</blockquote> Pascal P. Pratt, a "hardware man" from Buffalo, is president and principal stockholder.  <blockquote>Mr. [Pascal P.] Pratt also helped to organize the Niagara River Iron Company in 1872. That company operated a blast furnace in North Tonawanda capable of turning out fifty tons of pig iron daily. Pascal Pratt was President of the firm, and among the other principals was S. S. Jewett. This company was later succeeded by the Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company, with William A. Rogers as President.</blockquote> <blockquote>- <a href="https://www.olmstedinbuffalo.com/pascal-p-pratt/#:~:text=city%20of%20Buffalo.-,Mr.,and%20the%20Bank%20of%20Attica.">Olmsted in Buffalo</a></blockquote> By 1875, in the midst of a general depression in the iron industry, the works are stopped, and lie dormant for years, possibly the next 14. In January 1889 it is reported that the Baird Bros. of Ohio will buy the plant and resume operations. It will require about $50K. 30 workers are expected in March. Ore begins arriving in great quantities in June, and on August 28 the furnace roars again. 100 men work the facility, day and night. The production of 100 tons of iron and steel a day is planned. <a href="https://archive.org/details/historyofcityofb00buff">Seemingly owned</a> at one point by "Rogers, Brown and Company, one of the largest iron companies in the country." The iron plant draws workers to the area, many Hungarian and Polish, who settle in a village called "<a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/83">Ironton</a>," just north of North Tonawanda proper. Frank Burkett Baird (b.1852 d.11/15/1939) organizes the Tonawanda Iron & Steel Co, in 1899. (Baird's singular accomplishment is as "Father of the Peace Bridge" - <a href="https://buffaloah.com/h/panam/forestL.html">Buffalo Architecture & History</a>). The new venture is a success, and expanding. President Rogers. New "monster" engine in June 1896. President McKinley fires up its mighty Furnace B with great ceremony and the flip of a switch from his home in Ohio in November 1896.  Somewhere around 1912 poor management and a poor economy stop the furnaces again. The plant lies unused until purchased by Tonawanda Iron Corp. in 1922. Gilmore. By 2017, the site has been cleared and converted into a small medical park and Fisherman's Park. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "Tonawanda Iron Corp., Is One of Largest Manufacturers of Pig Iron." Tonawanda News, 1929 (in this collection). Postcard A pictorial representation of a place or entity, intended to be written upon and mailed. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Tonawanda Iron and Steel Works, postcard (1912).jpg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1912 factory iron ironton river