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I recently learned the Lake Erie, Niagara River, inner-harbor breakwall that protects Buffalo from the waters of the mighty Niagara is a gift to Buffalo from Abraham Lincoln for Buffalo's contribution of men to the Civil War.
Does anyone know more about this?
Does anyone know where I can learn more about this?
That's cool if true! I had never heard about it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gshowell
Well there are two break walls.
The one in Black Rock was built before the Erie Canal in an attempt by the then city of Black Rock to be the western terimus for the canal.
The second break wall is south and when constructed, part of the town of West Seneca.
"In addition to the settlement at Limestone Hill another settlement was developed by the Wood Harmon Company, land developers from Boston, Massachusetts. Their development in the nineties was called "Roland." The rest of the area was undeveloped or in small farms. Politically it was part of the town of West Seneca. On the lake shore was an area called Stony Point. After 1870 several railroads were built through the town. Limestone Hill was located on the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad, the Erie Railroad, the Lake Shore Railroad and the Nickel Plate Railroads. The movement of freight from the west through congested areas in the City of Buffalo was so slow that these railroad companies decided to establish freight yards in West Seneca. This vast railroad facility and terminal yards furnished a great deal of employment thus encouraging settlement in the area. Another important development, vitally affecting the growing district of West Seneca was the erection by the Federal Government, at the close of the century, of a long breakwall at the eastern end of Lake Erie. The southern arm of this breakwall, 7,500 feet in length, extended to Stony Point in West Seneca and made the lake shore an ideal spot for industry."
At least that is what I could find in google.
good job...perhaps someone will wikpedia it...i think.Quote:
Originally Posted by leftWNYbecauseofBS
The original breakwall to create the Buffalo harbor (Erie Basin) was built in the early 1820s to bring the terminus of the Erie Canal to Buffalo rather than to Black Rock. The breakwall, along with the removal of the sandbar across the Buffalo River, were done under the direction of Samuel Wilkinson, a wealthy local businessman and later mayor of Buffalo. (Google Samuel Wilkinson for more info).
The breakwall that created the Black Rock channel and the still original Black Rock lock was built by NYS in the 1830s. To facilitate the movement of ships to and from the Tonawandas. Apparently, Buffalo's harbor facilities were being strained, so some cargoes were diverted northward. These might have been lumber ships since NT is also known as "The Lumber City". (Google Black Rock Channel).
Both of these works were before Abe Lincoln was in Congress, and before he became POTUS. However, various parts of the Outer Harbor breakwall, which in fact, is sometimes called a "sea wall", were built beginning in the late 1840s. The northern end of the sea wall (closest to the Erie Basin) would have been built first, and it's primary purpose would be to prevent severe lake storms from damaging the inner harbor breakwalls.
The Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society has tons of material on this, and I'm sure that you could find more info at it's library on Nottingham Terrace.