Goose Island (Tonawanda)

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Goose Island on Google Earth map
“Goose Island” was the informal name, apparently dating from around 1890, for a triangular piece of land in Tonawanda that had been cut off from the mainland by the Erie Canal.

Before it was nicknamed Goose Island, the strip was settled by some of Tonawanda’s well-to-do, its shady trees giving Chestnut Street its name. It had a cemetery (whose graves were moved to Sweeney Cemetery) and a schoolhouse.

As the lumber industry grew, the island became increasingly industrial and closely tied to Tonawanda’s busy canal and waterfront trade. By the early 1900s, Goose Island had also developed a notorious collection of saloons, boarding houses and brothels frequented by canalers and sailors. Later accounts pushed this reputation back into the nineteenth century, but so far the evidence is less clear: an 1886 Sanborn map still shows a largely residential and industrial neighborhood, while by 1910 the maps explicitly identify several establishments as “Female Boarding,” a contemporary euphemism for brothels.

The canal from Tonawanda to Buffalo was filled in around 1927, effectively reconnecting the recalcitrant island to its parent. In 1966, the remaining buildings that housed the old saloons, bordellos and dwellings were razed as part of broader Urban Renewal efforts.

Today, the only trace of old Goose Island is the old path of Chestnut Street, followed by the north edge of the Tops parking lot and the southern part of Niagara Shore Drive.

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