The property was leased to the company by Buel P. Barnes who stipulated that it could only be used as a canning factory.  Mr. Barnes at that time owned the flour mill on the corner of North Hartland and Sherman Road and wanted to make sure he had no new competition. Managed by Mr. Charles Francis with Mr. Jay S. Vary as superintendent, processor and chemist, the plant was known for packing peas which were shelled every morning by local housewives and picked up by horse and wagon before noon so they could be processed by evening.

As the cost of peas made the product no longer profitable for the plant, it switched to pineapples, naval oranges, strawberries, cherries as well as a large variety of other fruits and vegetables.  The plant had the first acetylene gas units to replace the old kerosene lamps as well as a steam engine to provide additional power and  Middleport’s first sprinkler system for fire protection.

The plant was an active employer of around 500 local residents and several additions had to be made to the building to house the new equipment.  In 1891, the Sprague-Warner Company of Chicago,Illinois purchased the plant and the name was changed to the Batavia Preserving Company.  The Middleport plant continued to preserve fruits while another plant in Batavia handled most of the vegetables.  The plant was again sold in 1913 when the Batavia Preserving Company decided to leave Western New York.

After several more owners who ran it as a canning company, the last name on the building was Longview Farms Inc. which was run by Louis Catalano and R.C Walthew.  After a destructive fire in the 1960’s, the building became a safety hazard and was demolished in 1967.

Information for this article came from a 1966 essay written by Elmer Vary, longtime resident of Middleport

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The Middleport Fire Department first dedicated their bell memorial in the park on Memorial Day of 1952 in  honor of  the deceased members of the department.

The bell used to hang in a tower behind the old fire hall, now better knows to residents as our
Village Hall.  After a fire in 1898 that engulfed the tower and the bell, the village lost their alarm system.

According to Anna Wallace’s History of Middleport, the bell tower of the Episcopal Church was then used for ringing fire alarms at a cost to the village of $25 per year. In this view of the old Haines Dry Dock, the bell tower can clearly seen before the devastating fire.  The remains of the old bell tower were removed in 1946 to make parking spaces at the rear of the Main Street stores.

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The building of the church was accomplished with smooth, egg shaped stones gathered by the congregation from the shore of Lake Ontario and under the supervision of stone mason Emery Smith.

Reverend Linus Everett was chosen to dedicate the church in 1842. In 1870 the Middleport Church was valued at $8 thousand dollars with the only church bell withing the village as well as the first organ. Due to diminished membership, the church closed its doors in 2015 and the building was sold. Many of their books and some other artifacts were donated to the office of the Village Historian, and are currently on display at the Middleport Village Hall.

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After a fire in 1883, the original wooden building was replaced in 1884 by one made of brick by the new owner, A.D. Rich.  The new building was 118 feet long, 47 feet wide and three stories high. The main floor had a large dining room, billiard and bar room and offices. Upstairs were large sleeping apartments some of which provided a starting home for many local young married couples.

After several more proprietors, the building was sold to  George Fenton in 1922.  The building stood at that corner until 1966 when the property was sold to make way for a gas station.

Today it is the location of the Cornerstone Credit Union building.

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This beautiful structure met its demise in 1966 when it was torn down to make way for a gas station.  The clock from the hotel was saved and refurbished and still graces our business section over the Village Hall.
Today that corner of Middleport is the home to the Cornerstone Credit Union.

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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 picture, it looks as though the box office might have been a small “room” located on ground level at the east front corner of the building. Max Harpuder moved to Middleport from Wilcox, PA, in 1895 to opera business, and the Opera House was the only building available for purchase. He had his business on the street level, and managed the music house for two years, featuring the Guy Brothers Minstrel Shows and other troupes, and medicine shows. In 1897 he moved his clothing business to the Linus Spalding store on Main Street. There he always remained.

Many parties were held at the Opera House; Mrs. Ella Taylor Bennett directed many plays as she had a wide experience in theater before coming to Middleport. A skating rink was opened in 1908, skating two nights per week with a 7-piece orchestra furnishing music; 15 cents included the rental of skates. A series of dances were held in 1914, and a banquet was held in honor of George F. Thompson, possibly when he was elected NYS Senator. In 1924 the high school Senior Ball was held there.

Automobile agencies used the building from the time of the Sears Motor Sales in the early 1920s, and dances were held upstairs at “Sears Hall”. When Hollinger & Shaw purchased the building in 1932 they displayed their new” cars in the show room on the first floor, and warehoused their used autos in the upstairs. A wide, steep ramp came down to the street level, and when an employee was bringing a car down, its brakes failed. He went straight across the street, into a door yard, between a tree and a telepphone pole — no damage done! No traffic coming!

Photo — Inside the Opera House in Middleport. The opera house was the scene of many gay parties during the early two decades of the 1900. This photo was taken at a “hard time” party around 1910. During this period Ella Bennett produced and directed many home-talent plays.

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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. Little & Son, and was later purchased by the Thompson Milling Company of Lockport, advertising Angelus and Pride of Niagara flours, and Snow White Pastry flour.

With the advent of new technology and new methods of milling, the mill had been closed for about 40 years. The roof was allowed to deteriorate and eventually the rest of the building started falling apart. Demolition was requested by neighbors for fear of safety of the children, which was done in 1988.

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A Saturday evening in July 1999 brought eight fire companies and 100 firefighters to Main and State Streets to fight what would become a seven hour long battle. The fire, which started 2 State Street, quickly spread through 4 State Street and then to an adjacent building at 17 Main Street. Heavy smoke billowed from the second story windows causing major damage to all the buildings.

Several firefighters sustained minor injuries but were later released from Medina Memorial Hospital.The Jones Hardware store sustained heavy damage but fortunately Jones had vacated the apartment above the store just the week before.

A grassroots organization worked hard to get that building renovated and today it houses the comfortable and popular Alternative Grounds Caffe.

Watch a video of shots taken at the fire on July 1999 at the Jones Hardware building. 

And today, the former Jones Hardware Store is now the Alternative Grounds Caffe as shown here.

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