Historic Overview - Amherstprehistoric people manufactured their stone tools. The escarpment and large drainages near the escarpment are particularly sensitive to these site types

Updated Reconnaissance Level Survey of Historic Resources Town of Amherst

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HISTORICOVERVIEW

LOCATION

TheTownofAmherst lies innorthernErieCounty,NewYork. It isborderedbyNiagaraCounty to the north, the Erie County towns of Clarence to the east, Cheektowaga to thesouth,andTonawandatothewest.ThetotalareaofAmherstisapproximately53squaremiles.

ENVIRONMENTALSETTING

Thenaturalenvironmentalsettinginfluencedprehistoricandhistoricsettlementpatternsin theTownofAmherst. Thetown lieswithin theErie‐OntarioLakePlainphysiographicprovince, described as a nearly level lowland plain with few prominent topographicfeatures.TheareaisunderlainbyOnondagalimestonedatingtotheLateDevonianperiod.Later glaciations shaped much of the western New York topography, including that ofAmherst. One of the most prominent topographic features in the relatively featurelessprovince is the Onondaga Escarpment, an east‐west trending hard limestone bedrockformation that lies in the southern portion of the Town of Amherst. The OnondagaEscarpment proved resistant to the effects of glacial scouring and it forms the southernboundary of a large basin once occupied by the shallow glacial Lake Tonawanda. LakeTonawanda eventually receded leaving behind wetlands and deposits of clay and sandthroughoutmuchofnorthernAmherst(Owensetal.1986:2).

The most important drainages in the Town of Amherst are Tonawanda Creek,

Ransom Creek, and Ellicott Creek. Tonawanda Creek forms the northern boundarybetweenAmherstandNiagaraCounty.Itflowsinawesterndirectionanddrainsmuchofthe eastern and Northern portions of Amherst. Portions of Tonawanda Creek arechannelized as part of the New York State Barge Canal. Ransom Creek also drains theeasternpartofAmherstandisatributaryofTonawandaCreek.EllicottCreekisoneofthelargestcreeks in theregion,drainingmuch theglacialLakeTonawandabasin. It crossesovertheOnondagaEscarpmentinthesouthernportionofAmherstatWilliamsville,flowsin a north‐western direction through the town, and is a major tributary of TonawandaCreek.

The last glacial ice sheets retreated from the area about 13,000 years ago.

Vegetation returned including largegrassyareas, spruce trees, andother tundra species.Spruce‐Pineforestsdominatedtheregionabout10,000yearsagowhiletreetypeslikeoak,sugarmaple,elm,andashweremovingup fromthesouth. Theclimate inwesternNewYorkgraduallybecamewarmerandfromabout10,000yearsagotojustpriortoEuropeansettlement, the natural landscape changed to a Beech‐Maple forest that dominated thepoorlydrainedportionsoftheLakeTonawandaplain,includingmuchofnorthernAmherst.Oak,chestnut,ashandpineoccurredingreaternumbersinwell‐drainedareassuchastheescarpment,insouthernAmherst(Miller1973:15).


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Beginningintheearlynineteenthcentury,thenaturalenvironmentofAmherstwas

altered by activities that included logging, agriculture and, later, commercial andresidentialdevelopment. Today,thenorthernportionofAmherstistypifiedbysuburbandevelopment.Afewscatteredfarmsstillexistnearthenorthernborderofthetown.ThesouthernportionofAmhersthasbeenlargelyurbanizedandsuburbanized,especiallysincethebeginningofthe20thcentury.

SETTLEMENTPATTERNS

TheinformationforthissectionwasderivedfromReportsoftheArchaeologicalSurveyandfrom the texts of early researchers of the region (Reports of the Archaeological Survey,Beauchamp1900,Parker1920,Houghton1909).

The earliest inhabitants ofwesternNewYork arrived in the region about 12,000

yearsago,shortlyafter the lastglacial iceretreated. SmallhighlymobilebandsofPaleo‐IndianshuntedbiggamelikemastodonandcaribouandutilizedtheexcellentchertfoundintheOnondagaEscarpment.Archaeologicalexcavationsatandneartheescarpmenthaveuncoveredtheirstone toolsandprojectilepoints. Typicalarchaeological sitesassociatedwith Paleo‐Indians include short‐term hunting camps and workshops, sites where theprehistoric peoplemanufactured their stone tools. The escarpment and large drainagesneartheescarpmentareparticularlysensitivetothesesitetypes.

LittleisknownabouttheArchaicpeoplewhoinhabitedtheregionbetween10,000

and 3,500 years ago. They probably consisted of small semi‐nomadic bands of hunter‐gathererswhomigrated towesternNewYork from southern areas of theUnited States.ArchaeologicalevidencesuggeststhatwesternNewYork’spopulationdensitywashigherthaninthePaleo‐Indianphase.TheinhabitantsbecameincreasinglysedentaryintheLateArchaicperiod. Theybeganoccupyingyear‐roundcampsandmayhavedevelopedsomeagriculturalpractices.

TheintroductionofpotteryinwesternNewYorkmarkstheEarlyWoodlandPeriod,

from 3,500 years ago to 2,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence points to continuedhunting‐gatheringandmoreextensiveburialceremonialism.Settlementsizeincreasedandappears to have beenmore permanent as the MiddleWoodland Period began. Potterybecamemoreelaborate. TheLateWoodlandPeriodbegan about1,000years ago and isdistinguished fromearlier periods by evidence of cultivation of corn, beans, and squash.Larger populations resided in semi‐permanent villages. The political and socialdevelopment of the region’s Iroquoian tribes occurred during this period. The ContactPeriodbeganwhenthefirstEuropeanexplorersarrivedinwesternNewYork,around400years ago, and lasted until the beginning of European settlement in western New York,about200yearsago. TheContactPeriodsawindigenouspeoplesincreasinglyinfluencedbyEuropeantradegoodsandculture.

Numerouspre‐contactarchaeologicalsiteshavebeenrecordedinAmherst(Reports

of the Archaeological Survey). The known sites provide evidence of archaeological


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sensitivity, especially along elevated areas such as Chestnut Ridge, the OnondagaEscarpment, and in well‐drained areas adjacent to major drainages like Ellicott Creek,TonawandaCreek,andRansomCreek. Mostsitesweredocumentedbyculturalresourceinvestigations while a few were documented by early investigators of the region, localinformantslikefarmers,orasincidentalfindsduringconstructionprojects.

Sitesyieldingtemporallydiagnostic informationarecomparativelyfewinnumber.

Lithicscattersorworkshopsare themostcommonsite type found inAmherst, the latterreferringtodensedebitagedepositsassociatedwiththeprocessingofchertresources. Aparticularly informative site is a large quarry that yielded finds dating from the EarlyArchaic period and later culture periods. Other previously recorded sites include smallquarries, an atypical site type but one that reflects the intensive use of the high qualitychertoutcropsalongtheOnondagaEscarpmentface.

Afewcampsarealsocharacterizedasworkshops,providingfurtherevidenceofthe

useofchertresources. Othercampsrepresentshort‐termhabitationsiteswhileavillagesitesappearstohavebeenlong‐term.However,mostpreviouslyrecordedsitesappeartohave been ephemeral in nature. Several sites are described as stray finds and traces ofoccupation, lackingdetailedinformation. Somepreviouslyrecordedprehistoricsitesalsohavehistoriccomponents.SitesyieldedfindsdatingtotheArchaicthroughtheWoodlandPeriods.Takentogether,theyindicateacontinuoususeoftheOnondagaEscarpmentanditschertresourcesthroughoutmuchofprehistory.

Thereisamoderatesensitivityforhabitationsitessuchasshort‐termcampsanda

lowsensitivityforlongtermoccupationssuchasvillages. Mostknownexamplesofthesesite types are located along drainages below the escarpment, generally north of MainStreet. Settings south of Main Street and above the escarpment have fewer drainages.Quarries are expected to occur along the escarpment face. Manyworkshops (i.e. denselithicscatters)wouldbeexpectedtooccurthereaswell,butmayalsooccurinareasbothabove and below the steep slopes of the escarpment, including alongMain Street. Pre‐contactburialsarenotexpectedasmostof thissitetypeoccurs inassociationwith largehabitationsites.

Iroquoian‐speakingWenro,Neutral,andErienationsoccupiedwesternNewYorkin

the17th century,whenEuropeanmissionaries, traders, and soldiers arrived in theGreatLakes region. Widespread epidemics and wars followed the introduction of Europeandiseasesandthefurtrade.ThecompetitionbetweentheEnglishandFrenchfurtradersforthe privilege of doing business with the various tribes made the trapping of beaver alucrativeoccupationforNativeAmericans(White1991:23).

TheIroquoisConfederacy,adefenseleagueofnationswhosecombinedterritoryin

theearlypartofthe17thcenturystretchedfromtheMohawkRiverValleywestthroughtheFingerLakestotheGeneseeRiverincentralNewYork,sawitspopulationdiminishduetoits proximity to the Europeans and their diseases. They also hunted beaver in theirterritorytonearextinctioninordertoacquireEuropeangoods.TheIroquoisthenturnedtheirattentiontothewestandtherichOhioRiverValley(White1991:1).


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The Seneca were the westernmost nation of the Iroquois Confederacy. They

attackedanddefeated,adoptedordroveintoexilemostofthepeopleinwesternNewYork,western Pennsylvania, and the Ohio River Valley by the middle of the 17th century,includingtheErie,Wenro,andNeutralnations(White1991:1).WesternNewYorkbecamethefur‐trappingandwinterhuntinggroundsoftheSenecauntiltheendofthe18thCenturywhenotherwarsand treatiesreshaped theregion’spoliticalandsocial landscape(Karas1963:11).

TheFrenchwere thedominantEuropeanpower in theGreat Lakes regionbefore

1763,theyeartheFrenchandIndianWarbegan.PoliticalandmilitarypowerintheregionshiftedtotheBritishaftertheirvictoryinthatwar.TheIroquoisgenerallysidedwiththeEnglishinthestrugglefordominationofthefurtradeinthe17thand18thcenturies.MostoftheConfederacysworeallegiancetotheBritishduringtheAmericanRevolutionaryWar.Their involvement inseveralnotoriousmassacresonthe frontierresulted intheSullivanCampaignof1779.DozensofSenecasettlementswereburned.ManySenecafledwesttotheBuffalo area, FortNiagara, andCanadawhile othersmade theirway south along theAlleghenyRiver(Congdon1940:622‐623).

TheSenecanationmadepeacewiththenewUnitedStatesofAmericain1784,when

they signed the Treaty of Fort Stanwix (Laux 1960: 3). New York and MassachusettssettledtheirclaimstopreemptionrightsinwesternNewYorkwithNewYorkgaininglegaljurisdiction and Massachusetts gaining the right to purchase from the Seneca.Massachusetts sold that right to Phelps& Gorham. The speculatorswent bankrupt andsold therightsback toMassachusetts;who in turnsold themtoRobertMorris. HesoonlostallofhismoneyinlandspeculationandsoldtotheHollandLandCompany,organizedby Dutch bankers in 1797, just before he went off to debtor’s prison. In the earlyrepublican period it was not uncommon for men like Morris and Phelps & Gorham tobecome rich and then quickly lose everything in volatile and frenzied land speculations(Bingham1931:145).

The Senecas gave up title to most of western New York, including the area that

wouldbecometheTownofAmherst,atthesigningoftheBigTreeTreatyin1797.JosephEllicott,anagent for theDutchbankers,begansurveying thearea in thesameyear. TheDutch companydeveloped itsholdings,planned townsites, and sold the landson liberaltermsdirectly tosettlers(Thompson1984:1‐15). Theearliestsettlement in theTownofAmherstbeganin1799whentheHollandLandCompanysoldthreehundredacresoflandtoJohnThomsonandBenjaminEllicott,brotherofJosephEllicott.ThispurchaseincludedmillprivilegesinwhatisthepresentVillageofWilliamsville(Smith1884:397).

The Holland Land Company realized that the key to increased land sales and

settlementwasconstructionandimprovementoftheprimitivetransportationsystemthatexistedinwesternNewYorkattheendofthe18thcentury.ManyearlysettlersinwesternNewYorkhadtroublemakingtheirmortgagepayments,oftenbecauseofthehighcostoftransporting their goods to distant markets on roads in typically very poor condition.Joseph Ellicott allowed farmers towork off a portion of their debts bymaintaining and


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improving the roads that were so critical to development (Koszuta 1969: 44; White1898:366).

A pre‐contact Native American path called the Great Central Trail or the Great

IroquoisTrailexistedroughlyonthesamealignmentasthecurrentMainStreet(NYRoute5). It was surveyed by the Holland Land Company in 1798 and became known as theBuffaloRoad,servingastheprincipleroutebetweenBuffalo,Williamsville,andsettlementstotheeast,includingtheHollandLandOfficeatBatavia.Tospursettlementoftheregion,the Holland Land Company granted lots to anyonewhowould build a tavern along theBuffaloRoad.EliasRansomacceptedtheofferand,by1808,builtalogtavernnearBaileyAvenue, in thesouthwesterncornerof thetown. Otherprivatehomeshadbeenusedoffandonas“inns”,mostnotablythefirsthousebuiltinthetownaround1799onthesiteoftheEvanshouseinWilliamsville(Young1965:9‐12).

Bythe1810stheBuffaloRoadwasclearedtoawidthofeightfeet,goodenoughfor

ox‐carts andwagons. Most of the early settlement ofAmherst occurred in the southernportion of the town, especially alongBuffaloRoad (Koszuta 1969: 44). Main Streetwasdeclaredapublichighwayin1826.TheconditionoftheroadimprovedwhentheBuffaloandWilliamsvilleMacadam Road Co. was contracted to build amacadam road onMainStreet in 1837 (Bureau of Engineering 1896). Transit Road was cleared and partiallyimprovedby theearly1800s; it servedasan importantnorth‐southroute for the region(Smith1884,I:77).

TheTownofAmherstfiguredprominentlyintheWarof1812becauseofthetown’s

proximitytofightingontheNiagaraFrontierandthestrategicallyimportantBuffaloRoad.Garrison Road is named for the soldiers’ barracks thatwere erected in 1812 nearMainStreetandGarrisonRoad inWilliamsville. Thebuildingswereconverted toahospital in1813 to care for over one thousand sick andwounded soldiers and prisoners. In 1814,morethan5,000soldierswerequarteredinWilliamsville(Young1965:16‐17).

By 1818, the Town of Amherst had sufficient population to break away from the

TownofClarence,whichhad formed in1808. Thenewgovernmentconsistedofa townsupervisor, a town board, and departments of tax assessment, highways, publicwelfare,peacekeeping,andeducation. TimothyHopkinswaselectedfist townsupervisorin1819(White1898:495).

Settlement inAmherst expanded rapidlywith the completion of the Erie Canal in

1825,aportionofwhichlieswithinTonawandaCreekatthenorthernendofAmherst.Thecanal brought development and settlers in large numbers to northern Amherst. In the1830sand1840smuchofthetownwasclearedandfarmed.ManyoftheearliestsettlersinAmherst arrived fromNew England and Pennsylvania. French and German immigrantsarrivedtosettleinthenorthernpartofthetown,especiallyneartheErieCanalandalongEllicottCreek,betweenSweetHomeRoadandNiagaraFallsBoulevard.

Hamlets typically sprangup around crossroads, post offices,mills, and stores and

wereoftennamedafterlocalprominentlandownersorbusinessmen.ExamplesinAmherst


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included Snyderville, Getzville, Eggertsville, Swormville, and Millersport (formerly MillPort). Small, one‐room schoolhouses and churches were erected anywhere a sufficientconcentration of population could support them, usually soon after the first settlers hadestablished themselves. Schoolhouses were typically erected on donated land. Moresubstantialbrickschoolhouseswerebuilttoreplacewoodplankorlogstructures. Inthe1850s Roman Catholic, Baptist, Mennonite, Lutheran, and Methodist churches could befoundinthetown,mostlyalongMainStreet.

Bythemiddleofthenineteenth‐centurysignificantdevelopmentswereoccurringin

local transportation, agriculture, and in industries like quarrying limestone, cementproduction, saw milling, and grist milling (Young 1965: 35‐36). Main Street was amacadamized toll road by 1840. Daily stagecoaches and large freight wagons passingthroughAmherstontheirwaytoandfromBuffalooftenstoppedatWilliamsville(Young1965:39‐40).TheheavytrafficonMainStreetalsoinfluencedthegrowthofhamletslikeSnydervilleandEggertsville.

Canal boats, stagecoaches, and trains passed through Amherst from Buffalo to

Batavia,Rochester,andpointseastonTonawandaCreek,theErieCanal,andMainStreet.Theroutesthattheytravelledonwerethemostimportantthoroughfaresintheregioninthe1800s.TonawandaCreekandtheErieCanalformthenorthernboundaryofAmherstand were channelized and enlarged a number of times to accommodate increasinglyheavierboat traffic. The lastmajorupgrade to thecanal system tookplace in the1910swhen the Erie Canal and portions of Tonawanda Creek were enlarged, rerouted, andrenamedtheNewYorkStateBargeCanal. However,theadventofrailroadinginwesternNewYork in the 1850smarked the beginning of the end for the canal. Areas along thecanal like Pickard’s Bridge began to decline while areas near the new railroads likeGetzvillebegantoseeincreaseddevelopment.

The railroad arrived in Amherst in 1854with the completion of the Canandaigua

andNiagaraFallsRailroadthroughthecenteroftown.By1858itwasoperatedbytheNewYorkCentralRailroad.Thesingletracklinewasreferredtoasthe“PeanutLine”becauseofits narrow gauge tracks but it spurred the development of hamlets like Getzville andTransit Station. TheLehighValleyRailroadCompanybuilt another railroad through thetown in 1896. It passed through Williamsville and crossed the town from Depew toTonawanda.Bothrailroadsarenolongerinoperation(Young1965).

Agriculture was an important occupation in all of Amherst in the 1800s. Truck

farmingandgeneral farming, including the raisingofoatsandwheat, fruit, anddairying,werepracticed(White1898:494).The1868drainingoftheswampylandinthenorthernhalfofthetownisattributedtofundingfromthestateandlocaltaxes(Smith1884,I:411).German immigrants farmed the newly reclaimed loamy soil. Most of the agriculturalproduction of Amherst was marketed in Williamsville, Tonawanda, and Buffalo (Smith1884,I:400).

The earliest settlers of Amherst recognized that the area aroundMain Street and

EllicottCreekinWilliamsvillewasanexcellentsiteforwaterpoweredmills.Bythe1850s,


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sawandgristmillslinedEllicottCreek,especiallyinWilliamsvillenearMainStreet,wherethe creek falls over theOnondagaEscarpment (Young1965:40). Another earlymill sitewas located on Ellicott Creek near the intersection of Millersport Highway and NorthForest Road. A saw mill and a grist mill were in operation there throughout the 19thcentury. Othermills in Amherstwere powered bywater springs, gas, or steam engines(Young1965:170).

Other industrial development in the town in the 1800s included limestone

quarryingandcementproduction,especiallywherever theescarpmentcameclose to thesurfaceoftheground. ImportantquarriesandkilnsexistedneartheintersectionofMainStreet and I‐290 Expressway and Youngs Road at Sheridan Drive (White 1898:494). InWilliamsville,otherindustriesincludedabroomfactory,tannery,brewery,forge,hubandspokefactory,planningmills,andagelatinfactory(White1898:496).

In the 1860s, the hamlet of Snyderville was growing at the intersection of Main

Street and Harlem Road and Eggertsville was concentrating at the intersection of MainStreet and Eggert Road. Snyderville was named for Michael Snyder, a prominent localmerchantandpostmaster.ThehamletofEggertsvillewasnamedfortheEggertfamilywhowereprominent inErieCounty (White1898:495‐496). By themid‐1800sbothhamletshad the typical cluster of residences, blacksmith shops, taverns, small schools, generalstores,andchurchesattheirmainintersections(Young1965:53‐78).

Bythe1890s,increasesinurbanpopulationandimprovedmodesoftransportation,

including the Buffalo andWilliamsville Electric Railway trolley system built along MainStreetin1893,spurredthegrowthofsuburbanresidentialneighborhoodsawayfromthecentersofBuffaloandWilliamsvilleandintoformerlyruralareas(White1898:498,Young1965:186‐189). The trolley was extended to Transit Road by 1903. By the 1910spopulation pressures fromBuffalo andWilliamsvillewere having an effect on the town,especiallyalongMainStreet.Manyoftheoldfarmsteadsinthatareaweresubdividedforthecreationoflargeestatesforwealthybusinessmenandafewresidentialsubdivisionsformiddleclassfamilies. Newfirecompanies,schools,andchurchesfollowedthepopulationoutofurbanareasandintothenewsuburbs.

Before the 1920s The Town of Amherstwas primarily an agricultural town,with

Buffalo andWilliamsville asmarkets (Burdis 1968:19). The hamlets of Eggertsville andSnyderville were altered early in the twentieth century through fires and development.Auto repair shops and filling stations replaced the nineteenth‐century wagon andblacksmith shops. The Country Club of Buffalo, currently Grover Cleveland Golf Course,moved to Amherst from Buffalo in 1903 to serve the wealthier of the new residents.Examples of early suburban neighborhoods that were started before 1920 includeRosedalePark,AmherstEstates,CollegeHill,andAuroraPark.

By the1920s theuseof electric street carsbegan todeclineandautomobilesand

buses became the dominant form of transportation on a widened Main Street (Young1965:189). The rate of suburbanization in Amherst, especially areas adjacent to MainStreet,wasacceleratingaswell,dueinparttotheincreasingpopularityoftheautomobile.


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AlongMainStreet,realestateentrepreneurssubdividedmostoftheremainingfarmsandthe large estates associated with the first phase of suburbanization. To entice buyers,developersrepavedMainStreet,builtseveraldemonstrationhomesandrealestateoffices,laid utility lines and sidewalks, and constructed many of the subdivision entrancestructuresthatarefoundalongMainStreettoday.

Manyofthefirecompanies,schools,churches,andcommercialbuildingsthatwere

constructedduring the firstphaseof suburbandevelopmentwere replaced in the1920sand1930swithlargerbuildingstomeettheneedsofanewsurgeinpopulationinthearea.TheAmherstCentralSchoolDistrictwasformedin1930.NewandlargerschoolsbuiltonMainStreetincludedSacredHeartAcademyandAmherstCentralHighSchool.Mostofthe19thcenturyschoolhousesweredemolishedormovedtotheAmherstMuseum.Generally,thesizeofresidentialbuildinglotsandthehousesbuiltonthemafterthe1920sweremoremodestthaninpreviousyears.

Bytheendofthe1930s, increasedconsumerdemandforsingle familyhomesand

suburbanlivingdroveimprovementstoandconstructionofmajorroadslikeMainStreet,SheridanDrive,andMillersportHighway.Thisopeneduptheformerlyruralcenterofthetowntonewdevelopment(Burdis1968:10).Inthepre‐waryears,homebuyersoftendealtwith numerous housing agents in order to get their home built, including plumbers,carpenters,landscapers,andelectricians.AfterWorldWarII,mostdevelopersactedastheagent for all of the home buyer’s needs, overseeing all aspects of construction (Bain1974:266).

AfterWorldWar IImajor transportationprojects spurred the transformationof a

once‐ruraltownintoalargelysuburbanone.Thewideningofformerlytwo‐laneroadslikeMapleRoad,and theconstructionofhighways like I‐290 in1963and I‐990 in the1980smade it easier to access the northern half of the town, and opened up these areas toresidentialandcommercialdevelopment.

Followingnational trendsafterWorldWar II, housing constructionwas resurgent

starting in the southernhalf of the townbut eventuallymovingnorth. TheEggertsville‐Snyder‐Williamsville corridor underwent new changes with the commercialization ofmajorintersections.TheWilliamsvilleCentralSchoolDistrictwasformedin1948andtheSweetHomeCentral SchoolDistrictwas formed in1950 tomeet theneedsof agrowingpopulation (Youngs 1965:108). Between 1930 and 1950, the population of Amherstoutside of Williamsville had increased dramatically from about 10,000 to about 72,000(Burdis1968:9). Thisgrowthledtonewthinking inhousing. Thetownboardapprovedthe first apartment complex for Amherst in 1941 over the opposition of many of theneighboringpropertyowners.The3901MainStreetCorporationincludedlocalinvestorswho wanted to cash in on the popularity that Amherst had gained as a residentialcommunity(Bain1974:266).

ThepopulationofAmherstgrewby30,000inthe1950s(Bain1974:265).Regional

populationgrowth,highsavingsrates,federalmortgagehelp,andaccesstotheautomobiledrove the upward trend toward the suburbs (Bain 1974:267). As a result, therewas a


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growingneed for additional housing, commercial buildings, and infrastructure. AmherstevolvedintoprimarilyabedroomcommunityofBuffalo;mostresidentsworkedelsewherein the region but shopped and lived in Amherst. Alongwith residential neighborhoods,Amherst became thehomeofUniversity Plaza in the late 1940s and theNorthtown andSheridan‐Harlemplazasinthelate1950s(Burdis1968:19‐21).

The construction of the University at Buffalo’s North Campus was a major

developmentinthelate1960sthatreshapedthecentralportionofthetownfromaruraltoasuburbanlandscape.Onlyafewfarmsremaininthehighly‐suburbanizedtownandtheyarerestrictedalmostentirelytothenorthernhalfofAmherst. Thetypesof industrythatshaped Amherst in the nineteenth‐ and early twentieth‐centuries has given way toresidentialdevelopment,lightindustry,researchandeducation(Young1965:179).

HISTORICMAPANALYSIS

A number of historic maps show water and landscape features, buildings, propertyboundaries, road alignments, and development trends in the town. Maps generatedbetween1804and1965wereconsultedforthisstudy, includingthe1804EllicottMapofMorris’PurchaseorWestGeneseointheStateofNewYork(Figure1),1829BurrMapoftheCountyErie (Figure2),1854GeilMapofErieCounty (Figure3),1866StoneandStewartNewTopographicalAtlasofErieCounty(Figures4aand4b),the1893HopkinsAtlasoftheVicinitiesoftheCitiesofNiagaraFalls,NorthTonawandaandBuffalo,NewYork(Figure5),1901‐1905UnitedStatesGeologicalSurvey15MinuteQuadrangles(Figure6),1909NewCentury AtlasMap ofErieCounty (Figures 7a and 7b), the 1915 Century AtlasTheNewCentury Atlas of Buffalo, Vol. 3 (Figures 8a, 8b, and 8c), 1948 United States GeologicalSurvey 15MinuteQuadrangles (Figure 9), and 1965United StatesGeological Survey 7.5MinuteQuadrangles(Figure10).The1923,1932and1932revisedto1950SanbornFireInsurancemapsforthetownsofEggertsville‐Snyderwerealsoconsulted,aswasthe1972CommunityDevelopmentPlanforAmherst,NY.

The1804EllicottMapofMorris’PurchaseorWestGeneseointheStateofNewYork

wasproducedshortlyaftertheHollandLandCompanypurchasedRobertMorris’tractsinwesternNewYork(Figure1).Theregionwassparselysettledbutseveraldevelopmentsinthe Town of Amherstwere important enough to be described on themap. The currentMainStreet(NYRoute5)wascalledBuffaloRoadintheearly1800sanditwasthemostimportantthoroughfareintheregionatthetime.ItliesinthesouthernsectionofAmherst.DevelopmentisnotedattheintersectionofEllicottCreekwithMainStreet,atWilliamsville.An“IndianTrail”isshownrunningfromtheWilliamsvilleareaintoBuffalo,southofMainStreet. Apparently, this pathwas not improved for a road because it is not depicted onlatermaps.TransitRoadistheonlyotherdevelopedroaddepictedonthemap.

The1829BurrMapoftheCountyEriewascreatedafewyearsaftertheErieCanal

wasopened(Figure2).ThismapismoredetailedandshowstheHollandLandCompany’soriginal lots and several roads. The southern section of the town has smaller lots,suggestingahigherdegreeofdevelopmentandinterestinthatarea.Thecentralportionofthe town andmuch of the northern section is depicted as being covered with swamps,


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which would have deterred heavy development of those sections. The swamps existeduntilthelate1860swhenstatefundingwasmadeavailabletodrainthemforagriculture.

Besides the roadsmentioned in the discussion of the 1804map, roads thatwere

builtorimprovedbefore1829includeTonawandaCreekRoad,NorthForestRoad,thepartofMillersportRoadbetweenGetzvilleRoadandEllicottCreek,GetzvilleRoad,IndianTrailRoad,DodgeRoadbetweenTransitRoadandRansomCreek,andNorthEllicottCreekRoad.Otherminorroadsprobablyexistedinthetownbuttheareasneartheroadsdepictedwerealmostcertainlybeingsettledmoredenselythanareasinthetownwithoutdepictedroads.

Settlements are shown on the 1829map at the current locations ofWilliamsville

andanareajustsouthofPendletonandTonawandaCreekthatwasreferredtoonthemapas“Niagara”.Latermapsshowthat“Niagara”didnotdevelopintoasubstantialsettlement.SawmillsandflourmillswerelocatedattheintersectionofGetzvilleRoadandMainStreet.Ellicott Creekwasused topowermills nearwhere the creek intersectswith the currentMillersportHighway,MainStreet,andnearIndianTrailRoad.

The 1854 GeilMap of Erie County is the first map available to show individual

properties and property owner names (Figure 3). In themid‐1800s, hamlets sprang upwheremajor roads intersectedwith othermajor roads,where bridges spanned the ErieCanalorlargestreams,andwheretherailroadintersectedwithroads.Eggertsville,Snyder,Williamsville,Getzville,andPickard’sBridgeareexamples.By1854,thesettlementdensityassociated with the town’s agricultural, pre‐suburban era was fairly established anddevelopedatamodestpace.Thenetworkofroadsduringthiserawasfairlyestablishedaswellwithonlyabouttennewroadslaidoutbetweenthe1850sand1890s(Figure2‐5).

The1893AtlasoftheVicinitiesoftheCitiesofNiagaraFalls,NorthTonawandaand

Buffalo,NewYorkisthefirstmaptoshowthebeginningsofsuburbandevelopmentinthetown, especially along Main Street near the Buffalo‐Amherst boundary (Figure 5). Theearly twentieth‐century historicmaps show an Amherst thatwas shifting away from itsagricultural past to a new role as a bedroom community of Buffalo (Figures 6, 7a,b and8a,b,c). Many of the large farm lots in the southern part of the town are shown to bebroken up into smaller residential lots. Farm buildings and fields disappeared asdevelopers createdanewsuburbancontext. At the same time, thenorthernandcentralpartsofAmherstremainedvirtuallyunchanged.

The post‐WorldWar II population explosion inAmherst is illustratedwell on the

1948 and 1965 USGS maps (Figure 8 and 9), the 1950 Sanborn Map and the 1972CommunityDevelopmentPlan. The general trend of development is shown to have beenmovingnorthbetweenthe1940sand1960s.MajorroadprojectsliketheimprovementofMillersportHighway and SheridanDrive and the construction of I‐90 and I‐290 broughtresidential development into the interior of the town and foreshadowed the comingresidentialdevelopmentofthefewremainingruralareasinthenorthernpartofthetown.


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Figure1.TheTownofAmherstasdepictedonthe1804MapofMorris’PurchaseorWestGeneseointheStateofNewYork(Ellicott1804).

Figure2.TheTownofAmherstasdepictedonthe1829MapoftheCountyofErieCounty(Burr1829)


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Figure3.TheTownofAmherstasdepictedonthe1854MapofErieCounty(Geil1854).


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Figure4a.TheTownofAmherstasdepictedonthe1866NewTopographicalAtlasofErieCounty(StoneandStewart1866).


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Figure4b.ThemajorhamletsofAmherstasdepictedonthe1866NewTopographicalAtlasofErieCounty(StoneandStewart1866).


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Figure5.TheTownofAmherstasdepictedonthe1893AtlasoftheVicinitiesoftheCitiesofNiagaraFalls,NorthTonawandaandBuffalo,NewYork(Hopkins1893).


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Figure6.TheTownofAmherstasdepictedon1901‐1905UnitedStatesGeologicalSurvey15MinuteQuadrangles(USGS).


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Figure7a.TheTownofAmherstasdepictedonthe1909NewCenturyAtlas,ErieCounty,NewYork(CenturyMapCompany&Ogden,L.J.G.).


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Figure7b.ThemajorhamletsofAmherstasdepictedonthe1909NewCenturyAtlas,ErieCounty,NewYork(CenturyMapCompany&Ogden,L.J.G.).


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Figure8a.TheTownofAmherst&PartoftheTownofAmherstasdepictedonthe1915NewCenturyAtlasofGreaterBuffalo,Vol.3(CenturyMapCompany&Ogden,L.J.G.ReproducedwithpermissionfromHistoricMapWorks).


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Figure8b.PartoftheTownofAmherstasdepictedonthe1915NewCenturyAtlasofGreaterBuffalo,Vol.3(CenturyMapCompany&Ogden,L.J.G.ReproducedwithpermissionfromHistoricMapWorks).


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Figure8c.PartoftheTownofAmherst&theWestHalfofWitmerFarmasdepictedonthe1915NewCenturyAtlasofGreaterBuffalo,Vol.3(CenturyMapCompany&Ogden,L.J.G.ReproducedwithpermissionfromHistoricMapWorks).


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Figure9.TheTownofAmherstasdepictedon1948UnitedStatesGeologicalSurvey15MinuteQuadrangles(USGS).


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Figure10.TheTownofAmherstdepictedon1965UnitedStatesGeologicalSurvey7.5MinuteQuadrangles(USGS).

Documents

Historic Overview - Amherstprehistoric people manufactured their stone tools. The escarpment and large drainages near the escarpment are particularly sensitive to these site types