Tonawanda Island settled in 1819, Mile Reserve lots, Daniel Webster - article and transcription (Clarence O. Lewis, Niagara Gazette, 1965-03-17).jpg
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Tonawanda Island settled in 1819, Mile Reserve lots, Daniel Webster - article and transcription (Clarence O. Lewis, Niagara Gazette, 1965-03-17).jpg
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**Niagara County History:**
**Tonawanda Island Settled in 1819**
**- IN THIS COLUMN last week we started a series of articles on North Tonawanda. It is our hope that when it completed it may be a concise history of that city which students may find useful in their studies of the Niagara Frontier.**
**One aspect of Frontier history that should not be overlooked is that strip of land one mile wide along the Niagara River from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie originally belonging to New York State. "All titles to lots in that mile Reserve were traced back to 1805 when the State Land Office in Albany auctioned the deep lots. They were a mile long and a quarter mile wide. Lots one to 82 are now in Niagara County, and numbers 73 to 82 are in North Tonawanda. Curiously enough due to a lower water level in the river at present, the original lots have gained 10 feet or more in depth because when the Mile Reserve was first surveyed in 1788 the measurements were taken from the water's edge.**
**In 1802 under orders from the Federal Government the commander of Ft. Niagara began preparations for the Military Road from Ft. Niagara to Lake Erie. Trees were cut from Lewiston Escarpment to Tonawanda Creek. A dispute between New York State and the Federal Government terminated the road building for a time.**
**- LAST WEEK WE mentioned the first settlers and those few early village people from the Village of Niagara to Tonawanda seems to have been gradual progress. Postal records that the first post station there was designated as the P.O. Department by "Morgansville." This was in 1823.**
**TONAWANDA ISLAND**
**We have mentioned Tonawanda Island which originally "Mile Reserve" like the boundary belonged to New York state. In 1819 James Carly settled on the Island which then became generally known as Carney Island. He hoped to purchase it from the state at a very low price per acre. That was the middle of the settlement of the area incl. the Niagara River as the International boundary line. There had been some doubts as to whether England would yield any of the islands in the Niagara River since they had all been presented by the Johnsons in 1764 to Sir William Johnson whom immediately presented them to the King of England. However, Gen. Peter B. Porter, one of the American Commissioners, wired and com-**
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**Niagara County History:**
**Tonawanda Island Settled in 1819**
**- IN THIS COLUMN last week we started a series of articles on North Tonawanda. It is our hope that when it completed it may be a concise history of that city which students may find useful in their studies of the Niagara Frontier.**
**One aspect of Frontier history that should not be overlooked is that strip of land one mile wide along the Niagara River from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie originally belonging to New York State. "All titles to lots in that mile Reserve were traced back to 1805 when the State Land Office in Albany auctioned the deep lots. They were a mile long and a quarter mile wide. Lots one to 82 are now in Niagara County, and numbers 73 to 82 are in North Tonawanda. Curiously enough due to a lower water level in the river at present, the original lots have gained 10 feet or more in depth because when the Mile Reserve was first surveyed in 1788 the measurements were taken from the water's edge.**
**In 1802 under orders from the Federal Government the commander of Ft. Niagara began preparations for the Military Road from Ft. Niagara to Lake Erie. Trees were cut from Lewiston Escarpment to Tonawanda Creek. A dispute between New York State and the Federal Government terminated the road building for a time.**
**- LAST WEEK WE mentioned the first settlers and those few early village people from the Village of Niagara to Tonawanda seems to have been gradual progress. Postal records that the first post station there was designated as the P.O. Department by "Morgansville." This was in 1823.**
**TONAWANDA ISLAND**
**We have mentioned Tonawanda Island which originally "Mile Reserve" like the boundary belonged to New York state. In 1819 James Carly settled on the Island which then became generally known as Carney Island. He hoped to purchase it from the state at a very low price per acre. That was the middle of the settlement of the area incl. the Niagara River as the International boundary line. There had been some doubts as to whether England would yield any of the islands in the Niagara River since they had all been presented by the Johnsons in 1764 to Sir William Johnson whom immediately presented them to the King of England. However, Gen. Peter B. Porter, one of the American Commissioners, wired and com-**
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Date
1965-03-17
Collection
Citation
“Tonawanda Island settled in 1819, Mile Reserve lots, Daniel Webster - article and transcription (Clarence O. Lewis, Niagara Gazette, 1965-03-17).jpg,” North Tonawanda History, accessed September 28, 2024, https://nthistory.com/items/show/4021.