Need a great gift idea? How about a poster, suitable for framing, that captures all the warm welcomes that Middleport is known for! The 18″ x 24″ poster featuring some of Middleport, New York’s welcoming porches is available for a $5 donation. The funds raised from the donations for the “Falling for the Porches of Middleport” will then be used to publish a book written by Anna Wallace, former Village Historian. Her book chronicles Middleport’s history, and funds are needed to publish it. The photos of the porches were all taken by local photographer Gretchen Schweigert during this last fall. The porches are from all over the Village of Middleport and feature the look and feel of fall in the Village. If you are interested More Info »
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On the job in Middleport
Recollected by Bill Shaw, long-time Middleport resident We worked on Saturdays too in those days. Someone realized that I didn’t have my working papers. I got sent to old Doc Wilmont. He gave them to me and I went right back to work in the machine shop. In 1925, I began working at Niagara Sprayer as an adult in the sales department. I got a job there because I had helped out on the Niagara Sprayer farm. George Thompson, who was President of Niagara Sprayer, ran for the Governor of New York State on the Prohibition Ticket. He was an officer in the power and light company in Lockport too. After Bill O’Shaunessey burnt his legs on steam, he asked me to run the Basket More Info »
Read moreBehind the scenes story for “Falling for the Porches of Middleport” poster
How did the poster featuring some of the many wonderful and welcoming porches in Middleport, NY get made? Photographer Gretchen Schweigert talks about how she photographed some of them and what they mean to her in this YouTube video. The poster is available for a suggested $5 donation. Funds raised will be used to publish a book about the history of the Village of Middleport written by former Village Historian Anna Wallace. Stop by the Village Hall Monday- Friday from 8:30 to 4 p.m. on Main St. to get your poster. They are also available at the Village Historian’s Office in the Masonic Lodge that is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Posters can also be ordered by mail by sending More Info »
Read moreNow that the snow is here…
… a friendly reminder to all: it is a violation of NYS Traffic & Vehicle Law to put snow out into the street while cleaning around your property. Please remember you should not push snow out onto the street when plowing, snowblowers should direct snow into the yard not out into the street, and shoveled snow should not be thrown into the street. Thanks, all, for being considerate to your fellow travelers when cleaning up after Mother Nature!
Read moreWildcat Creek – powering Middleport’s growing businesses
by Anna Wallace, former Village Historian In most of the printed material we read, the growth of Middleport is attributed to the Erie Canal. But some time ago, Elmer Vary, then our native and most senior citizen, felt that a great deal of credit should be given to Jeddo Creek or “Wild Cat Creek” as it was known. This creek and its four ponds furnished the employment for more than 400 at the 16 manufacturing firms who used the water to power their steam engines, water wheels or both. At one time, the creek flowed all year around, and was a fisherman’s paradise. All kinds of fish were caught. In 1872, about halfway between the railroad and Route 31, the R.T. Chase Cheese Factory made More Info »
Read moreStriking up the band in Middleport
By Anna Wallace, former Village Historian The first reference to the Middleport Band was in 1840 at a Presidential Rally in the Town of Royalton and a Temperance Rally in Lockport. We don’t read of much activity again for about 20 years when the Middleport Cornet Band was organized with 16 members. Over the years, they were referred to as the Brass Band and the Saxophone Horn Band. The Middleport Band played at the “pole raising” in Gasport in 1860, which was attended by about 2,000 people. Streamers with the names of Lincoln and Hamlin were run up the 140 ft. pole. In September 1861, the Middleport Brass Band provided soul stirring music at a meeting in the Pierce Hotel for the purpose of raising More Info »
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Middleport’s Opera House
by Anna Wallace, Former Village Historian The early Opera Houses were the major activity and entertainment centers for their communities. The first one here was Compton’s Opera House on Main Street, where the old theater, as and where the dentist office is located now. It burned in 1876. I’ve not learned just when the Opera House on State Street was built. In 1886 it was known as the VanDyke Opera House, owned by Robert Davison and managed by J. VanDyke. The following year management, as by J. E. Cooper, who later established the Middleport Herald (newspaper) and Myron S. Pike. More dressing rooms were added, more chairs purchased, and the box office was relocated at the head of the stairs. From an early post card More Info »
Read moreThe old mill on Mill Street in Middleport NY
The four-story stone flour mill stood at the southwest corner of Hartland Street and Sherman Road for 132 years. The mill, built by Buel Barnes and powered by a water wheel, was demolished in 1988. Buel Barnes had owned a flourmill on the canal towpath, and in 1856 built the “Lower Mills”, or the “Hartland Mills”, dealing in wholesale and retail sales. In 1887 he began shipping his flour in barrels, as cooper George Smith was making a very tight, smooth barrel, fastened with a locking rack-hoop, requiring no nails. Barnes was one of the oldest millers in the state, having been in business since 1842, making a high grade of family flour. After Barnes died in 1896 the mill was operated by John F. More Info »
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