From a paper produced by William J. McNamara, April 29, 1956; provided by the Historical Society of Dunkirk, New York; comments added by Roy A. Davis, Railroad Vice President, Historical Society of Dunkirk, NY; edited by Cheryl Lopanik, September 28, 1997.
The construction of the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad from Dunkirk, New York, the western terminal, to Hamlet, New York, in Chautauqua County took place between 1840 and 1850. The first survey was made in 1838 by Judge Wright of Erie Canal fame; the second and final surveys were made by Captain A. Talcott and Edward F. Johnson. A street in Dunkirk is named after Mr. Talcott.
After many delays, a Jamestown group put the making of a railroad from the ocean to the Great Lakes in workable form. In August 15, 1838, contracts were awarded to nine contractors for ten miles of clearing, grubbing, and grading through the heavy forest from what is now Union Square, Dunkirk, to the Whittiker and Mezzio Road intersection, and construction of a double track roadbed with stone culverts where needed. The contractors were: S.H. Blossom, John Blair & Company, Samuel Johnson, R.Y. Kinney, William Cole, Louis and George Love, Abraham B. Barker, Philips and Nelson and A.H. Taylor.
The forest furnished the timber for the ties and rails, while the stone for the culverts came from the Laona section, mostly from the Canadaway quarry at Laona, operated by Volney Bull. Most of this stone today has been removed by those living in the area, while parts of the eight and three quarter miles of wood track laid with the iron bands removed are still being found today on the roadbed at Hemlock Ridge Park on the Mezzio Road. Cast iron rails of 56 pounds to the yard were also laid on the first contract.
In 1841, starting at the lake at the foot of Lion Street, Dunkirk, Tracy Courtwright built a thousand feet of dock into the lake with a twelve-foot depth of water for boat dockage at a cost of $25,000. In August, 1838, the first work on the western terminal was started at Union Square, Dunkirk. The road was on the east side of Railroad Avenue (since occupied by the United States Radiator Company buildings) at Talcott to Courtney Streets (since occupied by the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley & Pittsburgh Railroad) through the small park to Doughty Street and south through the cut to Tenney Street, south through the cemetery and swinging to the southwest in a long curve crossing Route 20 just east of the McAllister Road intersection. The barn on the north side of the old Harper brick house stands on the roadbed. After crossing Route 20, the roadbed runs to the east and may be seen on the Swamp road, north of the Old Indian Mound with electric line towers on it. It can also be seen on South Roberts Road a short distance south of the Mezzio Road intersection. A mile east of South Roberts Road on the Mezzio Road, it crosses a park, Hemlock Ridge, which is being built by N. L. Smith. Along the Mezzio Road, it may be seen north of the road and making a curve to the south. This part of the contract ends at the Mezzio and Whittiker intersection.
The second contract from the Mezzio and Whittiker intersection to Arkwright Summit was awarded November 1, 1840, to John Tracy & Company of Erie, PA. It called for four miles of single track clearing, grubbing and grading with heavy fills through gullies and stone arches over streams.
Thirteen and six-tenth miles from Dunkirk, the large stone arch on the Walnut Creek Road which was sublet to George Rowley, Fredonia, subcontractor, still may be seen. At the end of the ten mile contract from the Mezzio and Whittiker intersection, the roadbed leads south along the Whittiker Road and may be followed back to South Roberts Road to the Town Line Road intersection, with the schoolhouse on the right. It then follows the Town Line Road to the left and on the right at the first intersection. The roadbed runs over deep fills and cuts until one comes to the end of the road. Turning left down a steep grade, the traveler comes to Walnut Creek road (improved) and then, turning right, travels a short distance to the Palmer Farm where one sees the large stone arch on the right. On the south rise, the roadbed crosses Walnut Creek Road, where one sees excavation in the left bank. All work on the project was stopped in April, 1842.
On May 18, 1841, the third contract was awarded to Chesbrough, Hazzard and Company (Providence, RI) for grubbing, clearing, grading and piling a single track line from Arkwright Summit (now called Black’s Corner & Chicken Tavern area) in Chautauqua County to Nine Mile run in Cattaraugus County, a distance of forty-five and six-tenths miles. The right-of-way from Cattaraugus County to Dunkirk via Hamlet, Black’s Corners and Chicken Tavern was abandoned in April 1842 in favor of a survey from Dayton to Dunkirk via Perrysburg, Smith Mills, Forestville, and Sheridan. In March 1850, construction resumed following the revised right-of-way. One may see this project by following Walnut Creek Road to the Chicken Tavern intersection, turning left at Black’s Corner. The roadbed crosses just east through the swamp and may be seen from the highway on the south side of Hamlet cemetery. From here it crosses the road north of the bridge before entering Hamlet, going through Hamlet and turning to the left at the first intersection. It then may be seen crossing the road through the swamp where some piling is still in evidence. It then leaves Chautauqua County.
It is not known when the first rails were laid in the Dunkirk section, but they were wood with iron bands on the edge, which gave trouble by curling and going into the railroad cars. August 31, 1840, iron rails known as American H-rails were bought from the British Iron Company, Rusbon & Staffordshire Works for shipment from Newport, South Wales. They weighed 5000 tons and cost $231,150. The first cargo from England, ballast worth $78,000 in stock, was received at Pierpont, New York in October 1840. On December 2, 1841, Walter Smith of Dunkirk completed a contract on the Part of the Hurno Iron Works with the New York Erie Railroad Company for 400 tons of cast iron rails at $80 per ton at 2,340 pounds per ton. One half of the iron was to be delivered at Dunkirk and the other half at Oswego and Elmira. Scrantons & Pratt produced the rails at Slocum Hollow (Bradford, PA). This material was delivered to the construction site by teams traveling long distances. These rails weighed 56 pounds per yard.
On November 7, 1835, the first ground was broken at Deposit, New York, and the last spike was driven in the completed railroad at Cuba, New York, April 9, 1851. On January 30, 1841 the first train ran locally out of Pierpont. The first through-train left Pierpont on May 14, 1851, arriving at Dunkirk May 15, 1851. The grade of the roadbed was sixty feet to the mile. Union Square in Dunkirk is about 20 feet above lake level (573 feet) or about 593 feet above sea level.
The first locomotive to arrive in Dunkirk was built by Hinkley at Boston, MA, and was shipped by water via the Atlantic Ocean, Hudson River, Erie Canal, and Lake Erie on the Vessel Chauncey. Known as Engine 90 and arriving in November, 1850, it was unloaded here by H.G. Brooks.
Map of the Old Route of the Erie Railroad.
Additional comments: It is an interesting hike to follow the old right-of-way in the early spring or late fall. Some of the old stone stream abutments remain. The old stone bridge outside of Forestville on Walnut Creek Road remained complete until the highway department removed it in the 1970’s. During heavy rains, it caused damming and threatened Walnut Creek Road.
Source: Dunkirk Historical Society. Dunkirk, NY.