Black Rock Archives - Chris Carosa

Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: The Making Of The Buffalo And Erie Road

By Chris Carosa on April 30, 2024

At the turn of the 19^th century, a dense forest covered the southwest corner of New York State—what is now Chautauqua County. A rough trail that followed the Lake Erie shore represented the only visible evidence of human occupation. Except for what appeared to be remnants of a chimney right on the lake.¹ The trail was brutal. Settlers journeying to Connecticut’s lands in the future state of Ohio preferred to take the water route over Lake Erie from Black Rock, just off Buffalo Creek.²

That chimney might well have been the ruins of what Sir William Johnson described as a Continue Reading “Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: The Making Of The Buffalo And Erie Road”

Posted in History, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Allegheny River, Barcelona, Black Rock, Buffalo, Buffalo and Erie Road, Buffalo Creek, Chautauqua County, Chautauqua Creek, Chautauqua Lake, Connecticut, Connecticut Fire Lands, Connecticut Land Company, Connecticut Reserve, Cross Roads, David Ellicott, Edward McHenry, Edward Paine, Ellicott Road, Erie, Erie Road, France, French and Indian War, Genesee County, George Washington, Holland Land Company, Holland Land Purchase, Iroquois Confederacy, James De Lancey, James McMahan, Joseph Badger, Joseph Ellicott, Lafayette, Lake Erie, Main Road, Marquis Duquesne, Mayville, New Connecticut, New England, New France, Niagara County, Ohio River, Old French Road, Ontario County, Paine's Road, Pittsburgh, Portage Escarpment, Portage Road, Portland, Presqu'isle, Route 18, Route 20, Route 5, Samuel Shattuck, Seneca, settlers, Sir William Johnson, Stephen Coffen, Western Reserve, Westfield

Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: The State Of Greater Western New York In 1825

By Chris Carosa on April 23, 2024

WNY portion of 1825 map published by H.S. Tanner, 177 Chestnut St. Philadelphia.

Remember how excited you were when you began a new school year, started a new job, or moved to a new place? Life fills you with promise and anticipation. You can’t wait to wake up and start the next day. Everything is sunshine and roses.

Then reality inevitably interrupts. Things get overwhelming. Despair and sometimes desperation set in. It seems as if you’re trapped. You can’t see a way out.

But, somehow, you find a way. You get over that hump. (Because, when you get over things, what once seemed like an overbearing mountain now appears as nothing more than a mere bothersome bump.)

Again, you look forward to tomorrow with an enthusiasm you thought you’d never again have.

Such was the state of Greater Western New York. It began as an enthusiastic rush into the Continue Reading “Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: The State Of Greater Western New York In 1825”

Posted in History, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Aaron Miller, Batavia, Black Rock, Britain, Buffalo, Byron, Canada, Canandaigua, E.F. Warren, Erie Canal, Genesee Country, Geneva, Herkimer, Indonesia, Iroquois Confederacy, John Butler, Joseph Ellicott, Lafayette, lease, Lessees, Massachusetts, Mount Tambora, New York, New York Genesee Land Company, Niagara Falls, Niagara Genesee Land Company, Ontario, Orsamus Turner, Otsego, Phelps & Gorham, Phelps and Gorham, Preemption Line, Revolutionary War, Rochester, Seneca, Six Nations, Tioga, Treaty of Hartford, War of 1812, Warren