1
200
487
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/d304a012c43f13ee7db05b0e36566f9e.JPG
d52d426fb6d41a84aba310330b1ff251
Photo
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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/64a47eac5e39872f7722d720e9707de3.jpg
795e56d5ebbf4dedc56f9b51b2ebffc8
https://nthistory.com/files/original/c32e5fa050e413971fb9dcd42561dea6.jpg
ec8b4e7886b96ef4354f3ac205c9f97e
https://nthistory.com/files/original/c0d5edd94e71496c8b0b512ba26b1c9c.jpg
3e66d5176e009a562ca1c973fbbc3b30
https://nthistory.com/files/original/b4e719b4862359fd8c4e0774475e7f61.jpg
4a6ddaea6dddb3e409d90cd1a64988d2
https://nthistory.com/files/original/0d7d7b518d98d504ab1786404a6fe343.jpg
39a760133ccfa0aa59fb577fb488619d
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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" /><span class="cover-caption">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>.</span> 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />As the forests of the midwest were depleted and shipping routes and technology changed, the lumber heyday of the Tonawandas receded into the past.
Photo
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William H. Gratwick vessels, photos (c.1882-1900).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
Wooden steam barge, bulk freighter, package freighter and tugboats. The <a href="https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/58709/data?n=14">tugboat would sink</a> in the Niagara River on July 16, 1900, killing the two men aboard.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1882
ship
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/9841782673e0f1720c8f5b0f5ecb917d.jpg
e8f92f03ca0fe2ef5b744c43b40e67ed
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Title
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Hotel Sheldon
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/51.jpg" alt="Hotel Sheldon" /> <span class="cover-caption">Postcard, c1890</span>This massive hotel once occupied the southeast corner of Goundry and Main. A general description from <em><a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/608">Lumber City</a></em> (1891):<br />
<blockquote>Nothing is more needed for the general prosperity of a city than a first-class hotel, and in this particular the Lumber City is especially fortunate, as outside of metropolitan places it would be difficult to find a house more complete in all its appointments than the Sheldon. It is fitted in attractive and elegant style throughout and contains all the modern improvements and appurtenances of a first-class hotel. It is an imposing four-story brick, with eighty rooms.</blockquote>
An Internet search rears up <a href="https://www.geni.com/people/William-Truman-Godard/5494628848530068480">this pithy account</a> of one of the hotel's managers:
<blockquote>Hope said that he (William Truman Godard, 1870-1937) earned his living in Altoona, Penn as a Pillsbury flour representative and she wrote that he earned his living in as the manager of the Hotel Sheldon in North Tonawanda, New York where Hope was born in 1905. <br /><br />She said he had very black hair and never seemed to have a well day. He went back East to his people after his wife died.</blockquote>
The hotel is destroyed by fire in 1940.
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Title
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Hotel Lincoln (later Sheldon), photo (Wittkowsky Collection, c1885).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1885
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
William C. Wittkowsky Collection, via <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/hotellincolnsheldon.html">North Tonawanda History Museum</a>
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/5446b9c4bff8635314304e061b1383b2.jpg
7c2992d0a2ed4c0a12864fa996f758e4
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Title
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Goundry Street School
Description
An account of the resource
The Goundry Street School was a stone building constructed in 1866. From <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/606"><em>History of Niagara County 1821-1878</em></a> (1878):
<blockquote>The North Tonawanda Union School has four departments and four teachers. The last winter term averaged 190 scholars and the summer term 125, J. W. Brown is principal, with Libbie M. Pugsley, Hannah Densmore, and Nellie Becker as assistants. The whole number of scholars of school age is 674. The school-house was erected in 1866. The board of education consists of Benjamin F. Felton, president; H. O. Nightingale, clerk; Dr. C. Backer, Giles Schell and John Chadwick. The school building is a substantial stone edifice, located at one of the most pleasant points in the village. The yards in front and play grounds are kept in good condition.</blockquote>
In late 1882 a new addition is built in front of and connected to the original schoolhouse. Another addition is made in 1892. In 1955, after 89 years of educating students, the "bell atop Goundry School...sounds the call to classes for the last time." After some time as a school administration building, the historic old structure is scheduled to be razed on October 27, 1975.
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Union Free School No 1 (Goundry), class photo (1887).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1887
school
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/b831ecf3fbf61b85b11dd0ba844dbf51.jpg
b6cc06e99e317a3afc7aaaafb34baf63
Photo
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Title
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Unknown (Erie Canal in Tonawanda?), photo (c1890).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
Seen on eBay labeled as "Erie Canal in Tonawanda," but there is no corroboration for the claim. <a href="mailto:me@denisreedjr.com">Please email us</a> if you know more!
canal
erie-canal
railroad
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/bb2c11d22d0eae6954ce2cf7e83d6c8f.jpg
e1a2f2e63938b8cd305abb1412b85b2a
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Title
A name given to the resource
Firefighters
Description
An account of the resource
Rough chronology at <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/firefighting.html">NT History Museum</a>, including notes about many defunct companies. A provocative (if unlikely-sounding) morsel about Hydrant Hose Co. No. 3 (1886-1909), formerly based on Sweeney near Delaware bridge:
<blockquote>The fighting crew of the old Hydrant Hose Company liked to fight fires so much, they would first fight the men of any other fire company who raced to a North Tonawanda fire to see who got the pleasure of conquering the flames. Often the flames ended up as the victor as the firefighters spent their energies in a brawl rather than on the element of nature.</blockquote>
From Sarah E. Walter's thesis as it appears on <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/thesis.html#thesis">nthistorymuseum.org</a>:
<blockquote>The North Tonawanda Fire Dept is known as one of the best paid and volunteer departments in the nation. The greatest enemy the lumbermen had was fire. Annually it destroyed millions of dollars of lumber and cost many lives. A step forward came on May 7, 1876, when twenty of the most prominent residents of the Village of North Tonawanda gathered together in the school house at the corner of Main and Tremont Streets and formed themselves into a Company for the protection of property against the ravages of fire. The newly formed Company petitioned the Village Board and in special session on May 15, 1876, the board approved and appointed them firemen of the Village and their company was called the North Tonawanda Bucket Company, later to be called the Columbia Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.
<p>North Tonawanda depended heavily on Volunteer Firemen and quickly grew to seven companies located at important places around the city.</p>
</blockquote>
<table border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" align="center">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>Date Started </strong></td>
<td><strong>Name </strong></td>
<td><strong>By Whom </strong></td>
<td> <strong>Notes</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>May 7, 1876</td>
<td>North Tonawanda Bucket Company / Columbia Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.</td>
<td> </td>
<td> (See below)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>March 1, 1886</td>
<td>Active Hose Company No.2</td>
<td> </td>
<td>"Ironton Boys"</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1886*</td>
<td>Gratwick Hose Company No. 6</td>
<td>Village Council</td>
<td><a href="https://yellow.place/en/gratwick-hose-fire-company-6-north-tonawanda-usa">1890?</a> On Felton until 1962.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>April 1887</td>
<td>Live Active Hose Co. No. 4</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>January 26, 1891</td>
<td>Rescue Fire Company No. 5</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>February 6, 1891</td>
<td>Gratwick Hose Company No. 1</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1894</td>
<td>Sweeney Hose No. 7</td>
<td>Village Council</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br /><br />From The<em> Tonawanda News, May 9, 1896:</em>
<blockquote>Monday, June 15, has been selected as the date of the Firemen's Annual Parade. It is expected that it will prove of more than ordinary interest as unusual efforts will be put forth this year to make it an enjoyable spectacular affair. <br /><br />In this connection it is interesting to note that Thursday of this week was the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the first fire company In North Tonawanda. Previous to this date North Tonawanda had paid Tonawanda $300 a year for the fire protection that the Tonawanda companies afforded. <br /><br />The parent company of North Tonawanda was the <strong>Columbia Hook and Ladder Company</strong>; it is still in existence, but is now one of eight splendid companies of which North Tonawanda can boast. As before stated it was organized May 7, 1876, and its first president was Frank Fellows. It was organized under a famous old hickory tree which stood on the ground now occupied by the parsonage of the First Methodist Church. Nicholas Beckrich was the first foreman of this company and other members of this crack organization were John E. Oelkers, Frank Batt, H. U. Berger, M. J. Wattengel, W. P. Hayes, Jno. Spillman, Aug. Duckwitz, Fred Schultz, Isaac Gardei, Geo. Miller, John Haas, Julius Miller and others. A number of these early firemen are numbered among the most prominent residents of North Tonawanda but it is with considerable pleasure that they recall the days of their early triumphs.</blockquote>
Photo
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Early firemen, horse and buggy, photos c1890 (From 100 Years, 1965).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1890
carriage
horse
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/2fbd5275115bd879f754b77357316fc2.jpg
35ced029660a1160ceccd70146ecb85b
https://nthistory.com/files/original/cd3a5b8b1620d528a6f9c455f44ae9cb.jpeg
a3762761473867a8b53073767375df1c
Photo
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Title
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Fred Pfanner Jr., Flour Feed Grain and Seeds, 46-50 Young Street, photo (c 1890).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
1863-1929. Obituary from <a href="http://haseleyfamily.com/getperson.php?personID=I17586&tree=FWHCED">Haseley Family Pages:</a><br /><br />
<blockquote><strong>Tonawanda Business Man Drops Dead In His Store</strong><br /><br />While displaying some of the new currency, which he had just drawn from the bank, to clerks in his flour, feed and seed store at 48-50 Young street shortly before 11 o'clock this morning Fred Pfanner, Jr., dropped dead. Several physicians were called but Mr. Pfanner died within a few minutes after being stricken. Born in Tonawanda 66 years ago, Mr. Pfanner had resided here all his life. He had been in business in the store where he died since 1884, first in partnership with his brother, Alderman George Pfanner, later alone and for the past ten years with his son, Richard Pfanner, under the firm name of Pfanner and Son. Mr. Pfanner was stricken with paralysis six weeks ago but recovered sufficiently three weeks later to walk to his place of business where he visited two or three times a week. He walked to the bank of the First Trust company this morning and returned to the store. Physicians expressed the belief that the effort proved too much for him. Surviving are a wife, Lena; a son, Richard; a daughter, Mrs. Mortimer Davis of Rochester; four brothers, George, Jacob, Philip and Henry Pfanner, and three sisters, Mrs. Margaret Guenther, Mrs. George May and Mrs. George Bloomstein, all of Tonawanda.</blockquote>
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Courtesy of Beth Proefrock Patterson
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1890
carriage
horse
person
tonawanda
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/e19e30cc5f6b26da99b75995225d98ff.jpg
db445307e4cdce8275770deacbfba220
https://nthistory.com/files/original/dddd8267ba34bc2e9801e48d14bedf65.jpg
9a5a4db8ad68ee54579207696834d553
https://nthistory.com/files/original/fdd792c439e563dabeb21b9fb3229379.jpeg
0147c9fc4ac8defc00196b877a3f022d
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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. In 1918 this 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
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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/7056bdbd6749c4ee72210004623faa8e.jpg
ad7657b41914610d02ce16b29b66ba01
Photo
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Train depot, Tonawanda, photo postcard (c1890).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1890
tonawanda
train
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/83b09483f9d6952c3c8e90debd587002.jpg
480bbc9223b2fbd3b9900023c64ed6ce
Photo
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Title
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Wattengel livery, photo (c1890).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1890
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Joe Mantione
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/7d0260eed194300a1d05377012b064b9.png
48dc250dccd7383eca70bb533beaaaf9
https://nthistory.com/files/original/296c495729de0b08b5114be88384408d.jpeg
3fff3631c63d75cc9b92f1d2336b8f58
Photo
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Deacon Dubbs, Masonic play, cast photo (Stumpf, c1890).png
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1890
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/b86048618301226c33cf18fbc74d8985.jpg
5d30e29eeb4b2c765aa3d59ce92a18f3
https://nthistory.com/files/original/d18bb9c2dd9bd50ba6271cd6c97af945.jpeg
a949126e1abea954cb1874437108cdb8
https://nthistory.com/files/original/9e895105db45290cbb02ff7324cc6e5b.jpg
6f81993e6d529f8dfe1fe38e24710f11
https://nthistory.com/files/original/459342c3733bbb911e805f36d66dcc03.jpeg
64ad89a2011513c18b06c0cddea3e9c5
https://nthistory.com/files/original/02735a7f6cc5d2eacfb510bf2ad6c8b5.jpeg
f9b662691cba8fc4e79c7edd0c61f1b4
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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" /><span class="cover-caption">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>.</span> 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />As the forests of the midwest were depleted and shipping routes and technology changed, the lumber heyday of the Tonawandas receded into the past.
Photo
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Title
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42nd Separate Company of Niagara Falls, stationed in Tonawandas to break lumber strike, photos (c.1892-1893).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1892
Description
An account of the resource
This company, formed in 1885 at the establishment of the Niagara Falls State Reservation, came out to the Tonawandas twice to quell lumber labor troubles (June of 1892 and 1893). The photo may have been taken during the 1893 assignment, as this was the longer deployment, and they appear ready for a little comic relief in the first photo. Learn more about these visits in this <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/3477">excerpt</a> of a 2005 thesis.
military
person
tent
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/90d98ab39e678165a708d5f5cefcc5fe.jpg
b126b01cbea6da31cf67ee1f7ba959aa
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory (1893-1903)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/24d.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory, 1893 (colorized by webmaster)" /><span class="cover-caption">Nucleus of Wurlitzer: The North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory in 1893. It still stands in 2023.</span>
<p class="intro">The first of its kind in America, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory makes automatic musical instruments to provide music for Allan Herschell's world-famous carousels. Led by the fiery Prussian gentleman-genius Eugene de Kleist, the firm survives an early national Depression to succeed beyond its wildest expectations with the help of a musical family from Ohio named the "Wurlitzers."</p>
<div class="img-caption-container"><img src="http://nthistory.com/files/square_thumbnails/cc9e0bcd6b738bbe4ed82bac5ef50e91.jpg" alt="Image description" />
<div class="caption">De Kleist band organ, c.1900.</div>
</div>
<b>Portable music of another era<br /><br /></b>Before the phonograph and radio, the next best thing to a live orchestra or marching band is a "band organ" or "orchestrion." Essentially giant music boxes with drums, pipe organs, brass horns and more, these devices are popular in Europe for centuries before being produced in the New World in 1893 with the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory. <br /><br />The factory is built in the spring of 1893 by local merry-go-round makers the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/73">Armitage-Herschell Company</a> in the Sawyer's Creek / Martinsville area in the northeast of the recently incorporated City of North Tonawanda. To oversee operations, Armitage-Herschell recruits a German organ maker from London with whom they have been acquainted: the talented <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">Eugene de Kleist</a>. With a small crew of workers culled from England and the surrounding Martinsville farms, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory also makes organs for churches, offers repairs on existing organs, and makes the pinned barrels that contain the music the organs play. After about a year, Armitage-Herschell sign ownership of the enterprise over to their capable superintendent.<br /><br /><strong>Meet the Wurlitzers</strong><br /><br />Business is middling until 1897, when de Kleist meets a decades-old musical retail concern from Cincinnati that will prove a valuable partner: the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company. The story goes that de Kleist was looking to interest the U. S. Army in buying his bugles, which were made as part of many of his band organs. de Kleist is told that the Wurlitzer company already has that business, so he approaches Wurlitzer, and is able to sell them some of his bugles. He also tries to interest Wurlitzer in his band organs, but they ask if he coud instead produce a coin-operated piano for use in taverns and restaurants. After over a year in development, the first "Tonophones" are ready in 1898, and are an immediate success. (Hear <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/1023">Farny Wurlitzer</a> tell this story himself <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5dXbpPM7T0&t=5m29s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in this remarkable speech from 1964</a>).<br /><br />Similiar instruments, such as the Pianino, follow, and the small factory begins to grow, and over the next few years establishes the northwest corner of the massive Wurlitzer plant still standing in North Tonawanda today.
<p><strong>The de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</strong></p>
In 1903, the Barrel Organ Factory incorporates as the de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company, with investment from banker James Thompson and some new top brass. Wurlitzer's interest in the North Tonawanda plant increases as Eugene de Kleist's seems to wane (<a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">see de Kleist's bio</a> for more on this). In 1905 a group of workers leaves to form the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>; within a year another wave of defectors forms the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/10">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works</a>. <br /><br />1908 begins auspiciously: in January, de Kleist (now mayor of North Tonawanda) lavishly fetes 700 employees and their families in the new music department building. His superintendent, Paul Von Rohl, delivers a speech in his honor, and they dance and carouse until morning light begins filtering over Sawyer's Creek.<br /><br />The following months will not be as good. de Kleist files a $50,000 infringement lawsuit against the aforementioned Instrument Works, but loses. In March, he leaves the aforementioned Paul Von Rohl in charge of the factory while he is off racing powerboats in Florida. de Kleist returns to suspect there has been rampant theft in his absence, and brings charges of grand larceny against Von Rohl, which are dropped, replaced by petit larceny charges, and then found unproved by a jury. In April, Mayor de Kleist accuses eight employees of stealing valuable machinery and plans from his factory, and of conspiring to start another rival factory. The summer brings more powerboating and politicking.<br /><br />Perhaps fearing for the security of their investment, Wurlitzer buys Eugene de Kleist out. <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/52">The Rudolph Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company</a> is organized in December of 1908 with $1,000,000 capital.
Photo
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Title
A name given to the resource
North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory, photo (1893).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1893
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/c7ef963696b6c1a6ed6f3b2ec4211b46.jpg
adf21ecd226938e2d3f8ebc006645dcb
Dublin Core
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Title
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North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory (1893-1903)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/24d.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory, 1893 (colorized by webmaster)" /><span class="cover-caption">Nucleus of Wurlitzer: The North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory in 1893. It still stands in 2023.</span>
<p class="intro">The first of its kind in America, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory makes automatic musical instruments to provide music for Allan Herschell's world-famous carousels. Led by the fiery Prussian gentleman-genius Eugene de Kleist, the firm survives an early national Depression to succeed beyond its wildest expectations with the help of a musical family from Ohio named the "Wurlitzers."</p>
<div class="img-caption-container"><img src="http://nthistory.com/files/square_thumbnails/cc9e0bcd6b738bbe4ed82bac5ef50e91.jpg" alt="Image description" />
<div class="caption">De Kleist band organ, c.1900.</div>
</div>
<b>Portable music of another era<br /><br /></b>Before the phonograph and radio, the next best thing to a live orchestra or marching band is a "band organ" or "orchestrion." Essentially giant music boxes with drums, pipe organs, brass horns and more, these devices are popular in Europe for centuries before being produced in the New World in 1893 with the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory. <br /><br />The factory is built in the spring of 1893 by local merry-go-round makers the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/73">Armitage-Herschell Company</a> in the Sawyer's Creek / Martinsville area in the northeast of the recently incorporated City of North Tonawanda. To oversee operations, Armitage-Herschell recruits a German organ maker from London with whom they have been acquainted: the talented <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">Eugene de Kleist</a>. With a small crew of workers culled from England and the surrounding Martinsville farms, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory also makes organs for churches, offers repairs on existing organs, and makes the pinned barrels that contain the music the organs play. After about a year, Armitage-Herschell sign ownership of the enterprise over to their capable superintendent.<br /><br /><strong>Meet the Wurlitzers</strong><br /><br />Business is middling until 1897, when de Kleist meets a decades-old musical retail concern from Cincinnati that will prove a valuable partner: the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company. The story goes that de Kleist was looking to interest the U. S. Army in buying his bugles, which were made as part of many of his band organs. de Kleist is told that the Wurlitzer company already has that business, so he approaches Wurlitzer, and is able to sell them some of his bugles. He also tries to interest Wurlitzer in his band organs, but they ask if he coud instead produce a coin-operated piano for use in taverns and restaurants. After over a year in development, the first "Tonophones" are ready in 1898, and are an immediate success. (Hear <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/1023">Farny Wurlitzer</a> tell this story himself <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5dXbpPM7T0&t=5m29s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in this remarkable speech from 1964</a>).<br /><br />Similiar instruments, such as the Pianino, follow, and the small factory begins to grow, and over the next few years establishes the northwest corner of the massive Wurlitzer plant still standing in North Tonawanda today.
<p><strong>The de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</strong></p>
In 1903, the Barrel Organ Factory incorporates as the de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company, with investment from banker James Thompson and some new top brass. Wurlitzer's interest in the North Tonawanda plant increases as Eugene de Kleist's seems to wane (<a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">see de Kleist's bio</a> for more on this). In 1905 a group of workers leaves to form the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>; within a year another wave of defectors forms the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/10">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works</a>. <br /><br />1908 begins auspiciously: in January, de Kleist (now mayor of North Tonawanda) lavishly fetes 700 employees and their families in the new music department building. His superintendent, Paul Von Rohl, delivers a speech in his honor, and they dance and carouse until morning light begins filtering over Sawyer's Creek.<br /><br />The following months will not be as good. de Kleist files a $50,000 infringement lawsuit against the aforementioned Instrument Works, but loses. In March, he leaves the aforementioned Paul Von Rohl in charge of the factory while he is off racing powerboats in Florida. de Kleist returns to suspect there has been rampant theft in his absence, and brings charges of grand larceny against Von Rohl, which are dropped, replaced by petit larceny charges, and then found unproved by a jury. In April, Mayor de Kleist accuses eight employees of stealing valuable machinery and plans from his factory, and of conspiring to start another rival factory. The summer brings more powerboating and politicking.<br /><br />Perhaps fearing for the security of their investment, Wurlitzer buys Eugene de Kleist out. <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/52">The Rudolph Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company</a> is organized in December of 1908 with $1,000,000 capital.
Photo
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Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory, photo (c1893).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1893-06
factory
martinsville
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/0e84242c595a0697ce4bac075309bd02.jpg
684b33e10e62f2999ea16537c4323fb9
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Title
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Martinsville
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/56.jpg" alt="Postcard view looking north up Old Falld Blvd" /><span class="cover-caption">Old Falls Boulevard, looking north from Lockport Ave. to Niagara Falls Blvd. Postcard detail, c.1900.</span> The northeast part of North Tonawanda known as "Martinsville" is named after the father of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther. It is settled by German Lutheran farmers, beginning around 1843. They settled in narrow farms along the west bank of Tonawanda Creek. As the area developed, a "downtown" emerged along William Street, present-day Old Falls Blvd, near Lockport Rd. (pictured above). The village boasted its own post office, stores and places of entertainment. <br /><br />Most of Martinsville was incorporated into the then-booming City of North Tonawanda in 1897. The sections of Martinsville east of present-day Old Falls and Niagara Falls boulevards are considered part of Wheatfield.<br /><br />The real estate transaction that brought many of the settlers to the area, its early growth, and the contentious religious devotion of its people are described in <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/606"><em>History of Niagara County 1821-1878</em></a>:
<blockquote>In 1843 Carl Sack, Erdman Wurl and Fred Grosskopf purchased of William Vandervoote 400 acres, at $15 per acre, on the Tonawanda creek, in the southeast corner of the town, four miles east of Tonawanda village, in what is now known as the village of Martinsville. Lutheran religious antecedents caused the adoption of this name by the disciples of Martin Luther. The original purchase was divided into small lots of three acres and up- ward, as others were able to purchase, to provide for the location of thirty families the first season. They erected ten log houses in the autumn, each of which was occupied by three or four families during the winter and until joint efforts relieved the immigrants by building others. The families remained in Buffalo until the first houses were built, obtaining the best accommodations they could find. Forbidding as the prospect in the beginning must have been, it has been changed to the appearance of prosperity. The church organization is the controlling element in the government of the community, now consisting of one hundred families, connected with the two now existing, the result of divided feeling, but not an abandonment of the Lutheran faith.</blockquote>
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Title
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Rescue Fire Company, photo (c1895).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1895
firefighter
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/6fa47b85c99840f105456aab322b62db.jpg
7400ae1a2e5b175a7511b411702cb0a9
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory (1893-1903)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/24d.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory, 1893 (colorized by webmaster)" /><span class="cover-caption">Nucleus of Wurlitzer: The North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory in 1893. It still stands in 2023.</span>
<p class="intro">The first of its kind in America, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory makes automatic musical instruments to provide music for Allan Herschell's world-famous carousels. Led by the fiery Prussian gentleman-genius Eugene de Kleist, the firm survives an early national Depression to succeed beyond its wildest expectations with the help of a musical family from Ohio named the "Wurlitzers."</p>
<div class="img-caption-container"><img src="http://nthistory.com/files/square_thumbnails/cc9e0bcd6b738bbe4ed82bac5ef50e91.jpg" alt="Image description" />
<div class="caption">De Kleist band organ, c.1900.</div>
</div>
<b>Portable music of another era<br /><br /></b>Before the phonograph and radio, the next best thing to a live orchestra or marching band is a "band organ" or "orchestrion." Essentially giant music boxes with drums, pipe organs, brass horns and more, these devices are popular in Europe for centuries before being produced in the New World in 1893 with the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory. <br /><br />The factory is built in the spring of 1893 by local merry-go-round makers the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/73">Armitage-Herschell Company</a> in the Sawyer's Creek / Martinsville area in the northeast of the recently incorporated City of North Tonawanda. To oversee operations, Armitage-Herschell recruits a German organ maker from London with whom they have been acquainted: the talented <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">Eugene de Kleist</a>. With a small crew of workers culled from England and the surrounding Martinsville farms, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory also makes organs for churches, offers repairs on existing organs, and makes the pinned barrels that contain the music the organs play. After about a year, Armitage-Herschell sign ownership of the enterprise over to their capable superintendent.<br /><br /><strong>Meet the Wurlitzers</strong><br /><br />Business is middling until 1897, when de Kleist meets a decades-old musical retail concern from Cincinnati that will prove a valuable partner: the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company. The story goes that de Kleist was looking to interest the U. S. Army in buying his bugles, which were made as part of many of his band organs. de Kleist is told that the Wurlitzer company already has that business, so he approaches Wurlitzer, and is able to sell them some of his bugles. He also tries to interest Wurlitzer in his band organs, but they ask if he coud instead produce a coin-operated piano for use in taverns and restaurants. After over a year in development, the first "Tonophones" are ready in 1898, and are an immediate success. (Hear <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/1023">Farny Wurlitzer</a> tell this story himself <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5dXbpPM7T0&t=5m29s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in this remarkable speech from 1964</a>).<br /><br />Similiar instruments, such as the Pianino, follow, and the small factory begins to grow, and over the next few years establishes the northwest corner of the massive Wurlitzer plant still standing in North Tonawanda today.
<p><strong>The de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</strong></p>
In 1903, the Barrel Organ Factory incorporates as the de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company, with investment from banker James Thompson and some new top brass. Wurlitzer's interest in the North Tonawanda plant increases as Eugene de Kleist's seems to wane (<a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">see de Kleist's bio</a> for more on this). In 1905 a group of workers leaves to form the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>; within a year another wave of defectors forms the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/10">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works</a>. <br /><br />1908 begins auspiciously: in January, de Kleist (now mayor of North Tonawanda) lavishly fetes 700 employees and their families in the new music department building. His superintendent, Paul Von Rohl, delivers a speech in his honor, and they dance and carouse until morning light begins filtering over Sawyer's Creek.<br /><br />The following months will not be as good. de Kleist files a $50,000 infringement lawsuit against the aforementioned Instrument Works, but loses. In March, he leaves the aforementioned Paul Von Rohl in charge of the factory while he is off racing powerboats in Florida. de Kleist returns to suspect there has been rampant theft in his absence, and brings charges of grand larceny against Von Rohl, which are dropped, replaced by petit larceny charges, and then found unproved by a jury. In April, Mayor de Kleist accuses eight employees of stealing valuable machinery and plans from his factory, and of conspiring to start another rival factory. The summer brings more powerboating and politicking.<br /><br />Perhaps fearing for the security of their investment, Wurlitzer buys Eugene de Kleist out. <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/52">The Rudolph Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company</a> is organized in December of 1908 with $1,000,000 capital.
Photo
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Dublin Core
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Title
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North Tonwanda Barrel Organ Factory employees, photo (c.1895).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1895
Source
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From Historical Society of the Tonawandas
employees
factory
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/7adf9512f422c39abe2356a51a747086.jpg
ebbb1f34341ae45c59a41a9f2ed7251d
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Title
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Gratwick School
Description
An account of the resource
Opens in 1894, two years after Pine Woods school, and five years after the second public school, Ironton (According to a 1979 News article).
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Gratwick School before additions, photo c. 1895 (Marjorie Crosby thesis, 1949).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1895
gratwick
school
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/fb58e13e4fcbcff2ad3b144f2cb2d203.jpeg
4e068af8c50571c24d2f8bb22565bc92
https://nthistory.com/files/original/28a369b2f7f0863745f6998e96ca2e6d.jpeg
3440f666859ceacec594375ad42b95f2
Dublin Core
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Title
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Trolleys and Trains
Description
An account of the resource
Before everybody in North Tonawanda could afford their very own muffler-less Honda Civic to run up and down Oliver Street, trolleys and trains were an important means of personal transportation. Several lines ran throughout the city, moving people to and from their jobs, churches, or just out for a look around.
Though they may seem romantic to us now, people griped about the trolleys the same way we complain about snow plows today. Apparently their slow speed was sometimes targeted: An item in this set describes a "well-known peddler" in the Gratwick area who is injured by a trolley car. The author drolly observes, "'Twould have been a real miracle if a Gratwick car could have got up enough speed to have killed him" (Tonawanda News, 1908-2-13).
The trolley era did not last long. By the 1920s, the electric streetcar had been passed by the gasoline-powered bus as the most prevalent means of public transportation. Another article in this set from the Tonawanda News, "Carpenter now operates 14 busses in the Tonawandas," outlines the rise of the Carpenter Rapid Transit buses.
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Title
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North Tonawanda Street Railroad trolley car outside Hotel Sheldon, photo (c1896).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1896
goundry
hotel
person
trolley
village
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/c0b2a5cb5226dacd4607a5ddd7f0f3e6.jpg
58d0d65f6253cb7d6f2513489c003e72
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Title
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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. In 1918 this 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.
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Trolley-Traction Canal Boat, Niagara Street, photo (1896).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1896
boat
canal
electricity
trolley
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/a22cad14c0233788cca34009794e528c.jpeg
e0a06cff931a2c54df849f37db3c5a8a
Dublin Core
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Title
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Tonawanda Iron and Steel
Description
An account of the resource
You wouldn't know it from the site today, but the massive plant of the Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company once occupied all the land along the Niagara River from Wheatfield Street to present-day Fisherman's Park. <br /><br />Iron is first produced on this site in 1872 by the Niagara Furnace Company. After about a year, production stops. In 1889, Tonawanda Iron & Steel buys and modernizes the plant. President McKinley fires up its mighty Furnace B with great ceremony and the flip of a switch from his home in Ohio in 1895. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />By 2017, the site has been cleared and converted into a small medical park and Fisherman's Park.
Source
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"Tonawanda Iron Corp., Is One of Largest Manufacturers of Pig Iron." Tonawanda News, 1929 (in this collection).
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Tonawanda Iron & Steel, photo (1896, HST).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1896
factory
ironton
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/94cc7558003a1019a896be1c801b5824.jpeg
533c4835f60c63935f0b73d841e23bfe
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Tonawanda Power Company (435 Robinson)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/37.jpg" alt="National Grid transformer station in 2023. Photo by Dennis Reed Jr." /> <span class="cover-caption">National Grid transformer station in 2023. Photo by Dennis Reed Jr.</span><strong>First located on Tonawanda Island</strong><br /><br />Around 1889, what would be come the Tonawanda Power Company (Tonawanda & Wheatfield Electric Light company) supplied electricity to NT from a small steam unit on Tonawanda Island, fed by wood shavings from the Doebler Planing Mill. Their office was at the northeast corner of Main and Goundry in an old frame building. Arc lights on a few streets were run. A few "daring" homes and businesses ran its power.<br /><br /><strong>Electrifying Buffalo-Niagara</strong><br /><br />In late 1895, The Niagara Falls Power Company builds a long-distance power line (mostly along the Old Mile Reserve) from Niagara Falls to Buffalo, the first of its kind in the world. It is operational by November 1896.<br /><br />The long distance line uses Nikolai Tesla's breakthrough alternating current (AC) transmitted at high voltages, which could travel with minimal loss. A ‘transformer house’ like the one established on Robinson street would step down (transform) some of the high voltage lines to more manageable and safer levels for local distribution. Other lines passing through this North Tonawanda substation continued at high voltage to Buffalo and Lockport, to be stepped down at other transformer houses before being used locally. Much of the line followed a right of way established by the old New York State Mile Reserve, a mile east of the Niagara River.<br /><br /><strong>Former switching tower<br /><br /></strong>Where the new park is now, on the Twin City Highway side, was once a two-story “switching tower” connected to the transformer house. Added around 1902, this tower was actually owned by the Niagara Falls Power company. It helped engineers manage and troubleshoot defects in the multiplying lines. Most of the high voltage lines carrying electricity from the massive turbines at Niagara Falls ran into this tower. <br /><br /><strong>Halloween disaster</strong><br /><br />In 1920, a horrific explosion kills 13 men early Halloween morning. An NT fire chief <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Safety_Maintenance_Production/Njw6AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Superintendent+Albert+S.+Allen+tonawanda&pg=PA221&printsec=frontcover">alleges the work was rushed</a> in <em>Safety News and Comment</em>. The January 1921 <em>Safety Bulletin</em> <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Safety_Bulletin/XwkUAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=tonawanda+power+substation+tower&pg=RA24-PA2&printsec=frontcover">provides more context and details</a> (a storm and wind outside) and a photo of the ruined second floor of the switching tower. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/State_of_New_York_Supreme_Court_Appellat/-NBRpQpR-lwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=tonawanda+power+substation+tower&pg=RA3-PA17&printsec=frontcover">Rose Derby's suit</a>. Superintendent Frank S. Wahl's (and others!) testimony in <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/New_York_Court_of_Appeals_Records_and_Br/wU3z2XtqKz8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=tonawanda+power+substation+tower&pg=PA178&printsec=frontcover">Yates's survivor's suit provides</a> more tower details, tower role, and what he saw on the scene (where the dead were found).<br /><br />In 1925 they become "associated with" Buffalo General Electric, Niagara Falls Power Co. and others. <br /><br />In 1929, they open a new headquarters on Sweeney and Webster, today Buffalo Suzuki Strings.<br /><br />The Robinson street transformer house and environs is now owned and operated by National Grid.
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Robinson Street transformer house, photo (c 1896-06).jpeg
Date
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1896-06
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/1ef75687f5e5c8520ad5987b5aace556.jpg
caf183fda2574c87ebaaeaf235a7d820
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Title
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NT Football Hall of Fame
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1897 NT Football Team photo, North Tonawanda Football Hall of Fame (2017).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1897
football
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/dca47e1e9a6317549bf07845b1b76032.jpg
8d04dd51e54725c6a6b99606fd733af2
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NT Football Hall of Fame
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The Beginning of the NT Tradition, display at North Tonawanda Football Hall of Fame (2017).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1897
football
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/e122676858da8fde0d719528a7b907ca.jpg
b9e7b380f21d2b40b571e5a4b30dd993
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Title
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Tonawanda Iron and Steel
Description
An account of the resource
You wouldn't know it from the site today, but the massive plant of the Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company once occupied all the land along the Niagara River from Wheatfield Street to present-day Fisherman's Park. <br /><br />Iron is first produced on this site in 1872 by the Niagara Furnace Company. After about a year, production stops. In 1889, Tonawanda Iron & Steel buys and modernizes the plant. President McKinley fires up its mighty Furnace B with great ceremony and the flip of a switch from his home in Ohio in 1895. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />By 2017, the site has been cleared and converted into a small medical park and Fisherman's Park.
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"Tonawanda Iron Corp., Is One of Largest Manufacturers of Pig Iron." Tonawanda News, 1929 (in this collection).
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Tonawanda Iron and Steel, views of plant (c1900).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
iron
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/6319f4abc4f2ba2d3ddbc3bb54ef83e9.jpg
063929de9514b5c12679cb5243bfc6b3
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Title
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Tonawanda Iron and Steel
Description
An account of the resource
You wouldn't know it from the site today, but the massive plant of the Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company once occupied all the land along the Niagara River from Wheatfield Street to present-day Fisherman's Park. <br /><br />Iron is first produced on this site in 1872 by the Niagara Furnace Company. After about a year, production stops. In 1889, Tonawanda Iron & Steel buys and modernizes the plant. President McKinley fires up its mighty Furnace B with great ceremony and the flip of a switch from his home in Ohio in 1895. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />By 2017, the site has been cleared and converted into a small medical park and Fisherman's Park.
Source
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"Tonawanda Iron Corp., Is One of Largest Manufacturers of Pig Iron." Tonawanda News, 1929 (in this collection).
Photo
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Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company locomotive, photo (1900s?).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
iron
railroad
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/6fd3ce0ec1412841b70ef3bb0c5609b2.jpg
cf5f4e54e3d2b81b8c45482fbaee4935
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Title
A name given to the resource
Tonawanda Iron and Steel
Description
An account of the resource
You wouldn't know it from the site today, but the massive plant of the Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company once occupied all the land along the Niagara River from Wheatfield Street to present-day Fisherman's Park. <br /><br />Iron is first produced on this site in 1872 by the Niagara Furnace Company. After about a year, production stops. In 1889, Tonawanda Iron & Steel buys and modernizes the plant. President McKinley fires up its mighty Furnace B with great ceremony and the flip of a switch from his home in Ohio in 1895. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />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
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Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company locomotive, photo detail (1900s?).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
iron
railroad
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/198bed39c6d29cb382818f44e237e7d9.jpg
93d322dcd9c2de11185d885f04cf3805
https://nthistory.com/files/original/d3629353c395b8bae941fd089737f4a2.jpg
b3c7de89f6d8a5aecd49b8632e573b5e
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Title
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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" /><span class="cover-caption">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>.</span> 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />As the forests of the midwest were depleted and shipping routes and technology changed, the lumber heyday of the Tonawandas receded into the past.
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Along the Lumber Docks, photo (Buffalo Morning Express, c1900).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
boat
lumber
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/1a271c87efa9cf1f49ab9d54ecdf6f9c.jpg
11d13ec658e47b4256e16d47daf7c548
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North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory (1893-1903)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/24d.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory, 1893 (colorized by webmaster)" /><span class="cover-caption">Nucleus of Wurlitzer: The North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory in 1893. It still stands in 2023.</span>
<p class="intro">The first of its kind in America, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory makes automatic musical instruments to provide music for Allan Herschell's world-famous carousels. Led by the fiery Prussian gentleman-genius Eugene de Kleist, the firm survives an early national Depression to succeed beyond its wildest expectations with the help of a musical family from Ohio named the "Wurlitzers."</p>
<div class="img-caption-container"><img src="http://nthistory.com/files/square_thumbnails/cc9e0bcd6b738bbe4ed82bac5ef50e91.jpg" alt="Image description" />
<div class="caption">De Kleist band organ, c.1900.</div>
</div>
<b>Portable music of another era<br /><br /></b>Before the phonograph and radio, the next best thing to a live orchestra or marching band is a "band organ" or "orchestrion." Essentially giant music boxes with drums, pipe organs, brass horns and more, these devices are popular in Europe for centuries before being produced in the New World in 1893 with the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory. <br /><br />The factory is built in the spring of 1893 by local merry-go-round makers the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/73">Armitage-Herschell Company</a> in the Sawyer's Creek / Martinsville area in the northeast of the recently incorporated City of North Tonawanda. To oversee operations, Armitage-Herschell recruits a German organ maker from London with whom they have been acquainted: the talented <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">Eugene de Kleist</a>. With a small crew of workers culled from England and the surrounding Martinsville farms, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory also makes organs for churches, offers repairs on existing organs, and makes the pinned barrels that contain the music the organs play. After about a year, Armitage-Herschell sign ownership of the enterprise over to their capable superintendent.<br /><br /><strong>Meet the Wurlitzers</strong><br /><br />Business is middling until 1897, when de Kleist meets a decades-old musical retail concern from Cincinnati that will prove a valuable partner: the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company. The story goes that de Kleist was looking to interest the U. S. Army in buying his bugles, which were made as part of many of his band organs. de Kleist is told that the Wurlitzer company already has that business, so he approaches Wurlitzer, and is able to sell them some of his bugles. He also tries to interest Wurlitzer in his band organs, but they ask if he coud instead produce a coin-operated piano for use in taverns and restaurants. After over a year in development, the first "Tonophones" are ready in 1898, and are an immediate success. (Hear <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/1023">Farny Wurlitzer</a> tell this story himself <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5dXbpPM7T0&t=5m29s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in this remarkable speech from 1964</a>).<br /><br />Similiar instruments, such as the Pianino, follow, and the small factory begins to grow, and over the next few years establishes the northwest corner of the massive Wurlitzer plant still standing in North Tonawanda today.
<p><strong>The de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</strong></p>
In 1903, the Barrel Organ Factory incorporates as the de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company, with investment from banker James Thompson and some new top brass. Wurlitzer's interest in the North Tonawanda plant increases as Eugene de Kleist's seems to wane (<a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">see de Kleist's bio</a> for more on this). In 1905 a group of workers leaves to form the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>; within a year another wave of defectors forms the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/10">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works</a>. <br /><br />1908 begins auspiciously: in January, de Kleist (now mayor of North Tonawanda) lavishly fetes 700 employees and their families in the new music department building. His superintendent, Paul Von Rohl, delivers a speech in his honor, and they dance and carouse until morning light begins filtering over Sawyer's Creek.<br /><br />The following months will not be as good. de Kleist files a $50,000 infringement lawsuit against the aforementioned Instrument Works, but loses. In March, he leaves the aforementioned Paul Von Rohl in charge of the factory while he is off racing powerboats in Florida. de Kleist returns to suspect there has been rampant theft in his absence, and brings charges of grand larceny against Von Rohl, which are dropped, replaced by petit larceny charges, and then found unproved by a jury. In April, Mayor de Kleist accuses eight employees of stealing valuable machinery and plans from his factory, and of conspiring to start another rival factory. The summer brings more powerboating and politicking.<br /><br />Perhaps fearing for the security of their investment, Wurlitzer buys Eugene de Kleist out. <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/52">The Rudolph Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company</a> is organized in December of 1908 with $1,000,000 capital.
Photo
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Barrel Organ Factory arranger, photo (c1900).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
Source
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<a href="http://www.timtrager.com">timtrager.com</a>
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/8f7b69166bee6b0e77d328f0b3396f8a.jpg
9d742a3cf787b96e2c15c88dad91b4e5
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North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory (1893-1903)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/24d.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory, 1893 (colorized by webmaster)" /><span class="cover-caption">Nucleus of Wurlitzer: The North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory in 1893. It still stands in 2023.</span>
<p class="intro">The first of its kind in America, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory makes automatic musical instruments to provide music for Allan Herschell's world-famous carousels. Led by the fiery Prussian gentleman-genius Eugene de Kleist, the firm survives an early national Depression to succeed beyond its wildest expectations with the help of a musical family from Ohio named the "Wurlitzers."</p>
<div class="img-caption-container"><img src="http://nthistory.com/files/square_thumbnails/cc9e0bcd6b738bbe4ed82bac5ef50e91.jpg" alt="Image description" />
<div class="caption">De Kleist band organ, c.1900.</div>
</div>
<b>Portable music of another era<br /><br /></b>Before the phonograph and radio, the next best thing to a live orchestra or marching band is a "band organ" or "orchestrion." Essentially giant music boxes with drums, pipe organs, brass horns and more, these devices are popular in Europe for centuries before being produced in the New World in 1893 with the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory. <br /><br />The factory is built in the spring of 1893 by local merry-go-round makers the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/73">Armitage-Herschell Company</a> in the Sawyer's Creek / Martinsville area in the northeast of the recently incorporated City of North Tonawanda. To oversee operations, Armitage-Herschell recruits a German organ maker from London with whom they have been acquainted: the talented <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">Eugene de Kleist</a>. With a small crew of workers culled from England and the surrounding Martinsville farms, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory also makes organs for churches, offers repairs on existing organs, and makes the pinned barrels that contain the music the organs play. After about a year, Armitage-Herschell sign ownership of the enterprise over to their capable superintendent.<br /><br /><strong>Meet the Wurlitzers</strong><br /><br />Business is middling until 1897, when de Kleist meets a decades-old musical retail concern from Cincinnati that will prove a valuable partner: the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company. The story goes that de Kleist was looking to interest the U. S. Army in buying his bugles, which were made as part of many of his band organs. de Kleist is told that the Wurlitzer company already has that business, so he approaches Wurlitzer, and is able to sell them some of his bugles. He also tries to interest Wurlitzer in his band organs, but they ask if he coud instead produce a coin-operated piano for use in taverns and restaurants. After over a year in development, the first "Tonophones" are ready in 1898, and are an immediate success. (Hear <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/1023">Farny Wurlitzer</a> tell this story himself <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5dXbpPM7T0&t=5m29s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in this remarkable speech from 1964</a>).<br /><br />Similiar instruments, such as the Pianino, follow, and the small factory begins to grow, and over the next few years establishes the northwest corner of the massive Wurlitzer plant still standing in North Tonawanda today.
<p><strong>The de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</strong></p>
In 1903, the Barrel Organ Factory incorporates as the de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company, with investment from banker James Thompson and some new top brass. Wurlitzer's interest in the North Tonawanda plant increases as Eugene de Kleist's seems to wane (<a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">see de Kleist's bio</a> for more on this). In 1905 a group of workers leaves to form the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>; within a year another wave of defectors forms the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/10">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works</a>. <br /><br />1908 begins auspiciously: in January, de Kleist (now mayor of North Tonawanda) lavishly fetes 700 employees and their families in the new music department building. His superintendent, Paul Von Rohl, delivers a speech in his honor, and they dance and carouse until morning light begins filtering over Sawyer's Creek.<br /><br />The following months will not be as good. de Kleist files a $50,000 infringement lawsuit against the aforementioned Instrument Works, but loses. In March, he leaves the aforementioned Paul Von Rohl in charge of the factory while he is off racing powerboats in Florida. de Kleist returns to suspect there has been rampant theft in his absence, and brings charges of grand larceny against Von Rohl, which are dropped, replaced by petit larceny charges, and then found unproved by a jury. In April, Mayor de Kleist accuses eight employees of stealing valuable machinery and plans from his factory, and of conspiring to start another rival factory. The summer brings more powerboating and politicking.<br /><br />Perhaps fearing for the security of their investment, Wurlitzer buys Eugene de Kleist out. <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/52">The Rudolph Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company</a> is organized in December of 1908 with $1,000,000 capital.
Photo
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Dublin Core
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Title
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Barrel Organ Factory barrel-pinning, photo (c1900).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="http://www.timtrager.com">timtrager.com</a>
labor
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/34d0a701829bd6845ac7b1013eb5439b.jpg
0ff17625bac7d5c682ae16fc5c4c0780
Dublin Core
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Title
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North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/10.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works, colorized by the webmaster." /> <span class="cover-caption">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works factory at 435 Payne Avenue, c1913; photo colorized by the webmaster.</span>
<div>(1906-1919) The North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works produces military band organs, player pianos, organs for (still silent) "moving picture" theaters and more. The factory is the third automatic musical instrument manufacturer in the city, starting about a year after the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>. Like Niagara, NTMIW is partially comprised of men who have worked with <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist's Musical Instrument Works</a> (president John Birnie had been secretary-treasurer for de Kleist). <br /><br />According to an article in this set, NTMIW originally operates out of "the Williams plant on the Ellicott Creek." They incorporate in 1906, and in the second half of 1907 build a substantial four-story factory. In 1911 that factory is tripled (articles suggest the work is not completed until early 1912). Although larger than Niagara, NTMIW will always be a distant second behind de Kleist and Wurlitzer. In 1918, NTMIW is acquired by the Rand Visible Records Company. Rand continues the musical manufacturing business, and the former NTMIW leadership at first sticks around. Rand's press officers kick into high gear, founding a monthly internal company magazine, <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1192"><em>All of Us</em></a>, apparently aimed at easing the culture change. In spite of this gesture, NTMIW founding officer Stillman C. Woodruff and others leave Rand--and the bones of their former company--around 1920 to try their hand at the band organ game one last time with their <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/22">Artizan Factories Inc.</a> venture in 1922.</div>
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A. B. Williams Planing Mill, original NTMIW site, photo (HST c1900).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
factory
horse
lumber
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/dd4d308e2302415ce32863de69c3a613.jpg
ddadab021fb5f2f8baa26822baca5ebc
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First Baptist Church
Description
An account of the resource
The First Baptist Church of North Tonawanda is built in 1888 at 190 Vandervoort Street. On May 30, 1965 the congregation commences worship at their expansive new 530 Meadow Drive location. The Vandervoort building is now operated as the "Chapel Vandervoort," a wedding and event facility.<br /><br />The founding of the First Baptist Church, and its activities before 1888, are described in <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/fbc-100th-1.html">its 1985 newsletter</a>:
<blockquote>Early in 1885, while supplying the pulpit at the First Presbyterian Church in Tonawanda, Martin W. Twing, then a seminary student at Rochester, became concerned about those with Baptist Convictions who were attending other churches. At that time the Tonawandas were fast becoming the largest lumber center in the country, and many families were moving into the area. Mr. Twing began visiting those who were known to be Baptists. <br /><br />As a Result of the prelimanary work done by Mr. Twing, two baptist pastors from Buffalo, Dr. John Gordon of Washington Street Baptist Church and Rev George Whitman of Cedar Street Baptist Church, came to the Tonawandas in April to further survey the area.The afternoon was spent in calling, and that evening a prayer meeting was held in the home of Mr. Peter Hittel. A decision was made to begin meetings, and Good Templar's Hall on the third floor over the State Bank and Cramer's Hardware on Webster Street [was selected as the site]. Mr. McCutcheon, a seminary student from Rochester, preached the first sermon, followed on subsequent Sundays by Mr. Munger and Mr. James Grant, also from Rochester. <br /><br />Enough interest was shown to rent the hall and continue services for the summer with Mr. James Grant acting as minister until seminary resumed in the fall. Mr. Grant was zealous in his ministry, and attendance grew from twenty-five to seventy-five on some sundays. After much prayer, this small company of believers determined it was God's will that an English-speaking Baptist church be established in North Tonawanda. <br /><br />Thus, on September 6, 1885, a meeting was called for the purpose of organizing First Baptist Church. There were eighteen Charter members. The Articles of Faith and Church Covenant, as used by the Cranston Street Baptist Church of Providence, Rhode Island, were adopted.On December 1, 1885, delegated from several Baptist churches gathered to examine and recognized the new assembly as a regular Baptist Church. Appropriately, Martin W. Twing was called as the first pastor of First Baptist Church.In summary, a very evident need for a gospel testimony in the community, the burden of one man who inspired others, an area survey, and much prayer all played a vital part in the birth of First Baptist Church one hundred twenty years ago.</blockquote>
Source
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http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/firstbaptist.html
http://www.chapelvandervoort.net
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First Baptist Church, photo (c1900).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/76776d19fd567549144dc7f7007f4237.jpg
fbddd542f02a8422160a4daa658cb385
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Title
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Perew's Electric Man and Other Inventions
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/106.jpg" alt="The Electric Man appears to draw a car" /><span class="cover-caption">Perew's most famous invention, a patented, giant automaton known variously as the "Electric Man," "Peter the Great," "Christopher," and the "Frankenstein of Tonawanda," appeared to draw a car but was actually pushed by it. Photo: Granger Collection, c1900.</span> Louis Philip Perew (1862-1946) came to the Tonawandas at 17 in 1879 from Quebec. He came with his brothers and his father, a lake boat captain who settled on <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/26">Goose Island</a>. <br /><br />He was a boat captain like his father, but was best known as an inventor. In addition to his Electric Man (which underwent many changes over the years as he refined the technology and sought a market), Perew is credited with developing anti-torpedo technology, a <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/867">canal electric trolley system</a>, a cigar lighter, and a <a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US499800?oq=499800">new merry-go-round system</a>. His inventions met with varying degrees of sucess.<br /><br />He was associated with local merry-go-round makers <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/100">Gillie, Goddard and Company</a>. He and Goddard were implicated in one of the most horrific events in the Tonawandas history: the double murder by a mob of a canal boat captain and his son over a labor dispute in October of 1895. Neither was ultimately convicted.<br /><br />In 1909 he is proprietor of the White Star Hotel. Perew was an avid boat racer and builder, and owned a gasoline cruiser and a yacht in 1910s. In 1916, after the Webster Street bridge was destroyed by ice, he was hired to construct a temporary pontoon bridge while the bascule bridge was being built. In 1925 he has a store at 152 North Niagara Street in Tonawanda. He is said to have had a "private zoo" with a "Russian wolf."<br /><br />Perew also owned several "disorderly houses" on <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/26">Goose Island</a> (he claims in the Cappola trial he bought them from a bank and had no idea they were disorderly). He runs afoul of the law quite often during Prohibition, and is involved in a very public bribery case against local police. Goose Island's bordellos and taverns would finally be closed down in the late 1930s. Perew lives all the way until 1946 at the White Star Hotel. The hotel's entertainments include square dancing nights and "Spanish dancing" girls. The address of the White Star Hotel? 46 Sweeney Street in North Tonawanda: the site of the present-day Alexander's Gentleman's Lounge.
Source
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<ul>
<li><a href="https://archive.org/details/TheStrandMagazineAnIllustratedMonthly/page/n6">An Electric Man, Strand Magazine (1900) - archive.org</a></li>
<li><a href="http://cyberneticzoo.com/walking-machines/1894-1914-electric-man-perew-american/">1894-1914 – Electric Man – Perew - cyberneticzoo.com</a></li>
<li><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=NXOdDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PT67&ots=h__RbBghkS&dq=%22United%20States%20Automaton%20Company%22&pg=PT66#v=onepage&q=%22United%20States%20Automaton%20Company%22&f=false"><em>Robots in American Popular Culture</em> (pp 60-62).</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.buffalohistorygazette.net/2010/09/the-man-of-tonawanda.html">The Automatic Man of Tonawanda! Buffalo History Gazette</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_Louis_(Phil)_Perew">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_Louis_(Phil)_Perew</a></li>
</ul>
Photo
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Title
A name given to the resource
Walking Automaton, photo (Granger Collection, c1900).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/4574e8e6b8d003ff62422993b404f91f.jpg
a123ba7be8460f6bb9769b01dad65743
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Title
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Scenic Family Theatre (40 Webster)
Description
An account of the resource
In a 1913 map, the theater is shown in the north half of the Fowler Block, at the southwest corner of Webster and Tremont, or 40 Webster: though a later article suggests the theater occupied 38 or perhaps even further south.
Photo
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Title
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Remember the Scenic Theatre, photo from 1900 (Tonawanda News, 1968-10-26).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
theater
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/c33fa11abff4ba7c83aac3594957485a.jpg
27084c7276c59a5e779a2aa2f9b0cdb0
Photo
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Horse-drawn hearse, Wattengel Funeral Home, photo (Shared by Joe Mantione).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/163c4e923c80e465a338de4a7c72651c.jpg
73cc47895c827a081b65c2eee7e2a9ba
https://nthistory.com/files/original/90ff91f6843122a3d592fe8c818a0749.jpg
3f06960261808c9493959838fac40420
https://nthistory.com/files/original/8244500fb8800ff2bb5e59733d2e6415.jpg
2671c59b265a5d65709fb6144f2cd419
Photo
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Title
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Twin City Band of Tonawanda, photo (c1900).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
FRONT ROW: John Simson, * Miller, Emil Wein (instructor), Alfred Luther?, Carl Kepple; SECOND ROW: Gus Conrad, Henry Tussing, John W. Tussing (trumpet), Henry Cliesterhaut?, **, **, * Harmin, * Luther; BACK ROW: -- Bernhardt, Fred Loindusky?, Ed. Tussing, John Tussin, Henry Hacker
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/7948713b5dbc7f67c117e614a9f3a3f6.jpg
80af5cb8e1453eb10e50dd4ec1ff9858
Photo
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Dublin Core
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Title
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Tussing family home, Simpson St., Tonawanda (c1900).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/a083c26643048bfca2941d26ca205e31.jpg
39579d844e38146f77147dbfbf0d30af
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Title
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Firefighters
Description
An account of the resource
Rough chronology at <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/firefighting.html">NT History Museum</a>, including notes about many defunct companies. A provocative (if unlikely-sounding) morsel about Hydrant Hose Co. No. 3 (1886-1909), formerly based on Sweeney near Delaware bridge:
<blockquote>The fighting crew of the old Hydrant Hose Company liked to fight fires so much, they would first fight the men of any other fire company who raced to a North Tonawanda fire to see who got the pleasure of conquering the flames. Often the flames ended up as the victor as the firefighters spent their energies in a brawl rather than on the element of nature.</blockquote>
From Sarah E. Walter's thesis as it appears on <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/thesis.html#thesis">nthistorymuseum.org</a>:
<blockquote>The North Tonawanda Fire Dept is known as one of the best paid and volunteer departments in the nation. The greatest enemy the lumbermen had was fire. Annually it destroyed millions of dollars of lumber and cost many lives. A step forward came on May 7, 1876, when twenty of the most prominent residents of the Village of North Tonawanda gathered together in the school house at the corner of Main and Tremont Streets and formed themselves into a Company for the protection of property against the ravages of fire. The newly formed Company petitioned the Village Board and in special session on May 15, 1876, the board approved and appointed them firemen of the Village and their company was called the North Tonawanda Bucket Company, later to be called the Columbia Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.
<p>North Tonawanda depended heavily on Volunteer Firemen and quickly grew to seven companies located at important places around the city.</p>
</blockquote>
<table border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" align="center">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>Date Started </strong></td>
<td><strong>Name </strong></td>
<td><strong>By Whom </strong></td>
<td> <strong>Notes</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>May 7, 1876</td>
<td>North Tonawanda Bucket Company / Columbia Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.</td>
<td> </td>
<td> (See below)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>March 1, 1886</td>
<td>Active Hose Company No.2</td>
<td> </td>
<td>"Ironton Boys"</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1886*</td>
<td>Gratwick Hose Company No. 6</td>
<td>Village Council</td>
<td><a href="https://yellow.place/en/gratwick-hose-fire-company-6-north-tonawanda-usa">1890?</a> On Felton until 1962.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>April 1887</td>
<td>Live Active Hose Co. No. 4</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>January 26, 1891</td>
<td>Rescue Fire Company No. 5</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>February 6, 1891</td>
<td>Gratwick Hose Company No. 1</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1894</td>
<td>Sweeney Hose No. 7</td>
<td>Village Council</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br /><br />From The<em> Tonawanda News, May 9, 1896:</em>
<blockquote>Monday, June 15, has been selected as the date of the Firemen's Annual Parade. It is expected that it will prove of more than ordinary interest as unusual efforts will be put forth this year to make it an enjoyable spectacular affair. <br /><br />In this connection it is interesting to note that Thursday of this week was the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the first fire company In North Tonawanda. Previous to this date North Tonawanda had paid Tonawanda $300 a year for the fire protection that the Tonawanda companies afforded. <br /><br />The parent company of North Tonawanda was the <strong>Columbia Hook and Ladder Company</strong>; it is still in existence, but is now one of eight splendid companies of which North Tonawanda can boast. As before stated it was organized May 7, 1876, and its first president was Frank Fellows. It was organized under a famous old hickory tree which stood on the ground now occupied by the parsonage of the First Methodist Church. Nicholas Beckrich was the first foreman of this company and other members of this crack organization were John E. Oelkers, Frank Batt, H. U. Berger, M. J. Wattengel, W. P. Hayes, Jno. Spillman, Aug. Duckwitz, Fred Schultz, Isaac Gardei, Geo. Miller, John Haas, Julius Miller and others. A number of these early firemen are numbered among the most prominent residents of North Tonawanda but it is with considerable pleasure that they recall the days of their early triumphs.</blockquote>
Photo
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Title
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Live Hose No.4, photo (c.1900).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
firefighter
hd
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/8a4aecea3889e79a08bdd67d6aa93448.jpg
d4805acc69bf5bce313db26e6ea180ca
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Title
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DeGraff Mansion (273 Goundry Street)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" alt="DeGraff Mansion c1950" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/115.jpg" /><span class="cover-caption">DeGraff Mansion c.1970, from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DegraffMansion">DeGraff Mansion Memoirs</a></span> Few residences are as striking--or ancient--in North Tonawanda as the stately Queen Anne red brick that has presided over the southwest corner of Payne Avenue and Goundry Street since about 1883. Built for prominent early residents James H. DeGraff and Mary Simson, the home has hosted everything from Methodist prayer meetings to alleged LSD and celebrity-fueled bacchanals. <br /><br /><strong>The DeGraffs</strong><br /><br />On April 30, 1885, banker, engineer and lumber businessman James H. DeGraff and his family move into their new home (the couple has been married some 26 years). James has served as Town Supervisor for both Tonawanda (1875-1876) and Wheatfield (1881-1882). It is one of the first residences in North Tonawanda to boast the luxuries of running water and a "water closet"--before the city waterworks is even completed. This is accomplished by a special reservoir tank on the third floor, to which well water is piped. <br /><br />Son LeGrand Simson DeGraff carries on his father's lumber trade with A. Weston & Son, as well as his father's compulsive bankering. He lives at 273, and installs an elevator for his elderly wife (the first in the city, according to legend). He remains in the DeGraff family home until the 1950s. He lives his final few years in DeGraff hospital (which he founded for the benefit of the Tonawandas). The irony and harmony of such an ending almost defy description. He dies April 2, 1960.<br /><br />An undated item in this collection purports that a Robert Cleveland obtained the mansion from the estate of the DeGraffs.<br /><br /><strong>The Aurigemas</strong><br /><br />In the 1960s, Norton Jr. (Jay) and Brigitte Aurigema take ownership, run a pizza restaurant out of the home, and host lavish parties for celebrities playing Melody Fair. One notorious soiree (with visiting stars from a touring production of Cabaret) is raided by police in the summer of 1972. LSD and narcotics are recovered, and police say there were 150 people roaming all over the house. Jay and a few others are charged, but the charges are dropped due to technical deficiencies in the search warrant. Many amazing family photographs of some of their heady hijinks are on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DegraffMansion">DeGraff Mansion Memoirs</a> Facebook page.<br /><br /><strong>After the Aurigemas</strong><br /><br />In 1978 the current owners take charge of the historic property and go to extraordinary lengths to restore it. Their son writes on Facebook in 2023:
<blockquote>We had a skylift working on the house an entire summer reworking all the eves. My father used to be on the roof in his harness and scaffolding tuckpointing the chimneys. My mother recreated all the stencils for the interior walls and made new jigs for the plaster crown molding. THEY absolutely LOVED that house and cared for it immensely.</blockquote>
Their son is currently working on a plan to restore the ancient beauty once again, and is winning community support. Learn more at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550795452281">DeGraff Mansion Restoration Page</a>.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<ul>
<li><em>Historic Treasures</em> Volume I - Ed. Donna Zellner Neal (2011)</li>
<li>NT Library Genealogy Club Newsletter, May 2011</li>
</ul>
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
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Title
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DeGraff mansion, photo (DeGraff Mansion Memoir, c1900).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
residence
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/bd2bacf7f5eb31ae2aa15196343544e8.jpg
35f2c98aea61e27fbd92e75494f5f9f6
Dublin Core
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Title
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Trolleys and Trains
Description
An account of the resource
Before everybody in North Tonawanda could afford their very own muffler-less Honda Civic to run up and down Oliver Street, trolleys and trains were an important means of personal transportation. Several lines ran throughout the city, moving people to and from their jobs, churches, or just out for a look around.
Though they may seem romantic to us now, people griped about the trolleys the same way we complain about snow plows today. Apparently their slow speed was sometimes targeted: An item in this set describes a "well-known peddler" in the Gratwick area who is injured by a trolley car. The author drolly observes, "'Twould have been a real miracle if a Gratwick car could have got up enough speed to have killed him" (Tonawanda News, 1908-2-13).
The trolley era did not last long. By the 1920s, the electric streetcar had been passed by the gasoline-powered bus as the most prevalent means of public transportation. Another article in this set from the Tonawanda News, "Carpenter now operates 14 busses in the Tonawandas," outlines the rise of the Carpenter Rapid Transit buses.
Photo
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Erie Railroad (Buffalo Division) Depot at North Tonawanda, photo (c1900).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/9d58bcd81ea506e270236c84c5414e1c.jpg
7a3527bc8e47acd698d38a1a23fc24ae
https://nthistory.com/files/original/dd4e4201ae550b2c82d71ff76542b3e2.jpg
14a364ae37b8fa08fd0e3a0210d11571
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Title
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Perew's Electric Man and Other Inventions
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/106.jpg" alt="The Electric Man appears to draw a car" /><span class="cover-caption">Perew's most famous invention, a patented, giant automaton known variously as the "Electric Man," "Peter the Great," "Christopher," and the "Frankenstein of Tonawanda," appeared to draw a car but was actually pushed by it. Photo: Granger Collection, c1900.</span> Louis Philip Perew (1862-1946) came to the Tonawandas at 17 in 1879 from Quebec. He came with his brothers and his father, a lake boat captain who settled on <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/26">Goose Island</a>. <br /><br />He was a boat captain like his father, but was best known as an inventor. In addition to his Electric Man (which underwent many changes over the years as he refined the technology and sought a market), Perew is credited with developing anti-torpedo technology, a <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/867">canal electric trolley system</a>, a cigar lighter, and a <a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US499800?oq=499800">new merry-go-round system</a>. His inventions met with varying degrees of sucess.<br /><br />He was associated with local merry-go-round makers <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/100">Gillie, Goddard and Company</a>. He and Goddard were implicated in one of the most horrific events in the Tonawandas history: the double murder by a mob of a canal boat captain and his son over a labor dispute in October of 1895. Neither was ultimately convicted.<br /><br />In 1909 he is proprietor of the White Star Hotel. Perew was an avid boat racer and builder, and owned a gasoline cruiser and a yacht in 1910s. In 1916, after the Webster Street bridge was destroyed by ice, he was hired to construct a temporary pontoon bridge while the bascule bridge was being built. In 1925 he has a store at 152 North Niagara Street in Tonawanda. He is said to have had a "private zoo" with a "Russian wolf."<br /><br />Perew also owned several "disorderly houses" on <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/26">Goose Island</a> (he claims in the Cappola trial he bought them from a bank and had no idea they were disorderly). He runs afoul of the law quite often during Prohibition, and is involved in a very public bribery case against local police. Goose Island's bordellos and taverns would finally be closed down in the late 1930s. Perew lives all the way until 1946 at the White Star Hotel. The hotel's entertainments include square dancing nights and "Spanish dancing" girls. The address of the White Star Hotel? 46 Sweeney Street in North Tonawanda: the site of the present-day Alexander's Gentleman's Lounge.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<ul>
<li><a href="https://archive.org/details/TheStrandMagazineAnIllustratedMonthly/page/n6">An Electric Man, Strand Magazine (1900) - archive.org</a></li>
<li><a href="http://cyberneticzoo.com/walking-machines/1894-1914-electric-man-perew-american/">1894-1914 – Electric Man – Perew - cyberneticzoo.com</a></li>
<li><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=NXOdDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PT67&ots=h__RbBghkS&dq=%22United%20States%20Automaton%20Company%22&pg=PT66#v=onepage&q=%22United%20States%20Automaton%20Company%22&f=false"><em>Robots in American Popular Culture</em> (pp 60-62).</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.buffalohistorygazette.net/2010/09/the-man-of-tonawanda.html">The Automatic Man of Tonawanda! Buffalo History Gazette</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_Louis_(Phil)_Perew">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_Louis_(Phil)_Perew</a></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
The Automatic Man, two photos (New York Public Library Photography Collection, c1900).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/a477101232f7fa02b7d6e3c5286a3f00.jpeg
6c8a65723e1e1e05d7b88147e12f1ca7
https://nthistory.com/files/original/b0f6d28c2aace76da3a59245c5e46483.jpeg
537f67e41a008a05bf212f4a5ae25264
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
Photographers and Photographic Portraits
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
Toddler, Arch cabinet card (c1900).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900
cabinet card
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/fb7c9c24d3cc5b30d5244f35c4effe7c.jpeg
cdadd6efb55689c83a1161320d18ab94
https://nthistory.com/files/original/2b666166a92aaf3f82b3e9b6638cb195.jpeg
001347f40fd3b3c85c233d062931177b
https://nthistory.com/files/original/84ecdea2c51e7b95d5b9002d0953db6d.jpg
e4b9d342b1f198617f1bf4b1d5673b7e
https://nthistory.com/files/original/19e033f53a3663c83647693da02cd68a.jpeg
b351eeaede7f052f6106e4d9ccfe5e49
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
Perew's Electric Man and Other Inventions
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/106.jpg" alt="The Electric Man appears to draw a car" /><span class="cover-caption">Perew's most famous invention, a patented, giant automaton known variously as the "Electric Man," "Peter the Great," "Christopher," and the "Frankenstein of Tonawanda," appeared to draw a car but was actually pushed by it. Photo: Granger Collection, c1900.</span> Louis Philip Perew (1862-1946) came to the Tonawandas at 17 in 1879 from Quebec. He came with his brothers and his father, a lake boat captain who settled on <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/26">Goose Island</a>. <br /><br />He was a boat captain like his father, but was best known as an inventor. In addition to his Electric Man (which underwent many changes over the years as he refined the technology and sought a market), Perew is credited with developing anti-torpedo technology, a <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/867">canal electric trolley system</a>, a cigar lighter, and a <a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US499800?oq=499800">new merry-go-round system</a>. His inventions met with varying degrees of sucess.<br /><br />He was associated with local merry-go-round makers <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/100">Gillie, Goddard and Company</a>. He and Goddard were implicated in one of the most horrific events in the Tonawandas history: the double murder by a mob of a canal boat captain and his son over a labor dispute in October of 1895. Neither was ultimately convicted.<br /><br />In 1909 he is proprietor of the White Star Hotel. Perew was an avid boat racer and builder, and owned a gasoline cruiser and a yacht in 1910s. In 1916, after the Webster Street bridge was destroyed by ice, he was hired to construct a temporary pontoon bridge while the bascule bridge was being built. In 1925 he has a store at 152 North Niagara Street in Tonawanda. He is said to have had a "private zoo" with a "Russian wolf."<br /><br />Perew also owned several "disorderly houses" on <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/26">Goose Island</a> (he claims in the Cappola trial he bought them from a bank and had no idea they were disorderly). He runs afoul of the law quite often during Prohibition, and is involved in a very public bribery case against local police. Goose Island's bordellos and taverns would finally be closed down in the late 1930s. Perew lives all the way until 1946 at the White Star Hotel. The hotel's entertainments include square dancing nights and "Spanish dancing" girls. The address of the White Star Hotel? 46 Sweeney Street in North Tonawanda: the site of the present-day Alexander's Gentleman's Lounge.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<ul>
<li><a href="https://archive.org/details/TheStrandMagazineAnIllustratedMonthly/page/n6">An Electric Man, Strand Magazine (1900) - archive.org</a></li>
<li><a href="http://cyberneticzoo.com/walking-machines/1894-1914-electric-man-perew-american/">1894-1914 – Electric Man – Perew - cyberneticzoo.com</a></li>
<li><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=NXOdDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PT67&ots=h__RbBghkS&dq=%22United%20States%20Automaton%20Company%22&pg=PT66#v=onepage&q=%22United%20States%20Automaton%20Company%22&f=false"><em>Robots in American Popular Culture</em> (pp 60-62).</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.buffalohistorygazette.net/2010/09/the-man-of-tonawanda.html">The Automatic Man of Tonawanda! Buffalo History Gazette</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_Louis_(Phil)_Perew">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_Louis_(Phil)_Perew</a></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
An Electric Man, photos from article (Strand Magazine, Vol. 20, 1900-02ish).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1900-02
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/1435cdc2c72d39be1411b5ec173fcb99.jpg
bb901c74529ba93bb34c85a4b2d8a591
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
Perew's Electric Man and Other Inventions
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/106.jpg" alt="The Electric Man appears to draw a car" /><span class="cover-caption">Perew's most famous invention, a patented, giant automaton known variously as the "Electric Man," "Peter the Great," "Christopher," and the "Frankenstein of Tonawanda," appeared to draw a car but was actually pushed by it. Photo: Granger Collection, c1900.</span> Louis Philip Perew (1862-1946) came to the Tonawandas at 17 in 1879 from Quebec. He came with his brothers and his father, a lake boat captain who settled on <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/26">Goose Island</a>. <br /><br />He was a boat captain like his father, but was best known as an inventor. In addition to his Electric Man (which underwent many changes over the years as he refined the technology and sought a market), Perew is credited with developing anti-torpedo technology, a <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/867">canal electric trolley system</a>, a cigar lighter, and a <a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US499800?oq=499800">new merry-go-round system</a>. His inventions met with varying degrees of sucess.<br /><br />He was associated with local merry-go-round makers <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/100">Gillie, Goddard and Company</a>. He and Goddard were implicated in one of the most horrific events in the Tonawandas history: the double murder by a mob of a canal boat captain and his son over a labor dispute in October of 1895. Neither was ultimately convicted.<br /><br />In 1909 he is proprietor of the White Star Hotel. Perew was an avid boat racer and builder, and owned a gasoline cruiser and a yacht in 1910s. In 1916, after the Webster Street bridge was destroyed by ice, he was hired to construct a temporary pontoon bridge while the bascule bridge was being built. In 1925 he has a store at 152 North Niagara Street in Tonawanda. He is said to have had a "private zoo" with a "Russian wolf."<br /><br />Perew also owned several "disorderly houses" on <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/26">Goose Island</a> (he claims in the Cappola trial he bought them from a bank and had no idea they were disorderly). He runs afoul of the law quite often during Prohibition, and is involved in a very public bribery case against local police. Goose Island's bordellos and taverns would finally be closed down in the late 1930s. Perew lives all the way until 1946 at the White Star Hotel. The hotel's entertainments include square dancing nights and "Spanish dancing" girls. The address of the White Star Hotel? 46 Sweeney Street in North Tonawanda: the site of the present-day Alexander's Gentleman's Lounge.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<ul>
<li><a href="https://archive.org/details/TheStrandMagazineAnIllustratedMonthly/page/n6">An Electric Man, Strand Magazine (1900) - archive.org</a></li>
<li><a href="http://cyberneticzoo.com/walking-machines/1894-1914-electric-man-perew-american/">1894-1914 – Electric Man – Perew - cyberneticzoo.com</a></li>
<li><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=NXOdDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PT67&ots=h__RbBghkS&dq=%22United%20States%20Automaton%20Company%22&pg=PT66#v=onepage&q=%22United%20States%20Automaton%20Company%22&f=false"><em>Robots in American Popular Culture</em> (pp 60-62).</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.buffalohistorygazette.net/2010/09/the-man-of-tonawanda.html">The Automatic Man of Tonawanda! Buffalo History Gazette</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_Louis_(Phil)_Perew">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_Louis_(Phil)_Perew</a></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
Steam man, photo (1901).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1901
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ad3fe1d83758b2cd81d32545a06261de.jpg
7c6a0d4eb96f1ddde866dfa169347c17
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
Allan Herschell Companies
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/files/original/0a8137a27b9978ab2f72819b2bd699cf.jpg" alt="" /> <span class="cover-caption">An 1894 Armitage-Herschell advertisement shows a not-at-all-dangerous-to-children-looking steam boiler and pulleys providing motive power to the company's signature device.</span>
<div>On gilded signs posted at its southern and northern entrances, North Tonawanda introduces itself to visitors as "The Home of the Carrousel." The still-ubiquitous fairground staple was not <em>invented</em> in North Tonawanda (some version of it had been around <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dizzy-history-carousels-begins-knights-180964100">since at least the 12th Century</a>), but thousands were produced here and the highest levels of craftsmanship were attained here under the guidance of Scottish-born Allan Herschell.<br /><br /></div>
In 1872 (<em>Landmarks</em> says 1873), the Armitage-Herschell Co. begins as a small brass and iron foundry on Manhattan Street, comprised of Englishman <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/889">James Armitage</a>, and Scottish brothers <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/880">George</a> and <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/877">Allan Herschell</a>. The firm survives devastating fires in 1874 and 1875, and expands to a location off Oliver Street (whence comes the name, "Mechanic Street"), adding engines and boilers to their specialties. Youngest partner Allan sees a carousel while traveling, and recognizes ways it can be improved. By 1887, his "Improved Steam Riding Gallery" captivates the world, and people from India and France demand the modern amusement. The merry-go-round-makers at first import the accompanying band organs from the old European master-builders of Germany and France, but high tariffs decide them to instead import German organ maker <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">Eugene de Kleist</a> from England (de Kleist begins making organs at his <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory</a> in 1893). They organize in 1890.<br /><br />James Armitage and George Herschell die in early 1900. The Armitage-Herschell Company is succeeded by Herschell, Spillman & Company, and the Allan Herschell Company. Allan Herschell dies in 1927. The latter company continues making amusements, including miniature trains, boats and airplanes (some of which can be played upon at the <a href="http://www.carrouselmuseum.org">Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum</a> in North Tonawanda) as late as the 1960s.<br /><br />There is a large Herschell family plot in Sweeney Cemetery.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/607"><em>Landmarks of Niagara County</em> (1897)</a></li>
<li><span class="_Tgc">“<a href="http://carrouselmuseum.org/site/about/allan-herschell">Allen Herschell History</a>.” <em>Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum,</em> 2014.</span></li>
</ul>
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
2nd Annual Outing of Herschell-Spillman, photo (Olver Family of Gratwick and Ward R. Bray, 1902-07-03).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1902-07-03
Description
An account of the resource
<a href="mailto:me@dennisreedjr.com">Email us</a> if you can identify anyone!<br />
<ul>
<li>Ward Olver – back row, fourth from the right</li>
<li>Fred Brandt – 2nd row from top, 6th from right</li>
<li>Wallace Olver – 2nd row from bottom, 2nd person from the right (excluding the band members)</li>
<li>Tussing's band at right</li>
</ul>
factory
group
hd
photo
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ed3c6316c81b3055114dc08294db89b8.jpeg
28b118534babf2c1487f002ab9496035
https://nthistory.com/files/original/e2cc0912363331929b3667447ce7ac23.jpeg
8ac0e8a3908eaf5b122a6123f2b9af01
https://nthistory.com/files/original/adfc8baaab55cdfc4472f7a3ab48eaf0.jpg
affdd669f08e20c6e2dfe08f07241f27
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Tussing's Band of Tonawanda, photo (1902-09-01).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1902-09-01
collection
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/342b702475567debb9de4fe4a1ec4658.jpg
6de17c07e7d98760b9151fa64967d718
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
Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company
Description
An account of the resource
<strong><a href="http://nthistory.com/niagara">PHOTO SEARCH: Learn about the search for a photograph of Niagara! </a></strong><br /><br />(1905-1917) The Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company is formed by former employees of the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/24">North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory</a>. Signatures on the company's incorporation papers include those of William Herschell, the man who arranged for de Kleist’s coming to America to make organs, as well as machinist William Strassburg and Frank Morganti. There are also:
<ul>
<li>Duncan Sinclair</li>
<li>Frederick Schultz</li>
<li>William H. Griffin</li>
<li>Louis Schultz</li>
<li>William D. Trimble</li>
</ul>
Frank Morganti is named president of the new firm. Given the kind of direct competition it represented, it seems unlikely that the parting was amicable. <br /><br />The local newspapers are silent about Niagara’s March 1905 start (it is only a later piece that gives us this origin date). In 1906 Niagara loses some if its leadership, including president Frank Morganti, to the larger and better funded <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/10">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works</a>. Niagara continues on, and completes a second small expansion of it modest plant in August 1910.<br /><br />Niagara produces Niagara Military Band Organs ("The Organ That Is Different," one ad insists) for carousels, dance halls, roller rinks and sideshows; in 1910 the picture house-targeted "En-Symphonie" is being marketed in <em>Billboard</em> and other comtemporary trade publications; the "Midget Orchestra" and similar instruments follow. <br /><br />Business appears to be booming in 1914, as the company pays out a dividend of 10% to its stockholders that January.<br /><br />However, in October 1917, the Foster Specialty Company of Buffalo purchases the "patents, goodwill, stock in trade, and equipment" of Niagara. In spite of reports that Foster intends to "immediately develop the business...on a large scale," the enterprise is never heard from again.<br /><br />Reader Andrew Barrett contributes the names C. E. Phillips and J. F. Preston as probable Niagara sales people in 1909 and probably thru 1910.<br /><br />Some more particulars are on my semi-abandoned website, <a href="http://dennisreedjr.com/organwars/items/show/36">Organ Wars</a>.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
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Walmore Military Band, Fred and William Schultz, photo (Niagara Gazette, 1903-04-30).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1903-04-30
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/fdfdb3d00e79f1f70538ff4036214475.jpg
b41d404eb2c9cc04f5357d556853189d
https://nthistory.com/files/original/7a1efebafc8cb6de290f807368b9cfa3.jpg
a8edab5962c5e6d6b2827857c21e62c4
Dublin Core
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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. In 1918 this 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.
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Title
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Erie Canal, Sweeney Street on left, former Main Street bridge in center, hi-res photo (LOC, c 1905).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Library of Congress
Description
An account of the resource
Facing east along the Erie Canal, with Sweeney Street (at present-day Gateway Park) on the left bank. It would seem we are looking at three different bridges in this photo: The near bridge appears to be the "iron bridge" at the foot of NT's Main street depicted on an 1893 map. The same map shows a "covered bridge" at Oliver (where the "jack-knife" train bridge is today) and another "iron bridge" further east, at Vandervoort (there is no bridge there today).
Also pictured: Fire Engine House (at least on 1893 map) overhanging the canal, just before the first iron bridge; possible Stevens & McIntyre Wagon Shop beyond; "Merry Go Rounds" signage is visible beyond that.
bridge
canal
carriage
horse
towpath
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/5b1e1fbd5e72e4bbfa323767f7be2c56.jpg
309b291b7aacb2ee9e384e621c192b88
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
Trolleys and Trains
Description
An account of the resource
Before everybody in North Tonawanda could afford their very own muffler-less Honda Civic to run up and down Oliver Street, trolleys and trains were an important means of personal transportation. Several lines ran throughout the city, moving people to and from their jobs, churches, or just out for a look around.
Though they may seem romantic to us now, people griped about the trolleys the same way we complain about snow plows today. Apparently their slow speed was sometimes targeted: An item in this set describes a "well-known peddler" in the Gratwick area who is injured by a trolley car. The author drolly observes, "'Twould have been a real miracle if a Gratwick car could have got up enough speed to have killed him" (Tonawanda News, 1908-2-13).
The trolley era did not last long. By the 1920s, the electric streetcar had been passed by the gasoline-powered bus as the most prevalent means of public transportation. Another article in this set from the Tonawanda News, "Carpenter now operates 14 busses in the Tonawandas," outlines the rise of the Carpenter Rapid Transit buses.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Martinsville Station, photo (c.1905).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905
bridge
martinsville
station
train
trolley
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/3fa3f11566773752bd512d4f3645a47d.jpg
63383d229a2a023fd7bbc6b8ef0f6643
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Prominent Tonawandas residences, photos (The Tonawandas of To-Day, c1905).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905
Description
An account of the resource
Showing the homes of Eugene de Kleist, Guy White, A.C. Tuxbury, W. G. Palmer, J. S. Thompson, H. J. Knapp, Frederick Robertson, A Cluster, S. C. Peuchen, R. T. Jones, L. A. Kelsey, W. B. Kerr.
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/5b8eb7ce7635c606f5c1798b72140120.jpg
49fa7ac7ba6d0c302b692590d76c7ef9
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Gratwick Family: Cumming Photo Collection (c. 1905)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" alt="Boathouse Gang" src="http://nthistory.com/custom/cover/139.jpg" /> <span class="cover-caption">The "Boat House Gang," probably photographed at the Gratwick slip. Colorized by Dennis Reed Jr.</span> In 2018, I was asked by a local woman and family friend if I could help her scan some c. 1905 glass negatives she inherited from her grandfather Albert Cumming, an amateur photographer. The amazing and intimate images we found on the long-unseen negatives mostly depict life in the Gratwick section of North Tonawanda, centered around the family home at 130 Fredericka Street. The photos feature New Year's Eve dinners, friends playing croquet, neighborhood kids asked to hold still for the six seconds most exposures took, and Albert posing with his gun and dog.
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 Gang - Bert + Treassa? in solid? suit standing up -_72A6377_.jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/833349f3148aca55a9024937277b2514.jpg
65e658dacec37df3b6dcfd538a008efe
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 Family: Cumming Photo Collection (c. 1905)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" alt="Boathouse Gang" src="http://nthistory.com/custom/cover/139.jpg" /> <span class="cover-caption">The "Boat House Gang," probably photographed at the Gratwick slip. Colorized by Dennis Reed Jr.</span> In 2018, I was asked by a local woman and family friend if I could help her scan some c. 1905 glass negatives she inherited from her grandfather Albert Cumming, an amateur photographer. The amazing and intimate images we found on the long-unseen negatives mostly depict life in the Gratwick section of North Tonawanda, centered around the family home at 130 Fredericka Street. The photos feature New Year's Eve dinners, friends playing croquet, neighborhood kids asked to hold still for the six seconds most exposures took, and Albert posing with his gun and dog.
Photo
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Title
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Boat house gang, Ora draped -_72A6373_.jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/a99fd3d42be44ce3bca6114cfeb49ba1.jpg
fe06848100eb04eba2231dcc0efba21c
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Title
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Gratwick Family: Cumming Photo Collection (c. 1905)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" alt="Boathouse Gang" src="http://nthistory.com/custom/cover/139.jpg" /> <span class="cover-caption">The "Boat House Gang," probably photographed at the Gratwick slip. Colorized by Dennis Reed Jr.</span> In 2018, I was asked by a local woman and family friend if I could help her scan some c. 1905 glass negatives she inherited from her grandfather Albert Cumming, an amateur photographer. The amazing and intimate images we found on the long-unseen negatives mostly depict life in the Gratwick section of North Tonawanda, centered around the family home at 130 Fredericka Street. The photos feature New Year's Eve dinners, friends playing croquet, neighborhood kids asked to hold still for the six seconds most exposures took, and Albert posing with his gun and dog.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
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Title
A name given to the resource
croquet grounds, July -_72A6393_.jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905
gratwick
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/b29f5e3db67010dbfc648755f0a26508.jpg
0176798b9612fd3e3c73f08b454f33b5
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Title
A name given to the resource
Gratwick Family: Cumming Photo Collection (c. 1905)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" alt="Boathouse Gang" src="http://nthistory.com/custom/cover/139.jpg" /> <span class="cover-caption">The "Boat House Gang," probably photographed at the Gratwick slip. Colorized by Dennis Reed Jr.</span> In 2018, I was asked by a local woman and family friend if I could help her scan some c. 1905 glass negatives she inherited from her grandfather Albert Cumming, an amateur photographer. The amazing and intimate images we found on the long-unseen negatives mostly depict life in the Gratwick section of North Tonawanda, centered around the family home at 130 Fredericka Street. The photos feature New Year's Eve dinners, friends playing croquet, neighborhood kids asked to hold still for the six seconds most exposures took, and Albert posing with his gun and dog.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
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Title
A name given to the resource
Cummings house (130 Fredericka Street)-_72A6360_.jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905
gratwick
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/7fde8e570167e0cb30cc877381c622d6.jpg
a98ca2c4fdff50395654256da2288d05
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Gratwick Family: Cumming Photo Collection (c. 1905)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" alt="Boathouse Gang" src="http://nthistory.com/custom/cover/139.jpg" /> <span class="cover-caption">The "Boat House Gang," probably photographed at the Gratwick slip. Colorized by Dennis Reed Jr.</span> In 2018, I was asked by a local woman and family friend if I could help her scan some c. 1905 glass negatives she inherited from her grandfather Albert Cumming, an amateur photographer. The amazing and intimate images we found on the long-unseen negatives mostly depict life in the Gratwick section of North Tonawanda, centered around the family home at 130 Fredericka Street. The photos feature New Year's Eve dinners, friends playing croquet, neighborhood kids asked to hold still for the six seconds most exposures took, and Albert posing with his gun and dog.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Side view house, mother and father standing -_72A6382_.jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905
gratwick
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/c7e443ff0fe34f907bcab58d4ddb2f27.jpg
a49b318f85d09dbe3026a757581f86e7
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Title
A name given to the resource
Gratwick Family: Cumming Photo Collection (c. 1905)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" alt="Boathouse Gang" src="http://nthistory.com/custom/cover/139.jpg" /> <span class="cover-caption">The "Boat House Gang," probably photographed at the Gratwick slip. Colorized by Dennis Reed Jr.</span> In 2018, I was asked by a local woman and family friend if I could help her scan some c. 1905 glass negatives she inherited from her grandfather Albert Cumming, an amateur photographer. The amazing and intimate images we found on the long-unseen negatives mostly depict life in the Gratwick section of North Tonawanda, centered around the family home at 130 Fredericka Street. The photos feature New Year's Eve dinners, friends playing croquet, neighborhood kids asked to hold still for the six seconds most exposures took, and Albert posing with his gun and dog.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
side view of house, Mable standing - Mable moved -_72A6395_.jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905
gratwick
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/feea05de7c59bb156769d8c54786e546.jpg
f6dd346e016018812b50993a2dd7c3a4
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 Family: Cumming Photo Collection (c. 1905)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" alt="Boathouse Gang" src="http://nthistory.com/custom/cover/139.jpg" /> <span class="cover-caption">The "Boat House Gang," probably photographed at the Gratwick slip. Colorized by Dennis Reed Jr.</span> In 2018, I was asked by a local woman and family friend if I could help her scan some c. 1905 glass negatives she inherited from her grandfather Albert Cumming, an amateur photographer. The amazing and intimate images we found on the long-unseen negatives mostly depict life in the Gratwick section of North Tonawanda, centered around the family home at 130 Fredericka Street. The photos feature New Year's Eve dinners, friends playing croquet, neighborhood kids asked to hold still for the six seconds most exposures took, and Albert posing with his gun and dog.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Boathouse gang, Gratwick slip, colorized (1905).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/2591bfced9fe5e995575e3fcf61059e6.jpg
09d7f0f80af7b22ad087e102e40fa97d
https://nthistory.com/files/original/a597f9ad14e9c259bc111a9c892df1da.jpg
f1e403a1dfe08d28faf4d9a0d669b6c9
https://nthistory.com/files/original/fb0f4e8d30202fc953e956e2130e21f4.jpg
2ef07ba7536d7ee9b2cb36bd5e928afe
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
Delaware Hose, Tonawanda (1905).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905
firefighter
horse
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/1098a487344a8680df6d8e6054acaada.jpg
2c09981e400649254b4b0bacad9cbcb7
Dublin Core
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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. In 1918 this 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.
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Title
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Main and Delaware Street Bridge, Tonawanda, photo (NYSA, 1905-05-12).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
Harvey H. Quinn of Buffalo boat.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1905-05-12
bridge
canal
tonawanda
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/d0c3e85b5bda7259da3a7a69ce96ce7a.jpg
95bdfe5419643c5cd95409e0a3ed7002
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/10.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works, colorized by the webmaster." /> <span class="cover-caption">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works factory at 435 Payne Avenue, c1913; photo colorized by the webmaster.</span>
<div>(1906-1919) The North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works produces military band organs, player pianos, organs for (still silent) "moving picture" theaters and more. The factory is the third automatic musical instrument manufacturer in the city, starting about a year after the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>. Like Niagara, NTMIW is partially comprised of men who have worked with <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist's Musical Instrument Works</a> (president John Birnie had been secretary-treasurer for de Kleist). <br /><br />According to an article in this set, NTMIW originally operates out of "the Williams plant on the Ellicott Creek." They incorporate in 1906, and in the second half of 1907 build a substantial four-story factory. In 1911 that factory is tripled (articles suggest the work is not completed until early 1912). Although larger than Niagara, NTMIW will always be a distant second behind de Kleist and Wurlitzer. In 1918, NTMIW is acquired by the Rand Visible Records Company. Rand continues the musical manufacturing business, and the former NTMIW leadership at first sticks around. Rand's press officers kick into high gear, founding a monthly internal company magazine, <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1192"><em>All of Us</em></a>, apparently aimed at easing the culture change. In spite of this gesture, NTMIW founding officer Stillman C. Woodruff and others leave Rand--and the bones of their former company--around 1920 to try their hand at the band organ game one last time with their <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/22">Artizan Factories Inc.</a> venture in 1922.</div>
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Frank and Amanada Morganti, wedding photo (1906).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1906
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/0ccf9e8859d6bed0a9d8e206b560302e.jpg
bdae4f86a861400dcb611bee55cf3da6
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Title
A name given to the resource
Niagara Silk Mills
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" alt="Niagara Silk Mills postcard" src="http://nthistory.com/custom/cover/44.jpg" /> <span class="cover-caption">The Niagara Silk Mills plant once dominated Sweeney Street, standing where Gateway Center is today. Postcard c. 1912.</span> The Niagara Silk Mills (later Van Raalte Silk Mills) produced ladies' undergarments, gloves, and similar fineries. They marketed their materials with the iconography of Niagara Falls (reminiscent of the Pan Am Exposition imagery), and with appearances by silent film sirens.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
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Title
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Van Raalte grounds and workers, 1907 photo (Images of America, Historical Society of the Tonawandas).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1907
labor
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/c7027084d3ad1d45ba1525fae15d3e73.jpg
eef9f2b3b7048181631515b77bfb662b
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Felton High School and Grammar School
Description
An account of the resource
Built in 1901, the visually striking Felton High School once stretched along Thompson Street between Bryant and Falconer streets. It was named after local leader <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/650">Benjamin F. Felton</a>, who was<span> president of North Tonawanda's Board of Education for 30 years. The building </span>would later be used as a grammar school. Although demolished in 1969, it is not entirely forgotten: we still call the field across Payne Avenue (which was a N.Y. Central train yard and later in 1919 the site of NT's first public playground) "Felton Field."
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
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North Tonawanda High School football team, newspaper photo (1907).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1907
school
sports
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/6f8934c7d8eb11f7493399eafdaa970d.jpg
a2d2f138b69de11d39e48aa29acd2039
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory (1893-1903)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/24d.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory, 1893 (colorized by webmaster)" /><span class="cover-caption">Nucleus of Wurlitzer: The North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory in 1893. It still stands in 2023.</span>
<p class="intro">The first of its kind in America, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory makes automatic musical instruments to provide music for Allan Herschell's world-famous carousels. Led by the fiery Prussian gentleman-genius Eugene de Kleist, the firm survives an early national Depression to succeed beyond its wildest expectations with the help of a musical family from Ohio named the "Wurlitzers."</p>
<div class="img-caption-container"><img src="http://nthistory.com/files/square_thumbnails/cc9e0bcd6b738bbe4ed82bac5ef50e91.jpg" alt="Image description" />
<div class="caption">De Kleist band organ, c.1900.</div>
</div>
<b>Portable music of another era<br /><br /></b>Before the phonograph and radio, the next best thing to a live orchestra or marching band is a "band organ" or "orchestrion." Essentially giant music boxes with drums, pipe organs, brass horns and more, these devices are popular in Europe for centuries before being produced in the New World in 1893 with the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory. <br /><br />The factory is built in the spring of 1893 by local merry-go-round makers the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/73">Armitage-Herschell Company</a> in the Sawyer's Creek / Martinsville area in the northeast of the recently incorporated City of North Tonawanda. To oversee operations, Armitage-Herschell recruits a German organ maker from London with whom they have been acquainted: the talented <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">Eugene de Kleist</a>. With a small crew of workers culled from England and the surrounding Martinsville farms, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory also makes organs for churches, offers repairs on existing organs, and makes the pinned barrels that contain the music the organs play. After about a year, Armitage-Herschell sign ownership of the enterprise over to their capable superintendent.<br /><br /><strong>Meet the Wurlitzers</strong><br /><br />Business is middling until 1897, when de Kleist meets a decades-old musical retail concern from Cincinnati that will prove a valuable partner: the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company. The story goes that de Kleist was looking to interest the U. S. Army in buying his bugles, which were made as part of many of his band organs. de Kleist is told that the Wurlitzer company already has that business, so he approaches Wurlitzer, and is able to sell them some of his bugles. He also tries to interest Wurlitzer in his band organs, but they ask if he coud instead produce a coin-operated piano for use in taverns and restaurants. After over a year in development, the first "Tonophones" are ready in 1898, and are an immediate success. (Hear <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/1023">Farny Wurlitzer</a> tell this story himself <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5dXbpPM7T0&t=5m29s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in this remarkable speech from 1964</a>).<br /><br />Similiar instruments, such as the Pianino, follow, and the small factory begins to grow, and over the next few years establishes the northwest corner of the massive Wurlitzer plant still standing in North Tonawanda today.
<p><strong>The de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</strong></p>
In 1903, the Barrel Organ Factory incorporates as the de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company, with investment from banker James Thompson and some new top brass. Wurlitzer's interest in the North Tonawanda plant increases as Eugene de Kleist's seems to wane (<a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">see de Kleist's bio</a> for more on this). In 1905 a group of workers leaves to form the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>; within a year another wave of defectors forms the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/10">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works</a>. <br /><br />1908 begins auspiciously: in January, de Kleist (now mayor of North Tonawanda) lavishly fetes 700 employees and their families in the new music department building. His superintendent, Paul Von Rohl, delivers a speech in his honor, and they dance and carouse until morning light begins filtering over Sawyer's Creek.<br /><br />The following months will not be as good. de Kleist files a $50,000 infringement lawsuit against the aforementioned Instrument Works, but loses. In March, he leaves the aforementioned Paul Von Rohl in charge of the factory while he is off racing powerboats in Florida. de Kleist returns to suspect there has been rampant theft in his absence, and brings charges of grand larceny against Von Rohl, which are dropped, replaced by petit larceny charges, and then found unproved by a jury. In April, Mayor de Kleist accuses eight employees of stealing valuable machinery and plans from his factory, and of conspiring to start another rival factory. The summer brings more powerboating and politicking.<br /><br />Perhaps fearing for the security of their investment, Wurlitzer buys Eugene de Kleist out. <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/52">The Rudolph Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company</a> is organized in December of 1908 with $1,000,000 capital.
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
de Kleist Musical Inst Mfg. Co. factory, photo detail (HST, 1907).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1907
factory
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/8df3a205022a25e21b670414f5a19fa3.jpg
abb9e9e87bd9077f135107cc7fc17c8c
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory (1893-1903)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/24d.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory, 1893 (colorized by webmaster)" /><span class="cover-caption">Nucleus of Wurlitzer: The North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory in 1893. It still stands in 2023.</span>
<p class="intro">The first of its kind in America, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory makes automatic musical instruments to provide music for Allan Herschell's world-famous carousels. Led by the fiery Prussian gentleman-genius Eugene de Kleist, the firm survives an early national Depression to succeed beyond its wildest expectations with the help of a musical family from Ohio named the "Wurlitzers."</p>
<div class="img-caption-container"><img src="http://nthistory.com/files/square_thumbnails/cc9e0bcd6b738bbe4ed82bac5ef50e91.jpg" alt="Image description" />
<div class="caption">De Kleist band organ, c.1900.</div>
</div>
<b>Portable music of another era<br /><br /></b>Before the phonograph and radio, the next best thing to a live orchestra or marching band is a "band organ" or "orchestrion." Essentially giant music boxes with drums, pipe organs, brass horns and more, these devices are popular in Europe for centuries before being produced in the New World in 1893 with the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory. <br /><br />The factory is built in the spring of 1893 by local merry-go-round makers the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/73">Armitage-Herschell Company</a> in the Sawyer's Creek / Martinsville area in the northeast of the recently incorporated City of North Tonawanda. To oversee operations, Armitage-Herschell recruits a German organ maker from London with whom they have been acquainted: the talented <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">Eugene de Kleist</a>. With a small crew of workers culled from England and the surrounding Martinsville farms, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory also makes organs for churches, offers repairs on existing organs, and makes the pinned barrels that contain the music the organs play. After about a year, Armitage-Herschell sign ownership of the enterprise over to their capable superintendent.<br /><br /><strong>Meet the Wurlitzers</strong><br /><br />Business is middling until 1897, when de Kleist meets a decades-old musical retail concern from Cincinnati that will prove a valuable partner: the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company. The story goes that de Kleist was looking to interest the U. S. Army in buying his bugles, which were made as part of many of his band organs. de Kleist is told that the Wurlitzer company already has that business, so he approaches Wurlitzer, and is able to sell them some of his bugles. He also tries to interest Wurlitzer in his band organs, but they ask if he coud instead produce a coin-operated piano for use in taverns and restaurants. After over a year in development, the first "Tonophones" are ready in 1898, and are an immediate success. (Hear <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/1023">Farny Wurlitzer</a> tell this story himself <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5dXbpPM7T0&t=5m29s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in this remarkable speech from 1964</a>).<br /><br />Similiar instruments, such as the Pianino, follow, and the small factory begins to grow, and over the next few years establishes the northwest corner of the massive Wurlitzer plant still standing in North Tonawanda today.
<p><strong>The de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</strong></p>
In 1903, the Barrel Organ Factory incorporates as the de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company, with investment from banker James Thompson and some new top brass. Wurlitzer's interest in the North Tonawanda plant increases as Eugene de Kleist's seems to wane (<a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">see de Kleist's bio</a> for more on this). In 1905 a group of workers leaves to form the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>; within a year another wave of defectors forms the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/10">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works</a>. <br /><br />1908 begins auspiciously: in January, de Kleist (now mayor of North Tonawanda) lavishly fetes 700 employees and their families in the new music department building. His superintendent, Paul Von Rohl, delivers a speech in his honor, and they dance and carouse until morning light begins filtering over Sawyer's Creek.<br /><br />The following months will not be as good. de Kleist files a $50,000 infringement lawsuit against the aforementioned Instrument Works, but loses. In March, he leaves the aforementioned Paul Von Rohl in charge of the factory while he is off racing powerboats in Florida. de Kleist returns to suspect there has been rampant theft in his absence, and brings charges of grand larceny against Von Rohl, which are dropped, replaced by petit larceny charges, and then found unproved by a jury. In April, Mayor de Kleist accuses eight employees of stealing valuable machinery and plans from his factory, and of conspiring to start another rival factory. The summer brings more powerboating and politicking.<br /><br />Perhaps fearing for the security of their investment, Wurlitzer buys Eugene de Kleist out. <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/52">The Rudolph Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company</a> is organized in December of 1908 with $1,000,000 capital.
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
de Kleist Musical Inst Mfg. Co. office at Hotel Sheldon, photo (HST, 1907).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1907
hotel
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ec660280ed1f7397ea7adc7ec839d1f3.jpg
486b5e4923992c3fbc0944c248c8d0ed
https://nthistory.com/files/original/5e28349411fd061a28b17bf3856f8098.jpg
d1232ad0fa2c7a06a7bfc3c206d9cdf1
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ec38e12c28a64766143537ccdd8c7381.jpg
7fda38d6f349f12689c5e7eb6399025d
Photo
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Dublin Core
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Title
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Wickwire Steel Plant construction, Tonawanda, photo set (1907).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1907
factory
tonawanda
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/c263b38b5c17f16944c05414d040d089.jpg
7a0714467c40bd948db10301d4351dc8
https://nthistory.com/files/original/cc7b2a3242f7f05e3ee555c7d53bd5eb.jpeg
28000d57d7c26e3acb24f31a46eb315d
https://nthistory.com/files/original/c39b3dde3ac26b613b0c63af7981b74e.jpg
392aebab3153d6361587764954818c43
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Title
A name given to the resource
North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/10.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works, colorized by the webmaster." /> <span class="cover-caption">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works factory at 435 Payne Avenue, c1913; photo colorized by the webmaster.</span>
<div>(1906-1919) The North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works produces military band organs, player pianos, organs for (still silent) "moving picture" theaters and more. The factory is the third automatic musical instrument manufacturer in the city, starting about a year after the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>. Like Niagara, NTMIW is partially comprised of men who have worked with <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist's Musical Instrument Works</a> (president John Birnie had been secretary-treasurer for de Kleist). <br /><br />According to an article in this set, NTMIW originally operates out of "the Williams plant on the Ellicott Creek." They incorporate in 1906, and in the second half of 1907 build a substantial four-story factory. In 1911 that factory is tripled (articles suggest the work is not completed until early 1912). Although larger than Niagara, NTMIW will always be a distant second behind de Kleist and Wurlitzer. In 1918, NTMIW is acquired by the Rand Visible Records Company. Rand continues the musical manufacturing business, and the former NTMIW leadership at first sticks around. Rand's press officers kick into high gear, founding a monthly internal company magazine, <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1192"><em>All of Us</em></a>, apparently aimed at easing the culture change. In spite of this gesture, NTMIW founding officer Stillman C. Woodruff and others leave Rand--and the bones of their former company--around 1920 to try their hand at the band organ game one last time with their <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/22">Artizan Factories Inc.</a> venture in 1922.</div>
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North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works, employee photo (c1908).jpg
Date
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1908
Source
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Courtesy of Barbara Tussing Lipps
Description
An account of the resource
Second from left identified as Ed Tussing.
factory
labor
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/71a34b55804ec042ec415aa33bd5372f.jpg
dab9c437a2d639ee84d820770a4b0aa5
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Title
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Pine Woods School
Description
An account of the resource
Public School #3, built 1892.
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Richard H. Martin at Pine Woods Elementary, photo (c1908).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1908
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/896eba5cf59c13086d96513e38c08434.jpg
620105c5091147ac04152af0d84781ca
https://nthistory.com/files/original/061d796e0636bfd5fb9cb67301be9de0.jpg
b150e2581e1400a563e2805244eb8c87
https://nthistory.com/files/original/44ef6019ff716145dd06a0255be7d075.jpg
88025b346bfd87ecdb40fff2fdc70cd1
Photo
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Title
A name given to the resource
Ellicott Creek boaters, photo (1909).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909
boat
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/7c36263de908fce57342d364fe757a1b.jpg
0cb848861f36dfa27c1407a7a73cc621
Photo
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A view of cofferdam B.L. at Station 6805+50, photo (NYSA, 1909-01-13).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
Long Homestead
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909-01-13
canal
tonawanda
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/6c502b1c517764d962a884e60479cc17.jpg
d9965d461ba3f005f2cc791f6b7365d7
Photo
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North side of canal looking east from the Main Street Bridge in Tonawanda, photo (NYSA, 1909-03-09).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
Canal boats, bridge at Oliver before cantilever, Herschell merry-go-rounds on Sweeney.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909-03-09
bridge
canal
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/47add9c2dc61d8277cf757b217ace3b8.png
e8f2951a4160c2e90826a51d7bf22793
https://nthistory.com/files/original/33ee0cea1cae16c89309acb7d2bed581.png
16115ba0c154d8286643f371cf9aea42
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ad9835a1f81b954eef858d600b2fafee.png
0b20928ff02119e76b24a20053c1bc52
https://nthistory.com/files/original/0c07e2891717a3552e6d3b2c2aadc782.png
d5d3ebbf854f85ff555155236c6b5391
https://nthistory.com/files/original/3cb503b95e4e1ee0fea73fb841fe3c20.png
762be8172453b54252d7051c804630c3
Photo
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Title
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Post's Band, Blue House Bunch, Tonawanda, photo (1909).png
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909-06-27
Description
An account of the resource
Brass band with scarves in field. R. W. King photographer, 316 14th Street, Buffalo, N. Y.
band
group
musician
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/9c38fedf7bb0b9abf3d66b80bf54e91e.jpg
32d7985613268b5ac90a2f7bf1c6792a
https://nthistory.com/files/original/827eb5f6f34a15ed4a32bb4a2a7384ed.jpeg
8c2cf1b420ef7fbb86bcd4985d4dd31a
Photo
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Title
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Retail Merchants Association outing on Grand Island, photo (1909-08-19).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909-08-19
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/e5855c22fa3a65267994408207c210fa.jpg
01678540225b83549054e75c87d904a4
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Title
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Allan Herschell Companies
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/files/original/0a8137a27b9978ab2f72819b2bd699cf.jpg" alt="" /> <span class="cover-caption">An 1894 Armitage-Herschell advertisement shows a not-at-all-dangerous-to-children-looking steam boiler and pulleys providing motive power to the company's signature device.</span>
<div>On gilded signs posted at its southern and northern entrances, North Tonawanda introduces itself to visitors as "The Home of the Carrousel." The still-ubiquitous fairground staple was not <em>invented</em> in North Tonawanda (some version of it had been around <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dizzy-history-carousels-begins-knights-180964100">since at least the 12th Century</a>), but thousands were produced here and the highest levels of craftsmanship were attained here under the guidance of Scottish-born Allan Herschell.<br /><br /></div>
In 1872 (<em>Landmarks</em> says 1873), the Armitage-Herschell Co. begins as a small brass and iron foundry on Manhattan Street, comprised of Englishman <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/889">James Armitage</a>, and Scottish brothers <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/880">George</a> and <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/877">Allan Herschell</a>. The firm survives devastating fires in 1874 and 1875, and expands to a location off Oliver Street (whence comes the name, "Mechanic Street"), adding engines and boilers to their specialties. Youngest partner Allan sees a carousel while traveling, and recognizes ways it can be improved. By 1887, his "Improved Steam Riding Gallery" captivates the world, and people from India and France demand the modern amusement. The merry-go-round-makers at first import the accompanying band organs from the old European master-builders of Germany and France, but high tariffs decide them to instead import German organ maker <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">Eugene de Kleist</a> from England (de Kleist begins making organs at his <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory</a> in 1893). They organize in 1890.<br /><br />James Armitage and George Herschell die in early 1900. The Armitage-Herschell Company is succeeded by Herschell, Spillman & Company, and the Allan Herschell Company. Allan Herschell dies in 1927. The latter company continues making amusements, including miniature trains, boats and airplanes (some of which can be played upon at the <a href="http://www.carrouselmuseum.org">Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum</a> in North Tonawanda) as late as the 1960s.<br /><br />There is a large Herschell family plot in Sweeney Cemetery.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/607"><em>Landmarks of Niagara County</em> (1897)</a></li>
<li><span class="_Tgc">“<a href="http://carrouselmuseum.org/site/about/allan-herschell">Allen Herschell History</a>.” <em>Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum,</em> 2014.</span></li>
</ul>
Photo
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Title
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Herschell-Spillman Co. Buildings, Sweeney Street, photo (c1910).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910
automobile
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/1becd76f05d98c08f8ecac4ef4b27d84.jpg
2289aecb1043b5f8b21137e66d31546a
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Title
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North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/10.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works, colorized by the webmaster." /> <span class="cover-caption">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works factory at 435 Payne Avenue, c1913; photo colorized by the webmaster.</span>
<div>(1906-1919) The North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works produces military band organs, player pianos, organs for (still silent) "moving picture" theaters and more. The factory is the third automatic musical instrument manufacturer in the city, starting about a year after the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>. Like Niagara, NTMIW is partially comprised of men who have worked with <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist's Musical Instrument Works</a> (president John Birnie had been secretary-treasurer for de Kleist). <br /><br />According to an article in this set, NTMIW originally operates out of "the Williams plant on the Ellicott Creek." They incorporate in 1906, and in the second half of 1907 build a substantial four-story factory. In 1911 that factory is tripled (articles suggest the work is not completed until early 1912). Although larger than Niagara, NTMIW will always be a distant second behind de Kleist and Wurlitzer. In 1918, NTMIW is acquired by the Rand Visible Records Company. Rand continues the musical manufacturing business, and the former NTMIW leadership at first sticks around. Rand's press officers kick into high gear, founding a monthly internal company magazine, <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1192"><em>All of Us</em></a>, apparently aimed at easing the culture change. In spite of this gesture, NTMIW founding officer Stillman C. Woodruff and others leave Rand--and the bones of their former company--around 1920 to try their hand at the band organ game one last time with their <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/22">Artizan Factories Inc.</a> venture in 1922.</div>
Photo
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Title
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Frank Morganti inside North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works (c1910).jpg
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Douglas Hershberger
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910
labor
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/8b6f0008e8c119cc9d4e21b0d32b6795.jpg
e58d2c7a8e5f94fb36d93e863d119c70
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Title
A name given to the resource
North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/10.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works, colorized by the webmaster." /> <span class="cover-caption">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works factory at 435 Payne Avenue, c1913; photo colorized by the webmaster.</span>
<div>(1906-1919) The North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works produces military band organs, player pianos, organs for (still silent) "moving picture" theaters and more. The factory is the third automatic musical instrument manufacturer in the city, starting about a year after the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>. Like Niagara, NTMIW is partially comprised of men who have worked with <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist's Musical Instrument Works</a> (president John Birnie had been secretary-treasurer for de Kleist). <br /><br />According to an article in this set, NTMIW originally operates out of "the Williams plant on the Ellicott Creek." They incorporate in 1906, and in the second half of 1907 build a substantial four-story factory. In 1911 that factory is tripled (articles suggest the work is not completed until early 1912). Although larger than Niagara, NTMIW will always be a distant second behind de Kleist and Wurlitzer. In 1918, NTMIW is acquired by the Rand Visible Records Company. Rand continues the musical manufacturing business, and the former NTMIW leadership at first sticks around. Rand's press officers kick into high gear, founding a monthly internal company magazine, <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1192"><em>All of Us</em></a>, apparently aimed at easing the culture change. In spite of this gesture, NTMIW founding officer Stillman C. Woodruff and others leave Rand--and the bones of their former company--around 1920 to try their hand at the band organ game one last time with their <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/22">Artizan Factories Inc.</a> venture in 1922.</div>
Photo
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Title
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North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works employees, photo (c1910).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Douglas Hershberger
labor
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/069b6b2ee43f93f28bddf1179d19caf0.jpg
dd678146f18f1e250dfef43f0191ca96
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Title
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Downtown
Description
An account of the resource
Most of North Tonawanda's downtown area developed between 1875 and 1900. In this collection are preserved views of many vanished buildings: The YMCA and City Hall at the southeast corner of Tremont and Main; the 6-story 1891 Smith building (Real Estate Exchange) at the northeast corner of Tremont and Webster, the gothic stone State National Bank at the northwest corner of Sweeney and Webster, and Scanlon's Hall on the southwest corner of the same intersection, to name a few.
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Title
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Webster and Sweeney, Scanlons Hall c.1910 (Tonawanda News, 1978-03-23).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ab53958d96a57bf8234cdd5c79c49707.jpg
7ea485678b489a681edaeeed4a76c0e1
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Title
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Hotel Sheldon
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/51.jpg" alt="Hotel Sheldon" /> <span class="cover-caption">Postcard, c1890</span>This massive hotel once occupied the southeast corner of Goundry and Main. A general description from <em><a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/608">Lumber City</a></em> (1891):<br />
<blockquote>Nothing is more needed for the general prosperity of a city than a first-class hotel, and in this particular the Lumber City is especially fortunate, as outside of metropolitan places it would be difficult to find a house more complete in all its appointments than the Sheldon. It is fitted in attractive and elegant style throughout and contains all the modern improvements and appurtenances of a first-class hotel. It is an imposing four-story brick, with eighty rooms.</blockquote>
An Internet search rears up <a href="https://www.geni.com/people/William-Truman-Godard/5494628848530068480">this pithy account</a> of one of the hotel's managers:
<blockquote>Hope said that he (William Truman Godard, 1870-1937) earned his living in Altoona, Penn as a Pillsbury flour representative and she wrote that he earned his living in as the manager of the Hotel Sheldon in North Tonawanda, New York where Hope was born in 1905. <br /><br />She said he had very black hair and never seemed to have a well day. He went back East to his people after his wife died.</blockquote>
The hotel is destroyed by fire in 1940.
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Title
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Hotel Sheldon during a parade, photo (Historical Society of the Tonawandas, c1910).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Historical Society of the Tonawandas
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ba494e0d992d81f65d2e6c1e139f2537.jpg
0683a95008420e8ed6d04e7e971f23e0
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Title
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Trolleys and Trains
Description
An account of the resource
Before everybody in North Tonawanda could afford their very own muffler-less Honda Civic to run up and down Oliver Street, trolleys and trains were an important means of personal transportation. Several lines ran throughout the city, moving people to and from their jobs, churches, or just out for a look around.
Though they may seem romantic to us now, people griped about the trolleys the same way we complain about snow plows today. Apparently their slow speed was sometimes targeted: An item in this set describes a "well-known peddler" in the Gratwick area who is injured by a trolley car. The author drolly observes, "'Twould have been a real miracle if a Gratwick car could have got up enough speed to have killed him" (Tonawanda News, 1908-2-13).
The trolley era did not last long. By the 1920s, the electric streetcar had been passed by the gasoline-powered bus as the most prevalent means of public transportation. Another article in this set from the Tonawanda News, "Carpenter now operates 14 busses in the Tonawandas," outlines the rise of the Carpenter Rapid Transit buses.
Photo
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Title
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Erie Railway, North Tonawanda Station, hi-res photo (Survey HAER NY-94, LOC, c1910).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910
Description
An account of the resource
Thompson Street. Spillman Company Engineers (present-day Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum) in the background.
bicycle
depot
station
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/8cab793704c35042c3a0decefe1963cb.jpg
da98885b2b915a409c74dc89a423f0b3
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Title
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Hope-Jones Organ Co. (of Elmira)
Description
An account of the resource
The inventor of the Mighty Wurlitzer organ which catapulted the company to worldwide recognition was a brilliant (if troubled) Englishman named Robert Hope-Jones.
Hope-Jones came to the U.S. in 1903. In 1907 he formed the Hope-Jones Organ Co. in Elmira, N.Y. (Mark Twain is a large shareholder) at the corner of East 5th and Madison. After three years of struggles (and under a "cloud" of suspicion in Elmira for his "actions with small boys"), the company and patents were purchased by Wurlitzer in 1910, whereupon Robert Hope-Jones moved to Wurlitzer's North Tonawanda plant to oversee production of a new line of organ. The relationship is said to have been a strained one, with the old inventor constantly tweaking and refining his instruments, and never willing to relinquish control so that they could go into production. He would be barred from the factory he led. At least six months before his death he had cut ties with Wurlitzer. The Mighty Wurlitzer Theater Organ and pipe organs are based on his breakthroughs, and sustained Wurlitzer between the mechanical music era and the jukebox era (and beyond). Hope-Jones committed suicide on September 12 or 13, 1914, while traveling in Rochester. A report says August de Kleist brought his body back to North Tonawanda.
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Hope-Jones Organ Company, group photo (PSTOS-Pipeline-2012-10-4).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
Elmira, NY
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910
employees
factory
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/2f7e028fb3f23dbb11dbcddcb52eabba.jpg
cd6a46b1143351070f23a3c9d73ba0ac
Photo
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Title
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Tonawanda footballer, photo (c1910).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910
football
sports
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/9d7822b63a6ef8d06697a6eae52ab49d.jpg
027e3297652536cbe193edd5725ce66d
Dublin Core
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Auto-Wheel Coaster Company (95 Schenck)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="https://nthistory.com/custom/cover/14.jpg" alt="Buffalo Sled employees, 1917" /><span class="cover-caption">Employees of the Buffalo Sled Company in North Tonawanda plant. PHOTO: North Tonawanda History Museum</span> Organized as the Buffalo Sled Co. in 1905 by John J. Schneider and Henry J, Tiedt, having been in business since 1899 (other sources say 1904). The firm moves to North Tonawanda in 1909 after the local trade organization agrees to cover the expense. Originally making sleds and shovels, they add coasters (wagons) in 1912. Soon they are enjoying national success, advertising aggressively in several publications, and marketing their boys' toys ingenuously with clubs and giveaways. In July of 1920 they file paperwork to change their name to the "Auto-Wheel Coaster Company."<br /><br />The North Tonawanda plant was located at foot of Schenck Street, west of Oliver and south of Schenck, though they at times also have operations in Buffalo, on Ellicott Creek in the old A. B. Williams plant, and in Preston, Ontario. The NT site was formerly (1908) occupied by the Orient Mfg. Co. (Fred Paschen lived just east). <br /><br /><span><span>From the Internet's <a href="http://www.harryrinker.com/col-1117.html">Harry Rinker</a>:</span></span>
<blockquote>A fire on April 16, 1920, destroyed the wheel department and storehouses. According to the 1921 City Directory, the company rebuilt and assumed a new name, Auto-Wheel Coaster Company.</blockquote>
Auto Wheel files for bankruptcy in July 1964, but is bought by area men to resume production. This did not seem to be successful, as the plant was is in the process of being converted to a palette factory when it is completely destroyed in a spectacular fire on Memorial Day (May 29), 1972, taking at least seven nearby homes with it.
Photo
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Auto-Wheel Coaster and girl, photo postcard (c1910).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ae8d7d9f37f468429c468ba23b22924f.jpeg
a5642883340fc9474603d40f8da2c0a2
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Avondale / Oliver Theater (358 Oliver)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" alt="Avondale Theatre as it appeared in 1924. Sketch by Dennis Reed Jr." src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/69.jpg" /><span class="cover-caption">Avondale Theatre as it appeared in 1924 (Dennis Reed Jr) </span> <b>The southwest corner of Robinson and Oliver Streets—now an empty lot—was formerly occupied by a silent film theater in 1910, an evangelical center in the 50s, and a concert hall in the 80s before being demolished.</b><br /><br /><strong>Oliver Theater</strong> (1910-1921)<br /><br />The Oliver Theater opens its doors to the silent film-hungry public on November 3rd, 1910. It is operated by one Henry Klinger of Wheatfield Street (formerly of Buffalo). It boasts a capacity of 500 seats, modern electric lighting and ventilation, and is "sanitarily perfect." It exhibits the latest pictures, three each evening, and a Saturday matinee for a 5 cent admission.<br /><br />In those more religious times, "blue laws" forbid certain kinds of work and the sale of alcohol on Sundays. Klinger battles with local authorities to permit the auditorium to be open to the public on Sundays, pointing out that other cities do. "Why, some of the churches in Lockport are showing pictures on Sundays, so I don't see why they should be considered so immoral in North Tonawanda," <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/2272">he says</a> in a 1913 interview.<br /><br />But Mayor B. L. Rand will not budge. Klinger takes the fight to the courts. In July of 1915 a Lockport judge <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/2273">rules against</a> the mayor, opening the way to Sunday picture shows.<br /><br />At some point Klinger sells "the house to Snyder and Zimmerman of Buffalo" but buys it back from them around July 1921 with a plan to "remodel the theater and increase its seating capacity" (from <a href="http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/28609">cinematreasures.org</a>).<br /><br />A public contest is held to rename the theater. Grocery store owner George Roggow wins the $10 prize with his romantic entry, "Avondale." He claims he <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/3338">read the name</a> from the tag inside his shirt.<br /><br /><strong>The Avondale Theater</strong> (1921-1955)<br /><br />The newly christened theater re-opens on September 1, 1921. L. E. Bargar is manager. At his request, he is appointed as a "special police officer," serving without pay but with the authority to make arrests. In January, 1922, Wurlitzer installs a cutting-edge Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra with a $2.5K price tag. It debuts in February, the same month early silent film actor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Walker">Lillian Walker</a> (aka "Dimples") visits the theater in person, and speaks from the stage at each performance.<br /><br />Apparently some vaudeville is presented at the Avondale among the films. On June 17, 1922 the NEWS reports the Great Abdiz, the Man with the Iron Jaw, and Bryson appear in an Arabian juggling act.<br /><br />In October 1924, L. E. Barger resigns as manager. He is said to have been in the picture business for 22 years. In 1925, manager James. J. Kelly gets Duo-Art Films of Rochester to produce a "civic review" of the Tonawandas in pictures. Kelly becomes manager of the newly opened Riviera Theatre in 1926.<br /><br />Daniel A. North is a longtime owner and operator, with a two-year absence between 1936 and 1938. The Avondale is still showing pictures as late as 1955, but is put up for sale in 1956.<br /><br /><strong>Evangelistic Center of the Tonawandas</strong> (1956-1979)<br /><br />In 1956, the building is purchased by Italian Pentecostals at the Christian Tabernacle who have outgrown their modest church on 195 Schenck Street, and have been renting the Avondale. After extensive remodeling, the old theater is renamed the Assembly of God Evangelistic Center of the Tonawandas. Pastor Cooper's parsonage was at 11 16th Avenue until 1960.<br /><br />The first services are held on November 4, 1956. It appears to have been a lively era, as scores if not hundreds of touring speakers and religious musical acts appear in ads in the News over the following two decades.<br /><br />In 1979, the Abundant Life Assembly of God <a href="https://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=https%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252011%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%25201979%2520%2520Grayscale%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%25201979%2520%2520Grayscale%2520-%25201795.pdf%23xml%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FdtSearch%2Fdtisapi6.dll%3Fcmd%3Dgetpdfhits%26u%3De67711b%26DocId%3D2254257%26Index%3DZ%253a%255cDISK%2520U%26HitCount%3D23%26hits%3D1f%2B71%2B1a6%2B22e%2B2ff%2B335%2B428%2B583%2B58a%2B5cb%2B5d6%2B5dd%2B5e6%2B5e9%2B621%2B62c%2B669%2B715%2B771%2B7e2%2B841%2B846%2B84d%2B%26SearchForm%3D%252fFulton%255fform%252ehtml%26.pdf&uri=https%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252011%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%25201979%2520%2520Grayscale%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%25201979%2520%2520Grayscale%2520-%25201795.pdf&xml=https%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FdtSearch%2Fdtisapi6.dll%3Fcmd%3Dgetpdfhits%26u%3De67711b%26DocId%3D2254257%26Index%3DZ%253a%255cDISK%2520U%26HitCount%3D23%26hits%3D1f%2B71%2B1a6%2B22e%2B2ff%2B335%2B428%2B583%2B58a%2B5cb%2B5d6%2B5dd%2B5e6%2B5e9%2B621%2B62c%2B669%2B715%2B771%2B7e2%2B841%2B846%2B84d%2B%26SearchForm%3D%252fFulton%255fform%252ehtml%26.pdf&openFirstHlPage=false">sell the building and move to new quarters</a> at 1001 East Robinson in North Tonawanda. They owned the land since 1967, and have tent revivals there. In 2009 <span>Abundant Life <a href="https://buffalonews.com/news/congregation-reaps-what-it-sows-with-its-first-public-services/article_53270053-59e1-59d2-a1c3-47121a1b4863.html">is closed</a> "because of a dwindling congregation."</span><br /><br /><strong>Final years<br /></strong><br />By December 1979 the "Oliver Auction House" <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/3346">is doing business</a> at that address.<br /><br />The theater enjoys a final act in the mid 1980s as the "Avondale Ballroom," featuring live musical performances. It opens in April 1985, and is run by Dennis Lasky (who also conducted the auction house operation).<br /><br />The theater is razed in the late 1980s.
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Title
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Oliver Theatre, photo (c1910).jpeg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910
-
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Title
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King Construction Company
Photo
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King Construction Co., mill wood workers, photo (c1910).png
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910
person
photo
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/86e53819be2de352184f4b53e7a85148.jpg
084e3b16279fd05f1b429786dd89234e
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Title
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Firefighters
Description
An account of the resource
Rough chronology at <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/firefighting.html">NT History Museum</a>, including notes about many defunct companies. A provocative (if unlikely-sounding) morsel about Hydrant Hose Co. No. 3 (1886-1909), formerly based on Sweeney near Delaware bridge:
<blockquote>The fighting crew of the old Hydrant Hose Company liked to fight fires so much, they would first fight the men of any other fire company who raced to a North Tonawanda fire to see who got the pleasure of conquering the flames. Often the flames ended up as the victor as the firefighters spent their energies in a brawl rather than on the element of nature.</blockquote>
From Sarah E. Walter's thesis as it appears on <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/thesis.html#thesis">nthistorymuseum.org</a>:
<blockquote>The North Tonawanda Fire Dept is known as one of the best paid and volunteer departments in the nation. The greatest enemy the lumbermen had was fire. Annually it destroyed millions of dollars of lumber and cost many lives. A step forward came on May 7, 1876, when twenty of the most prominent residents of the Village of North Tonawanda gathered together in the school house at the corner of Main and Tremont Streets and formed themselves into a Company for the protection of property against the ravages of fire. The newly formed Company petitioned the Village Board and in special session on May 15, 1876, the board approved and appointed them firemen of the Village and their company was called the North Tonawanda Bucket Company, later to be called the Columbia Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.
<p>North Tonawanda depended heavily on Volunteer Firemen and quickly grew to seven companies located at important places around the city.</p>
</blockquote>
<table border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" align="center">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>Date Started </strong></td>
<td><strong>Name </strong></td>
<td><strong>By Whom </strong></td>
<td> <strong>Notes</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>May 7, 1876</td>
<td>North Tonawanda Bucket Company / Columbia Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.</td>
<td> </td>
<td> (See below)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>March 1, 1886</td>
<td>Active Hose Company No.2</td>
<td> </td>
<td>"Ironton Boys"</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1886*</td>
<td>Gratwick Hose Company No. 6</td>
<td>Village Council</td>
<td><a href="https://yellow.place/en/gratwick-hose-fire-company-6-north-tonawanda-usa">1890?</a> On Felton until 1962.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>April 1887</td>
<td>Live Active Hose Co. No. 4</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>January 26, 1891</td>
<td>Rescue Fire Company No. 5</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>February 6, 1891</td>
<td>Gratwick Hose Company No. 1</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1894</td>
<td>Sweeney Hose No. 7</td>
<td>Village Council</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br /><br />From The<em> Tonawanda News, May 9, 1896:</em>
<blockquote>Monday, June 15, has been selected as the date of the Firemen's Annual Parade. It is expected that it will prove of more than ordinary interest as unusual efforts will be put forth this year to make it an enjoyable spectacular affair. <br /><br />In this connection it is interesting to note that Thursday of this week was the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the first fire company In North Tonawanda. Previous to this date North Tonawanda had paid Tonawanda $300 a year for the fire protection that the Tonawanda companies afforded. <br /><br />The parent company of North Tonawanda was the <strong>Columbia Hook and Ladder Company</strong>; it is still in existence, but is now one of eight splendid companies of which North Tonawanda can boast. As before stated it was organized May 7, 1876, and its first president was Frank Fellows. It was organized under a famous old hickory tree which stood on the ground now occupied by the parsonage of the First Methodist Church. Nicholas Beckrich was the first foreman of this company and other members of this crack organization were John E. Oelkers, Frank Batt, H. U. Berger, M. J. Wattengel, W. P. Hayes, Jno. Spillman, Aug. Duckwitz, Fred Schultz, Isaac Gardei, Geo. Miller, John Haas, Julius Miller and others. A number of these early firemen are numbered among the most prominent residents of North Tonawanda but it is with considerable pleasure that they recall the days of their early triumphs.</blockquote>
Photo
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Columbia Hook & Ladder near Erie bridge, photo (c1910).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910
bridge
firefighter
person
village
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/fe69f49805c2e197cf867acbf1c2d468.jpg
fa1620ebf570bb670135bb0dc8ae9b62
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Title
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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. In 1918 this 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.
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Looking south along the crest of the dam in Tonawanda, photo (NYSA, 1910-07-19).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910-07-19
canal
dam
tonawanda
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/7cb76f769f6eaa3308eedf2dcadfb0c4.jpg
442db65d0d486ecc08f8613e41c5087e
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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. In 1918 this 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
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A view looking west along the crest of the dam in Tonawanda, photo (NYSA, 1910-07-19).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
Real Estate Exchange, Niagara Silk Mills, little Webster
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910-07-19
canal
dam
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/4067d7156320f7c40935275d2adec3fb.jpg
abe114b63a081bbf463a562a5f6ac834
https://nthistory.com/files/original/f552037bd0d7f5c0bdecb585da5bff4b.jpg
4b2b1f8b7b3fcaae676d930656eb4ebc
https://nthistory.com/files/original/f2fcab5236a975cb23283973fae4ccdc.jpg
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https://nthistory.com/files/original/a6b2651d6238192cd7a40a341fb012c7.jpg
ff90524195d1896dcaa2ec922306495a
https://nthistory.com/files/original/794dbc5a6efdfca8fa68949e75be7f81.jpg
b1d588d9d340c7287220601e00957cc3
Photo
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The Nationals Twin City baseball team, Amateur Niagara County, team photo (1911).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1911
baseball
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/e9855634677479ffeab24c0512a1cce3.jpg
3b22e24f10bfd8da5a2e75fa2ee43af6
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Title
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Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company
Source
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<em>Wurlitzer: 100 Years of Musical Achievement</em>. Rudolph Wurlitzer Company. Chicago, Illinois. 1956.
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/52.jpg" alt="The signature tower of the North Tonawanda plant and occasional headquarters." /> <span class="cover-caption">The signature tower of the North Tonawanda plant and occasional headquarters. Postcard, c.1940.</span> <span style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.7em;">Its iconic tower has presided over Sawyer's Creek and Martinsville for almost 100 years. The sprawling industrial campus left behind by the world-famous Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company produced merry-go-round organs, band organs, church organs, theater organs and jukeboxes that have left an indelible mark on the world, and on generations of North Tonawandans. </span><br /><br />Wurlitzer founder Rudolph Wurlitzer (1831-1914) was a German immigrant who (after stops in New Jersey and Philadelphia) landed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1854 at the age of 23. He worked for a bank, and down the street was a musical retail store. His father, Christian, was a successful music retailer in Germany, and Rudolph's experience told him the Ohio store's instruments were of poor quality, and priced too high. In 1856 he begins importing quality musical instruments from his family in Germany to sell at a profit in American retail stores. The business grows; Wurlitzer begins making instruments themselves for the U. S. military and for retail. The company branches out into "automatic" musical instruments, such as music boxes and player-pianos. Rudolph's three sons, Howard, Rudolph H., and Farny become involved along the way, and take on aspects of the growing family business.<br /><br />The youngest son, Farny, is sent to North Tonawanda to run the former <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist Musical Instrument Mfg. Co.</a> shortly after it is purchased by Wurlitzer in 1908. (de Kleist was building player pianos and band organs for Wurlitzer and others since 1893). Farny brings eccentric English inventor Robert Hope-Jones to the plant in 1910, initiating the worldwide success of the "Mighty Wurlitzer" theater organ, which provides sound for the silent films of the day, and entertainment in its own right. This business evaporates when sound comes to movies, and electrical sound amplification permits musical entertainment to be furnished to venues of all types much less expensively. <br /><br />When the Wurlitzer company finds itself overextended in the wake of the Great Depression, Farny fights to keep the North Tonawanda facility open. In 1934 he strikes a deal with Homer Capehart to manufacture his automatic phonograph, which becomes the iconic Wurlitzer jukebox. Under his leadership the company also produces a successful line of electronic organs for home use, and the North Tonawanda plant becomes the flagship of the Wurlitzer factories, with 3,000 employees. After his death in 1972, jukebox and organ production are phased out, leaving 200 employees in 1974. By 1975, all manufacturing at the North Tonawanda plant is stopped, and by August 1976, all company activities are removed to other locations.
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Wurlitzer alternate front, photo (THS P-5846, 1912).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1912
factory
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/56cb0442fafb4609b51f22f7927db0c8.jpg
d494f871f9ed03a7563f575489b51195
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Avondale / Oliver Theater (358 Oliver)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" alt="Avondale Theatre as it appeared in 1924. Sketch by Dennis Reed Jr." src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/69.jpg" /><span class="cover-caption">Avondale Theatre as it appeared in 1924 (Dennis Reed Jr) </span> <b>The southwest corner of Robinson and Oliver Streets—now an empty lot—was formerly occupied by a silent film theater in 1910, an evangelical center in the 50s, and a concert hall in the 80s before being demolished.</b><br /><br /><strong>Oliver Theater</strong> (1910-1921)<br /><br />The Oliver Theater opens its doors to the silent film-hungry public on November 3rd, 1910. It is operated by one Henry Klinger of Wheatfield Street (formerly of Buffalo). It boasts a capacity of 500 seats, modern electric lighting and ventilation, and is "sanitarily perfect." It exhibits the latest pictures, three each evening, and a Saturday matinee for a 5 cent admission.<br /><br />In those more religious times, "blue laws" forbid certain kinds of work and the sale of alcohol on Sundays. Klinger battles with local authorities to permit the auditorium to be open to the public on Sundays, pointing out that other cities do. "Why, some of the churches in Lockport are showing pictures on Sundays, so I don't see why they should be considered so immoral in North Tonawanda," <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/2272">he says</a> in a 1913 interview.<br /><br />But Mayor B. L. Rand will not budge. Klinger takes the fight to the courts. In July of 1915 a Lockport judge <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/2273">rules against</a> the mayor, opening the way to Sunday picture shows.<br /><br />At some point Klinger sells "the house to Snyder and Zimmerman of Buffalo" but buys it back from them around July 1921 with a plan to "remodel the theater and increase its seating capacity" (from <a href="http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/28609">cinematreasures.org</a>).<br /><br />A public contest is held to rename the theater. Grocery store owner George Roggow wins the $10 prize with his romantic entry, "Avondale." He claims he <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/3338">read the name</a> from the tag inside his shirt.<br /><br /><strong>The Avondale Theater</strong> (1921-1955)<br /><br />The newly christened theater re-opens on September 1, 1921. L. E. Bargar is manager. At his request, he is appointed as a "special police officer," serving without pay but with the authority to make arrests. In January, 1922, Wurlitzer installs a cutting-edge Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra with a $2.5K price tag. It debuts in February, the same month early silent film actor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Walker">Lillian Walker</a> (aka "Dimples") visits the theater in person, and speaks from the stage at each performance.<br /><br />Apparently some vaudeville is presented at the Avondale among the films. On June 17, 1922 the NEWS reports the Great Abdiz, the Man with the Iron Jaw, and Bryson appear in an Arabian juggling act.<br /><br />In October 1924, L. E. Barger resigns as manager. He is said to have been in the picture business for 22 years. In 1925, manager James. J. Kelly gets Duo-Art Films of Rochester to produce a "civic review" of the Tonawandas in pictures. Kelly becomes manager of the newly opened Riviera Theatre in 1926.<br /><br />Daniel A. North is a longtime owner and operator, with a two-year absence between 1936 and 1938. The Avondale is still showing pictures as late as 1955, but is put up for sale in 1956.<br /><br /><strong>Evangelistic Center of the Tonawandas</strong> (1956-1979)<br /><br />In 1956, the building is purchased by Italian Pentecostals at the Christian Tabernacle who have outgrown their modest church on 195 Schenck Street, and have been renting the Avondale. After extensive remodeling, the old theater is renamed the Assembly of God Evangelistic Center of the Tonawandas. Pastor Cooper's parsonage was at 11 16th Avenue until 1960.<br /><br />The first services are held on November 4, 1956. It appears to have been a lively era, as scores if not hundreds of touring speakers and religious musical acts appear in ads in the News over the following two decades.<br /><br />In 1979, the Abundant Life Assembly of God <a href="https://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=https%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252011%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%25201979%2520%2520Grayscale%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%25201979%2520%2520Grayscale%2520-%25201795.pdf%23xml%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FdtSearch%2Fdtisapi6.dll%3Fcmd%3Dgetpdfhits%26u%3De67711b%26DocId%3D2254257%26Index%3DZ%253a%255cDISK%2520U%26HitCount%3D23%26hits%3D1f%2B71%2B1a6%2B22e%2B2ff%2B335%2B428%2B583%2B58a%2B5cb%2B5d6%2B5dd%2B5e6%2B5e9%2B621%2B62c%2B669%2B715%2B771%2B7e2%2B841%2B846%2B84d%2B%26SearchForm%3D%252fFulton%255fform%252ehtml%26.pdf&uri=https%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252011%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%25201979%2520%2520Grayscale%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%25201979%2520%2520Grayscale%2520-%25201795.pdf&xml=https%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FdtSearch%2Fdtisapi6.dll%3Fcmd%3Dgetpdfhits%26u%3De67711b%26DocId%3D2254257%26Index%3DZ%253a%255cDISK%2520U%26HitCount%3D23%26hits%3D1f%2B71%2B1a6%2B22e%2B2ff%2B335%2B428%2B583%2B58a%2B5cb%2B5d6%2B5dd%2B5e6%2B5e9%2B621%2B62c%2B669%2B715%2B771%2B7e2%2B841%2B846%2B84d%2B%26SearchForm%3D%252fFulton%255fform%252ehtml%26.pdf&openFirstHlPage=false">sell the building and move to new quarters</a> at 1001 East Robinson in North Tonawanda. They owned the land since 1967, and have tent revivals there. In 2009 <span>Abundant Life <a href="https://buffalonews.com/news/congregation-reaps-what-it-sows-with-its-first-public-services/article_53270053-59e1-59d2-a1c3-47121a1b4863.html">is closed</a> "because of a dwindling congregation."</span><br /><br /><strong>Final years<br /></strong><br />By December 1979 the "Oliver Auction House" <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/3346">is doing business</a> at that address.<br /><br />The theater enjoys a final act in the mid 1980s as the "Avondale Ballroom," featuring live musical performances. It opens in April 1985, and is run by Dennis Lasky (who also conducted the auction house operation).<br /><br />The theater is razed in the late 1980s.
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Avondale baseball team active 1910-1915, photo (c. 1910).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1912
baseball
person
sports
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North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory (1893-1903)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/24d.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory, 1893 (colorized by webmaster)" /><span class="cover-caption">Nucleus of Wurlitzer: The North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory in 1893. It still stands in 2023.</span>
<p class="intro">The first of its kind in America, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory makes automatic musical instruments to provide music for Allan Herschell's world-famous carousels. Led by the fiery Prussian gentleman-genius Eugene de Kleist, the firm survives an early national Depression to succeed beyond its wildest expectations with the help of a musical family from Ohio named the "Wurlitzers."</p>
<div class="img-caption-container"><img src="http://nthistory.com/files/square_thumbnails/cc9e0bcd6b738bbe4ed82bac5ef50e91.jpg" alt="Image description" />
<div class="caption">De Kleist band organ, c.1900.</div>
</div>
<b>Portable music of another era<br /><br /></b>Before the phonograph and radio, the next best thing to a live orchestra or marching band is a "band organ" or "orchestrion." Essentially giant music boxes with drums, pipe organs, brass horns and more, these devices are popular in Europe for centuries before being produced in the New World in 1893 with the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory. <br /><br />The factory is built in the spring of 1893 by local merry-go-round makers the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/73">Armitage-Herschell Company</a> in the Sawyer's Creek / Martinsville area in the northeast of the recently incorporated City of North Tonawanda. To oversee operations, Armitage-Herschell recruits a German organ maker from London with whom they have been acquainted: the talented <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">Eugene de Kleist</a>. With a small crew of workers culled from England and the surrounding Martinsville farms, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory also makes organs for churches, offers repairs on existing organs, and makes the pinned barrels that contain the music the organs play. After about a year, Armitage-Herschell sign ownership of the enterprise over to their capable superintendent.<br /><br /><strong>Meet the Wurlitzers</strong><br /><br />Business is middling until 1897, when de Kleist meets a decades-old musical retail concern from Cincinnati that will prove a valuable partner: the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company. The story goes that de Kleist was looking to interest the U. S. Army in buying his bugles, which were made as part of many of his band organs. de Kleist is told that the Wurlitzer company already has that business, so he approaches Wurlitzer, and is able to sell them some of his bugles. He also tries to interest Wurlitzer in his band organs, but they ask if he coud instead produce a coin-operated piano for use in taverns and restaurants. After over a year in development, the first "Tonophones" are ready in 1898, and are an immediate success. (Hear <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/1023">Farny Wurlitzer</a> tell this story himself <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5dXbpPM7T0&t=5m29s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in this remarkable speech from 1964</a>).<br /><br />Similiar instruments, such as the Pianino, follow, and the small factory begins to grow, and over the next few years establishes the northwest corner of the massive Wurlitzer plant still standing in North Tonawanda today.
<p><strong>The de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</strong></p>
In 1903, the Barrel Organ Factory incorporates as the de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company, with investment from banker James Thompson and some new top brass. Wurlitzer's interest in the North Tonawanda plant increases as Eugene de Kleist's seems to wane (<a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">see de Kleist's bio</a> for more on this). In 1905 a group of workers leaves to form the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>; within a year another wave of defectors forms the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/10">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works</a>. <br /><br />1908 begins auspiciously: in January, de Kleist (now mayor of North Tonawanda) lavishly fetes 700 employees and their families in the new music department building. His superintendent, Paul Von Rohl, delivers a speech in his honor, and they dance and carouse until morning light begins filtering over Sawyer's Creek.<br /><br />The following months will not be as good. de Kleist files a $50,000 infringement lawsuit against the aforementioned Instrument Works, but loses. In March, he leaves the aforementioned Paul Von Rohl in charge of the factory while he is off racing powerboats in Florida. de Kleist returns to suspect there has been rampant theft in his absence, and brings charges of grand larceny against Von Rohl, which are dropped, replaced by petit larceny charges, and then found unproved by a jury. In April, Mayor de Kleist accuses eight employees of stealing valuable machinery and plans from his factory, and of conspiring to start another rival factory. The summer brings more powerboating and politicking.<br /><br />Perhaps fearing for the security of their investment, Wurlitzer buys Eugene de Kleist out. <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/52">The Rudolph Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company</a> is organized in December of 1908 with $1,000,000 capital.
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Eugene de Kleist's Berlin apartment, Kurfürstendamm street, photo set (c1913).jpg
Date
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1913
Description
An account of the resource
Contributed by a de Kleist descendant.
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/15f0ce32c4b92c20749c1da6ddd3f525.jpg
9a23caf9b629b1bf4512d29c1e210aa0
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North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/10.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works, colorized by the webmaster." /> <span class="cover-caption">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works factory at 435 Payne Avenue, c1913; photo colorized by the webmaster.</span>
<div>(1906-1919) The North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works produces military band organs, player pianos, organs for (still silent) "moving picture" theaters and more. The factory is the third automatic musical instrument manufacturer in the city, starting about a year after the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>. Like Niagara, NTMIW is partially comprised of men who have worked with <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist's Musical Instrument Works</a> (president John Birnie had been secretary-treasurer for de Kleist). <br /><br />According to an article in this set, NTMIW originally operates out of "the Williams plant on the Ellicott Creek." They incorporate in 1906, and in the second half of 1907 build a substantial four-story factory. In 1911 that factory is tripled (articles suggest the work is not completed until early 1912). Although larger than Niagara, NTMIW will always be a distant second behind de Kleist and Wurlitzer. In 1918, NTMIW is acquired by the Rand Visible Records Company. Rand continues the musical manufacturing business, and the former NTMIW leadership at first sticks around. Rand's press officers kick into high gear, founding a monthly internal company magazine, <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1192"><em>All of Us</em></a>, apparently aimed at easing the culture change. In spite of this gesture, NTMIW founding officer Stillman C. Woodruff and others leave Rand--and the bones of their former company--around 1920 to try their hand at the band organ game one last time with their <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/22">Artizan Factories Inc.</a> venture in 1922.</div>
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North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works, organ and truck, photo (c1913).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1913
automobile
organ
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/af93704fe2f2ffb861380766046309d4.jpg
89d12a5a1c97b22fed4a3d3e5fa19d3f
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North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/10.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works, colorized by the webmaster." /> <span class="cover-caption">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works factory at 435 Payne Avenue, c1913; photo colorized by the webmaster.</span>
<div>(1906-1919) The North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works produces military band organs, player pianos, organs for (still silent) "moving picture" theaters and more. The factory is the third automatic musical instrument manufacturer in the city, starting about a year after the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>. Like Niagara, NTMIW is partially comprised of men who have worked with <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist's Musical Instrument Works</a> (president John Birnie had been secretary-treasurer for de Kleist). <br /><br />According to an article in this set, NTMIW originally operates out of "the Williams plant on the Ellicott Creek." They incorporate in 1906, and in the second half of 1907 build a substantial four-story factory. In 1911 that factory is tripled (articles suggest the work is not completed until early 1912). Although larger than Niagara, NTMIW will always be a distant second behind de Kleist and Wurlitzer. In 1918, NTMIW is acquired by the Rand Visible Records Company. Rand continues the musical manufacturing business, and the former NTMIW leadership at first sticks around. Rand's press officers kick into high gear, founding a monthly internal company magazine, <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1192"><em>All of Us</em></a>, apparently aimed at easing the culture change. In spite of this gesture, NTMIW founding officer Stillman C. Woodruff and others leave Rand--and the bones of their former company--around 1920 to try their hand at the band organ game one last time with their <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/22">Artizan Factories Inc.</a> venture in 1922.</div>
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North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works factory, colorized photo (Automatic Military Bands, c1913).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1913
factory
trolley
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/d426c2e7a065d32315d211074adabaad.jpg
3387b52e4471af763eebfb0bf8047b58
Dublin Core
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Title
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North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/10.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works, colorized by the webmaster." /> <span class="cover-caption">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works factory at 435 Payne Avenue, c1913; photo colorized by the webmaster.</span>
<div>(1906-1919) The North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works produces military band organs, player pianos, organs for (still silent) "moving picture" theaters and more. The factory is the third automatic musical instrument manufacturer in the city, starting about a year after the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>. Like Niagara, NTMIW is partially comprised of men who have worked with <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist's Musical Instrument Works</a> (president John Birnie had been secretary-treasurer for de Kleist). <br /><br />According to an article in this set, NTMIW originally operates out of "the Williams plant on the Ellicott Creek." They incorporate in 1906, and in the second half of 1907 build a substantial four-story factory. In 1911 that factory is tripled (articles suggest the work is not completed until early 1912). Although larger than Niagara, NTMIW will always be a distant second behind de Kleist and Wurlitzer. In 1918, NTMIW is acquired by the Rand Visible Records Company. Rand continues the musical manufacturing business, and the former NTMIW leadership at first sticks around. Rand's press officers kick into high gear, founding a monthly internal company magazine, <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1192"><em>All of Us</em></a>, apparently aimed at easing the culture change. In spite of this gesture, NTMIW founding officer Stillman C. Woodruff and others leave Rand--and the bones of their former company--around 1920 to try their hand at the band organ game one last time with their <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/22">Artizan Factories Inc.</a> venture in 1922.</div>
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North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works factory, horse-drawn cart, photo (c1913).jpg
Date
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1913
Source
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<a href="http://www.tonawandashistory.org">Historical Society of the Tonawandas</a>
factory
horse
person
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Scenic Family Theatre (40 Webster)
Description
An account of the resource
In a 1913 map, the theater is shown in the north half of the Fowler Block, at the southwest corner of Webster and Tremont, or 40 Webster: though a later article suggests the theater occupied 38 or perhaps even further south.
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Princess Suzanne, souvenir photo for Scenic Family Theatre and related notices (c.1913).JPG
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1913
Description
An account of the resource
A vaudeville curiosity, this small wire-walker is purported to hail from Hungary and tours (at least) upstate New York in the early 1900s. Appears in papers as early as 1909, described as "bright and interesting," "The Royal Doll Lady," "The Tiniest Star in Vaudeville," "highly educated and cultured," an "actress," "perfectly formed," "32 inches tall" and "34 pounds." In 1911 Billboard calls her the "Human Atom," touting "character change, singing and tight wire novelty act" with a "beautiful wardrobe" who was just finishing a tour of the "Pacific Coast." A 1930 Billboard item under "Sparks Circus" notes that she went in a big seaplane at Pensacola. By 1938 the Forest Parkway Leader-Observer lists her in a little person program as "the butterfly dancer."
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/5b462b1e3326de2895e150f60f01a4df.jpeg
56b8e5284f6239e139afb35dbbcb193a
Photo
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Hungarian group, Emily Borko far left, Wittkowsky photo (HST, c.1913).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1913
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/c6528105e189e783ff2d1bd2a69c854c.jpeg
ef247763a8938e7f2068d8429690f3d2
https://nthistory.com/files/original/b4913711afda1cd58ee1b7faaa325025.jpeg
eacb3d1271149f49fef491d5e61b38b3
Photo
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Hungarian group, funeral, Wittkowsky photo (HST, c.1913).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
Location unknown, presumed Tonawandas.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1913
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/d01909a99e4f62770edc79ff31d33fa4.jpg
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Title
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North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/10.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works, colorized by the webmaster." /> <span class="cover-caption">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works factory at 435 Payne Avenue, c1913; photo colorized by the webmaster.</span>
<div>(1906-1919) The North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works produces military band organs, player pianos, organs for (still silent) "moving picture" theaters and more. The factory is the third automatic musical instrument manufacturer in the city, starting about a year after the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>. Like Niagara, NTMIW is partially comprised of men who have worked with <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist's Musical Instrument Works</a> (president John Birnie had been secretary-treasurer for de Kleist). <br /><br />According to an article in this set, NTMIW originally operates out of "the Williams plant on the Ellicott Creek." They incorporate in 1906, and in the second half of 1907 build a substantial four-story factory. In 1911 that factory is tripled (articles suggest the work is not completed until early 1912). Although larger than Niagara, NTMIW will always be a distant second behind de Kleist and Wurlitzer. In 1918, NTMIW is acquired by the Rand Visible Records Company. Rand continues the musical manufacturing business, and the former NTMIW leadership at first sticks around. Rand's press officers kick into high gear, founding a monthly internal company magazine, <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1192"><em>All of Us</em></a>, apparently aimed at easing the culture change. In spite of this gesture, NTMIW founding officer Stillman C. Woodruff and others leave Rand--and the bones of their former company--around 1920 to try their hand at the band organ game one last time with their <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/22">Artizan Factories Inc.</a> venture in 1922.</div>
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Title
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North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works employees, photo (HST 1913-05-03).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1913-05-03
factory
labor
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/96d0273bb5033eb3dbf8cd56089350f6.jpg
fe8bfd421052012ce4c58c088ed5ee53
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Felton High School and Grammar School
Description
An account of the resource
Built in 1901, the visually striking Felton High School once stretched along Thompson Street between Bryant and Falconer streets. It was named after local leader <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/650">Benjamin F. Felton</a>, who was<span> president of North Tonawanda's Board of Education for 30 years. The building </span>would later be used as a grammar school. Although demolished in 1969, it is not entirely forgotten: we still call the field across Payne Avenue (which was a N.Y. Central train yard and later in 1919 the site of NT's first public playground) "Felton Field."
Photo
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North Tonawanda High School, Felton, photo (1913-12 Tonawanda News).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1913-12
school
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/7200be93af4bd5211711f1102c27871b.jpg
8822213c4d7ba916cc12b86efb6f6bd3
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Title
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North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/10.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works, colorized by the webmaster." /> <span class="cover-caption">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works factory at 435 Payne Avenue, c1913; photo colorized by the webmaster.</span>
<div>(1906-1919) The North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works produces military band organs, player pianos, organs for (still silent) "moving picture" theaters and more. The factory is the third automatic musical instrument manufacturer in the city, starting about a year after the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>. Like Niagara, NTMIW is partially comprised of men who have worked with <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist's Musical Instrument Works</a> (president John Birnie had been secretary-treasurer for de Kleist). <br /><br />According to an article in this set, NTMIW originally operates out of "the Williams plant on the Ellicott Creek." They incorporate in 1906, and in the second half of 1907 build a substantial four-story factory. In 1911 that factory is tripled (articles suggest the work is not completed until early 1912). Although larger than Niagara, NTMIW will always be a distant second behind de Kleist and Wurlitzer. In 1918, NTMIW is acquired by the Rand Visible Records Company. Rand continues the musical manufacturing business, and the former NTMIW leadership at first sticks around. Rand's press officers kick into high gear, founding a monthly internal company magazine, <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1192"><em>All of Us</em></a>, apparently aimed at easing the culture change. In spite of this gesture, NTMIW founding officer Stillman C. Woodruff and others leave Rand--and the bones of their former company--around 1920 to try their hand at the band organ game one last time with their <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/22">Artizan Factories Inc.</a> venture in 1922.</div>
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North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works, photo (HST p1904 c1914).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1914
factory
labor
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/0cd792f62c5ba72bc999a269fa57ca15.jpg
a657660c776336eb8ba0b2ab8a23afd8
https://nthistory.com/files/original/2523e0bd0bf30f709886a366f9741638.jpg
c6e35815bcb4d12801bc8043941fcaa4
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Title
A name given to the resource
Martinsville
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/56.jpg" alt="Postcard view looking north up Old Falld Blvd" /><span class="cover-caption">Old Falls Boulevard, looking north from Lockport Ave. to Niagara Falls Blvd. Postcard detail, c.1900.</span> The northeast part of North Tonawanda known as "Martinsville" is named after the father of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther. It is settled by German Lutheran farmers, beginning around 1843. They settled in narrow farms along the west bank of Tonawanda Creek. As the area developed, a "downtown" emerged along William Street, present-day Old Falls Blvd, near Lockport Rd. (pictured above). The village boasted its own post office, stores and places of entertainment. <br /><br />Most of Martinsville was incorporated into the then-booming City of North Tonawanda in 1897. The sections of Martinsville east of present-day Old Falls and Niagara Falls boulevards are considered part of Wheatfield.<br /><br />The real estate transaction that brought many of the settlers to the area, its early growth, and the contentious religious devotion of its people are described in <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/606"><em>History of Niagara County 1821-1878</em></a>:
<blockquote>In 1843 Carl Sack, Erdman Wurl and Fred Grosskopf purchased of William Vandervoote 400 acres, at $15 per acre, on the Tonawanda creek, in the southeast corner of the town, four miles east of Tonawanda village, in what is now known as the village of Martinsville. Lutheran religious antecedents caused the adoption of this name by the disciples of Martin Luther. The original purchase was divided into small lots of three acres and up- ward, as others were able to purchase, to provide for the location of thirty families the first season. They erected ten log houses in the autumn, each of which was occupied by three or four families during the winter and until joint efforts relieved the immigrants by building others. The families remained in Buffalo until the first houses were built, obtaining the best accommodations they could find. Forbidding as the prospect in the beginning must have been, it has been changed to the appearance of prosperity. The church organization is the controlling element in the government of the community, now consisting of one hundred families, connected with the two now existing, the result of divided feeling, but not an abandonment of the Lutheran faith.</blockquote>
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Erie Canal looking South, Martinsville, Buschs Bridge, photo (1914).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1914
bridge
canal
martinsville
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/8d9a21863f3e808157dabb84b6aeb434.jpg
4ec61fc0a0329d8d01079b32f977706b
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Title
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Tonawanda Iron and Steel
Description
An account of the resource
You wouldn't know it from the site today, but the massive plant of the Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company once occupied all the land along the Niagara River from Wheatfield Street to present-day Fisherman's Park. <br /><br />Iron is first produced on this site in 1872 by the Niagara Furnace Company. After about a year, production stops. In 1889, Tonawanda Iron & Steel buys and modernizes the plant. President McKinley fires up its mighty Furnace B with great ceremony and the flip of a switch from his home in Ohio in 1895. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />By 2017, the site has been cleared and converted into a small medical park and Fisherman's Park.
Source
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"Tonawanda Iron Corp., Is One of Largest Manufacturers of Pig Iron." Tonawanda News, 1929 (in this collection).
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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/01a013a0287b6f9326eaf33bcdd01448.jpg
804d6d3bc3821c2e5b53a10be836414a
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Title
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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: <em><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></em> by W. R. Wilbur
Photo
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Works of the Buffalo Bolt Company, photo (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
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/56535e3ba90569a72b24e57dfeb8510f.jpg
cec8217baae42c424d126c35d677411f
Dublin Core
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Tonawanda Power Company (435 Robinson)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/37.jpg" alt="National Grid transformer station in 2023. Photo by Dennis Reed Jr." /> <span class="cover-caption">National Grid transformer station in 2023. Photo by Dennis Reed Jr.</span><strong>First located on Tonawanda Island</strong><br /><br />Around 1889, what would be come the Tonawanda Power Company (Tonawanda & Wheatfield Electric Light company) supplied electricity to NT from a small steam unit on Tonawanda Island, fed by wood shavings from the Doebler Planing Mill. Their office was at the northeast corner of Main and Goundry in an old frame building. Arc lights on a few streets were run. A few "daring" homes and businesses ran its power.<br /><br /><strong>Electrifying Buffalo-Niagara</strong><br /><br />In late 1895, The Niagara Falls Power Company builds a long-distance power line (mostly along the Old Mile Reserve) from Niagara Falls to Buffalo, the first of its kind in the world. It is operational by November 1896.<br /><br />The long distance line uses Nikolai Tesla's breakthrough alternating current (AC) transmitted at high voltages, which could travel with minimal loss. A ‘transformer house’ like the one established on Robinson street would step down (transform) some of the high voltage lines to more manageable and safer levels for local distribution. Other lines passing through this North Tonawanda substation continued at high voltage to Buffalo and Lockport, to be stepped down at other transformer houses before being used locally. Much of the line followed a right of way established by the old New York State Mile Reserve, a mile east of the Niagara River.<br /><br /><strong>Former switching tower<br /><br /></strong>Where the new park is now, on the Twin City Highway side, was once a two-story “switching tower” connected to the transformer house. Added around 1902, this tower was actually owned by the Niagara Falls Power company. It helped engineers manage and troubleshoot defects in the multiplying lines. Most of the high voltage lines carrying electricity from the massive turbines at Niagara Falls ran into this tower. <br /><br /><strong>Halloween disaster</strong><br /><br />In 1920, a horrific explosion kills 13 men early Halloween morning. An NT fire chief <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Safety_Maintenance_Production/Njw6AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Superintendent+Albert+S.+Allen+tonawanda&pg=PA221&printsec=frontcover">alleges the work was rushed</a> in <em>Safety News and Comment</em>. The January 1921 <em>Safety Bulletin</em> <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Safety_Bulletin/XwkUAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=tonawanda+power+substation+tower&pg=RA24-PA2&printsec=frontcover">provides more context and details</a> (a storm and wind outside) and a photo of the ruined second floor of the switching tower. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/State_of_New_York_Supreme_Court_Appellat/-NBRpQpR-lwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=tonawanda+power+substation+tower&pg=RA3-PA17&printsec=frontcover">Rose Derby's suit</a>. Superintendent Frank S. Wahl's (and others!) testimony in <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/New_York_Court_of_Appeals_Records_and_Br/wU3z2XtqKz8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=tonawanda+power+substation+tower&pg=PA178&printsec=frontcover">Yates's survivor's suit provides</a> more tower details, tower role, and what he saw on the scene (where the dead were found).<br /><br />In 1925 they become "associated with" Buffalo General Electric, Niagara Falls Power Co. and others. <br /><br />In 1929, they open a new headquarters on Sweeney and Webster, today Buffalo Suzuki Strings.<br /><br />The Robinson street transformer house and environs is now owned and operated by National Grid.
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Title
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Powerhouse - Niagara Falls Power Co.. illustration (Greater Buffalo NY Undustrial Commercial, 1914).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
The architecture in these Niagara Falls buildings is echoed by the Robinson Street power house in North Tonawanda.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1914
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/44594e0a3feb4b0544535442ee286523.png
f9f00dcfa64062de7db5ab813578911e
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Title
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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" /><span class="cover-caption">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>.</span> 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />As the forests of the midwest were depleted and shipping routes and technology changed, the lumber heyday of the Tonawandas receded into the past.
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Birds-Eye View of the Tonawandas, Showing Portions of Lumber Interests, photo (Greater Buffalo NY Industrial Commercial, 1914).png
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1914
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/0f708a95a6f64225b762681e4f7c27a3.jpg
f8cd8a563a29ee1682c8553f8093aba9
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Title
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Tonawanda Iron and Steel
Description
An account of the resource
You wouldn't know it from the site today, but the massive plant of the Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company once occupied all the land along the Niagara River from Wheatfield Street to present-day Fisherman's Park. <br /><br />Iron is first produced on this site in 1872 by the Niagara Furnace Company. After about a year, production stops. In 1889, Tonawanda Iron & Steel buys and modernizes the plant. President McKinley fires up its mighty Furnace B with great ceremony and the flip of a switch from his home in Ohio in 1895. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />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).
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Tonawanda Iron and Steel, photos (Greater Buffalo NY Industrial Commercial, 1914).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1914
factory
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/2467a9fe2aa8e0a3ffbd55102ef977b7.jpg
43d0f775b6076dddfe8e8b92eb27bbe8
https://nthistory.com/files/original/991494d08214d8c3cc2d3afae36802dd.jpg
825f739ce2dacf906b7371def7faa593
https://nthistory.com/files/original/b37cf4f58ae88aa1ac570466428c7df8.jpg
4a862e565a1776b66b7139ae0cedc488
Photo
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Bach's Cornet Band, N. Tonawanda, photo (1914).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1914
Description
An account of the resource
According to the 1973 Flashback item, this 1914 photo shows Bach's Cornet Band "standing in front of the restaurant and saloon formerly operated by Julius Bach at Schenck and Bryant Streets." Others identified include Michael Lawlor, Herman Miller, Ed Kowsky and William Runde Jr.
In 1894, Julius Bach is moved to take out ads in local papers advising "All persons are hereby notified not to trust my son, Ferdinand Bach, as I will pay no debts contracted by him."
music
person
-
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Title
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Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company
Source
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<em>Wurlitzer: 100 Years of Musical Achievement</em>. Rudolph Wurlitzer Company. Chicago, Illinois. 1956.
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/52.jpg" alt="The signature tower of the North Tonawanda plant and occasional headquarters." /> <span class="cover-caption">The signature tower of the North Tonawanda plant and occasional headquarters. Postcard, c.1940.</span> <span style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.7em;">Its iconic tower has presided over Sawyer's Creek and Martinsville for almost 100 years. The sprawling industrial campus left behind by the world-famous Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company produced merry-go-round organs, band organs, church organs, theater organs and jukeboxes that have left an indelible mark on the world, and on generations of North Tonawandans. </span><br /><br />Wurlitzer founder Rudolph Wurlitzer (1831-1914) was a German immigrant who (after stops in New Jersey and Philadelphia) landed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1854 at the age of 23. He worked for a bank, and down the street was a musical retail store. His father, Christian, was a successful music retailer in Germany, and Rudolph's experience told him the Ohio store's instruments were of poor quality, and priced too high. In 1856 he begins importing quality musical instruments from his family in Germany to sell at a profit in American retail stores. The business grows; Wurlitzer begins making instruments themselves for the U. S. military and for retail. The company branches out into "automatic" musical instruments, such as music boxes and player-pianos. Rudolph's three sons, Howard, Rudolph H., and Farny become involved along the way, and take on aspects of the growing family business.<br /><br />The youngest son, Farny, is sent to North Tonawanda to run the former <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist Musical Instrument Mfg. Co.</a> shortly after it is purchased by Wurlitzer in 1908. (de Kleist was building player pianos and band organs for Wurlitzer and others since 1893). Farny brings eccentric English inventor Robert Hope-Jones to the plant in 1910, initiating the worldwide success of the "Mighty Wurlitzer" theater organ, which provides sound for the silent films of the day, and entertainment in its own right. This business evaporates when sound comes to movies, and electrical sound amplification permits musical entertainment to be furnished to venues of all types much less expensively. <br /><br />When the Wurlitzer company finds itself overextended in the wake of the Great Depression, Farny fights to keep the North Tonawanda facility open. In 1934 he strikes a deal with Homer Capehart to manufacture his automatic phonograph, which becomes the iconic Wurlitzer jukebox. Under his leadership the company also produces a successful line of electronic organs for home use, and the North Tonawanda plant becomes the flagship of the Wurlitzer factories, with 3,000 employees. After his death in 1972, jukebox and organ production are phased out, leaving 200 employees in 1974. By 1975, all manufacturing at the North Tonawanda plant is stopped, and by August 1976, all company activities are removed to other locations.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Wurlitzer Unit Orchestra Photo Album (Vestal Press reprint, c1975).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1914
collection
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ecc24bc7eebc95a2f4f01dbd0984ed33.jpg
5f32da7854fdc2bcb14fcecc96fc754e
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
B. P. O. Elks Lodge 860 (Sweeney and Main)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="https://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/77.jpg" alt="BPOE building" /> <span class="cover-caption">The Elks Club home c1920–2011; northeast corner of Main and Sweeney.</span>The North Tonawanda chapter of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks organizes around 1903. Early on they meet in the State National Bank building on Webster and Sweeney. By about 1920 they secure their own large red brick building at the corner of Main and Sweeney. In December 2011, this building is <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1247">destroyed by fire</a>. The fraternal organization now operates out of somewhat <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1249">humbler quarters</a> in Tonawanda. You may wish to drop in on their Facebook page, whose name bears eloquent witness of their exile to Main Street, Tonawanda: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BpoElksLodge860/"><span>Twin Cities Lodge # 860 formerly known as North Tonawanda Lodge</span></a>.<br /><br />The national B. P. O. Elks is founded by English comic actor Charles Vivian in New York City in 1868. According to their <a href="http://www.elks.org/history/stories.cfm">website</a>:
<blockquote>It All Began With the Jolly Corks. Starting as as a group of actors and entertainers bent on having fun AND avoiding a New York Excise tax in 1867 (Sundays were the ‘dry’ day), this convivial group called themselves the Jolly Corks (for a clever trick with corks they performed on the uninitiated to win rounds of drinks). That same year as membership grew, some members saw the vision to become more helpful in the community. Alas, two feuding factions split the group over different philosophies. Fortunately, the latter faction moved forward with their new ideals and in February of 1868, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was chartered–and with a great new spirit and direction, began to help Veterans, Scouting, Scholarships and more–wherever Charity, Justice and Brotherly Love were needed!</blockquote>
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
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Title
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Elks Lodge 860 ladies on truck in Niagara Falls parade, photo (Buffalo Courier, 1914-06-21).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1914-06-21
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/64bedc96bbd26d5d133d8b32ede3f7a4.jpg
9aa615f3096e3758e23f43f9fd273952
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
B. P. O. Elks Lodge 860 (Sweeney and Main)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="https://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/77.jpg" alt="BPOE building" /> <span class="cover-caption">The Elks Club home c1920–2011; northeast corner of Main and Sweeney.</span>The North Tonawanda chapter of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks organizes around 1903. Early on they meet in the State National Bank building on Webster and Sweeney. By about 1920 they secure their own large red brick building at the corner of Main and Sweeney. In December 2011, this building is <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1247">destroyed by fire</a>. The fraternal organization now operates out of somewhat <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1249">humbler quarters</a> in Tonawanda. You may wish to drop in on their Facebook page, whose name bears eloquent witness of their exile to Main Street, Tonawanda: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BpoElksLodge860/"><span>Twin Cities Lodge # 860 formerly known as North Tonawanda Lodge</span></a>.<br /><br />The national B. P. O. Elks is founded by English comic actor Charles Vivian in New York City in 1868. According to their <a href="http://www.elks.org/history/stories.cfm">website</a>:
<blockquote>It All Began With the Jolly Corks. Starting as as a group of actors and entertainers bent on having fun AND avoiding a New York Excise tax in 1867 (Sundays were the ‘dry’ day), this convivial group called themselves the Jolly Corks (for a clever trick with corks they performed on the uninitiated to win rounds of drinks). That same year as membership grew, some members saw the vision to become more helpful in the community. Alas, two feuding factions split the group over different philosophies. Fortunately, the latter faction moved forward with their new ideals and in February of 1868, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was chartered–and with a great new spirit and direction, began to help Veterans, Scouting, Scholarships and more–wherever Charity, Justice and Brotherly Love were needed!</blockquote>
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Elks Lodge 860 make creditable showing in Niagara Falls parade, photo (Buffalo Courier, 1914-06-21).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1914-06-21
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/f233524ba766ed5da8d6fcc8e2844b65.jpg
738b002ff3aaaed0314e960c2be44a6f
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Friedens Church, Ghostlight Theatre (170 Schenck)
Description
An account of the resource
The current Ghostlight Theatre, as living memory will inform many residents and casual observation will inform the rest, began as a church. From <a href="https://www.starrynighttheatre.com/about">Starry Night Theatre's website</a>: <br /><br />
<blockquote>On a rainy Halloween in 1889, the cornerstone was laid for the Evangelical Friedens Church of North Tonawanda at the corner of Schenck and Vandervoort Streets. On September 1, 1890, the Church was completed. Designed by George Fischer of the Gombert & Thompson Company, the church featured an 80-foot steeple and could seat 400. The bell, purchased from the First Presbyterian Church of Buffalo, was cast by the Meenely Foundry in West Troy, New York in 1851. It weighs 2,800 pounds and the diameter at its mouth is 52 inches. In 1918, a Hope Jones organ, built by the Wurlitzer Company, was installed. In June 2000, the Frieden's United Church of Christ Congregation moved into their new home in Amherst.</blockquote>
Photo
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Former Friedens church, Vandervoort and Schenck, photo (c1915).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1915
Description
An account of the resource
Current Ghostlight Theatre. Today's Scalise's Deli at 158 Schenck St.
church
hd
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/5d5168ea78d10914c16b434978ff2f72.jpg
5166c9840785487ac2f40757792033e2
https://nthistory.com/files/original/619471c034d2cd15fcd6d618c4a48a6b.jpg
48f5a488d83b664c99bd1de9bc831978
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
Tussing family in a band, photo (1915).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1915
music
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/40bee2a88d0aeefb876ca0f13c3d321f.jpg
b0efbf6c8dcf5035cda492b836b7ce6e
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Herman P. Schroeder tavern (870 Oliver Street)
Description
An account of the resource
The son of a German immigrant, Herman P. Schroeder came to North Tonawanda in the mid-1890s in the employ of Buffalo Bolt. He first lives in Gratwick, and later moves to 870 Oliver Street (near the entrance to the Buffalo Bolt plant). He opens a tavern there about 1902, operating it until Prohibition. In the 1920s he opens an ice cream and candy store across from the Oliver / Avondale Theater at the corner of Robinson and Oliver.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
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Herman P. Schroeder saloon, 870 Oliver Street, photo (Kearns, Bille, c1915).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1915
avenues
photo
tavern
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/a4e0b1aad2d6d3fe0e01296c99841508.jpeg
ad25959643b0b34c9f32b83da48576ef
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<em>Wurlitzer: 100 Years of Musical Achievement</em>. Rudolph Wurlitzer Company. Chicago, Illinois. 1956.
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/52.jpg" alt="The signature tower of the North Tonawanda plant and occasional headquarters." /> <span class="cover-caption">The signature tower of the North Tonawanda plant and occasional headquarters. Postcard, c.1940.</span> <span style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.7em;">Its iconic tower has presided over Sawyer's Creek and Martinsville for almost 100 years. The sprawling industrial campus left behind by the world-famous Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company produced merry-go-round organs, band organs, church organs, theater organs and jukeboxes that have left an indelible mark on the world, and on generations of North Tonawandans. </span><br /><br />Wurlitzer founder Rudolph Wurlitzer (1831-1914) was a German immigrant who (after stops in New Jersey and Philadelphia) landed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1854 at the age of 23. He worked for a bank, and down the street was a musical retail store. His father, Christian, was a successful music retailer in Germany, and Rudolph's experience told him the Ohio store's instruments were of poor quality, and priced too high. In 1856 he begins importing quality musical instruments from his family in Germany to sell at a profit in American retail stores. The business grows; Wurlitzer begins making instruments themselves for the U. S. military and for retail. The company branches out into "automatic" musical instruments, such as music boxes and player-pianos. Rudolph's three sons, Howard, Rudolph H., and Farny become involved along the way, and take on aspects of the growing family business.<br /><br />The youngest son, Farny, is sent to North Tonawanda to run the former <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist Musical Instrument Mfg. Co.</a> shortly after it is purchased by Wurlitzer in 1908. (de Kleist was building player pianos and band organs for Wurlitzer and others since 1893). Farny brings eccentric English inventor Robert Hope-Jones to the plant in 1910, initiating the worldwide success of the "Mighty Wurlitzer" theater organ, which provides sound for the silent films of the day, and entertainment in its own right. This business evaporates when sound comes to movies, and electrical sound amplification permits musical entertainment to be furnished to venues of all types much less expensively. <br /><br />When the Wurlitzer company finds itself overextended in the wake of the Great Depression, Farny fights to keep the North Tonawanda facility open. In 1934 he strikes a deal with Homer Capehart to manufacture his automatic phonograph, which becomes the iconic Wurlitzer jukebox. Under his leadership the company also produces a successful line of electronic organs for home use, and the North Tonawanda plant becomes the flagship of the Wurlitzer factories, with 3,000 employees. After his death in 1972, jukebox and organ production are phased out, leaving 200 employees in 1974. By 1975, all manufacturing at the North Tonawanda plant is stopped, and by August 1976, all company activities are removed to other locations.
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
Hugo with player piano at Wurlitzer factory, photo (c.1915).jpeg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1915
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/8caddc761614a6211aff84306b778e0f.jpeg
526351dbeb905609e4f422ed1ab7992e
https://nthistory.com/files/original/27f7a9a7eefccf74c1f57884739ee861.jpeg
9a8b3ea2567075e9d3fd9a8cff0e19ea
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<em>Wurlitzer: 100 Years of Musical Achievement</em>. Rudolph Wurlitzer Company. Chicago, Illinois. 1956.
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/52.jpg" alt="The signature tower of the North Tonawanda plant and occasional headquarters." /> <span class="cover-caption">The signature tower of the North Tonawanda plant and occasional headquarters. Postcard, c.1940.</span> <span style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.7em;">Its iconic tower has presided over Sawyer's Creek and Martinsville for almost 100 years. The sprawling industrial campus left behind by the world-famous Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company produced merry-go-round organs, band organs, church organs, theater organs and jukeboxes that have left an indelible mark on the world, and on generations of North Tonawandans. </span><br /><br />Wurlitzer founder Rudolph Wurlitzer (1831-1914) was a German immigrant who (after stops in New Jersey and Philadelphia) landed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1854 at the age of 23. He worked for a bank, and down the street was a musical retail store. His father, Christian, was a successful music retailer in Germany, and Rudolph's experience told him the Ohio store's instruments were of poor quality, and priced too high. In 1856 he begins importing quality musical instruments from his family in Germany to sell at a profit in American retail stores. The business grows; Wurlitzer begins making instruments themselves for the U. S. military and for retail. The company branches out into "automatic" musical instruments, such as music boxes and player-pianos. Rudolph's three sons, Howard, Rudolph H., and Farny become involved along the way, and take on aspects of the growing family business.<br /><br />The youngest son, Farny, is sent to North Tonawanda to run the former <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist Musical Instrument Mfg. Co.</a> shortly after it is purchased by Wurlitzer in 1908. (de Kleist was building player pianos and band organs for Wurlitzer and others since 1893). Farny brings eccentric English inventor Robert Hope-Jones to the plant in 1910, initiating the worldwide success of the "Mighty Wurlitzer" theater organ, which provides sound for the silent films of the day, and entertainment in its own right. This business evaporates when sound comes to movies, and electrical sound amplification permits musical entertainment to be furnished to venues of all types much less expensively. <br /><br />When the Wurlitzer company finds itself overextended in the wake of the Great Depression, Farny fights to keep the North Tonawanda facility open. In 1934 he strikes a deal with Homer Capehart to manufacture his automatic phonograph, which becomes the iconic Wurlitzer jukebox. Under his leadership the company also produces a successful line of electronic organs for home use, and the North Tonawanda plant becomes the flagship of the Wurlitzer factories, with 3,000 employees. After his death in 1972, jukebox and organ production are phased out, leaving 200 employees in 1974. By 1975, all manufacturing at the North Tonawanda plant is stopped, and by August 1976, all company activities are removed to other locations.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Charles Douglas Miller with Wurlitzer player piano, photo (c.1915).jpeg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1915
person
wurlitzer
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/49ce30445fb2149d44e522e5c49a25c4.jpg
ad6cf28d685bcafb85e4af923b7c4932
Dublin Core
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Title
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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. In 1918 this 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
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Dublin Core
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Title
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Barge Canal Terminal at North Tonawanda, photo (1916).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1916
boat
bridge
canal
erie-canal
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/8f0007375977fd6b8987055d76f0fb0e.jpg
d98febb711cb72532104ed2688d04c5d
https://nthistory.com/files/original/72fdc2fa81686f19119af4e5365d306b.jpg
4f8b5182df3bae0c0ea32e9009fda388
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Ascension School, 1st Grade class photo (1916).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1916
children
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/5c925a708d61db6fb540fde4033a6d54.jpg
182b277a1ced3220eb79784886aed7ab
https://nthistory.com/files/original/aed7f688dfb820cf3616068ba430df2e.jpg
d956ffc24c3a862d085a379e9342e4f4
https://nthistory.com/files/original/5a498a4f071ffbaa9873a0445a7dddb9.jpg
cad84e3235ed5a3f9f69cdad17700d9a
https://nthistory.com/files/original/7aeb7a51d253e6c6e872e3feddc92d40.jpg
f3766d34f202982b88845c73a7a72ba9
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 & Niagara High Speed Line (1918-1937)
Description
An account of the resource
The electric High Speed Line is an electric streetcar (trolley) passenger train operated by the International Railway Company from June 9, 1918 to August 20, 1937. It carries passengers from Buffalo to Niagara Falls in about an hour. <br /><br />For its NT stretch, <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/636">as shown in this 1935 map</a>, the line follows present-day Twin-City Highway. At Nash, it bends into the field east of the county building (its path is still clearly visible today), continues across Walck Road, and then proceeds northwesterly through 15th Avenue near Payne (before homes or the Mid-City Plaza were built), through Gratwick, across Oliver Street just south of Delmar Terrace and north of Ward Road, continuing west out to River Road and then on to Niagara Falls. <br /><br />For much of its course through NT, it is carried over east-west streets on a high earthen embankment (referred to in a 1948 article as our "Chinese wall"). Fill for the massive embankment was taken from Payne's Hill, near present-day Stanley Street. <br /><br />The High Speed line closes as buses and personal vehicles become more prevalent. The embankment is dismantled sometime later.
Photo
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Title
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Buffalo Equipment & Construction Co., photo set (c. 1916).png
Description
An account of the resource
Contracted to build the embankment for the High Speed Line. Corner of Robinson and Division.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1916
car
factory
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/d07217c44dcbe69d882214f1a413cec3.jpg
c7111c99ea4468c80ed3e5ac152918d8
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
James S Thompson pose with camera (1916-02-21).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1916-02-21
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/22c562d6865f9e1e435a1fff3161c262.jpg
56325e684107bff846f1181db1256315
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
Webster to Main Street Bridges
Description
An account of the resource
(?-1916): Long bridge (1918-1978) A "Bascule" bridge (which could open to allow masted boats to pass) once connected Webster Street in North Tonawanda to Main Street in Tonawanda. It replaced the "Long Bridge," and was part of the enlargement of the Erie Canal to the Erie Barge Canal. According to a plaque on the site, it was built by the Bethlehem Steel Bridge Corporation. This collection features photos of the bridge in its heyday, as well as a black-and-white series depicting its 1978 demolition, and the rerouting of the Main and Young street approaches.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
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Long bridge damaged, train crossing canal, photo (1916-03-30).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
From <a href="https://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=https%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252011%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%25201916%2520Jan-Sep%2520Grayscale%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%25201916%2520Jan-Sep%2520Grayscale%2520-%25201258.pdf%23xml%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FdtSearch%2Fdtisapi6.dll%3Fcmd%3Dgetpdfhits%26u%3Dffffffffd10f52cb%26DocId%3D1961679%26Index%3DZ%253a%255cDISK%2520U%26HitCount%3D47%26hits%3D23%2B89%2Bd7%2Bd8%2Bf1%2B102%2B1b4%2B202%2B215%2B217%2B442%2B492%2B4a6%2B595%2B5c4%2B64e%2B69e%2B88f%2B890%2B8bc%2B8da%2B8fe%2B928%2B92e%2B9d9%2Ba50%2Ba74%2Ba8b%2Bab8%2Bb23%2Bb9f%2Bbe8%2Bc44%2Bc5b%2Bc7d%2Bcaf%2Bcb7%2Bd39%2B1083%2B1128%2B112b%2B11e4%2B120f%2B12b0%2B12d5%2B12da%2B12e3%2B%26SearchForm%3D%252fFulton%255fform%252ehtml%26.pdf&uri=https%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252011%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%25201916%2520Jan-Sep%2520Grayscale%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%25201916%2520Jan-Sep%2520Grayscale%2520-%25201258.pdf&xml=https%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FdtSearch%2Fdtisapi6.dll%3Fcmd%3Dgetpdfhits%26u%3Dffffffffd10f52cb%26DocId%3D1961679%26Index%3DZ%253a%255cDISK%2520U%26HitCount%3D47%26hits%3D23%2B89%2Bd7%2Bd8%2Bf1%2B102%2B1b4%2B202%2B215%2B217%2B442%2B492%2B4a6%2B595%2B5c4%2B64e%2B69e%2B88f%2B890%2B8bc%2B8da%2B8fe%2B928%2B92e%2B9d9%2Ba50%2Ba74%2Ba8b%2Bab8%2Bb23%2Bb9f%2Bbe8%2Bc44%2Bc5b%2Bc7d%2Bcaf%2Bcb7%2Bd39%2B1083%2B1128%2B112b%2B11e4%2B120f%2B12b0%2B12d5%2B12da%2B12e3%2B%26SearchForm%3D%252fFulton%255fform%252ehtml%26.pdf&openFirstHlPage=false">Tonawanda News</a>:
<blockquote>WATERLOGGED BOAT SWEPT OVER THE DAM A waterlogged canal boat came down the Tonawanda creek late last night and went over the old dam. It became lodged underneath the bridges at Webster street. The wrecking crew of the New York Central came here today to release the craft, fearyig that damage might result to the railroad bridge. A boat house was also swept over the dam last night. It piled up against one of the abutments of the Central's bridge and was broken to pieces.</blockquote>
Also pictured: Scanlon's Hall, State National Bank, Elks, Sweeney Building.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1916-03-30
bridge
canal
downtown
train
webster
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/0da449b6d05eb7ef7cc29737692bee62.jpg
92dc3d873c5a195fd71071cf110f6b12
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. In 1918 this 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.
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Tonawanda Dam, looking S, photo (1916-04-10).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1916-04-10
bridge
canal
dam
long
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/21b19e7c3bc554d7eaa6cc4f97f92eab.jpg
4f999814301fb3fd0fe67d3d1d35a520
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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. In 1918 this 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.
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Title
A name given to the resource
Tonawanda Dam, looking NE, photo (1916-04-21).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
Also pictured: Niagara Maid Silk Mills, Sweeney Building
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1916-04-21
canal
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/9888865d818fdfd3b95d2c1666da18b3.jpg
89772e3e78806dafc2ddc25458599294
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
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Title
A name given to the resource
Tonawanda Terminal completed, photo (NYSA, 1916-08-29).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1916-08-29
bridge
canal
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/7d115983941059a4927299c6ff60db23.jpg
72637c77eabfa6349cc91d739b7d6be4
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Title
A name given to the resource
Firefighters
Description
An account of the resource
Rough chronology at <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/firefighting.html">NT History Museum</a>, including notes about many defunct companies. A provocative (if unlikely-sounding) morsel about Hydrant Hose Co. No. 3 (1886-1909), formerly based on Sweeney near Delaware bridge:
<blockquote>The fighting crew of the old Hydrant Hose Company liked to fight fires so much, they would first fight the men of any other fire company who raced to a North Tonawanda fire to see who got the pleasure of conquering the flames. Often the flames ended up as the victor as the firefighters spent their energies in a brawl rather than on the element of nature.</blockquote>
From Sarah E. Walter's thesis as it appears on <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/thesis.html#thesis">nthistorymuseum.org</a>:
<blockquote>The North Tonawanda Fire Dept is known as one of the best paid and volunteer departments in the nation. The greatest enemy the lumbermen had was fire. Annually it destroyed millions of dollars of lumber and cost many lives. A step forward came on May 7, 1876, when twenty of the most prominent residents of the Village of North Tonawanda gathered together in the school house at the corner of Main and Tremont Streets and formed themselves into a Company for the protection of property against the ravages of fire. The newly formed Company petitioned the Village Board and in special session on May 15, 1876, the board approved and appointed them firemen of the Village and their company was called the North Tonawanda Bucket Company, later to be called the Columbia Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.
<p>North Tonawanda depended heavily on Volunteer Firemen and quickly grew to seven companies located at important places around the city.</p>
</blockquote>
<table border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" align="center">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>Date Started </strong></td>
<td><strong>Name </strong></td>
<td><strong>By Whom </strong></td>
<td> <strong>Notes</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>May 7, 1876</td>
<td>North Tonawanda Bucket Company / Columbia Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.</td>
<td> </td>
<td> (See below)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>March 1, 1886</td>
<td>Active Hose Company No.2</td>
<td> </td>
<td>"Ironton Boys"</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1886*</td>
<td>Gratwick Hose Company No. 6</td>
<td>Village Council</td>
<td><a href="https://yellow.place/en/gratwick-hose-fire-company-6-north-tonawanda-usa">1890?</a> On Felton until 1962.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>April 1887</td>
<td>Live Active Hose Co. No. 4</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>January 26, 1891</td>
<td>Rescue Fire Company No. 5</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>February 6, 1891</td>
<td>Gratwick Hose Company No. 1</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1894</td>
<td>Sweeney Hose No. 7</td>
<td>Village Council</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br /><br />From The<em> Tonawanda News, May 9, 1896:</em>
<blockquote>Monday, June 15, has been selected as the date of the Firemen's Annual Parade. It is expected that it will prove of more than ordinary interest as unusual efforts will be put forth this year to make it an enjoyable spectacular affair. <br /><br />In this connection it is interesting to note that Thursday of this week was the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the first fire company In North Tonawanda. Previous to this date North Tonawanda had paid Tonawanda $300 a year for the fire protection that the Tonawanda companies afforded. <br /><br />The parent company of North Tonawanda was the <strong>Columbia Hook and Ladder Company</strong>; it is still in existence, but is now one of eight splendid companies of which North Tonawanda can boast. As before stated it was organized May 7, 1876, and its first president was Frank Fellows. It was organized under a famous old hickory tree which stood on the ground now occupied by the parsonage of the First Methodist Church. Nicholas Beckrich was the first foreman of this company and other members of this crack organization were John E. Oelkers, Frank Batt, H. U. Berger, M. J. Wattengel, W. P. Hayes, Jno. Spillman, Aug. Duckwitz, Fred Schultz, Isaac Gardei, Geo. Miller, John Haas, Julius Miller and others. A number of these early firemen are numbered among the most prominent residents of North Tonawanda but it is with considerable pleasure that they recall the days of their early triumphs.</blockquote>
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
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Title
A name given to the resource
First Fire Truck in 1917, Fred Knight, Charles Doebler (From 100 Years, 1965).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1917
automobile
firefighter
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/879fd1f99045152251b31c3469e51dda.jpg
17ef94a8787041fba4a4e62259d52ac5
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Auto-Wheel Coaster Company (95 Schenck)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="https://nthistory.com/custom/cover/14.jpg" alt="Buffalo Sled employees, 1917" /><span class="cover-caption">Employees of the Buffalo Sled Company in North Tonawanda plant. PHOTO: North Tonawanda History Museum</span> Organized as the Buffalo Sled Co. in 1905 by John J. Schneider and Henry J, Tiedt, having been in business since 1899 (other sources say 1904). The firm moves to North Tonawanda in 1909 after the local trade organization agrees to cover the expense. Originally making sleds and shovels, they add coasters (wagons) in 1912. Soon they are enjoying national success, advertising aggressively in several publications, and marketing their boys' toys ingenuously with clubs and giveaways. In July of 1920 they file paperwork to change their name to the "Auto-Wheel Coaster Company."<br /><br />The North Tonawanda plant was located at foot of Schenck Street, west of Oliver and south of Schenck, though they at times also have operations in Buffalo, on Ellicott Creek in the old A. B. Williams plant, and in Preston, Ontario. The NT site was formerly (1908) occupied by the Orient Mfg. Co. (Fred Paschen lived just east). <br /><br /><span><span>From the Internet's <a href="http://www.harryrinker.com/col-1117.html">Harry Rinker</a>:</span></span>
<blockquote>A fire on April 16, 1920, destroyed the wheel department and storehouses. According to the 1921 City Directory, the company rebuilt and assumed a new name, Auto-Wheel Coaster Company.</blockquote>
Auto Wheel files for bankruptcy in July 1964, but is bought by area men to resume production. This did not seem to be successful, as the plant was is in the process of being converted to a palette factory when it is completely destroyed in a spectacular fire on Memorial Day (May 29), 1972, taking at least seven nearby homes with it.
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
Auto Wheel Co., employees, photo (NTHM, 1917).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1917
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/813f9511f508331d06b3763069a87d2b.jpg
77dbd3f60ffe2bab3e67c3c4589fe801
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
Auto-Wheel Coaster Company (95 Schenck)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="https://nthistory.com/custom/cover/14.jpg" alt="Buffalo Sled employees, 1917" /><span class="cover-caption">Employees of the Buffalo Sled Company in North Tonawanda plant. PHOTO: North Tonawanda History Museum</span> Organized as the Buffalo Sled Co. in 1905 by John J. Schneider and Henry J, Tiedt, having been in business since 1899 (other sources say 1904). The firm moves to North Tonawanda in 1909 after the local trade organization agrees to cover the expense. Originally making sleds and shovels, they add coasters (wagons) in 1912. Soon they are enjoying national success, advertising aggressively in several publications, and marketing their boys' toys ingenuously with clubs and giveaways. In July of 1920 they file paperwork to change their name to the "Auto-Wheel Coaster Company."<br /><br />The North Tonawanda plant was located at foot of Schenck Street, west of Oliver and south of Schenck, though they at times also have operations in Buffalo, on Ellicott Creek in the old A. B. Williams plant, and in Preston, Ontario. The NT site was formerly (1908) occupied by the Orient Mfg. Co. (Fred Paschen lived just east). <br /><br /><span><span>From the Internet's <a href="http://www.harryrinker.com/col-1117.html">Harry Rinker</a>:</span></span>
<blockquote>A fire on April 16, 1920, destroyed the wheel department and storehouses. According to the 1921 City Directory, the company rebuilt and assumed a new name, Auto-Wheel Coaster Company.</blockquote>
Auto Wheel files for bankruptcy in July 1964, but is bought by area men to resume production. This did not seem to be successful, as the plant was is in the process of being converted to a palette factory when it is completely destroyed in a spectacular fire on Memorial Day (May 29), 1972, taking at least seven nearby homes with it.
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
Auto Wheel Co., interior, photo (NTHM, 1917).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1917
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/13df86f3200f100810f0a1cb695c635e.jpg
40255c85a08eab897722aa75e40cf2eb
https://nthistory.com/files/original/23c1bd30180e61229cf142e306f17e21.jpg
32d44849deadd4f5fff880e9b3b7b6c9
https://nthistory.com/files/original/88d4289c8a806ef10fd038c56d9a991c.jpg
3c5e6890ed43e1831ebaef10193f1885
https://nthistory.com/files/original/6da82479665aae7d98e56ee09f37c7c8.jpg
6c0cc10b7b4e176ba70cfae5ac69603f
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
Trolleys and Trains
Description
An account of the resource
Before everybody in North Tonawanda could afford their very own muffler-less Honda Civic to run up and down Oliver Street, trolleys and trains were an important means of personal transportation. Several lines ran throughout the city, moving people to and from their jobs, churches, or just out for a look around.
Though they may seem romantic to us now, people griped about the trolleys the same way we complain about snow plows today. Apparently their slow speed was sometimes targeted: An item in this set describes a "well-known peddler" in the Gratwick area who is injured by a trolley car. The author drolly observes, "'Twould have been a real miracle if a Gratwick car could have got up enough speed to have killed him" (Tonawanda News, 1908-2-13).
The trolley era did not last long. By the 1920s, the electric streetcar had been passed by the gasoline-powered bus as the most prevalent means of public transportation. Another article in this set from the Tonawanda News, "Carpenter now operates 14 busses in the Tonawandas," outlines the rise of the Carpenter Rapid Transit buses.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Electric Railway, Stumpf cabinet photo (1917-09-29).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1917-09-29
automobile
bridge
carriage
photo
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/f5a0f6ff56ee6d9934c2709f8e4f60d0.jpg
2758bd964b5a4c681361ab343b77c5b4
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
State National Bank (14 Webster Street)
Description
An account of the resource
This former beauty of a building on the northwest corner of Webster and Sweeney Streets housed the State National Bank and other businesses. James H. DeGraff is president, J. S. Thompson vice president and Benjamin L. Rand, cashier (in 1922, W. M. Sutton). "Lumber Exchange Bank" has same leadership and address in 1900. <br /><br />A November 22, 1932 item in the <em>Buffalo Evening News</em> reports the historic building is being razed, and somewhat affectively describes stalled efforts by demolition crews to remove the "4,000 pound lion which has gazed out over the Tonawandas from its perch atop the the...building for the last 40 years...Efforts to get the huge statue of the jungle beast down to earth have been considered...[it was] decided to break it into pieces on the roof rather than risk bringing it down intact." <br /><br />Ads for a "North Side Liquor Store" appear by 1938. For many years the address was associated with Frank's Liquors, in 2022 it is Canalside Wine & Spirits.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
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Title
A name given to the resource
Scanlon Building, pontoon bridge, North Tonawanda, photo (NYSA, 1917-11-24).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
Also shows State National bank, lumber near Manhattan and Front Streets.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1917-11-24
webster
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/183b9f076c8cf8e9cdd89d5b57abf555.jpg
7566168e7433f25194ea430d9dc9eb1c
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
Downtown
Description
An account of the resource
Most of North Tonawanda's downtown area developed between 1875 and 1900. In this collection are preserved views of many vanished buildings: The YMCA and City Hall at the southeast corner of Tremont and Main; the 6-story 1891 Smith building (Real Estate Exchange) at the northeast corner of Tremont and Webster, the gothic stone State National Bank at the northwest corner of Sweeney and Webster, and Scanlon's Hall on the southwest corner of the same intersection, to name a few.
Photo
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Title
A name given to the resource
Sweeney Building, photo (NYSA, 1917-11-24).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
Train tracks across canal, Webster Street
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1917-11-24
webster
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/9f13fff1fa2ab74a6d6ba03cd668943b.jpg
130f251205d0e091177b48b9211fe728
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Title
A name given to the resource
Tonawanda Brewing Company (533 Niagara Street, Tonawanda)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" alt="Employees outside the Tonawanda Brewing" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/36c.jpg" /><span class="cover-caption">People outside the Tonawanda Brewing Company. Colorized by the webmaster.</span> The northeast corner of Hinds and Niagara Streets in Tonawanda hosts a succession of breweries<sup> <a href="#1">[1]</a></sup>:
<ul>
<li>1867-1883 George Zent Brewery</li>
<li>1883-1893 Niagara River Brewing Co.</li>
<li>1893-1898 Busch Brewing Co.</li>
<li>1898-1900 Niagara River Brewing Co.</li>
<li>1900-1918 Tonawanda Brewing Co.</li>
<li>1924-1928 (Prohibition) Tonawanda Beverage Co., River Beverage Co.</li>
<li>1931-1933 (Prohibition) Schwab’s Liquid Malt</li>
<li>1933-1935 Tonawanda Brewing Co.</li>
<li>1935-1948 Frontier Brewing Co.</li>
</ul>
In 1912, a fire does almost $80,000 worth of damage to the Tonawanda Brewing Company.<br /><br />Local historian John Olszowka shares some of his unpublished research regarding <strong>Bernhard Voelcker</strong>, the German owner of the Tonawanda Brewing Company between 1903 and 1921, and the rising tensions between German-Americans and other citizens during WWI:<br />
<blockquote><span>In early-1917, paranoia slowly descended across Western New York. The fears grew amid the looming backdrop of America’s potential entry into the Great War. As the United States inched closer towards joining the Allied powers, public concerns emerged over the potential impact of the war on the local populace, raising questions over the loyalty of the region’s sizeable German population. Local newspaper accounts of domestic saboteurs, fictional and real, heightened public suspicions. One such story centered on the arrest of Bernhardt Voelcker, head of the Tonawanda Brewing Company. <br /><br />In the early stages of the war, the German-born businessman vocally supported the Axis power. By 1917, however, Voelcker’s pro-German views were no longer tolerated, and a cause for public suspicion. <br /><br />Apprehension over his loyalty only grew with news of the brewer’s arrest. According to local newspapers, law enforcement authorities detained Voelcker for allegedly “plotting” against the United States government. <br /><br />Almost immediately, community residents responded to the news by boycotting Voelcker’s wares, refusing to purchase his beer. Two days after news of his arrest first broke, Voelcker responded to the controversy by taking out a paid advertisement in a local newspaper. In the article, he publicly professed his unending loyalty to his “adopted country.” As he declared, “Every dollar I own is invested in American property… and [that] ought to convince everybody.” In doing so, Volecker hoped to not only clear his name but also cut his economic losses caused by the boycott. <br /><br />Volecker’s story is reflective of the growing internal tension that emerged in many American communities with the start of World War I. What makes Voelcker’s account so fascinating is that the arrest never actually occurred. Rather the account of brewer’s incarceration was merely an elaborate April Fool’s Day joke concocted by several so-called friends, that spun wildly out of control. Yet, as the story makes clear, in April 1917 the people of Western New York were in no joking mood when it came to tales of Germany spies and saboteurs living in their midst.</span></blockquote>
<a name="1"></a> <b>References</b>
<ol>
<li><a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/1726"><i>The History of Brewing in Tonawanda, New York (1867-1948)</i></a>. John P. Eiss</li>
</ol>
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Tonawanda Brewing Co., photo (c1918).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1918
factory
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/7b26452221f21ea2e4db16f6cf03d14a.jpg
5c941f8b81f994ee42609a01f435aa26
https://nthistory.com/files/original/4f557773d3505aba481d75e27c89e2d8.jpg
24a1568bd0f519626ef9207cd6f4d324
https://nthistory.com/files/original/6971047a9050445fe9febcf345dd1d94.jpg
f6a05a689bf0e2cd586034c5afc7cbd5
https://nthistory.com/files/original/b7eb6e40a6e55d92615f7480688651e7.jpg
f6e224669e00b351e81965b72ba4afce
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 Brewing Company (533 Niagara Street, Tonawanda)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" alt="Employees outside the Tonawanda Brewing" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/36c.jpg" /><span class="cover-caption">People outside the Tonawanda Brewing Company. Colorized by the webmaster.</span> The northeast corner of Hinds and Niagara Streets in Tonawanda hosts a succession of breweries<sup> <a href="#1">[1]</a></sup>:
<ul>
<li>1867-1883 George Zent Brewery</li>
<li>1883-1893 Niagara River Brewing Co.</li>
<li>1893-1898 Busch Brewing Co.</li>
<li>1898-1900 Niagara River Brewing Co.</li>
<li>1900-1918 Tonawanda Brewing Co.</li>
<li>1924-1928 (Prohibition) Tonawanda Beverage Co., River Beverage Co.</li>
<li>1931-1933 (Prohibition) Schwab’s Liquid Malt</li>
<li>1933-1935 Tonawanda Brewing Co.</li>
<li>1935-1948 Frontier Brewing Co.</li>
</ul>
In 1912, a fire does almost $80,000 worth of damage to the Tonawanda Brewing Company.<br /><br />Local historian John Olszowka shares some of his unpublished research regarding <strong>Bernhard Voelcker</strong>, the German owner of the Tonawanda Brewing Company between 1903 and 1921, and the rising tensions between German-Americans and other citizens during WWI:<br />
<blockquote><span>In early-1917, paranoia slowly descended across Western New York. The fears grew amid the looming backdrop of America’s potential entry into the Great War. As the United States inched closer towards joining the Allied powers, public concerns emerged over the potential impact of the war on the local populace, raising questions over the loyalty of the region’s sizeable German population. Local newspaper accounts of domestic saboteurs, fictional and real, heightened public suspicions. One such story centered on the arrest of Bernhardt Voelcker, head of the Tonawanda Brewing Company. <br /><br />In the early stages of the war, the German-born businessman vocally supported the Axis power. By 1917, however, Voelcker’s pro-German views were no longer tolerated, and a cause for public suspicion. <br /><br />Apprehension over his loyalty only grew with news of the brewer’s arrest. According to local newspapers, law enforcement authorities detained Voelcker for allegedly “plotting” against the United States government. <br /><br />Almost immediately, community residents responded to the news by boycotting Voelcker’s wares, refusing to purchase his beer. Two days after news of his arrest first broke, Voelcker responded to the controversy by taking out a paid advertisement in a local newspaper. In the article, he publicly professed his unending loyalty to his “adopted country.” As he declared, “Every dollar I own is invested in American property… and [that] ought to convince everybody.” In doing so, Volecker hoped to not only clear his name but also cut his economic losses caused by the boycott. <br /><br />Volecker’s story is reflective of the growing internal tension that emerged in many American communities with the start of World War I. What makes Voelcker’s account so fascinating is that the arrest never actually occurred. Rather the account of brewer’s incarceration was merely an elaborate April Fool’s Day joke concocted by several so-called friends, that spun wildly out of control. Yet, as the story makes clear, in April 1917 the people of Western New York were in no joking mood when it came to tales of Germany spies and saboteurs living in their midst.</span></blockquote>
<a name="1"></a> <b>References</b>
<ol>
<li><a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/1726"><i>The History of Brewing in Tonawanda, New York (1867-1948)</i></a>. John P. Eiss</li>
</ol>
Photo
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Title
A name given to the resource
People outside Tonawanda Brewing Company, colorized photo (c1918).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1918
factory
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/1c968fa20ea176b0468f3da3cd466837.jpg
157057aec99d26c26ab3a794aa572876
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ba3147e1156db43b337acba4a619dcd4.jpg
345ccc530dda6a368d15af55a99a3c76
https://nthistory.com/files/original/c9eadd9fb95351e7dddf257c0cfa3345.jpg
e39aed2f8b980e151af4cd364fc2b35e
https://nthistory.com/files/original/803181f1b734974827673641dd3d3ae4.jpg
071e64dccb6c325903d58b76f6f1c696
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
Ziehl's Groceries (356 Old Falls Blvd)
Description
An account of the resource
Ferdinand Ziehl (far right in the colorized 1918 photo) has a general store in Martinsville as early as 1903. Delivery of fresh meat and produce was also offered via his horse-drawn wagon. His son Louis A. Ziehl (second from right in the colorized photo) stays in the family business, and later has a store at 356 (Old) Falls Boulevard, where Schwartz's Deli will be.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
F. Ziehl & Son Groceries, Martinsville, photos (August 1918).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
Courtesy of Scott Ensminger, who writes: "Someone gave me this photo many years ago. I was told F. Ziehl & Son Groceries was in Martinsville. Person 6 is my grandmother." In the undated family photo, she is second from right.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1918
martinsville
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/9e850104b7c3bb4f842f7eed1d770007.jpg
345ccc530dda6a368d15af55a99a3c76
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Ziehl's Groceries (356 Old Falls Blvd)
Description
An account of the resource
Ferdinand Ziehl (far right in the colorized 1918 photo) has a general store in Martinsville as early as 1903. Delivery of fresh meat and produce was also offered via his horse-drawn wagon. His son Louis A. Ziehl (second from right in the colorized photo) stays in the family business, and later has a store at 356 (Old) Falls Boulevard, where Schwartz's Deli will be.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
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Ziehl family, photo (c.1918).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1918
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/28acb388297d74f39d562a5613617ad5.jpg
93dd2df91ce5384efff2aad148ba4eac
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Temporary Webster Street bridge from the North Tonawanda side, photo (NYSA, 1918-02-14).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1918-02-14
canal
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/423e8716bbda7f8d6b0080e4898484df.jpg
237a03f365e6c5356248a333b301f339
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Niagara Silk Mills
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" alt="Niagara Silk Mills postcard" src="http://nthistory.com/custom/cover/44.jpg" /> <span class="cover-caption">The Niagara Silk Mills plant once dominated Sweeney Street, standing where Gateway Center is today. Postcard c. 1912.</span> The Niagara Silk Mills (later Van Raalte Silk Mills) produced ladies' undergarments, gloves, and similar fineries. They marketed their materials with the iconography of Niagara Falls (reminiscent of the Pan Am Exposition imagery), and with appearances by silent film sirens.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
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Title
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Tonawanda dam. Looking north from the Tonawanda side, photo (NYSA, 1918-02-14).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
Dam, canal, Webster Street, Sweeney power building, Niagara Silk Mills
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1918-02-14
canal
dam
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/8f7eae387a89f210dbf6aff50a0a7e28.jpg
e39aed2f8b980e151af4cd364fc2b35e
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ebf4fbc6b946600da6dd8ddc4658e840.jpg
071e64dccb6c325903d58b76f6f1c696
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
Ziehl's Groceries (356 Old Falls Blvd)
Description
An account of the resource
Ferdinand Ziehl (far right in the colorized 1918 photo) has a general store in Martinsville as early as 1903. Delivery of fresh meat and produce was also offered via his horse-drawn wagon. His son Louis A. Ziehl (second from right in the colorized photo) stays in the family business, and later has a store at 356 (Old) Falls Boulevard, where Schwartz's Deli will be.
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
F. Ziehl & Son Groceries, unlabeled photo (August 1918).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1918-08
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/80ea2bebcfd63ba56f5b4466801c80a5.jpg
180a0fe6cdc84de3ebd951313b277e28
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
Webster to Main Street Bridges
Description
An account of the resource
(?-1916): Long bridge (1918-1978) A "Bascule" bridge (which could open to allow masted boats to pass) once connected Webster Street in North Tonawanda to Main Street in Tonawanda. It replaced the "Long Bridge," and was part of the enlargement of the Erie Canal to the Erie Barge Canal. According to a plaque on the site, it was built by the Bethlehem Steel Bridge Corporation. This collection features photos of the bridge in its heyday, as well as a black-and-white series depicting its 1978 demolition, and the rerouting of the Main and Young street approaches.
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
South abutment. Webster Street bridge, photo (NYSA, 1918-10-15).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
First Trust of Tonawanda.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1918-10-15
bridge
canal
tonawanda
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/f789c7e31e512cdc9f4b7be3bf84fd14.jpg
23c9f53759ecd849441c50d0bcaae502
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
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Rand Company, Kardex, Remington-Rand
Description
An account of the resource
The Rand family powerfully shaped the Tonawandas' business landscape over several generations. Starting in banking, the Rand men (sometimes in direct competition with one another) would become involved in filing systems, office furnishings, <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/10">automatic musical instruments</a>, and even what would be come the modern computer. In 1908, James Rand Sr.'s Rand Company has its Plant No.1 on the west side of Goundry, near the train bridge (now a parking lot). In 1919 Rand adds Plant No.2, the former North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works (now Liston Mfg. Co.). The rival <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardex_Group">Kardex company</a> (operated by James Rand Jr.) is in Tonawanda at Main, Wheeler and Franklin in 1920. This site is later Remington-Rand Plant No. 10 in Tonawanda, where a workers' strike is broken in early summer of 1936 (<a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/2297">see plates 48 and 54 for maps</a> of Plants 10 and 11). <br /><br />Wikiepdia, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remington_Rand_strike_of_1936%E2%80%931937">Remington Rand Strike of 1937-1937</a></i>:
<blockquote>The strike is notorious for spawning the "Mohawk Valley formula," a corporate plan for strikebreaking to discredit union leaders, frighten the public with the threat of violence, use local police and vigilantes to intimidate strikers, form puppet associations of "loyal employees" to influence public debate, fortify workplaces, employ large numbers of strikebreakers, and threaten to close the plant if work is not resumed.</blockquote>
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
James H. Rand Jr, portrait (Tonawanda News, 1919-04-19).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1919-04-19
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/20bbd1b69a0a7205f8e2e587d6a9083f.jpg
1e3dba86cc603f85e0331352df58a67e
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 Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/10.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works, colorized by the webmaster." /> <span class="cover-caption">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works factory at 435 Payne Avenue, c1913; photo colorized by the webmaster.</span>
<div>(1906-1919) The North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works produces military band organs, player pianos, organs for (still silent) "moving picture" theaters and more. The factory is the third automatic musical instrument manufacturer in the city, starting about a year after the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>. Like Niagara, NTMIW is partially comprised of men who have worked with <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist's Musical Instrument Works</a> (president John Birnie had been secretary-treasurer for de Kleist). <br /><br />According to an article in this set, NTMIW originally operates out of "the Williams plant on the Ellicott Creek." They incorporate in 1906, and in the second half of 1907 build a substantial four-story factory. In 1911 that factory is tripled (articles suggest the work is not completed until early 1912). Although larger than Niagara, NTMIW will always be a distant second behind de Kleist and Wurlitzer. In 1918, NTMIW is acquired by the Rand Visible Records Company. Rand continues the musical manufacturing business, and the former NTMIW leadership at first sticks around. Rand's press officers kick into high gear, founding a monthly internal company magazine, <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1192"><em>All of Us</em></a>, apparently aimed at easing the culture change. In spite of this gesture, NTMIW founding officer Stillman C. Woodruff and others leave Rand--and the bones of their former company--around 1920 to try their hand at the band organ game one last time with their <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/22">Artizan Factories Inc.</a> venture in 1922.</div>
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Rand - North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works employee hi-res photo (All of Us, 1919-11).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1919-11
factory
labor
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/b184399c0623d2055d82a54ca58df6d1.jpg
47d0210a2112c1eb79d33481126b695e
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
Webster to Main Street Bridges
Description
An account of the resource
(?-1916): Long bridge (1918-1978) A "Bascule" bridge (which could open to allow masted boats to pass) once connected Webster Street in North Tonawanda to Main Street in Tonawanda. It replaced the "Long Bridge," and was part of the enlargement of the Erie Canal to the Erie Barge Canal. According to a plaque on the site, it was built by the Bethlehem Steel Bridge Corporation. This collection features photos of the bridge in its heyday, as well as a black-and-white series depicting its 1978 demolition, and the rerouting of the Main and Young street approaches.
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
Main-Webster Street Bridge, Tonawanda; pier built. Erecting steel, photo (1919-11-10).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
Sweeney building, Van Raalte silk Mills
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1919-11-10
bridge
canal
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/818c48ae29a85e94707628aef9478af2.jpg
164040528509695ed4ae903000b50a02
Dublin Core
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Title
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Tonawanda Iron and Steel
Description
An account of the resource
You wouldn't know it from the site today, but the massive plant of the Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company once occupied all the land along the Niagara River from Wheatfield Street to present-day Fisherman's Park. <br /><br />Iron is first produced on this site in 1872 by the Niagara Furnace Company. After about a year, production stops. In 1889, Tonawanda Iron & Steel buys and modernizes the plant. President McKinley fires up its mighty Furnace B with great ceremony and the flip of a switch from his home in Ohio in 1895. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />By 2017, the site has been cleared and converted into a small medical park and Fisherman's Park.
Source
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"Tonawanda Iron Corp., Is One of Largest Manufacturers of Pig Iron." Tonawanda News, 1929 (in this collection).
Photo
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Title
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Tonawanda Iron Corp train, photo (c1920).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920
iron
railroad
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/068879e9ea26d867c2ee816eca92e950.jpg
886d6fdd4ae36391b79aeeebd5bdb907
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
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Boy Scout Troop 5 in Hannah's Woods, photo (c1920).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/0a2afae0826227c5002ccdef2caf825a.jpg
e19529f253f72bee364630da1ba8b44f
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Buffalo & Niagara High Speed Line (1918-1937)
Description
An account of the resource
The electric High Speed Line is an electric streetcar (trolley) passenger train operated by the International Railway Company from June 9, 1918 to August 20, 1937. It carries passengers from Buffalo to Niagara Falls in about an hour. <br /><br />For its NT stretch, <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/636">as shown in this 1935 map</a>, the line follows present-day Twin-City Highway. At Nash, it bends into the field east of the county building (its path is still clearly visible today), continues across Walck Road, and then proceeds northwesterly through 15th Avenue near Payne (before homes or the Mid-City Plaza were built), through Gratwick, across Oliver Street just south of Delmar Terrace and north of Ward Road, continuing west out to River Road and then on to Niagara Falls. <br /><br />For much of its course through NT, it is carried over east-west streets on a high earthen embankment (referred to in a 1948 article as our "Chinese wall"). Fill for the massive embankment was taken from Payne's Hill, near present-day Stanley Street. <br /><br />The High Speed line closes as buses and personal vehicles become more prevalent. The embankment is dismantled sometime later.
Photo
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Rand Company, baseball players, Hi-Speed line in distance (All of Us, 1920).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
This is likely at present-day Wheatfield Street and Erie, with the elevated mound being the Nash Road course of the Buffalo to Niagara Falls Hi-Speed line.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920
baseball
labor
recreation
sports
trolley
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/7cc2fa0761da3edf2cf6a7f06805d302.jpg
7be14d92ce355ee75516400718b068f0
https://nthistory.com/files/original/fb634e9c56acdc2ea24c5acbbca7dfaf.jpg
aae0c40f5343cd5ea36ec9da1ba5c59b
https://nthistory.com/files/original/0c3c0a2d5821fd92c5a231e222a4e44c.jpg
7e57d3af3ca317b21d0701cce2f0171a
https://nthistory.com/files/original/6504dda205f5144519173612e26cef96.jpg
32540f51ae8de2fb65df5a4862126176
https://nthistory.com/files/original/694041db9dd12b90ec9647dffab99943.jpg
4e8ebc9ba4b9fda194f36478ed1a9038
Dublin Core
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Title
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Auto-Wheel Coaster Company (95 Schenck)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="https://nthistory.com/custom/cover/14.jpg" alt="Buffalo Sled employees, 1917" /><span class="cover-caption">Employees of the Buffalo Sled Company in North Tonawanda plant. PHOTO: North Tonawanda History Museum</span> Organized as the Buffalo Sled Co. in 1905 by John J. Schneider and Henry J, Tiedt, having been in business since 1899 (other sources say 1904). The firm moves to North Tonawanda in 1909 after the local trade organization agrees to cover the expense. Originally making sleds and shovels, they add coasters (wagons) in 1912. Soon they are enjoying national success, advertising aggressively in several publications, and marketing their boys' toys ingenuously with clubs and giveaways. In July of 1920 they file paperwork to change their name to the "Auto-Wheel Coaster Company."<br /><br />The North Tonawanda plant was located at foot of Schenck Street, west of Oliver and south of Schenck, though they at times also have operations in Buffalo, on Ellicott Creek in the old A. B. Williams plant, and in Preston, Ontario. The NT site was formerly (1908) occupied by the Orient Mfg. Co. (Fred Paschen lived just east). <br /><br /><span><span>From the Internet's <a href="http://www.harryrinker.com/col-1117.html">Harry Rinker</a>:</span></span>
<blockquote>A fire on April 16, 1920, destroyed the wheel department and storehouses. According to the 1921 City Directory, the company rebuilt and assumed a new name, Auto-Wheel Coaster Company.</blockquote>
Auto Wheel files for bankruptcy in July 1964, but is bought by area men to resume production. This did not seem to be successful, as the plant was is in the process of being converted to a palette factory when it is completely destroyed in a spectacular fire on Memorial Day (May 29), 1972, taking at least seven nearby homes with it.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
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Girls in Auto-Wheel Coaster, magic lantern slide (c.1920).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/501f78ed6826be347f485999150d7ded.jpeg
34b7173a4fbe3a52849a904a3772444f
https://nthistory.com/files/original/0d48583023b6f46fe48fece514ef3e7a.jpeg
79881eb0a7141f489e175b7bf1ef4418
https://nthistory.com/files/original/01ab8ff87fbbbcada61cdb0770106a6e.jpg
18eb5811633dd5e63fb10932f39097c5
https://nthistory.com/files/original/7e136550549256af1f4716de506b58b1.jpg
f140cb2258df4a1746c148b011de97eb
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
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Title
A name given to the resource
Victory V Novelty Entertainers, orchestra (c. 1920-1921).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
This instrumental musical group consisted of John W. Tussing, Louis Weitz, James Pett, Gerald Barrows, Lloyd Pettit. Said to play the "latest Broadway hits"and "latest numbers." Called a "big orchestra." Newspaper notices show gigs in Niagara Falls at the Lyceum and in North Tonawanda at the "new" Rand building, both in 1920. Involved in Battles of Music with Whiting's Jazz Band of Buffalo," the "Browning Jazz Band" and others. Lots of dancing alleged.
1920-05-28 Flower Dance ad.
1921-01-18 article with them at the Lyceum with the Browning Clown Band of Tonawanda
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920
collection
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/c5f75a154c2569824ef698a03af19196.jpg
cade3efa6447b9458c49fb3d10a62436
https://nthistory.com/files/original/5108088c1aa9623794a48d7853d841f1.jpg
92b10ddb89fd5e28c8a1d624813f688a
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Martinsville
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/56.jpg" alt="Postcard view looking north up Old Falld Blvd" /><span class="cover-caption">Old Falls Boulevard, looking north from Lockport Ave. to Niagara Falls Blvd. Postcard detail, c.1900.</span> The northeast part of North Tonawanda known as "Martinsville" is named after the father of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther. It is settled by German Lutheran farmers, beginning around 1843. They settled in narrow farms along the west bank of Tonawanda Creek. As the area developed, a "downtown" emerged along William Street, present-day Old Falls Blvd, near Lockport Rd. (pictured above). The village boasted its own post office, stores and places of entertainment. <br /><br />Most of Martinsville was incorporated into the then-booming City of North Tonawanda in 1897. The sections of Martinsville east of present-day Old Falls and Niagara Falls boulevards are considered part of Wheatfield.<br /><br />The real estate transaction that brought many of the settlers to the area, its early growth, and the contentious religious devotion of its people are described in <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/606"><em>History of Niagara County 1821-1878</em></a>:
<blockquote>In 1843 Carl Sack, Erdman Wurl and Fred Grosskopf purchased of William Vandervoote 400 acres, at $15 per acre, on the Tonawanda creek, in the southeast corner of the town, four miles east of Tonawanda village, in what is now known as the village of Martinsville. Lutheran religious antecedents caused the adoption of this name by the disciples of Martin Luther. The original purchase was divided into small lots of three acres and up- ward, as others were able to purchase, to provide for the location of thirty families the first season. They erected ten log houses in the autumn, each of which was occupied by three or four families during the winter and until joint efforts relieved the immigrants by building others. The families remained in Buffalo until the first houses were built, obtaining the best accommodations they could find. Forbidding as the prospect in the beginning must have been, it has been changed to the appearance of prosperity. The church organization is the controlling element in the government of the community, now consisting of one hundred families, connected with the two now existing, the result of divided feeling, but not an abandonment of the Lutheran faith.</blockquote>
Photo
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Title
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Bushes Bridge across Erie Canal, Martinsville, postcard (c1920).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920
bridge
canal
martinsville
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/4603107c664626ab806bd46d6a82dc1d.jpg
ffb55c10c137da05b9769a53ab13bc86
Dublin Core
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Title
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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: <em><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></em> by W. R. Wilbur
Photo
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Title
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Buffalo Bolt first aid, photo (c1920, Guy William Gane III).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/2b2661e44a7a4cce8cecbc87d4a1987d.jpg
b0639cc1927c3808996e05669e864872
Dublin Core
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Title
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Auto-Wheel Coaster Company (95 Schenck)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="https://nthistory.com/custom/cover/14.jpg" alt="Buffalo Sled employees, 1917" /><span class="cover-caption">Employees of the Buffalo Sled Company in North Tonawanda plant. PHOTO: North Tonawanda History Museum</span> Organized as the Buffalo Sled Co. in 1905 by John J. Schneider and Henry J, Tiedt, having been in business since 1899 (other sources say 1904). The firm moves to North Tonawanda in 1909 after the local trade organization agrees to cover the expense. Originally making sleds and shovels, they add coasters (wagons) in 1912. Soon they are enjoying national success, advertising aggressively in several publications, and marketing their boys' toys ingenuously with clubs and giveaways. In July of 1920 they file paperwork to change their name to the "Auto-Wheel Coaster Company."<br /><br />The North Tonawanda plant was located at foot of Schenck Street, west of Oliver and south of Schenck, though they at times also have operations in Buffalo, on Ellicott Creek in the old A. B. Williams plant, and in Preston, Ontario. The NT site was formerly (1908) occupied by the Orient Mfg. Co. (Fred Paschen lived just east). <br /><br /><span><span>From the Internet's <a href="http://www.harryrinker.com/col-1117.html">Harry Rinker</a>:</span></span>
<blockquote>A fire on April 16, 1920, destroyed the wheel department and storehouses. According to the 1921 City Directory, the company rebuilt and assumed a new name, Auto-Wheel Coaster Company.</blockquote>
Auto Wheel files for bankruptcy in July 1964, but is bought by area men to resume production. This did not seem to be successful, as the plant was is in the process of being converted to a palette factory when it is completely destroyed in a spectacular fire on Memorial Day (May 29), 1972, taking at least seven nearby homes with it.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
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Title
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Auto-Wheel Coaster and boys, photo (c1920).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/9834645a51e55f995b0de4e6a060ae29.jpg
0e1a93e7abe6a52a327c09762524f356
https://nthistory.com/files/original/368c9ab118883a1ea2be3b20f3a15a61.jpg
11b9e8fce70a32869eefff6ef9b05189
Dublin Core
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Title
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Auto-Wheel Coaster Company (95 Schenck)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="https://nthistory.com/custom/cover/14.jpg" alt="Buffalo Sled employees, 1917" /><span class="cover-caption">Employees of the Buffalo Sled Company in North Tonawanda plant. PHOTO: North Tonawanda History Museum</span> Organized as the Buffalo Sled Co. in 1905 by John J. Schneider and Henry J, Tiedt, having been in business since 1899 (other sources say 1904). The firm moves to North Tonawanda in 1909 after the local trade organization agrees to cover the expense. Originally making sleds and shovels, they add coasters (wagons) in 1912. Soon they are enjoying national success, advertising aggressively in several publications, and marketing their boys' toys ingenuously with clubs and giveaways. In July of 1920 they file paperwork to change their name to the "Auto-Wheel Coaster Company."<br /><br />The North Tonawanda plant was located at foot of Schenck Street, west of Oliver and south of Schenck, though they at times also have operations in Buffalo, on Ellicott Creek in the old A. B. Williams plant, and in Preston, Ontario. The NT site was formerly (1908) occupied by the Orient Mfg. Co. (Fred Paschen lived just east). <br /><br /><span><span>From the Internet's <a href="http://www.harryrinker.com/col-1117.html">Harry Rinker</a>:</span></span>
<blockquote>A fire on April 16, 1920, destroyed the wheel department and storehouses. According to the 1921 City Directory, the company rebuilt and assumed a new name, Auto-Wheel Coaster Company.</blockquote>
Auto Wheel files for bankruptcy in July 1964, but is bought by area men to resume production. This did not seem to be successful, as the plant was is in the process of being converted to a palette factory when it is completely destroyed in a spectacular fire on Memorial Day (May 29), 1972, taking at least seven nearby homes with it.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
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Title
A name given to the resource
Auto-Wheel coaster and children, photo (c1920).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/21385835a576ea99e2360755750d2f66.jpg
53c7e154244f5b19fe845c5b5fa754f5
https://nthistory.com/files/original/bcf4ae4d9be5335f6ea724a79a73e2ec.jpg
d85d5b84085123ab72ec1b91650e1d78
https://nthistory.com/files/original/23c1e8499991741a89e11355c585a76c.jpg
928fa7c398801e7e1fa2e3e3a094fca3
https://nthistory.com/files/original/e94c71bb7df137c24e516626910e310a.jpg
42c141cb0fac82c5f52b438a7aa4a5cf
https://nthistory.com/files/original/9c239ea137685439f57a0f4880d2f425.jpg
168dbaf3931ecd0c7c93eeabcf3bb6a7
https://nthistory.com/files/original/54b4472f03fe09899015e347502a377e.jpg
aab6cfbc2a53f11de4f40d02515a5833
Photo
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Title
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305 Schenck, photos (Al Moser, c1920).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920
building
oliver
village
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/d15f5ac963009944c33a3912d21324a2.jpg
a735fdfaafa700c4685cb11f485c8fc9
https://nthistory.com/files/original/3e61dbce2472dc96bbd7323d546d512c.png
82585124810bdcca0986ae316aedfa99
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Title
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Buffalo & Niagara High Speed Line (1918-1937)
Description
An account of the resource
The electric High Speed Line is an electric streetcar (trolley) passenger train operated by the International Railway Company from June 9, 1918 to August 20, 1937. It carries passengers from Buffalo to Niagara Falls in about an hour. <br /><br />For its NT stretch, <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/636">as shown in this 1935 map</a>, the line follows present-day Twin-City Highway. At Nash, it bends into the field east of the county building (its path is still clearly visible today), continues across Walck Road, and then proceeds northwesterly through 15th Avenue near Payne (before homes or the Mid-City Plaza were built), through Gratwick, across Oliver Street just south of Delmar Terrace and north of Ward Road, continuing west out to River Road and then on to Niagara Falls. <br /><br />For much of its course through NT, it is carried over east-west streets on a high earthen embankment (referred to in a 1948 article as our "Chinese wall"). Fill for the massive embankment was taken from Payne's Hill, near present-day Stanley Street. <br /><br />The High Speed line closes as buses and personal vehicles become more prevalent. The embankment is dismantled sometime later.
Photo
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Title
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IRC High Speed Train, Facebook, photo (c1920).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920
train
trolley
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/be70a371b0ca7839de202423bdda86e9.jpeg
417e10587753e6b466ec75bfff242e58
Dublin Core
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Title
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142 Oliver
Description
An account of the resource
This Oliver Street address appears to have its foundation laid in 1886, in the midst of a grist mill, boiler and engine works, a train depot, and a flour mill.
By 1893, maps show a saloon with two stories in the front, and several single-story buildings behind it.
Around 1914, Andrew Dorn and his Bavarian-born wife Katharina come to North Tonawanda from New York City, and begin operating a tavern and rooming house at 142 Oliver. "The Erie Hotel and Cafe" is advertised in 1915 with Andrew Dorn as the proprietor, and their clientele as "gentlemen only." Prohibition forces drinking establishments to serve on the down-low, and a 1932 dry raid targets Dorn and others.
With the end of Prohibition in 1933, Dorn resumes serving openly. A business card for what is now called "Dorn’s Buffet and Rooming House" promises "light lunches" and features an illustration of a smiling man proffering a sudsy beer glass twice the size of his head. Andrew Dorn passes in 1935, and by 1942 the site is advertised as "North Star Tavern."
Today, the address is privately owned apartments, seemingly now two stories all the way back. County property data gives 1930 as the build date.
Photo
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Title
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Dorn’s Buffet and Rooming House, 142 Oliver, interior photo (c1920).jpeg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/d7860c66c4001261e08198ed86dc73bb.jpg
13c0799720a86937e65eb3dcc906c31b
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Title
A name given to the resource
Allan Herschell Companies
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/files/original/0a8137a27b9978ab2f72819b2bd699cf.jpg" alt="" /> <span class="cover-caption">An 1894 Armitage-Herschell advertisement shows a not-at-all-dangerous-to-children-looking steam boiler and pulleys providing motive power to the company's signature device.</span>
<div>On gilded signs posted at its southern and northern entrances, North Tonawanda introduces itself to visitors as "The Home of the Carrousel." The still-ubiquitous fairground staple was not <em>invented</em> in North Tonawanda (some version of it had been around <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dizzy-history-carousels-begins-knights-180964100">since at least the 12th Century</a>), but thousands were produced here and the highest levels of craftsmanship were attained here under the guidance of Scottish-born Allan Herschell.<br /><br /></div>
In 1872 (<em>Landmarks</em> says 1873), the Armitage-Herschell Co. begins as a small brass and iron foundry on Manhattan Street, comprised of Englishman <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/889">James Armitage</a>, and Scottish brothers <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/880">George</a> and <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/877">Allan Herschell</a>. The firm survives devastating fires in 1874 and 1875, and expands to a location off Oliver Street (whence comes the name, "Mechanic Street"), adding engines and boilers to their specialties. Youngest partner Allan sees a carousel while traveling, and recognizes ways it can be improved. By 1887, his "Improved Steam Riding Gallery" captivates the world, and people from India and France demand the modern amusement. The merry-go-round-makers at first import the accompanying band organs from the old European master-builders of Germany and France, but high tariffs decide them to instead import German organ maker <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">Eugene de Kleist</a> from England (de Kleist begins making organs at his <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory</a> in 1893). They organize in 1890.<br /><br />James Armitage and George Herschell die in early 1900. The Armitage-Herschell Company is succeeded by Herschell, Spillman & Company, and the Allan Herschell Company. Allan Herschell dies in 1927. The latter company continues making amusements, including miniature trains, boats and airplanes (some of which can be played upon at the <a href="http://www.carrouselmuseum.org">Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum</a> in North Tonawanda) as late as the 1960s.<br /><br />There is a large Herschell family plot in Sweeney Cemetery.
Source
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/607"><em>Landmarks of Niagara County</em> (1897)</a></li>
<li><span class="_Tgc">“<a href="http://carrouselmuseum.org/site/about/allan-herschell">Allen Herschell History</a>.” <em>Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum,</em> 2014.</span></li>
</ul>
Photo
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Title
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Herschell-Spillman Motors, ad w view of factory and logotype (Motor Age, 1920-02-12.jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920-02-12
factory
logotype
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/7207e6999f1c268b5729cbef8a6e7414.jpg
0f52e250937b54f0da28b29b0cdf22df
Dublin Core
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Webster to Main Street Bridges
Description
An account of the resource
(?-1916): Long bridge (1918-1978) A "Bascule" bridge (which could open to allow masted boats to pass) once connected Webster Street in North Tonawanda to Main Street in Tonawanda. It replaced the "Long Bridge," and was part of the enlargement of the Erie Canal to the Erie Barge Canal. According to a plaque on the site, it was built by the Bethlehem Steel Bridge Corporation. This collection features photos of the bridge in its heyday, as well as a black-and-white series depicting its 1978 demolition, and the rerouting of the Main and Young street approaches.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
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Bascule bridge, looking east, photo (NYSA, 1920-05-11).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920-05-11
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/446806d89b1f90560e437eb6f9c2e7df.jpg
51e4b6e1d86f043cc826e3c9c5096b5e
Dublin Core
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Webster to Main Street Bridges
Description
An account of the resource
(?-1916): Long bridge (1918-1978) A "Bascule" bridge (which could open to allow masted boats to pass) once connected Webster Street in North Tonawanda to Main Street in Tonawanda. It replaced the "Long Bridge," and was part of the enlargement of the Erie Canal to the Erie Barge Canal. According to a plaque on the site, it was built by the Bethlehem Steel Bridge Corporation. This collection features photos of the bridge in its heyday, as well as a black-and-white series depicting its 1978 demolition, and the rerouting of the Main and Young street approaches.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
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Title
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Main-Webster Street Bridge; north span, looking north, photo (NYSA, 1920-06-07).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
Scanlon, Sweeney Building, Real Estate Exchange, National Bank
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920-06-07
bridge
webster
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/243bc2313b33b0e921fa325b9b72e6bd.jpg
252753ba142875b74ca79d0cc4621be2
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Title
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Firefighters
Description
An account of the resource
Rough chronology at <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/firefighting.html">NT History Museum</a>, including notes about many defunct companies. A provocative (if unlikely-sounding) morsel about Hydrant Hose Co. No. 3 (1886-1909), formerly based on Sweeney near Delaware bridge:
<blockquote>The fighting crew of the old Hydrant Hose Company liked to fight fires so much, they would first fight the men of any other fire company who raced to a North Tonawanda fire to see who got the pleasure of conquering the flames. Often the flames ended up as the victor as the firefighters spent their energies in a brawl rather than on the element of nature.</blockquote>
From Sarah E. Walter's thesis as it appears on <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/thesis.html#thesis">nthistorymuseum.org</a>:
<blockquote>The North Tonawanda Fire Dept is known as one of the best paid and volunteer departments in the nation. The greatest enemy the lumbermen had was fire. Annually it destroyed millions of dollars of lumber and cost many lives. A step forward came on May 7, 1876, when twenty of the most prominent residents of the Village of North Tonawanda gathered together in the school house at the corner of Main and Tremont Streets and formed themselves into a Company for the protection of property against the ravages of fire. The newly formed Company petitioned the Village Board and in special session on May 15, 1876, the board approved and appointed them firemen of the Village and their company was called the North Tonawanda Bucket Company, later to be called the Columbia Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.
<p>North Tonawanda depended heavily on Volunteer Firemen and quickly grew to seven companies located at important places around the city.</p>
</blockquote>
<table border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" align="center">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>Date Started </strong></td>
<td><strong>Name </strong></td>
<td><strong>By Whom </strong></td>
<td> <strong>Notes</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>May 7, 1876</td>
<td>North Tonawanda Bucket Company / Columbia Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.</td>
<td> </td>
<td> (See below)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>March 1, 1886</td>
<td>Active Hose Company No.2</td>
<td> </td>
<td>"Ironton Boys"</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1886*</td>
<td>Gratwick Hose Company No. 6</td>
<td>Village Council</td>
<td><a href="https://yellow.place/en/gratwick-hose-fire-company-6-north-tonawanda-usa">1890?</a> On Felton until 1962.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>April 1887</td>
<td>Live Active Hose Co. No. 4</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>January 26, 1891</td>
<td>Rescue Fire Company No. 5</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>February 6, 1891</td>
<td>Gratwick Hose Company No. 1</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1894</td>
<td>Sweeney Hose No. 7</td>
<td>Village Council</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br /><br />From The<em> Tonawanda News, May 9, 1896:</em>
<blockquote>Monday, June 15, has been selected as the date of the Firemen's Annual Parade. It is expected that it will prove of more than ordinary interest as unusual efforts will be put forth this year to make it an enjoyable spectacular affair. <br /><br />In this connection it is interesting to note that Thursday of this week was the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the first fire company In North Tonawanda. Previous to this date North Tonawanda had paid Tonawanda $300 a year for the fire protection that the Tonawanda companies afforded. <br /><br />The parent company of North Tonawanda was the <strong>Columbia Hook and Ladder Company</strong>; it is still in existence, but is now one of eight splendid companies of which North Tonawanda can boast. As before stated it was organized May 7, 1876, and its first president was Frank Fellows. It was organized under a famous old hickory tree which stood on the ground now occupied by the parsonage of the First Methodist Church. Nicholas Beckrich was the first foreman of this company and other members of this crack organization were John E. Oelkers, Frank Batt, H. U. Berger, M. J. Wattengel, W. P. Hayes, Jno. Spillman, Aug. Duckwitz, Fred Schultz, Isaac Gardei, Geo. Miller, John Haas, Julius Miller and others. A number of these early firemen are numbered among the most prominent residents of North Tonawanda but it is with considerable pleasure that they recall the days of their early triumphs.</blockquote>
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
Richard H. Martin, Columbia Hook & Ladder No. 1, Firemen's Day Parade, photo (1920-06-20).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920-06-20
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/878893b7dfd24a63574ec557a62ca0bf.jpg
dfc9dfaa2c63799d9b7a80b47cab118c
https://nthistory.com/files/original/3e8a8590bc7d17b49774a2a4fef7510e.jpg
d0b23e0fbe2d568d6b03af3a85a7a0a2
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
Downtown
Description
An account of the resource
Most of North Tonawanda's downtown area developed between 1875 and 1900. In this collection are preserved views of many vanished buildings: The YMCA and City Hall at the southeast corner of Tremont and Main; the 6-story 1891 Smith building (Real Estate Exchange) at the northeast corner of Tremont and Webster, the gothic stone State National Bank at the northwest corner of Sweeney and Webster, and Scanlon's Hall on the southwest corner of the same intersection, to name a few.
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
Webster Street, two views, photos (Erie Canal Museum, 1920-08-03).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920-08-03
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
https://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/srr_ecm/id/1874/rec/24
Description
An account of the resource
(first photo): Niagara Savings and Loan, White Star Hotel, Scanlon, State National Bank, Sweeney Building.
bridge
downtown
webster
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/56a7364beacd75c87028702928aa3bfd.jpg
d0b23e0fbe2d568d6b03af3a85a7a0a2
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
Webster to Main Street Bridges
Description
An account of the resource
(?-1916): Long bridge (1918-1978) A "Bascule" bridge (which could open to allow masted boats to pass) once connected Webster Street in North Tonawanda to Main Street in Tonawanda. It replaced the "Long Bridge," and was part of the enlargement of the Erie Canal to the Erie Barge Canal. According to a plaque on the site, it was built by the Bethlehem Steel Bridge Corporation. This collection features photos of the bridge in its heyday, as well as a black-and-white series depicting its 1978 demolition, and the rerouting of the Main and Young street approaches.
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
Main Webster St. Bridge, looking north (Erie Canal Museum, 1920-08-03) detail.jpg
Description
An account of the resource
See also http://nthistory.com/items/show/2105
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920-08-03
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/7d07f0650ae1db0256a05f2399fd2b80.jpg
7d1067dfa1ed6bcba594f7d4a8338e32
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
New York Central Railroad Bascule Bridge (Erie Canal Museum, 1920-10-08).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920-10-08
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
https://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/srr_ecm/id/1892/rec/26
bridge
canal
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ca5f1f9ce3fbce632dff76e209de3dd1.jpg
6a8a9676dbe41382e5fce237c832ce0e
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. In 1918 this 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
Main Street, jack-knife, and Vandervoort bridges across NY Barge Canal, photo (Erie Canal Museum, 1920-11-21).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920-11-21
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://eriecanalmuseum.org/">Erie Canal History Museum</a>
bridge
canal
creek
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/cdcd636b49b3963c77840d9aff7c1b31.jpg
acc46be95d04bc851c97e3c398d6d375
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
Webster to Main Street Bridges
Description
An account of the resource
(?-1916): Long bridge (1918-1978) A "Bascule" bridge (which could open to allow masted boats to pass) once connected Webster Street in North Tonawanda to Main Street in Tonawanda. It replaced the "Long Bridge," and was part of the enlargement of the Erie Canal to the Erie Barge Canal. According to a plaque on the site, it was built by the Bethlehem Steel Bridge Corporation. This collection features photos of the bridge in its heyday, as well as a black-and-white series depicting its 1978 demolition, and the rerouting of the Main and Young street approaches.
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
View of a lift bridge on the Erie Canal being raised to allow a boat to pass in Tonawanda., photo (Erie Canal Museum, 1920-11-22).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920-11-22
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
https://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/srr_ecm/id/1853/rec/21
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/52fa7b6f6cc0f993936af647e9159330.jpg
a07a06cec222b65bf2edec5a0e1b793c
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. In 1918 this 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
View of the east end of the wall at the junction of the old canal and creek, photo (Erie Canal Museum, 1920-11-22).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
Star Theater Photo Plays, Gold Medal Flour, Koenig
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920-11-22
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
https://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/srr_ecm/id/1919/rec/28
canal
theater
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/40304dfb9ce0067ef3aa243587bef011.jpg
0256fc79774403d506ebe3321f47f3e7
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
Webster to Main Street Bridges
Description
An account of the resource
(?-1916): Long bridge (1918-1978) A "Bascule" bridge (which could open to allow masted boats to pass) once connected Webster Street in North Tonawanda to Main Street in Tonawanda. It replaced the "Long Bridge," and was part of the enlargement of the Erie Canal to the Erie Barge Canal. According to a plaque on the site, it was built by the Bethlehem Steel Bridge Corporation. This collection features photos of the bridge in its heyday, as well as a black-and-white series depicting its 1978 demolition, and the rerouting of the Main and Young street approaches.
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
Bascule bridge, Tonawanda, looking north, photo (1920-11-22).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920-11-22
bridge
canal
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ffa054add5f8a24de7313095491486df.jpg
d3cd6805b60d5407206aa974a5a2e079
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. In 1918 this 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
Boats at Tonawanda Terminal, looking east, photo (NYSA, 1920-11-22).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920-11-22
bridge
canal
cantilever
tonawanda
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/2ce0d0bba75691dd6b4cad0dc7790cb6.jpg
cb7dc34e43ab96ca42879efceb8933b8
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 Kardex Lumbermen
Description
An account of the resource
This Tonawandas football club was a member of the NFL--for a single "away" game in 1921. They lost that game (against the Rochester Jeffersons) 45-0. Tonawanda High School was the site of their home games. They were named after and probably sponsored by the Rand Kardex Co. Coached by Syracuse standout "Tam" Rose. In 1921, players are college starts from "all over the country," including "Notre Dame, Penn State, and Maryland." <br /><br />According to <a href="https://pauljlane.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/tonawanda-kardex-an-nfl-enigma/">Life in the Slow Lane</a>, the lineup was:<br />
<ul>
<li>Backnor, C;</li>
<li>Fred Brumm, LT;</li>
<li>Cassidy, QB;</li>
<li>Joe Dussosoit, RE;</li>
<li>Andy Fletcher, LHB;</li>
<li>Art Georke, LE;</li>
<li>Clarence Hosmer, LG;</li>
<li>Rudy Kraft, LG-C;</li>
<li>George Kuhrt, LT;</li>
<li>Buck MacDonald, RG;</li>
<li>Tom McLaughlin, RHB-FB;</li>
<li>Bill Meisner, RHB;</li>
<li>Frank Morrisey, RT;</li>
<li>Frank Primeau, RE-QB;</li>
<li>Tam Rose, LHB;</li>
<li>Spin Roy, LE;</li>
<li>Bill Sanborn, RE;</li>
<li>Charles Tallman, RT;</li>
<li>Red Werder, C;</li>
<li>Wex, FB;</li>
<li>Wise, QB</li>
</ul>
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonawanda_Kardex_Lumbermen">Tonawanda Kardex at Wikipedia</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.independentfootball.site90.com/FootballResearch/ny/nytonaw.htm">Historical Record at Independent Football</a></li>
<li><a href="https://pauljlane.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/tonawanda-kardex-an-nfl-enigma/"><em>Tonawanda Kardex an NFL Enigma</em></a> by a local reporter</li>
<li><a href="https://psmag.com/social-justice/the-nfl-team-that-only-survived-long-enough-to-lose-1-game-tonawanda-kardex-73499">The NFL Team that Only Survived Long Enough to Lose 1 Game</a>, Pacific Standard (2014)</li>
<li>Old Team Tuesday: The Tonawanda Kardex (<a href="https://www.birtmc.com/2017/08/old-team-tuesday-tonawanda-kardex.html">birtmc.com</a>)</li>
<li><a href="https://pauljlane.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/tonawanda-kardex-an-nfl-enigma/">Life in the Slow Lane</a> (blog)</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
Tonawanda Kardex football player, photo (1921).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
The Tonawandas' short-lived NFL team (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonawanda_Kardex_Lumbermen">Wikipedia article</a>).
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1921
football
sports
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/7ee2b100bfb4c40fec1cfc71305615f8.jpg
3a016c688e913e50da90d759dabce71e
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
Webster to Main Street Bridges
Description
An account of the resource
(?-1916): Long bridge (1918-1978) A "Bascule" bridge (which could open to allow masted boats to pass) once connected Webster Street in North Tonawanda to Main Street in Tonawanda. It replaced the "Long Bridge," and was part of the enlargement of the Erie Canal to the Erie Barge Canal. According to a plaque on the site, it was built by the Bethlehem Steel Bridge Corporation. This collection features photos of the bridge in its heyday, as well as a black-and-white series depicting its 1978 demolition, and the rerouting of the Main and Young street approaches.
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
Bascule bridge opening over canal, photo (1921).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1921
bridge
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/f6217a8a6077e4a77cdf629fecf94c82.jpg
ec806308542495f652ff56e07813e004
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
Ice Cream H. P. Schroeders Candies, Cigars and Tobacco, 136, photo (1921).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
Not sure what street this is?
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1921
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ecd2d311b23825c7870aaa928fc9e5a1.jpeg
c6012bd034e279d756dd1272fd388145
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
Cantilever bridge being tested, photo (c.1922, Bridgehunter.com).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1922
bridge
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/bc5b8b2526bd0d43c2d5df857de1a0f0.jpg
e00a05dd5918db449f192abf03418526
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
Felton High School and Grammar School
Description
An account of the resource
Built in 1901, the visually striking Felton High School once stretched along Thompson Street between Bryant and Falconer streets. It was named after local leader <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/650">Benjamin F. Felton</a>, who was<span> president of North Tonawanda's Board of Education for 30 years. The building </span>would later be used as a grammar school. Although demolished in 1969, it is not entirely forgotten: we still call the field across Payne Avenue (which was a N.Y. Central train yard and later in 1919 the site of NT's first public playground) "Felton Field."
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
NT High School football, team photo (John Olszowka, 1923).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1923
Description
An account of the resource
Felton High School is visible in the distance.
school
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/d59005d7473a6e3848c3f4262253e082.jpg
c730bfd233fc6e60acfd61de6f9a0f75
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
Ellicott Creek Estates (Tonawanda)
Description
An account of the resource
In the mid 1920s, the area between Tonawanda and Ellicott Creeks near Niagara Falls Blvd. was aggressively marketed for sale to prospective homebuyers by the Kinsey Realty Company.
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
Ellicott Creek Estates sign on car, photo (c.1923).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1923
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ae3a343fea698aebfecdf45d41abc6be.jpg
cf341259a00516f58a5b9ac0235b98a9
https://nthistory.com/files/original/0b9c5351e6fc2fead37c82d1997b6238.jpg
13139d84d34d3b864f990f4e98134ccb
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
Trolleys and Trains
Description
An account of the resource
Before everybody in North Tonawanda could afford their very own muffler-less Honda Civic to run up and down Oliver Street, trolleys and trains were an important means of personal transportation. Several lines ran throughout the city, moving people to and from their jobs, churches, or just out for a look around.
Though they may seem romantic to us now, people griped about the trolleys the same way we complain about snow plows today. Apparently their slow speed was sometimes targeted: An item in this set describes a "well-known peddler" in the Gratwick area who is injured by a trolley car. The author drolly observes, "'Twould have been a real miracle if a Gratwick car could have got up enough speed to have killed him" (Tonawanda News, 1908-2-13).
The trolley era did not last long. By the 1920s, the electric streetcar had been passed by the gasoline-powered bus as the most prevalent means of public transportation. Another article in this set from the Tonawanda News, "Carpenter now operates 14 busses in the Tonawandas," outlines the rise of the Carpenter Rapid Transit buses.
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 near North Tonawanda train station, photo (c1923).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1923
collection
person
village
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/57f18d98bc34c720fdb190831acf45bf.jpeg
fe0da98ea26eca006de866b37570ad9d
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 School
Description
An account of the resource
Opens in 1894, two years after Pine Woods school, and five years after the second public school, Ironton (According to a 1979 News article).
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
Gratwick School, class photo (Cynthia Lustig, c1923).jpeg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1923
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/90f6f12eb3271812f61d840a7e6b67bb.png
24484a73119e82dfde0f434cb4567959
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
Downtown
Description
An account of the resource
Most of North Tonawanda's downtown area developed between 1875 and 1900. In this collection are preserved views of many vanished buildings: The YMCA and City Hall at the southeast corner of Tremont and Main; the 6-story 1891 Smith building (Real Estate Exchange) at the northeast corner of Tremont and Webster, the gothic stone State National Bank at the northwest corner of Sweeney and Webster, and Scanlon's Hall on the southwest corner of the same intersection, to name a few.
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
Tonawandas Newest Civic Center, photos and article (Ton News 1924).png
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1924
Description
An account of the resource
Abandonment of Erie Canal from Ellicott Creek, removal of train tracks from Webster in NT and Main in Tonawanda, automobiles. Also view of Van Raalte Silk Mill, First Trust bank, Sweeney Building.
bridge
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/e7ebe92250bf6a0dfc04d7e58d2ba3ed.jpg
9ad4ca533d00e1a3ed843d58b7ba2d9e
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 School
Description
An account of the resource
Opens in 1894, two years after Pine Woods school, and five years after the second public school, Ironton (According to a 1979 News article).
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
Gratwick School showing 1924 addition, photo (Marjorie Crosby thesis, 1949).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1924
gratwick
school
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/fd654f28dbae8092cf4857093fed5d4a.jpg
0b684aad0a0588246a036cfd5edfa0eb
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 Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/10.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works, colorized by the webmaster." /> <span class="cover-caption">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works factory at 435 Payne Avenue, c1913; photo colorized by the webmaster.</span>
<div>(1906-1919) The North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works produces military band organs, player pianos, organs for (still silent) "moving picture" theaters and more. The factory is the third automatic musical instrument manufacturer in the city, starting about a year after the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>. Like Niagara, NTMIW is partially comprised of men who have worked with <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist's Musical Instrument Works</a> (president John Birnie had been secretary-treasurer for de Kleist). <br /><br />According to an article in this set, NTMIW originally operates out of "the Williams plant on the Ellicott Creek." They incorporate in 1906, and in the second half of 1907 build a substantial four-story factory. In 1911 that factory is tripled (articles suggest the work is not completed until early 1912). Although larger than Niagara, NTMIW will always be a distant second behind de Kleist and Wurlitzer. In 1918, NTMIW is acquired by the Rand Visible Records Company. Rand continues the musical manufacturing business, and the former NTMIW leadership at first sticks around. Rand's press officers kick into high gear, founding a monthly internal company magazine, <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1192"><em>All of Us</em></a>, apparently aimed at easing the culture change. In spite of this gesture, NTMIW founding officer Stillman C. Woodruff and others leave Rand--and the bones of their former company--around 1920 to try their hand at the band organ game one last time with their <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/22">Artizan Factories Inc.</a> venture in 1922.</div>
Photo
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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/.
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North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works, mottoes removed, photo (HST p677 c1925).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1925
factory
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/db40985125036d5aec12a8600eaa0bc1.jpg
0a96718e06dfbaf91309a0e665a3433f
Photo
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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/54d6661fe8c7bce84bdef95dae902271.jpg
5ec8dcff3ee7e3b84b78b3fafcbdb68c
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
Firefighters
Description
An account of the resource
Rough chronology at <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/firefighting.html">NT History Museum</a>, including notes about many defunct companies. A provocative (if unlikely-sounding) morsel about Hydrant Hose Co. No. 3 (1886-1909), formerly based on Sweeney near Delaware bridge:
<blockquote>The fighting crew of the old Hydrant Hose Company liked to fight fires so much, they would first fight the men of any other fire company who raced to a North Tonawanda fire to see who got the pleasure of conquering the flames. Often the flames ended up as the victor as the firefighters spent their energies in a brawl rather than on the element of nature.</blockquote>
From Sarah E. Walter's thesis as it appears on <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/thesis.html#thesis">nthistorymuseum.org</a>:
<blockquote>The North Tonawanda Fire Dept is known as one of the best paid and volunteer departments in the nation. The greatest enemy the lumbermen had was fire. Annually it destroyed millions of dollars of lumber and cost many lives. A step forward came on May 7, 1876, when twenty of the most prominent residents of the Village of North Tonawanda gathered together in the school house at the corner of Main and Tremont Streets and formed themselves into a Company for the protection of property against the ravages of fire. The newly formed Company petitioned the Village Board and in special session on May 15, 1876, the board approved and appointed them firemen of the Village and their company was called the North Tonawanda Bucket Company, later to be called the Columbia Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.
<p>North Tonawanda depended heavily on Volunteer Firemen and quickly grew to seven companies located at important places around the city.</p>
</blockquote>
<table border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" align="center">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>Date Started </strong></td>
<td><strong>Name </strong></td>
<td><strong>By Whom </strong></td>
<td> <strong>Notes</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>May 7, 1876</td>
<td>North Tonawanda Bucket Company / Columbia Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.</td>
<td> </td>
<td> (See below)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>March 1, 1886</td>
<td>Active Hose Company No.2</td>
<td> </td>
<td>"Ironton Boys"</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1886*</td>
<td>Gratwick Hose Company No. 6</td>
<td>Village Council</td>
<td><a href="https://yellow.place/en/gratwick-hose-fire-company-6-north-tonawanda-usa">1890?</a> On Felton until 1962.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>April 1887</td>
<td>Live Active Hose Co. No. 4</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>January 26, 1891</td>
<td>Rescue Fire Company No. 5</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>February 6, 1891</td>
<td>Gratwick Hose Company No. 1</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1894</td>
<td>Sweeney Hose No. 7</td>
<td>Village Council</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br /><br />From The<em> Tonawanda News, May 9, 1896:</em>
<blockquote>Monday, June 15, has been selected as the date of the Firemen's Annual Parade. It is expected that it will prove of more than ordinary interest as unusual efforts will be put forth this year to make it an enjoyable spectacular affair. <br /><br />In this connection it is interesting to note that Thursday of this week was the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the first fire company In North Tonawanda. Previous to this date North Tonawanda had paid Tonawanda $300 a year for the fire protection that the Tonawanda companies afforded. <br /><br />The parent company of North Tonawanda was the <strong>Columbia Hook and Ladder Company</strong>; it is still in existence, but is now one of eight splendid companies of which North Tonawanda can boast. As before stated it was organized May 7, 1876, and its first president was Frank Fellows. It was organized under a famous old hickory tree which stood on the ground now occupied by the parsonage of the First Methodist Church. Nicholas Beckrich was the first foreman of this company and other members of this crack organization were John E. Oelkers, Frank Batt, H. U. Berger, M. J. Wattengel, W. P. Hayes, Jno. Spillman, Aug. Duckwitz, Fred Schultz, Isaac Gardei, Geo. Miller, John Haas, Julius Miller and others. A number of these early firemen are numbered among the most prominent residents of North Tonawanda but it is with considerable pleasure that they recall the days of their early triumphs.</blockquote>
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
Columbia Hook and Ladder, fireman and little girl, photo (Kathleen Dahl Ricch, c1925).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1925
firefighter
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/bc6226d0ca65365e92c14b8df8ff0d34.jpg
d31a14183b610c2fd55b79abfc770ca6
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
Firefighters
Description
An account of the resource
Rough chronology at <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/firefighting.html">NT History Museum</a>, including notes about many defunct companies. A provocative (if unlikely-sounding) morsel about Hydrant Hose Co. No. 3 (1886-1909), formerly based on Sweeney near Delaware bridge:
<blockquote>The fighting crew of the old Hydrant Hose Company liked to fight fires so much, they would first fight the men of any other fire company who raced to a North Tonawanda fire to see who got the pleasure of conquering the flames. Often the flames ended up as the victor as the firefighters spent their energies in a brawl rather than on the element of nature.</blockquote>
From Sarah E. Walter's thesis as it appears on <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/thesis.html#thesis">nthistorymuseum.org</a>:
<blockquote>The North Tonawanda Fire Dept is known as one of the best paid and volunteer departments in the nation. The greatest enemy the lumbermen had was fire. Annually it destroyed millions of dollars of lumber and cost many lives. A step forward came on May 7, 1876, when twenty of the most prominent residents of the Village of North Tonawanda gathered together in the school house at the corner of Main and Tremont Streets and formed themselves into a Company for the protection of property against the ravages of fire. The newly formed Company petitioned the Village Board and in special session on May 15, 1876, the board approved and appointed them firemen of the Village and their company was called the North Tonawanda Bucket Company, later to be called the Columbia Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.
<p>North Tonawanda depended heavily on Volunteer Firemen and quickly grew to seven companies located at important places around the city.</p>
</blockquote>
<table border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" align="center">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>Date Started </strong></td>
<td><strong>Name </strong></td>
<td><strong>By Whom </strong></td>
<td> <strong>Notes</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>May 7, 1876</td>
<td>North Tonawanda Bucket Company / Columbia Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.</td>
<td> </td>
<td> (See below)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>March 1, 1886</td>
<td>Active Hose Company No.2</td>
<td> </td>
<td>"Ironton Boys"</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1886*</td>
<td>Gratwick Hose Company No. 6</td>
<td>Village Council</td>
<td><a href="https://yellow.place/en/gratwick-hose-fire-company-6-north-tonawanda-usa">1890?</a> On Felton until 1962.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>April 1887</td>
<td>Live Active Hose Co. No. 4</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>January 26, 1891</td>
<td>Rescue Fire Company No. 5</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>February 6, 1891</td>
<td>Gratwick Hose Company No. 1</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1894</td>
<td>Sweeney Hose No. 7</td>
<td>Village Council</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br /><br />From The<em> Tonawanda News, May 9, 1896:</em>
<blockquote>Monday, June 15, has been selected as the date of the Firemen's Annual Parade. It is expected that it will prove of more than ordinary interest as unusual efforts will be put forth this year to make it an enjoyable spectacular affair. <br /><br />In this connection it is interesting to note that Thursday of this week was the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the first fire company In North Tonawanda. Previous to this date North Tonawanda had paid Tonawanda $300 a year for the fire protection that the Tonawanda companies afforded. <br /><br />The parent company of North Tonawanda was the <strong>Columbia Hook and Ladder Company</strong>; it is still in existence, but is now one of eight splendid companies of which North Tonawanda can boast. As before stated it was organized May 7, 1876, and its first president was Frank Fellows. It was organized under a famous old hickory tree which stood on the ground now occupied by the parsonage of the First Methodist Church. Nicholas Beckrich was the first foreman of this company and other members of this crack organization were John E. Oelkers, Frank Batt, H. U. Berger, M. J. Wattengel, W. P. Hayes, Jno. Spillman, Aug. Duckwitz, Fred Schultz, Isaac Gardei, Geo. Miller, John Haas, Julius Miller and others. A number of these early firemen are numbered among the most prominent residents of North Tonawanda but it is with considerable pleasure that they recall the days of their early triumphs.</blockquote>
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
Columbia Hook and Ladder, parade photo (Kathleen Dahl Rich, c1925).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1925
firefighter
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/71c17f00c022f55047bb82e24f8004d7.jpg
ee6ace4bafb3c176d8cb90ee21d418c9
Photo
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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
Felton High School football team, photo (Great Grandpa Olszowka, c.1925).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1925
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/292378362058c01f7e0704186a4a0981.jpg
c1538b781b933891ca908bfafa684648
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Title
A name given to the resource
Payne Avenue High School
Description
An account of the resource
Built c. 1925. A pool is added soon after. Later Payne Junior High, and Lowery Middle School.
Photo
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Dublin Core
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Title
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North Tonawanda Senior High, photo (c1925).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1925
school
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/1c4eac5f208aa21d3ae698ec33804e55.jpg
a171c7de8d1c5263cce0d585c128c64d
https://nthistory.com/files/original/07efff4b4ebc3ddb8fdff19a8492d406.jpg
1d187bdc366f38692e41b9eae7cc4ec7
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ac9cfe1421b60e1f5e36dc84a8c01ab8.jpg
2bfd8756a9f148f051a0458f6b6674e9
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ded5c395dff44fc109eda6bf3ee6d4df.jpg
d5150802c0673a11cc1e3fbf2b9dcf31
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
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Rand Company, Kardex, Remington-Rand
Description
An account of the resource
The Rand family powerfully shaped the Tonawandas' business landscape over several generations. Starting in banking, the Rand men (sometimes in direct competition with one another) would become involved in filing systems, office furnishings, <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/10">automatic musical instruments</a>, and even what would be come the modern computer. In 1908, James Rand Sr.'s Rand Company has its Plant No.1 on the west side of Goundry, near the train bridge (now a parking lot). In 1919 Rand adds Plant No.2, the former North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works (now Liston Mfg. Co.). The rival <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardex_Group">Kardex company</a> (operated by James Rand Jr.) is in Tonawanda at Main, Wheeler and Franklin in 1920. This site is later Remington-Rand Plant No. 10 in Tonawanda, where a workers' strike is broken in early summer of 1936 (<a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/2297">see plates 48 and 54 for maps</a> of Plants 10 and 11). <br /><br />Wikiepdia, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remington_Rand_strike_of_1936%E2%80%931937">Remington Rand Strike of 1937-1937</a></i>:
<blockquote>The strike is notorious for spawning the "Mohawk Valley formula," a corporate plan for strikebreaking to discredit union leaders, frighten the public with the threat of violence, use local police and vigilantes to intimidate strikers, form puppet associations of "loyal employees" to influence public debate, fortify workplaces, employ large numbers of strikebreakers, and threaten to close the plant if work is not resumed.</blockquote>
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
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Title
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Kardex-Rand, assorted photos, c1925.jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1925
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/18393a46e939fa6c07c1beef2f38379c.jpg
e3a1f9555410b5db431a6a7aec308c9b
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Photographers and Photographic Portraits
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
Stumpf Photography, Martin Motors, Delaware Street bridge, Tonawanda, photo (c1925).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1925
tonawanda
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/1691f3c2dde7b9ee21e4102820487246.jpg
f182fc00b257f684ebd3bbfd26a1339e
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
Firefighters
Description
An account of the resource
Rough chronology at <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/firefighting.html">NT History Museum</a>, including notes about many defunct companies. A provocative (if unlikely-sounding) morsel about Hydrant Hose Co. No. 3 (1886-1909), formerly based on Sweeney near Delaware bridge:
<blockquote>The fighting crew of the old Hydrant Hose Company liked to fight fires so much, they would first fight the men of any other fire company who raced to a North Tonawanda fire to see who got the pleasure of conquering the flames. Often the flames ended up as the victor as the firefighters spent their energies in a brawl rather than on the element of nature.</blockquote>
From Sarah E. Walter's thesis as it appears on <a href="http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/thesis.html#thesis">nthistorymuseum.org</a>:
<blockquote>The North Tonawanda Fire Dept is known as one of the best paid and volunteer departments in the nation. The greatest enemy the lumbermen had was fire. Annually it destroyed millions of dollars of lumber and cost many lives. A step forward came on May 7, 1876, when twenty of the most prominent residents of the Village of North Tonawanda gathered together in the school house at the corner of Main and Tremont Streets and formed themselves into a Company for the protection of property against the ravages of fire. The newly formed Company petitioned the Village Board and in special session on May 15, 1876, the board approved and appointed them firemen of the Village and their company was called the North Tonawanda Bucket Company, later to be called the Columbia Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.
<p>North Tonawanda depended heavily on Volunteer Firemen and quickly grew to seven companies located at important places around the city.</p>
</blockquote>
<table border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" align="center">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>Date Started </strong></td>
<td><strong>Name </strong></td>
<td><strong>By Whom </strong></td>
<td> <strong>Notes</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>May 7, 1876</td>
<td>North Tonawanda Bucket Company / Columbia Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.</td>
<td> </td>
<td> (See below)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>March 1, 1886</td>
<td>Active Hose Company No.2</td>
<td> </td>
<td>"Ironton Boys"</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1886*</td>
<td>Gratwick Hose Company No. 6</td>
<td>Village Council</td>
<td><a href="https://yellow.place/en/gratwick-hose-fire-company-6-north-tonawanda-usa">1890?</a> On Felton until 1962.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>April 1887</td>
<td>Live Active Hose Co. No. 4</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>January 26, 1891</td>
<td>Rescue Fire Company No. 5</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>February 6, 1891</td>
<td>Gratwick Hose Company No. 1</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1894</td>
<td>Sweeney Hose No. 7</td>
<td>Village Council</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br /><br />From The<em> Tonawanda News, May 9, 1896:</em>
<blockquote>Monday, June 15, has been selected as the date of the Firemen's Annual Parade. It is expected that it will prove of more than ordinary interest as unusual efforts will be put forth this year to make it an enjoyable spectacular affair. <br /><br />In this connection it is interesting to note that Thursday of this week was the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the first fire company In North Tonawanda. Previous to this date North Tonawanda had paid Tonawanda $300 a year for the fire protection that the Tonawanda companies afforded. <br /><br />The parent company of North Tonawanda was the <strong>Columbia Hook and Ladder Company</strong>; it is still in existence, but is now one of eight splendid companies of which North Tonawanda can boast. As before stated it was organized May 7, 1876, and its first president was Frank Fellows. It was organized under a famous old hickory tree which stood on the ground now occupied by the parsonage of the First Methodist Church. Nicholas Beckrich was the first foreman of this company and other members of this crack organization were John E. Oelkers, Frank Batt, H. U. Berger, M. J. Wattengel, W. P. Hayes, Jno. Spillman, Aug. Duckwitz, Fred Schultz, Isaac Gardei, Geo. Miller, John Haas, Julius Miller and others. A number of these early firemen are numbered among the most prominent residents of North Tonawanda but it is with considerable pleasure that they recall the days of their early triumphs.</blockquote>
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
Gratwick Hose No. 6, group photo, cabinet card, Wittkowsky (c1925).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1925
cabinet card
firefighter
gratwick
person
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/03c8e809a1e0adda5e725cd453b20ecf.jpg
68f9b216819fe801f858cded76e36123
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
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Artizan Factories Inc. (583 Division Street)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://nthistory.com/custom/cover/22.jpg" alt="Artizan Factories photo, 1926" /> <span class="cover-caption">The only known photograph of the Artizan Factories Inc. building in its seven years of operation; published in a 1926 industrial survey. From the Historical Society of the Tonawandas.</span> The red brick building at 583 Division Street was built for music.<br /><br />
<div class="img-caption-container"><img src="http://nthistory.com/files/square_thumbnails/7737a2457cebcbaaa529e8a7c35d86e6.jpg" alt="A colorfully painted Style D band organ" />
<div class="caption">A "Style D" band organ on display at the Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum, 2015</div>
</div>
Artizan Factories Inc. makes "automatic" musical instruments for carousels, fairgrounds, and parks. The men are refugees, so to speak, of the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/10">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works</a>, which was purchased by the Rand Visible Records Company in 1918 and converted to making office supplies. Artizan president Stillman C. Woodruff was the first secretary and treasurer for the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist Musical Instrument Mfg. Co.</a> in 1903 and served in a similar capacity for the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/10">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works </a>. Vice president Frank Morganti and treasurer Christian Maerten have also made the rounds of the local organ factories, and each have 30 years of firsthand experience.<br /><br />Like the North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works' original factory, the single-elevator Artizan building is designed to accomodate expansion. However, in its case, an expansion is never necessary. In spite of its talented leadership, the competition from the nationwide Wurlitzer and changing tastes in public entertainment prove too much. After years of economic hardship, the venture fails in 1929.<br /><br />Other concerns have owned the building through the decades. Little trace remains of the original work done here. The first floor was removed and merged with the basement, as seen in a video tour in this collection. Doug Hershberger of the Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum paid a visit in 2006, and found much the same, as he recorded in the <a href="http://www.mmdigest.com/Archives/Digests/200811/2008.11.29.06.html">Mechanical Music Digest</a> that year:
<blockquote>Inspection of the interior of the factory building is an exercise in frustration to a historian. I have never seen a building so utterly devoid of clues or artifacts or interest. There was not a partition, a workbench, a sign painted on the wall, anything that gave a clue as to the original occupant of the building. I'm not sure there was even paint on the wall. Moreover, even the first floor was gone! One of the post-Artizan owners of the property needed a higher ceiling, so he removed the first floor, making the basement ceiling the underside of the second level. <br /><br />Mr. Wagner was generous with his time and provided some interesting background on the building. He moved his business to the site in 1986. He said the previous owner was a pallet manufacturer who had gone bankrupt. The elevator had been sold off for income. Some of the (hardwood?) flooring had been removed by someone for the construction of a summer home. There were two boilers associated with the building, but evidently not within the four-story structure. Both have been removed and one boiler room is now used as a compressor room.</blockquote>
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Artizan Factories, photo (1926, HST).jpg
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1926
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/02d790eb82c6e10c31ace538dbcd6457.jpg
3bfa76faa83e32b4561a15345b8b12fd
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Lumber Business of the Tonawandas
Description
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<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/48.jpg" alt="Map of the Lumber District of the Tonawandas, 1893" /><span class="cover-caption">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>.</span> 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />As the forests of the midwest were depleted and shipping routes and technology changed, the lumber heyday of the Tonawandas receded into the past.
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White, Gratwick and Mitchell lumber yard, North Tonawanda, photo (planner, 1926).jpg
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1926
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/41f4be3a3439c332446c01159843fc26.JPG
680630f9fa8e7d646eb85fa2a0dbe653
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Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company
Source
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<em>Wurlitzer: 100 Years of Musical Achievement</em>. Rudolph Wurlitzer Company. Chicago, Illinois. 1956.
Description
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<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/52.jpg" alt="The signature tower of the North Tonawanda plant and occasional headquarters." /> <span class="cover-caption">The signature tower of the North Tonawanda plant and occasional headquarters. Postcard, c.1940.</span> <span style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.7em;">Its iconic tower has presided over Sawyer's Creek and Martinsville for almost 100 years. The sprawling industrial campus left behind by the world-famous Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company produced merry-go-round organs, band organs, church organs, theater organs and jukeboxes that have left an indelible mark on the world, and on generations of North Tonawandans. </span><br /><br />Wurlitzer founder Rudolph Wurlitzer (1831-1914) was a German immigrant who (after stops in New Jersey and Philadelphia) landed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1854 at the age of 23. He worked for a bank, and down the street was a musical retail store. His father, Christian, was a successful music retailer in Germany, and Rudolph's experience told him the Ohio store's instruments were of poor quality, and priced too high. In 1856 he begins importing quality musical instruments from his family in Germany to sell at a profit in American retail stores. The business grows; Wurlitzer begins making instruments themselves for the U. S. military and for retail. The company branches out into "automatic" musical instruments, such as music boxes and player-pianos. Rudolph's three sons, Howard, Rudolph H., and Farny become involved along the way, and take on aspects of the growing family business.<br /><br />The youngest son, Farny, is sent to North Tonawanda to run the former <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/24">de Kleist Musical Instrument Mfg. Co.</a> shortly after it is purchased by Wurlitzer in 1908. (de Kleist was building player pianos and band organs for Wurlitzer and others since 1893). Farny brings eccentric English inventor Robert Hope-Jones to the plant in 1910, initiating the worldwide success of the "Mighty Wurlitzer" theater organ, which provides sound for the silent films of the day, and entertainment in its own right. This business evaporates when sound comes to movies, and electrical sound amplification permits musical entertainment to be furnished to venues of all types much less expensively. <br /><br />When the Wurlitzer company finds itself overextended in the wake of the Great Depression, Farny fights to keep the North Tonawanda facility open. In 1934 he strikes a deal with Homer Capehart to manufacture his automatic phonograph, which becomes the iconic Wurlitzer jukebox. Under his leadership the company also produces a successful line of electronic organs for home use, and the North Tonawanda plant becomes the flagship of the Wurlitzer factories, with 3,000 employees. After his death in 1972, jukebox and organ production are phased out, leaving 200 employees in 1974. By 1975, all manufacturing at the North Tonawanda plant is stopped, and by August 1976, all company activities are removed to other locations.
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Wurlitzer printing plant, photos (1926-07-31 PRE p 10B).JPG
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1926-07-31
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/c285efd5888a0a2eddcf68268569ef3f.jpg
932515e846bc9db10a95ef24cc13a581
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Title
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Martinsville
Description
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<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/56.jpg" alt="Postcard view looking north up Old Falld Blvd" /><span class="cover-caption">Old Falls Boulevard, looking north from Lockport Ave. to Niagara Falls Blvd. Postcard detail, c.1900.</span> The northeast part of North Tonawanda known as "Martinsville" is named after the father of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther. It is settled by German Lutheran farmers, beginning around 1843. They settled in narrow farms along the west bank of Tonawanda Creek. As the area developed, a "downtown" emerged along William Street, present-day Old Falls Blvd, near Lockport Rd. (pictured above). The village boasted its own post office, stores and places of entertainment. <br /><br />Most of Martinsville was incorporated into the then-booming City of North Tonawanda in 1897. The sections of Martinsville east of present-day Old Falls and Niagara Falls boulevards are considered part of Wheatfield.<br /><br />The real estate transaction that brought many of the settlers to the area, its early growth, and the contentious religious devotion of its people are described in <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/606"><em>History of Niagara County 1821-1878</em></a>:
<blockquote>In 1843 Carl Sack, Erdman Wurl and Fred Grosskopf purchased of William Vandervoote 400 acres, at $15 per acre, on the Tonawanda creek, in the southeast corner of the town, four miles east of Tonawanda village, in what is now known as the village of Martinsville. Lutheran religious antecedents caused the adoption of this name by the disciples of Martin Luther. The original purchase was divided into small lots of three acres and up- ward, as others were able to purchase, to provide for the location of thirty families the first season. They erected ten log houses in the autumn, each of which was occupied by three or four families during the winter and until joint efforts relieved the immigrants by building others. The families remained in Buffalo until the first houses were built, obtaining the best accommodations they could find. Forbidding as the prospect in the beginning must have been, it has been changed to the appearance of prosperity. The church organization is the controlling element in the government of the community, now consisting of one hundred families, connected with the two now existing, the result of divided feeling, but not an abandonment of the Lutheran faith.</blockquote>
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Rescue Fire Hall, Martinsville, group photo (1927).jpg
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1927
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Bonnie Verrall-Urban
firefighter
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/3baf8eba048d59f24fd411d97aa08f3e.jpg
cd19da8d559103ee112720c0b5807448
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Martinsville
Description
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<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/56.jpg" alt="Postcard view looking north up Old Falld Blvd" /><span class="cover-caption">Old Falls Boulevard, looking north from Lockport Ave. to Niagara Falls Blvd. Postcard detail, c.1900.</span> The northeast part of North Tonawanda known as "Martinsville" is named after the father of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther. It is settled by German Lutheran farmers, beginning around 1843. They settled in narrow farms along the west bank of Tonawanda Creek. As the area developed, a "downtown" emerged along William Street, present-day Old Falls Blvd, near Lockport Rd. (pictured above). The village boasted its own post office, stores and places of entertainment. <br /><br />Most of Martinsville was incorporated into the then-booming City of North Tonawanda in 1897. The sections of Martinsville east of present-day Old Falls and Niagara Falls boulevards are considered part of Wheatfield.<br /><br />The real estate transaction that brought many of the settlers to the area, its early growth, and the contentious religious devotion of its people are described in <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/606"><em>History of Niagara County 1821-1878</em></a>:
<blockquote>In 1843 Carl Sack, Erdman Wurl and Fred Grosskopf purchased of William Vandervoote 400 acres, at $15 per acre, on the Tonawanda creek, in the southeast corner of the town, four miles east of Tonawanda village, in what is now known as the village of Martinsville. Lutheran religious antecedents caused the adoption of this name by the disciples of Martin Luther. The original purchase was divided into small lots of three acres and up- ward, as others were able to purchase, to provide for the location of thirty families the first season. They erected ten log houses in the autumn, each of which was occupied by three or four families during the winter and until joint efforts relieved the immigrants by building others. The families remained in Buffalo until the first houses were built, obtaining the best accommodations they could find. Forbidding as the prospect in the beginning must have been, it has been changed to the appearance of prosperity. The church organization is the controlling element in the government of the community, now consisting of one hundred families, connected with the two now existing, the result of divided feeling, but not an abandonment of the Lutheran faith.</blockquote>
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Rescue Fire Hall engine, Martinsville, photo (c1927).jpg
Date
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1927
Source
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Bonnie Verrall-Urban
firefighter
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/b4c6a756d9ef8b25a96d0c51967d8051.jpg
d185f8d01004630b445050f3a0c61fe9
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The Irontons, 1928 Twin Cities Champions, newspaper photos (1974, Tonawanda News, Olszowka).jpg
Date
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1928
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/a61284fd9b86e48fe77aae416dc20998.jpg
44ec27641a1adde4b92be0534b3b78e4
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Tom's Stand, Brown family, photo (c1928).jpg
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Said to be "Near River Road." Submitted by Kathleen Hay with this description:
<blockquote>I'm sure this was torn down decades ago, but it's a little slice of life. Dated 1927 or 29 based on the child being born in April, 1923. On River Road. Everyone was named Brown except cigar guy.</blockquote>
Date
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1928
Source
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Kathleen Hay
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/71711f593ab58f1264cc6b5034b661fa.jpg
49095e00219a2db90db61b9f94b9aa7e
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Richardson Boat Company
Description
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From the <a href="http://www.richardsonboats.com/">Richardson Boat Owners Association website</a>:
<blockquote>In 1909 G.Reid Richardson founded the Richardson Boat Company in North Tonawanda, New York to build high quality boats at a fair price. History has shown that he was quite successful in this undertaking. Over the years many types of boats were produced including not only cruising vessels but sailboats, runabouts, racing boats and military craft during the war years. The Richardson Boat Company organized "Sailaways" where the owners of newly purchased boats were encouraged to congregate in North Tonawanda and join in a cruise down the Erie Canal to New York City. Sadly, Mr. Richardson passed away in 1937 and his wife Ethel took over management until 1941 when the company was sold to a group of local businessmen.</blockquote>
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Richardson Boat Company factory, North Tonawanda, photo (c1929).jpg
Date
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1929
factory
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ed53e54ae032bf73c5a61e4a1edfc345.jpg
9e0f6b6265732aee5268b91569fb10cf
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B. P. O. Elks Lodge 860 (Sweeney and Main)
Description
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<img class="cover" src="https://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/77.jpg" alt="BPOE building" /> <span class="cover-caption">The Elks Club home c1920–2011; northeast corner of Main and Sweeney.</span>The North Tonawanda chapter of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks organizes around 1903. Early on they meet in the State National Bank building on Webster and Sweeney. By about 1920 they secure their own large red brick building at the corner of Main and Sweeney. In December 2011, this building is <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1247">destroyed by fire</a>. The fraternal organization now operates out of somewhat <a href="http://nthistory.com/items/show/1249">humbler quarters</a> in Tonawanda. You may wish to drop in on their Facebook page, whose name bears eloquent witness of their exile to Main Street, Tonawanda: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BpoElksLodge860/"><span>Twin Cities Lodge # 860 formerly known as North Tonawanda Lodge</span></a>.<br /><br />The national B. P. O. Elks is founded by English comic actor Charles Vivian in New York City in 1868. According to their <a href="http://www.elks.org/history/stories.cfm">website</a>:
<blockquote>It All Began With the Jolly Corks. Starting as as a group of actors and entertainers bent on having fun AND avoiding a New York Excise tax in 1867 (Sundays were the ‘dry’ day), this convivial group called themselves the Jolly Corks (for a clever trick with corks they performed on the uninitiated to win rounds of drinks). That same year as membership grew, some members saw the vision to become more helpful in the community. Alas, two feuding factions split the group over different philosophies. Fortunately, the latter faction moved forward with their new ideals and in February of 1868, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was chartered–and with a great new spirit and direction, began to help Veterans, Scouting, Scholarships and more–wherever Charity, Justice and Brotherly Love were needed!</blockquote>
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B. P. O Elks lodge, photo (1929-05-05).jpg
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1929-05-05
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/69908cc3a2800ce927851fcee7b459d1.jpg
e434d3a306b60b5734a8cba8a498a611
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Auto-Wheel Coaster Company (95 Schenck)
Description
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<img class="cover" src="https://nthistory.com/custom/cover/14.jpg" alt="Buffalo Sled employees, 1917" /><span class="cover-caption">Employees of the Buffalo Sled Company in North Tonawanda plant. PHOTO: North Tonawanda History Museum</span> Organized as the Buffalo Sled Co. in 1905 by John J. Schneider and Henry J, Tiedt, having been in business since 1899 (other sources say 1904). The firm moves to North Tonawanda in 1909 after the local trade organization agrees to cover the expense. Originally making sleds and shovels, they add coasters (wagons) in 1912. Soon they are enjoying national success, advertising aggressively in several publications, and marketing their boys' toys ingenuously with clubs and giveaways. In July of 1920 they file paperwork to change their name to the "Auto-Wheel Coaster Company."<br /><br />The North Tonawanda plant was located at foot of Schenck Street, west of Oliver and south of Schenck, though they at times also have operations in Buffalo, on Ellicott Creek in the old A. B. Williams plant, and in Preston, Ontario. The NT site was formerly (1908) occupied by the Orient Mfg. Co. (Fred Paschen lived just east). <br /><br /><span><span>From the Internet's <a href="http://www.harryrinker.com/col-1117.html">Harry Rinker</a>:</span></span>
<blockquote>A fire on April 16, 1920, destroyed the wheel department and storehouses. According to the 1921 City Directory, the company rebuilt and assumed a new name, Auto-Wheel Coaster Company.</blockquote>
Auto Wheel files for bankruptcy in July 1964, but is bought by area men to resume production. This did not seem to be successful, as the plant was is in the process of being converted to a palette factory when it is completely destroyed in a spectacular fire on Memorial Day (May 29), 1972, taking at least seven nearby homes with it.
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Auto Wheel Co., wood shop, photo (NTHM, 1929-10).jpg
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1929-10
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/2dcaa40db4394d1238a3a259d9401b4c.jpg
2b3c989dbf17fad500ed1421c899a360
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Remington Tavern (184 Sweeney)
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Built in 1895 for trolleys, the squat orange-brick building was subsequently used by carousel and motor builders Herschell-Spillman and the Remington-Rand corporation. The building and the larger building around it were rehabbed to the tune of $30 million in 2012. It enjoys a new life as the Remington Tavern and Seafood Exchange.
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Man and child in front of Remington Rand, photo (c1930).jpg
Date
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1930
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/33314d4ae7b4173e40330a3f06099196.jpg
60ec203167cff46e821552b7278f9d5a
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Allan Herschell Companies
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/files/original/0a8137a27b9978ab2f72819b2bd699cf.jpg" alt="" /> <span class="cover-caption">An 1894 Armitage-Herschell advertisement shows a not-at-all-dangerous-to-children-looking steam boiler and pulleys providing motive power to the company's signature device.</span>
<div>On gilded signs posted at its southern and northern entrances, North Tonawanda introduces itself to visitors as "The Home of the Carrousel." The still-ubiquitous fairground staple was not <em>invented</em> in North Tonawanda (some version of it had been around <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dizzy-history-carousels-begins-knights-180964100">since at least the 12th Century</a>), but thousands were produced here and the highest levels of craftsmanship were attained here under the guidance of Scottish-born Allan Herschell.<br /><br /></div>
In 1872 (<em>Landmarks</em> says 1873), the Armitage-Herschell Co. begins as a small brass and iron foundry on Manhattan Street, comprised of Englishman <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/889">James Armitage</a>, and Scottish brothers <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/880">George</a> and <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/877">Allan Herschell</a>. The firm survives devastating fires in 1874 and 1875, and expands to a location off Oliver Street (whence comes the name, "Mechanic Street"), adding engines and boilers to their specialties. Youngest partner Allan sees a carousel while traveling, and recognizes ways it can be improved. By 1887, his "Improved Steam Riding Gallery" captivates the world, and people from India and France demand the modern amusement. The merry-go-round-makers at first import the accompanying band organs from the old European master-builders of Germany and France, but high tariffs decide them to instead import German organ maker <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">Eugene de Kleist</a> from England (de Kleist begins making organs at his <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory</a> in 1893). They organize in 1890.<br /><br />James Armitage and George Herschell die in early 1900. The Armitage-Herschell Company is succeeded by Herschell, Spillman & Company, and the Allan Herschell Company. Allan Herschell dies in 1927. The latter company continues making amusements, including miniature trains, boats and airplanes (some of which can be played upon at the <a href="http://www.carrouselmuseum.org">Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum</a> in North Tonawanda) as late as the 1960s.<br /><br />There is a large Herschell family plot in Sweeney Cemetery.
Source
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/607"><em>Landmarks of Niagara County</em> (1897)</a></li>
<li><span class="_Tgc">“<a href="http://carrouselmuseum.org/site/about/allan-herschell">Allen Herschell History</a>.” <em>Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum,</em> 2014.</span></li>
</ul>
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Spillman Engineering Corp on Oliver and Goundry, photo (c1930).jpg
Date
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1930
factory
oliver
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/a557c0352d9cff5a62616096caccd32a.jpg
586a449b39a88cf8a1ed9b6155ee2006
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
Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company
Description
An account of the resource
<strong><a href="http://nthistory.com/niagara">PHOTO SEARCH: Learn about the search for a photograph of Niagara! </a></strong><br /><br />(1905-1917) The Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company is formed by former employees of the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/24">North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory</a>. Signatures on the company's incorporation papers include those of William Herschell, the man who arranged for de Kleist’s coming to America to make organs, as well as machinist William Strassburg and Frank Morganti. There are also:
<ul>
<li>Duncan Sinclair</li>
<li>Frederick Schultz</li>
<li>William H. Griffin</li>
<li>Louis Schultz</li>
<li>William D. Trimble</li>
</ul>
Frank Morganti is named president of the new firm. Given the kind of direct competition it represented, it seems unlikely that the parting was amicable. <br /><br />The local newspapers are silent about Niagara’s March 1905 start (it is only a later piece that gives us this origin date). In 1906 Niagara loses some if its leadership, including president Frank Morganti, to the larger and better funded <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/10">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works</a>. Niagara continues on, and completes a second small expansion of it modest plant in August 1910.<br /><br />Niagara produces Niagara Military Band Organs ("The Organ That Is Different," one ad insists) for carousels, dance halls, roller rinks and sideshows; in 1910 the picture house-targeted "En-Symphonie" is being marketed in <em>Billboard</em> and other comtemporary trade publications; the "Midget Orchestra" and similar instruments follow. <br /><br />Business appears to be booming in 1914, as the company pays out a dividend of 10% to its stockholders that January.<br /><br />However, in October 1917, the Foster Specialty Company of Buffalo purchases the "patents, goodwill, stock in trade, and equipment" of Niagara. In spite of reports that Foster intends to "immediately develop the business...on a large scale," the enterprise is never heard from again.<br /><br />Reader Andrew Barrett contributes the names C. E. Phillips and J. F. Preston as probable Niagara sales people in 1909 and probably thru 1910.<br /><br />Some more particulars are on my semi-abandoned website, <a href="http://dennisreedjr.com/organwars/items/show/36">Organ Wars</a>.
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
Niagara Musical Instrument Mfg Co, photo (Historical Society of the Tonawandas, Hamp Film Collection, 1930).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930
baseball
factory
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/56b7ae0e34e0658fb65122f3041a9fd6.jpg
7202933c7ab40dafdfa2e669f76742e7
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
Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company
Description
An account of the resource
<strong><a href="http://nthistory.com/niagara">PHOTO SEARCH: Learn about the search for a photograph of Niagara! </a></strong><br /><br />(1905-1917) The Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company is formed by former employees of the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/24">North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory</a>. Signatures on the company's incorporation papers include those of William Herschell, the man who arranged for de Kleist’s coming to America to make organs, as well as machinist William Strassburg and Frank Morganti. There are also:
<ul>
<li>Duncan Sinclair</li>
<li>Frederick Schultz</li>
<li>William H. Griffin</li>
<li>Louis Schultz</li>
<li>William D. Trimble</li>
</ul>
Frank Morganti is named president of the new firm. Given the kind of direct competition it represented, it seems unlikely that the parting was amicable. <br /><br />The local newspapers are silent about Niagara’s March 1905 start (it is only a later piece that gives us this origin date). In 1906 Niagara loses some if its leadership, including president Frank Morganti, to the larger and better funded <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/10">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works</a>. Niagara continues on, and completes a second small expansion of it modest plant in August 1910.<br /><br />Niagara produces Niagara Military Band Organs ("The Organ That Is Different," one ad insists) for carousels, dance halls, roller rinks and sideshows; in 1910 the picture house-targeted "En-Symphonie" is being marketed in <em>Billboard</em> and other comtemporary trade publications; the "Midget Orchestra" and similar instruments follow. <br /><br />Business appears to be booming in 1914, as the company pays out a dividend of 10% to its stockholders that January.<br /><br />However, in October 1917, the Foster Specialty Company of Buffalo purchases the "patents, goodwill, stock in trade, and equipment" of Niagara. In spite of reports that Foster intends to "immediately develop the business...on a large scale," the enterprise is never heard from again.<br /><br />Reader Andrew Barrett contributes the names C. E. Phillips and J. F. Preston as probable Niagara sales people in 1909 and probably thru 1910.<br /><br />Some more particulars are on my semi-abandoned website, <a href="http://dennisreedjr.com/organwars/items/show/36">Organ Wars</a>.
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
Niagara Musical Instrument Mfg Co, photo 2 (Historical Society of the Tonawandas, Hamp Film Collection, 1930).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930
factory
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/5bfbbd2233aec9320a2b56b5d805860d.jpg
7fef866be7de1e5706a669704716142d
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
Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company
Description
An account of the resource
<strong><a href="http://nthistory.com/niagara">PHOTO SEARCH: Learn about the search for a photograph of Niagara! </a></strong><br /><br />(1905-1917) The Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company is formed by former employees of the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/24">North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory</a>. Signatures on the company's incorporation papers include those of William Herschell, the man who arranged for de Kleist’s coming to America to make organs, as well as machinist William Strassburg and Frank Morganti. There are also:
<ul>
<li>Duncan Sinclair</li>
<li>Frederick Schultz</li>
<li>William H. Griffin</li>
<li>Louis Schultz</li>
<li>William D. Trimble</li>
</ul>
Frank Morganti is named president of the new firm. Given the kind of direct competition it represented, it seems unlikely that the parting was amicable. <br /><br />The local newspapers are silent about Niagara’s March 1905 start (it is only a later piece that gives us this origin date). In 1906 Niagara loses some if its leadership, including president Frank Morganti, to the larger and better funded <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/10">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works</a>. Niagara continues on, and completes a second small expansion of it modest plant in August 1910.<br /><br />Niagara produces Niagara Military Band Organs ("The Organ That Is Different," one ad insists) for carousels, dance halls, roller rinks and sideshows; in 1910 the picture house-targeted "En-Symphonie" is being marketed in <em>Billboard</em> and other comtemporary trade publications; the "Midget Orchestra" and similar instruments follow. <br /><br />Business appears to be booming in 1914, as the company pays out a dividend of 10% to its stockholders that January.<br /><br />However, in October 1917, the Foster Specialty Company of Buffalo purchases the "patents, goodwill, stock in trade, and equipment" of Niagara. In spite of reports that Foster intends to "immediately develop the business...on a large scale," the enterprise is never heard from again.<br /><br />Reader Andrew Barrett contributes the names C. E. Phillips and J. F. Preston as probable Niagara sales people in 1909 and probably thru 1910.<br /><br />Some more particulars are on my semi-abandoned website, <a href="http://dennisreedjr.com/organwars/items/show/36">Organ Wars</a>.
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
Niagara Musical Instrument Mfg Co, photo 3 (Historical Society of the Tonawandas, Hamp Film Collection, 1930).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930
factory
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/ba0a4f489a3e8080d4d8fd1ecac2142a.jpg
42aaaba2579b3e74af17e736dc8982dc
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
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The Swing Bridges
Description
An account of the resource
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><br /><br />"March 2, 1885 - Petition was received from H. 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. According to a Tonawanda News article, the southern bridge hadn't been used since the 1940s, when the Continental Can company closed.
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
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Swing bridge to Tonawanda Island, photo (c.1930).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930
bridge
tonawandaisland
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/c4772c4ef2abfdc766d41b819009a97c.jpg
42a62aae8c454b735a56aa13909487ac
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
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Trolleys and Trains
Description
An account of the resource
Before everybody in North Tonawanda could afford their very own muffler-less Honda Civic to run up and down Oliver Street, trolleys and trains were an important means of personal transportation. Several lines ran throughout the city, moving people to and from their jobs, churches, or just out for a look around.
Though they may seem romantic to us now, people griped about the trolleys the same way we complain about snow plows today. Apparently their slow speed was sometimes targeted: An item in this set describes a "well-known peddler" in the Gratwick area who is injured by a trolley car. The author drolly observes, "'Twould have been a real miracle if a Gratwick car could have got up enough speed to have killed him" (Tonawanda News, 1908-2-13).
The trolley era did not last long. By the 1920s, the electric streetcar had been passed by the gasoline-powered bus as the most prevalent means of public transportation. Another article in this set from the Tonawanda News, "Carpenter now operates 14 busses in the Tonawandas," outlines the rise of the Carpenter Rapid Transit buses.
Photo
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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
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Wurlitzer depot, photo, c1930.jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930
bridge
station
trolley
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/0adca794e28ceb7816658cdfd359c110.jpg
60ec203167cff46e821552b7278f9d5a
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
Allan Herschell Companies
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/files/original/0a8137a27b9978ab2f72819b2bd699cf.jpg" alt="" /> <span class="cover-caption">An 1894 Armitage-Herschell advertisement shows a not-at-all-dangerous-to-children-looking steam boiler and pulleys providing motive power to the company's signature device.</span>
<div>On gilded signs posted at its southern and northern entrances, North Tonawanda introduces itself to visitors as "The Home of the Carrousel." The still-ubiquitous fairground staple was not <em>invented</em> in North Tonawanda (some version of it had been around <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dizzy-history-carousels-begins-knights-180964100">since at least the 12th Century</a>), but thousands were produced here and the highest levels of craftsmanship were attained here under the guidance of Scottish-born Allan Herschell.<br /><br /></div>
In 1872 (<em>Landmarks</em> says 1873), the Armitage-Herschell Co. begins as a small brass and iron foundry on Manhattan Street, comprised of Englishman <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/889">James Armitage</a>, and Scottish brothers <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/880">George</a> and <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/877">Allan Herschell</a>. The firm survives devastating fires in 1874 and 1875, and expands to a location off Oliver Street (whence comes the name, "Mechanic Street"), adding engines and boilers to their specialties. Youngest partner Allan sees a carousel while traveling, and recognizes ways it can be improved. By 1887, his "Improved Steam Riding Gallery" captivates the world, and people from India and France demand the modern amusement. The merry-go-round-makers at first import the accompanying band organs from the old European master-builders of Germany and France, but high tariffs decide them to instead import German organ maker <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">Eugene de Kleist</a> from England (de Kleist begins making organs at his <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/24">North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory</a> in 1893). They organize in 1890.<br /><br />James Armitage and George Herschell die in early 1900. The Armitage-Herschell Company is succeeded by Herschell, Spillman & Company, and the Allan Herschell Company. Allan Herschell dies in 1927. The latter company continues making amusements, including miniature trains, boats and airplanes (some of which can be played upon at the <a href="http://www.carrouselmuseum.org">Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum</a> in North Tonawanda) as late as the 1960s.<br /><br />There is a large Herschell family plot in Sweeney Cemetery.
Source
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/607"><em>Landmarks of Niagara County</em> (1897)</a></li>
<li><span class="_Tgc">“<a href="http://carrouselmuseum.org/site/about/allan-herschell">Allen Herschell History</a>.” <em>Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum,</em> 2014.</span></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
Spillman Engineering Corp on Oliver and Goundry, photo (c1930).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/a2bdd9dace42f6c96a039b6777cd0f64.png
76309da38e8617d96c0ed577637809d6
https://nthistory.com/files/original/f9788e63f9c6c9a2056cbe776c8dc345.png
87c3efd31fb7969a8021d38fc9514e51
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
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Ellicott Creek boathouse and park building, Tonawanda, photos (c1930).png
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930