PHASE IA CULTURAL RESOURCES INVESTIGATION
FOR THE PROPOSED ST. LAWRENCE
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. TRANSMISSION GAS LINE,
Buffalo Branch FRANKLIN AND ST. LAWRENCE COUNTIES, 2390 Clinton Street Buffalo, NY 14227 Tel: (716) 821-1650 Fax: (716) 821-1607 NEW YORK
Corporate Headquarters 2301 Paul Bryant Dr. Tuscaloosa, AL 35401 Tel: (205) 248-8767 Fax: (205) 248-8739
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Tampa Branch Suite 1000 5910 Benjamin Center Syracuse, NY 13202 Drive, Suite 120 Tampa, FL 33634 Tel: (813) 884-6351 Fax: (813) 884-5968 Prepared by: Tuscaloosa Branch 924 26th Avenue East Tuscaloosa, AL 35404 PANAMERICAN CONSULTANTS, INC. Tel: (205) 556-3096 Buffalo Branch Office Fax: (205) 556-1144 2390 Clinton Street Buffalo, New York 14227-1735 (716) 821-1650
April 2010 PHASE IA CULTURAL RESOURCES INVESTIGATION
FOR THE PROPOSED
ST. LAWRENCE TRANSMISSION GAS LINE,
FRANKLIN AND ST. LAWRENCE COUNTIES, NEW YORK
Prepared for:
EDR 217 Montgomery Street Suite 1000 Syracuse, NY 13202
Prepared by:
Robert J. Hanley, M.A., RPA, Principal Investigator/Senior Archaeologist Christine M. Longiaru, M.A., Senior Architectural Historian Rebecca J. Emans, M.A., RPA, Project Archaeologist Mark A. Steinback, M.A., Senior Historian Sharon M. Jenkins, M.A., Architectural History Assistant Joseph J. Kline, B.A., Field Director Michael A. Cinquino, Ph.D., RPA, Proje ct Director
PANAMERICAN CONSULTANTS, INC. Buffalo Branch Office 2390 Clinton Street Buffalo, NY 14227 (716) 821-1650
April 2010
Management Summary
SHPO Project Review Number:
Involved State and Federal Agencies: Public Service Commission
Phase of Survey: IA
Location Information: Location: see below Minor Civil Division: Norfolk, Stockholm, Lawrence, Moira, Bangor, Malone, Burke, and Chateaugay County: Franklin and St. Lawrence Counties
Survey Area (Metric & English) Length: 47.54 miles (76.5 km) Preferred Route Width: 6-mile (9.6-km) research corridor; 50-ft (15-m) wide construction corridor Depth: not determined Number of Acres surveyed: Preferred Route = 288.1 acres 6-mile research corridor = 192,092.5 acres (300.14 square miles)
USGS 7.5-Minute Quadrangle Maps: Burke [1980], Bangor [1980], Brasher Falls [1980], Brushton [1980], Chateaugay [1980], Malone [1980], Norfolk [1980], North Lawrence [1980]
Archaeological Survey Overview Number & Interval of Shovel Tests: n/a Number & Size of Units: n/a Width of Plowed Strips: n/a Surface Survey Transect Interval: n/a
Results of Archaeological Survey Number & name of prehistoric sites identified: n/a Number & name of historic sites identified: n/a Number and name of sites recommended for Phase II/Avoidance: n/a
Results of Architectural Survey in the Study Area (i.e., 6-mile corridor) Number of previously determined NR-listed or eligible buildings/structures/ cemeteries/ districts: 11 NRL (Individual); 64 NRE (Individual); and 3 NRE Historic Districts (see Table 4.1, pp. 4-2 to 4-6)
Report Author(s): R. Hanley, C. Longiaru, R. Emans, M. Steinback, S. Jenkins, J. Kline, and M. Cinquino
Date of Report: April 2010
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. ii St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA Table of Contents
Management Summary ...... ii List of Figures ...... v List of Tables ...... vi List of Photographs ...... vii
1.0 Introduction ...... 1-1
2.0 Context and Documentary Review ...... 2-1 2.1 Environmental Setting ...... 2-1 2.2 Prehistoric Period ...... 2-5 2.3 Historic Period ...... 2-9 2.4 Documentary Research ...... 2-27 2.4.1 Historical Map Analysis ...... 2-27 2.4.2 Site File and Archival Review ...... 2-37
3.0 Archaeological Field Reconnaissance ...... 3-1 3.1 Methodology ...... 3-1 3.2 Prehistoric Archaeological Sensitivity ...... 3-1 3.3 Historic Archaeological Sensitivity ...... 3-2 3.4 Field Reconnaissance ...... 3-2 3.4.1 Segment 1 ...... 3-3 3.4.2 Segment 2 ...... 3-3 3.4.3 Segment 3 ...... 3-4 3.4.4 Segment 4 ...... 3-5
4.0 Historic Architecture ...... 4-1 4.1 Methodology ...... 4-1 4.2 National Register Criteria ...... 4-1 4.3 Initial Historic Building Review of the Six-Mile Survey Corridor ...... 4-6 4.4 Architectural Survey by Municipality (Franklin County) ...... 4-7 4.4.1 Franklin County ...... 4-7 4.4.2 Historic Railroad Resources in the Study Area (Franklin County) ...... 4-8 4.4.3 Town of Chateaugay (MCD 03308), Franklin County ...... 4-17 4.4.3.1 Village of Chateaugay (MCD 03345), Town of Chateaugay ...... 4-19 4.4.4 Town of Burke (MCD 03307), Franklin County ...... 4-23 4.4.4.1 Village of Burke (MCD 03344), Town of Burke ...... 4-24 4.4.5 Town of Malone (MCD 03315), Franklin County ...... 4-28 4.4.5.1 Village of Malone (MCD 03340), Town of Malone ...... 4-35 4.4.5.2 National Register-Eligible Malone Historic District (USN 03340.000139), Malone ...... 4-43 4.4.5.3 Malone Junction, Village of Malone ...... 4-49 4.4.5.4 North Malone, Village of Malone ...... 4-52 4.4.6 Town of Bangor (MCD 03302), Franklin County ...... 4-61 4.4.7 Town of Moira (MCD 03316), Franklin County ...... 4-65 4.4.7.1 Village of Brushton, Town of Moira ...... 4-65 4.4.7.2 Village of Moira, Town of Moira ...... 4-68 4.4.7.3 Moira (Western Section), Town of Moira ...... 4-75 4.5 Architectural Survey by Municipality (St. Lawrence County)...... 4-78
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. iii St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA 4.5.1 St. Lawrence County ...... 4-78 4.5.2 Town of Brasher (MCD 08901), St. Lawrence County ...... 4-78 4.5.3 Town of Lawrence (MCD 08915), St. Lawrence County ...... 4-80 4.5.4 Town of Stockholm (MCD 08931), St. Lawrence County ...... 4-84 4.5.5 Town of Norfolk (MCD 08922), St. Lawrence County ...... 4-93
5.0 Conclusions and Recommendations ...... 5-1 5.1 Archaeological Investigation ...... 5-1 5.1.1 Conclusions ...... 5-1 5.1.2 Recommendations ...... 5-2 5.2 Architectural Investigation Recommendations ...... 5-2
6.0 References ...... 6-1
Appendices Appendix A: Project Map (Six-mile wide research corridor) Appendix B: Project Maps (Archaeological Research Corridor) Appendix C: Photographs (Archaeological Reconnaissance)
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. iv St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA List of Figures and Tables
FIGURE PAGE
1.1 Location of the St. Lawrence Gas Transmission Project, St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties, New York ...... 1-2
2.1 Soils along the proposed routes in St. Lawrence County ...... 2-2
2.2 Soils along the proposed route in the western portion of Franklin County ...... 2-3
2.3 Soils along the proposed routes in the central portion of Franklin County ...... 2-3
2.4 Soils along the proposed route in the eastern portion of Franklin County ...... 2-4
2.5 Northern New York land purchases prior to 1800 ...... 2-11
2.6 The Town of Chateaugay in 1876, showing the Preferred and alternate routes ...... 2-29
2.7 The Town of Burke in 1876, showing the Preferred and alternate routes ...... 2-29
2.8 The Town of Malone in 1876, showing the Preferred and alternate routes north of the Village of Malone ...... 2-30
2.9 The Town of Moira in 1876 showing the Preferred Route ...... 2-31
2.10 The Hamlet of North Lawrence in 1865, showing the Preferred Route ...... 2-34
2.11 The proposed pipeline route in the northwest corner of the Town of Lawrence in 1865 ...... 2-35
2.12 The Town of Stockholm in 1865 showing the Preferred and alternate routes ...... 2-36
2.13 The southeast corner of the Town of Norfolk in 1865 showing the Preferred Route ..... 2-37
2.14 The Town of Chateaugay in 1915 showing the Preferred and alternate routes ...... 2-41
2.15 The Town of Burke in 1915 showing the Preferred and alternate routes ...... 2-42
2.16 The Towns of Malone and Burke in 1915 showing the Preferred Route ...... 2-43
2.17 The Town of Malone in 1917 showing the Preferred and alternate routes ...... 2-44
2.18 The Towns of Bangor and Malone in 1917 showing the Preferred Route ...... 2-45
2.19 The Town of Bangor in 1917 showing the Preferred Route ...... 2-46
2.20 The Towns of Moira and Bangor in 1917 showing the Preferred Route ...... 2-47
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. v St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA 2.21 The Town of Moira in 1917 showing the Preferred Route ...... 2-48
2.22 The Towns of Lawrence and Moira in 1917 showing the Preferred Route ...... 2-49
2.23 The Town of Lawrence in 1917 showing the Preferred Route ...... 2-50
2.24 The Towns of Stockholm and Lawrence in 1907 showing the Preferred and alternate routes ...... 2-51
2.25 The Town of Stockholm in 1907 showing the Preferred Route ...... 2-52
2.26 The Towns of Norfolk and Stockholm in 1907 showing the Preferred Route ...... 2-53
4.1 The north elevation of the Northern Railroad’s Chateaugay River Tunnel and Embankment, Chateaugay River, Chateaugay, Franklin County ...... 4-9
4.2 A postcard (n.d.) depicting Northern Railroad’s Boardman Brook Tunnel and Embankment on the east side of the Village of Chateaugay ...... 4-14
4.3 Sketch map of the main line of the Rutland Railroad at Chateaugay Railroad Station and Yard (ca. 1950s), Village of Chateaugay, Franklin County ...... 4-20
4.4 Chateaugay Railroad yard (ca. early 1960s) from west end, facing east. Note freight house and water tower ...... 4-20
4.5 A 1962 photograph of the freight house at Chateaugay freight yard, Chateaugay, facing southwest ...... 4-21
4.6 Burke Station on Depot Street, early 1900s (closed 1955; demolished n.d.), Village of Burke...... 4-26
4.7 Boundaries of the NRE Malone Historic District (USN 03340.000139) as delineated in 1993, Village of Malone, Franklin County ...... 4-44
4.8 Aerial view of Malone Paper Company (ca. 1909), facing northwest...... 4-57
4.9 View from abutment of former Malone Paper Company trackside (ca. 1988), later Northern N.Y. Grocery, Village of Malone ...... 4-58
4.10 Rutland Railroad Moira Station, Village of Moira, ca. early 1900s ...... 4-71
TABLE
2.1 Soils associations represented within the project area ...... 2-1
2.2 Map Documented Structures in Franklin County ...... 2-28
2.3 Map Documented Structures in St. Lawrence County ...... 2-33
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. vi St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA 2.4 Archaeological sites within three miles of the St. Lawrence Gas project area ...... 2-38
4.1 NRL and NRE properties in the project’s six-mile corridor ...... 4-2
5.1 Summary of Recommendations from the Architectural Investigation ...... 5-8
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. vii St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA List of Photographs
PHOTOGRAPH PAGE
4.1 North elevation of the Chateaugay River Tunnel and Embankment, Chateaugay, Franklin County, facing south ...... 4-10
4.2 North elevation of the Chateaugay River Tunnel, Chateaugay, Franklin County, facing south ...... 4-11
4.3 Detail of dentils and possible date/name stone above north portal, Chateaugay River Tunnel, Chateaugay, Franklin County ...... 4-11
4.4 East retaining wall, north elevation, Chateaugay River Tunnel and Embankment ...... 4-12
4.5 Detail of east retaining wall, north elevation, Chateaugay River Tunnel and Embankment ...... 4-12
4.6 East retaining wall and north face of Chateaugay River Tunnel and Embankment, Chateaugay, Franklin County ...... 4-13
4.7 North elevation of Little Trout River Tunnel and Embankment, Village of Burke ...... 4-15
4.8 North elevation of Little Trout River Tunnel and Embankment (detail), Village of Burke. Note masonry construction ...... 4-15
4.9 Setting of the East Branch Deer Creek Tunnel and Embankment, Town of Malone, facing northwest ...... 4-16
4.10 Detail of south north portal of East Branch Deer Creek Tunnel, Town of Malone, facing northwest ...... 4-16
4.11 Detail of south portal of East Branch Deer Creek Tunnel, Town of Malone, facing northeast ...... 4-17
4.12 NRE St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Chateaugay, facing northeast from near the southwest corner of the cemetery ...... 4-18
4.13 The northern edge of NRE St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Chateaugay, facing east ...... 4-18
4.14 Commercial buildings in the NRE Main Street Historic District on US 11, Village of Chateaugay. View from west of NY 30, facing east ...... 4-19
4.15 The proposed eastern terminus of the Project at the former Chateaugay Railroad Yard with the freight house at right, Chateaugay, facing east ...... 4-21
4.16 Residential buildings on Iron Avenue opposite the Project, Village of Chateaugay, facing west-southwest ...... 4-22
4.17 Residential Buildings on Monroe Street, Village of Chateaugay, facing northwest ...... 4-22
4.18 NRE Chateaugay Depot opposite the Project on Depot Street with McCadam Cheese plant in distance, Village of Chateaugay, facing east ...... 4-23
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. viii St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA 4.19 The Almanzo Wilder Home (aka Wilder Homestead) at 177 Stacy Road (08NR05911) in the Town of Burke, is listed on the New York State Register (NYSHPO) ...... 4-24
4.20 NRE property, Mitchell Cemetery on Montgomery Road south of the Project, Village of Burke, facing north ...... 4-25
4.21 View from Depot Street at Project crossing in the Village of Burke, Franklin County, facing north ...... 4-26
4.22 View from Depot Street at Project crossing in the Village of Burke, Franklin County, facing north ...... 4-27
4.23 NRE, St. George’s Cemetery on the southeast corner of Malone-Chateaugay (CR 23) and Pikeville Roads Village of Burke, facing south ...... 4-27
4.24 The southern end of NRE St. George’s Cemetery is adjacent to the north side of the Project in the Village of Burke, facing east ...... 4-28
4.25 Muzzey Road with mid-to-late nineteenth-century farm house at left and farm complex at 7388 Muzzey Road, at right, Town of Malone, facing southeast ...... 4-30
4.26 Farm complex at 7388 Muzzey Road, Town of Malone, facing southwest ...... 4-30
4.27 Farm complex at 155 Houndsville Road, Town of Malone, facing north-northwest from the Project ...... 4-31
4.28 Farm complex at 155 Houndsville Road, Town of Malone, facing north-northwest from the Project ...... 4-31
4.29 View of Rock Spring Farm from the Project crossing at Houndsville Road, Town of Malone, facing south ...... 4-32
4.30 Rock Spring Farm from Houndsville and Junction Roads, Town of Malone, facing northeast ...... 4-32
4.31 Residential buildings on NY 30, south of the Project, Town of Malone, facing south ..... 4-33
4.32 Residential buildings on NY 30, south of the Project, Town of Malone, facing north ...... 4-33
4.33 View toward the Project from Maplewood Cemetery, east side of Creighton Road, Town of Malone, facing south ...... 4-34
4.34 Large farm complex at 135 Wheeler Road (property extends north to tunnel and embankment), facing south ...... 4-34
4.35 NRL Paddock Building at 34 West Main Street (90NR00505), Village of Malone, facing southwest ...... 4-36
4.36 NRL Anselm Lincoln House at 49 Duane Street, Village of Malone (90NR00503), facing southwest ...... 4-36
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. ix St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA 4.37 The NRL Horton Grist Mill (aka Malone Milling Company) at Mill Street (90NR00502), Village of Malone, facing west ...... 4-37
4.38 The NRL Horton Grist Mill (aka Malone Milling Company) at Mill Street (90NR00502), Village of Malone, facing southwest ...... 4-37
4.39 NRL First Congregational Church at 2 Clay Street (90NR02941), Village of Malone, facing east ...... 4-38
4.40 NRL United States Post Office, Malone, New York at East Main and Washington Streets (90NR00504), Village of Malone, facing south-southeast ...... 4-39
4.41 NRL Malone Armory at 116 West Main Street (95NR00778), Village of Malone, facing southeast ...... 4-40
4.42 NRL Malone Freight Depot at 99 Railroad Street, Village of Malone (90NR00506), facing east-southeast ...... 4-40
4.43 NRE (I) St. Mark’s Episcopal Church & Rectory, 32-34 Elm Street, Village of Malone, facing southwest ...... 4-41
4.44 NRE (I) Malone School For The Deaf, College Avenue & State Street, Village of Malone, facing northeast ...... 4-42
4.45 NRE (I) Raymond Street School, 26 Raymond Street, Village of Malone, facing northwest ...... 4-42
4.46 NRE Malone Historic District Main Street (US 11), Malone, Franklin County, facing west from Washington Street ...... 4-45
4.47 NRE Malone Historic District Main Street (US 11), Malone, Franklin County, facing west Elm Street (NY 30) ...... 4-45
4.48 NRE Malone Historic District Main Street (US 11), Malone, Franklin County, facing west from the Salmon River Bridge ...... 4-46
4.49 NRE Malone Historic District Main Street (US 11), Malone, facing east from west of the Salmon River Bridge ...... 4-46
4.50 New York Central Terminal, NRE Malone Historic District, Village of Malone, facing West. The terminals were originally connected by an overpass ...... 4-47
4.51 Franklin County House of History at 51 Milwaukee Street, NRE Malone Historic District, Village of Malone, facing south ...... 4-47
4.52 Residence at 69 Park Street, NRE Malone Historic District, Village of Malone, facing east ...... 4-48
4.53 Residence at 5 Pierpont Avenue, NRE Malone Historic District, Village of Malone, facing east ...... 4-48
4.54 Poirier Apartments at 17 Terrace Street, NRE Malone Historic District, Village of Malone, facing northeast ...... 4-49
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. x St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA 4.55 New York Central Malone Junction Depot at 52 Junction Road, Village of Malone, facing northwest ...... 4-50
4.56 Junction Road from near the northern boundary of the Village of Malone, facing south ...... 4-50
4.57 View from south of Malone Junction Depot facing north, Village of Malone ...... 4-51
4.58 Representative historic building stock in Malone Junction southwest of the Project on Short Avenue, Village of Malone, facing southwest ...... 4-51
4.59 Lower Park Street from near proposed Route No. 1, Town of Malone, facing south ...... 4-53
4.60 View of Park Street from north of East Park Street, Village of Malone, facing south ...... 4-53
4.61 Lower Park Street from the intersection of East Park and Lane streets, Village of Malone, facing north ...... 4-54
4.62 East Park Street (central alternate route) from west side of Park Street, Village of Malone, facing east ...... 4-54
4.63 Park Street from East Park Street, Village of Malone, facing south ...... 4-55
4.64 West side of Park Street, south of East Park Street, Village of Malone, facing southwest ...... 4-55
4.65 Early twentieth-century Neoclassical Revival-style building on the southwest corner of Park and Lane streets, adjacent to the Preferred Route/central alternate route, Village of Malone, facing northwest ...... 4-56
4.66 Converted Park Street School at 199 Park Street, Village of Malone, facing east ...... 4-56
4.67 Row of residences on West Street from Salmon River Bridge/Lane Street, Village of Malone, facing northwest ...... 4-57
4.68 Malone Paper Mill complex, Village of Malone, facing southeast ...... 4-58
4.69 North elevation of Malone Paper Mill complex, Village of Malone, facing west ...... 4-59
4.70 Park Street elevation of Malone Paper Mill complex, Village of Malone, facing southwest ...... 4-59
4.71 Southern section of Malone Paper Mill complex, Village of Malone, facing southwest from Park Street ...... 4-60
4.72 South elevation of southern end of Malone Paper Mill complex, Village of Malone, facing north ...... 4-60
4.73 The Rutland Railroad’s North Bangor Station (demolished n.d.), Bangor, Franklin County ...... 4-62
4.74 Sample Lumber Company, Bangor Station, Town of Bangor, facing south- southeast ...... 4-62
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. xi St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA 4.75 NRE Grange Hall, North Bangor, facing southwest ...... 4-63
4.76 NRE Federal-style Stone House at 2689 US 11, Bangor, facing northeast ...... 4-63
4.77 NRE Plumb House at 2604 US 11, North Bangor, facing southwest ...... 4-64
4.78 NRE Bangor Congregational Church (2223 NY 11B), West Bangor, facing northeast ...... 4-64
4.79 The Childs Homestead (built 1850) at 1998 US 11 abuts the south side of the Project, Bangor. Note railroad alignment at left, facing northeast ...... 4-65
4.80 Moira United Methodist Church, 2341 CR 5. Moira, facing southwest ...... 4-66
4.81 Commercial buildings on south side of US 11, Brushton, facing southeast ...... 4-66
4.82 Commercial buildings on US 11, Brushton, facing southeast ...... 4-67
4.83 Delancy Avenue facing north toward the Project, Brushton ...... 4-67
4.84 St. Mary’s Church complex at 1347 US 11 on the east side of Brushton ...... 4-68
4.85 Italianate residence with carriage house at 28 NY 95, Moira, facing east ...... 4-69
4.86 View toward Harrison Street from High Street toward the Project, Moira, facing north ...... 4-70
4.87 Harrison Street from west end of street near US 11, Moira, facing east ...... 4-70
4.88 Queen Anne cottage at 18 Harrison Street, Moira, facing southwest ...... 4-71
4.89 Rutland Station in Moira, facing southeast ...... 4-72
4.90 CR 95 streetscape from North of Rutland Station, Moira, facing south ...... 4-72
4.91 CR 95 streetscape from south of Rutland Station, Moira, facing south ...... 4-73
4.92 North Lawrence-Moira Road (CR 6) streetscape from NY 95, Moira, facing west ...... 4-73
4.93 Former Agway complex at 691 North Lawrence-Moira Road (CR 6) on the south side of the Project, Moira, facing west-northwest ...... 4-74
4.94 Former Agway complex at 691 North Lawrence-Moira Road (CR 6) on the south side of the Project, Moira, Franklin County, facing east-northeast ...... 4-74
4.95 North Lawrence-Moira Road (CR 6) from opposite 469 North Lawrence-Moira Road (CR 6) Moira, facing west ...... 4-75
4.96 Cobblestone Greek Revival residence at 469 North Lawrence-Moira Road (CR 6) adjacent to the north side of the Project, Moira, facing northwest ...... 4-76
4.97 Cobblestone Greek Revival residence at 469 North Lawrence-Moira Road (CR 6) adjacent to the north side of the Project, Moira, facing north ...... 4-76
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. xii St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA 4.98 Vacant farmhouse at 147 North Lawrence-Moira Road (CR 6) adjacent to the north side of the Project, Moira, facing north-northwest ...... 4-77
4.99 A former rural school house (School House No. 7) on the south side of Lawrence- Moira Road (CR 6) east of O’Connell Road, Moira, facing southeast ...... 4-77
4.100 NRL Dr. Buck-Stevens House aka Octagon House at West Main Street (90NR02552) in Brasher Falls, facing south ...... 4-79
4.101 NRE Commercial Building at 897 Main Street, Brasher Falls, facing northeast ...... 4-79
4.102 View of CR 52 from the east side of North Lawrence ...... 4-80
4.103 Residences on north side of CR 52 near the Project opposite the Breyer’s Plant ...... 4-81
4.104 View from south end of North Lawrence commercial district, near the Project, Lawrence, facing north ...... 4-81
4.105 View from south end of North Lawrence commercial district, near the Project, Lawrence, facing south ...... 4-82
4.106 Grove Street from NY 11C, North Lawrence, facing west ...... 4-82
4.107 West side of Church Street from Desmond Street looking toward the Project, North Lawrence, facing southwest ...... 4-83
4.108 Desmond Street from Church Street, facing west ...... 4-83
4.109 View from White Road looking toward the field adjacent to the Project, Winthrop (Stockholm), facing north ...... 4-85
4.110 View from White Road looking northwest on NY 420, Winthrop (Stockholm) ...... 4-85
4.111 Streetscape of NY 420, Winthrop (Stockholm), facing northwest ...... 4-86
4.112 Residences on southwest side of NY 420, Winthrop (Stockholm). facing northwest ...... 4-86
4.113 View of NY 420 from NY 11C, Winthrop (Stockholm), facing southeast ...... 4-87
4.114 View of from NY 11C from near NY 420, Winthrop (Stockholm), facing northeast ...... 4-87
4.115 View of from NY 11C from near NY 420, Winthrop (Stockholm), facing southwest ..... 4-88 4.116 View of from NY 11C from near Project crossing in Winthrop (Stockholm), facing northeast ...... 4-88
4.117 Buildings on northwest side of NY 11C from near Project crossing in Winthrop (Stockholm), facing north-northeast ...... 4-89
4.118 Craftsman bungalows on the southeast side of NY 11C near the Project crossing in Winthrop (Stockholm), facing east-northeast ...... 4-89
4.119 Municipal Park NY 11C from near Project crossing in Winthrop (Stockholm), facing southwest ...... 4-90
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. xiii St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA
4.120 View of residences on northwest side of NY 11C from near Project crossing in Winthrop (Stockholm), facing southwest ...... 4-90
4.121 Farm complex at #2593 at Brookdale Road, Stockholm, facing west-northwest ...... 4-91
4.122 A brick Greek Revival farmhouse with Italianate-style brackets on south side of Brookdale Road, southeast of Munson Road Stockholm, facing southwest ...... 4-91
4.123 Italianate building at 2959 Brookdale Road, Stockholm, facing southwest ...... 4-92
4.124 Brookdale Wesleyan School House, south side of Brookdale Road (east of Lynch Road), Brookdale (Stockholm), facing southeast ...... 4-92
4.125 Brookdale Wesleyan School House, south side of Brookdale Road (east of Lynch Road), Brookdale (Stockholm), facing southwest ...... 4-93
4.126 Brookdale Cemetery, south side of Brookdale Road at Stockholm-Norfolk town line, Stockholm, facing southwest ...... 4-93
4.127 NRL Raymondsville “Parabolic” Bridge on Grant Road (90NR02557) over the Raquette River in Norfolk, St. Lawrence County, facing southeast ...... 4-94
4.128 The Hepburn Library at 1 Hepburn Street (04NR05254) in the village of Norfolk, St. Lawrence County, facing south ...... 4-95
Appendix C. Photographs
1 Chateaugay Fire Hall, 2 Lake Street, Chateaugay, Franklin County, NY, eastern terminus of proposed pipeline, facing west ...... C-1
2 Cut lawn and agricultural field in the Preferred Route north of CR 23, facing southeast ...... C-1
3 An alternate route of the proposed pipeline showing brush and trees at the intersection of the abandoned railroad corridor and the west side of CR 23, facing west ...... C-2
4 A view of an alternate route along a former railroad bed that is currently an agricultural field, located on the north side of CR 23, facing northeast ...... C-2
5 Cut lawn on the site of the former railroad bed along an alternate route located on the east side of CR 23, facing southwest ...... C-3
6 Agricultural field along the Preferred Route located on the south side of CR 23 at the intersection of Ketchum Road, railroad bed in background, facing west ...... C-3
7 Cut lawn located on the east side of CR 36 (Depot Street), railroad bed in background, facing east ...... C-4
8 “The Village Market” located on the west side of CR 36, facing west-southwest ...... C-4
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. xiv St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA
9 Cut-stone tunnel under railroad bed and over Little Trout River, facing south ...... C-5
10 Location of the Preferred Route along the former New York Central Railroad corridor east side of Murray Road, facing south ...... C-5
11 Warehouses along the west side of the former New York Central Railroad corridor, facing southwest ...... C-6
12 Power line corridor located on the west side of Murray Road, facing west ...... C-6
13 Brushy field and ridge area located on the west side of CR 30, facing west ...... C-7
14 Cut lawn and agricultural fields crossed by portions of the Preferred Route and the central alternate route in Village of Malone, taken from the parking area of Northstar Behavioral Health building, facing northwest ...... C-7
15 Southernmost alternate route in Segment 2, heading west through the parking lot of Northstar Behavioral Health, facing west ...... C-8
16 Southernmost alternate route in Segment 3 between a channelized creek and the north side of the asphalt drive to Northstar Behavioral Health, facing west ...... C-8
17 Southernmost alternate route along the west side of Lower Park Road in Segment 2, the north side of the Village of Malone, facing north ...... C-9
18 The Preferred Route along East Park Street taken from its intersection with Lower Park Road, facing east ...... C-9
19 Northernmost alternate route along an unpaved access road taken from Lower Park Road, facing northeast...... C-10
20 The crossing location of Salmon River for the northernmost alternate route in Segment 2, facing southwest ...... C-10
21 The northernmost alternate route west of Salmon River showing cut lawn on Malone Sewage Treatment Facility property, facing south ...... C-11
22 Intersection of Preferred Route and the northernmost alternate route in Segment 2 showing steep embankment located at the intersection of West Street and Lane Street, facing west ...... C-11
23 The Preferred Route crossing through agricultural fields and then rejoining the abandoned railroad bed (foreground), taken from the east side of CR 37, facing east ...... C-12
24 The Preferred Route following the abandoned railroad bed, taken from the west side of CR 37, facing northwest ...... C-12
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. xv St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA 25 Preferred Route crossing on the east side of CR 122, showing buildings and parking area associated with “Sample Lumber Co.,” facing southeast ...... C-13
26 Route located on abandoned railroad bed, currently used for a farm access road located on the west side of Lee Road, facing west ...... C-13
27 Location of the Preferred Route through a wooded area on the east side of Spring Grove Road, facing east ...... C-14
28 Little Salmon River crossing, facing north ...... C-14
29 Showing route following agricultural fields and woods, prior to rejoining the abandoned railroad bed east of CR 17, facing northeast ...... C-15
30 Route following cut lawns on CR 6, taken from the intersection of CR 95, facing west ...... C-15
31 The Preferred Route following the roadside of St. Lawrence CR 52, showing the route entering Brasher State Forest, facing west ...... C-16
32 The Preferred Route following CR 52, taken from the intersection of Butler Road, facing southwest ...... C-16
33 The Preferred Route in Segment 4 entering the parking area of Breyer’s Yogurt plant on the east side of the Village of North Lawrence (St. Lawrence County), facing south ...... C-17
34 Allen Brook crossing NY 11C, facing north ...... C-17
35 Trout Brook crossing NY 11C, facing north ...... C-18
36 The Preferred Route heading south through wooded terrain on the south side of NY 11C, facing south ...... C-18
37 The Preferred Route along Barnage Road, facing southwest ...... C-19
38 Cut lawns and brushy fields along CR 49, taken from the intersection of Lincoln Drive, facing west ...... C-19
39 St. Regis River crossing, facing southeast ...... C-20
40 An alternate route located in cut lawn west of the St. Regis River, taken from the east side of NY 420, facing northeast ...... C-20
41 The Preferred Route along located on White Road, facing southwest ...... C-21
42 An alternate route through a wooded area on the west side of White Road, facing northwest ...... C-21
43 An alternate route along NY 11C near Winthrop, facing southwest ...... C-22
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. xvi St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA
44 An alternate route through a wooded area on northwest side of NY 11C, facing northwest ...... C-22
45 The Preferred Route along CR 49, taken from the intersection of Pickle Road, facing northwest ...... C-23
46 Typical setting of the Preferred Route along CR 49, facing northwest ...... C-23
47 Squeak Brook located on the north side of CR 49, facing northeast ...... C-24
48 Brook crossing along CR 49, facing northeast ...... C-24
49 Brookdale Cemetery located on the south side of CR 49, at the Norfolk town line, facing southwest ...... C-25
50 Western terminus of proposed route, located on Joy Road, taken from the intersection of CR 38, facing northwest ...... C-25
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. xvii St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA 1.0 Introduction
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. (Panamerican/PCI) was contracted by Environmental Design and Research (EDR) of Syracuse, New York to conduct a Phase IA cultural resources investigation for the St. Lawrence Pipeline/Frontier Rebuild Project (Project) in Franklin and St. Lawrence Counties, New York (Figure 1.1). St. Lawrence Gas proposes to install a high-pressure steel gas main in the towns of Norfolk, Stockholm, Lawrence, Moira, Bangor, Malone, Burke, and Chateaugay, New York, for the purpose of distributing natural gas to communities in this region (e.g., Brasher Falls, North Lawrence, Moira, Brushton, North Bangor, Malone, Burke, Chateugay) (Figure 1.1 and Appendix A). The preferred route of the pipeline corridor is 47.54 miles (76.5 kilometers) long between County Route (CR) 38 in the Town of Norfolk (St. Lawrence County) and Belle Avenue in the Village of Chateaugay (Franklin County). Alternate routes that diverge and reconnect with the preferred route are also addressed by this investigation.
The purpose of the Phase IA investigation was to determine if any previously recorded cultural resources are present within the project area and assess general sensitivity for archaeological and architectural cultural resources. The 47.54-mile long preferred route was investigated, as well as alternative routes (primarily on the north side of the Village of Malone and near Winthrop/Brasher Falls). The cultural resources investigation included archival, documentary, and historical map research, a site file and literature search, the examination of properties listed in the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places (S/NRHP), a cursory windshield survey of historical buildings/structures and the project area, assessments of cultural resource sensitivity and past disturbances within the Area of Potential Effect (APE), and photographic documentation of conditions characterizing the APE. The architectural portion of the study area is defined as the proposed transmission line route (see Figure 1.1) and areas within a three-mile radius (six-mile corridor) around the proposed route. This corridor was used for the site file check/archival research (see Section 2.0), the preliminary architectural reconnaissance (see Section 4.0), and for broad descriptions of the environmental setting. A narrower corridor (15 meters [50 feet]) was defined to address the direct, archaeological APE. This investigation is also considered applicable for gas distribution lines that will ultimately service the communities. The background and site file research and general archaeological sensitivity assessments presented in this report encompass these areas.
The cultural resources investigation was conducted in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the State Historic Preservation Act, New York Public Service Commission Article VII regulations, and all relevant state and federal legislation. The investigation was also conducted according to the New York Archaeological Council (NYAC)’s Standards for Archaeological Investigations (NYAC 1994) and New York State Historic Preservation Office (NYSHPO) Guidelines.
The Phase IA archaeological field reconnaissance began at the eastern terminus of the proposed pipeline route in the Town of Chateaugay, Franklin County, and continued west, ending at the Town of Norfolk, St. Lawrence County. For ease of discussion, the proposed corridor was divided into four segments following this east to west direction.
Segment 1. The easternmost segment covers approximately 10.84 miles and includes the pipeline corridor between the Villages of Chateaugay and Malone. The eastern end of the APE begins on the western side of CR 374 (Lake Street) in the Village of Chateaugay in the parking area of the fire hall located at 2 Lake Street, and ends in the Village of Malone (see Section 3.4.1 for a more detailed discussion of the proposed route within this segment).
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 1-1 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA
Figure 1.1. Location of the St. Lawrence Gas transmission project, St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties, New York (EDR 2009; base map: ESRI 2005).
Segment 2. This segment covers approximately 2.5 miles of the Preferred Route and the three possible alternate routes that cross the north side of the Village of Malone (see Section 3.4.2 for a more detailed discussion of the proposed route within this segment).
Segment 3. This segment measures approximately 16 miles and included the Preferred Route within the Towns of Bangor and Moira in Franklin County. The route crosses the villages of North Bangor, Brushton, and Moira (see Section 3.4.3 for a more detailed discussion of the proposed route within this segment).
Segment 4. This segment covers 18.2 miles and includes the proposed pipeline route in St. Lawrence County. The route crosses the towns of Brasher, Lawrence, Stockholm, and Norfolk, including the villages of North Lawrence, Brasher Falls, Winthrop, and Brookdale. It also crosses a small portion of the Brookdale State Forest (see Section 3.4.4 for a more detailed discussion of the proposed route within this segment).
The investigation was conducted in December 2009. Panamerican personnel included: Mr. Robert J. Hanley, M.A., RPA, as Principal Investigator; Ms. Christine M. Longiaru, M.A., as Senior Architectural Historian; Mr. Mark A. Steinback, M.A., as Project Historian; Dr. Rebecca Emans, RPA, and Ms. Sharon Jenkins, M.A., were Staff Archaeologists. Mr. Joseph Kline, B.A., served as Field Director. Dr. Michael A. Cinquino, RPA, served as project director for Panamerican.
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 1-2 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA 2.0 Context and Documentary Review
2.1 ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING
Topography. The Area of Potential Effect is located in the St. Lawrence Valley plain physiographic province (Carlisle and Lyford 1958:59). The portion of the APE west of the St. Regis River in St. Lawrence County is within the St. Lawrence Marine Plain, while the portion in Franklin County, east of the river, is within a generally hilly area of the St. Lawrence Hills subdivision of the St. Lawrence-Champlain Lowlands (Cressey 1966:26). Elevations increase from west to east: from approximately 100 feet (30.5 meters) at the west end to 300 ft (92 m) at the east end of the route. The elevation remains about 100 ft (30.5 m) until the west side of Brushton, and increases to 150 ft (46 m) at the east side of the village. The terrain continues to rise gradually to Malone, where elevations reach 250 ft (76 m). Elevation remains around 250 ft (76 m) until just before Chateaugay, where it climaxes around 300 ft (91 m) within the APE and 380 ft (116 m) within the vicinity of the APE (Figure 1.1).
Geology. In general, bedrock underlying the APE consists of calciferous sandstone and limestone. Most of the project area is located through an 8- to 12-mile belt of Potsdam sandstone, except for the area around Brushton, which overlies mixed gneiss (Van Diver 1985:384). Hard and siliceous, Potsdam sandstone formation contains thin calcareous layers in the upper part and massive conglomerate in the lower part. Surfaces in the eastern portion of the county are broken by natural ridges that trend in a northeast-southwest direction and are the reason the area’s rivers flow. For example, the Chateaugay River has carved a gorge more than 100 ft (30 m) deep (Cressey 1966:24; Carlisle and Lyford 1958:59).
Soils. In St. Lawrence County, the portion of the APE between Norfolk and Brasher Falls consists of two soils associations: Hogansburg-Muskellunge-Grenville and Naumburg-Croghan- Deford (Figure 2.1). Between Brasher Falls and the county line, the Project consists of Malone- Kalurah-Hallesboro and Coveytown-Trout River-Cook soils associations. a Table 2.1. Soils associations represented within the APE. Soils Association Drainage Texture Formation Location St. Lawrence County (Carlisle et al. 2005) Hogansburg-Muskellunge- well to somewhat glacial till, marine hills, ridges, intervening Loamy Grenville poorly deposits basins, broad footslopes very poorly to deltaic or beach Naumburg-Croghan-Deford Sandy broad sand plains moderately well deposits somewhat poorly glacial till, lacustrine knolls, ridges, intervening Malone-Kalurah-Hallesboro Loamy to moderately well deposits basins, broad footslopes Coveytown-Trout River- excessively to sandy, beach deposits broad till plains Cook very poorly gravelly Franklin County (Carlisle and Lyford 1958) Adams-Colton well to excessively Sandy glacial outwash outwash plains and deltas excessive to very Adams-Walpole Sandy glacial outwash outwash plains and deltas poor poorly to very Coveytown-Cook Sandy glacial till nearly level slopes poorly Stony Moira-Brayton-Sun moderately well glacial till till plain loam well to moderately Trout River-Fahey Sandy glacial outwash beach ridges well Westbury-Empeyville- moderately well to Loamy glacial till till plain Dannemora poorly
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-1 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA PREFERRED ROUTE ALTERNATE ROUTE
Figure 2.1. Soils along the proposed routes in St. Lawrence County (NRCS 2005).
In Franklin County, there are six different soils associations represented (Figures 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4; Carlisle and Lyford 1958: General Soil Map). The most common, Moira-Brayton-Sun is almost the exclusive soil association between Brushton and Burke, where the APE parallels an existing railroad bed, although Trout River-Fahey also occurs intermittently between Brushton and Malone. Between the county line and Brushton, the associations Trout River-Fahey, Adams-Walpole, and Coveytown-Cook are intermittently dispersed with Moira-Brayton-Sun. Between Burke and Chateaugay, the associations Westbury-Empeyville-Dannemora and Adams-Colton are dispersed among areas of Moira-Brayton-Sun.
Drainage. Multiple creeks and streams cross the proposed gas line route. The major rivers of the area are the St. Regis and the Raquette, with minor rivers including Chateaugay, Salmon, Deer, and Marble. All of these flow north and northeast, combining with one another and eventually with the St. Lawrence River. The St. Lawrence is the major drainage for the whole of the northeast part of North America, the end result of the Great Lakes. It flows northeast eventually emptying into the Atlantic Ocean.
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-2 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA PREFERRED ROUTE ALTERNATE ROUTE
Figure 2.2. Soils along the proposed route in the western portion of Franklin County (soils source: Carlisle and Lyford 1958).
PREFERRED ROUTE ALTERNATE ROUTE
Figure 2.3. Soils along the proposed routes in the central portion of Franklin County (soils source: Carlisle and Lyford 1958).
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-3 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA PREFERRED ROUTE ALTERNATE ROUTE
Figure 2.4. Soils along the proposed route in the eastern portion of Franklin County (soils source: Carlisle and Lyford 1958).
Forest Zone and Vegetation. The St. Lawrence County portion of the APE is within the Elm-Red Maple-Northern Hardwood zone, while most of the Franklin County portion (except the western part near the county line) is within the Northern Hardwood zone (de Laubenfels 1966:92). The Elm-Red Maple-Northern Hardwood zone is characterized by American elm and red maple, and, to a lesser extent, oak and northern hardwoods. This zone reflects recent conditions where poorly drained areas are widespread, the natural forest has been removed, and better drained areas have been utilized for agriculture. Despite the similarity of the climatic conditions between this zone and the Northern Hardwood zone, the prevalence of elm and red maple, and the reduction of oak, is due to human impacts to the environment. The direction of the slope affects the type of trees predominant within a certain area; south-facing slopes support more oaks or an oak-hickory mix (due to more sunlight), while north-facing slopes support more northerly-predominant trees, such as elm, red cedar, and hawthorn as well as a variety of evergreens (de Laubenfels 1966:95).
The Northern Hardwood zone occurs in higher elevations away from the lakes (de Laubenfels 1966:95-96). This zone is not uniform, being comprised of a variety of species, but dominated by beech and sugar maple. In cooler areas, the third most prevalent tree is yellow birch. Though not evenly distributed, all types of evergreens are abundant among hardwoods in the cooler regions, the most popular of which include hemlock, white pine and white cedar. The number of hemlock trees was greatly reduced during the nineteenth century by lumbermen for the bark was a source of tannin.
Manmade Features and Alterations. In Franklin County, the APE is typically along railroad tracks, while in St. Lawrence County it parallels existing roads.
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-4 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA 2.2 PREHISTORIC PERIOD
The three major cultural traditions manifested in New York State during the prehistoric era were the Paleo-Indian, Archaic, and Woodland. The earliest people were nomadic big-game hunters (12,000 to 8000 BC). Changing environmental conditions required an adaptation of the economy, resulting in a shift to the efficient exploitation of temperate forest resources by Archaic hunter-gatherers. In many areas of eastern North America, the Archaic (8000 to 1500 BC) is followed by the Transitional period (1500 to 1000 BC) that bridges the Archaic and the subsequent Woodland period. The Woodland period (1000 BC to AD 1600) is marked by the introduction of pottery, agriculture, and burial mounds. As a result of these innovations, many new and very different social and economic adaptations developed (Ritchie 1980).
Paleo-Indian Period (ca. 12,000-8000 BC). Hunter-gatherer bands of the Paleo-Indian culture were the first humans in New York State after the last glacial retreat approximately 14,000 years ago. While much of the northern part of the state was locked in ice, it is possible that the environmental fluctuations that occurred during this early period were conducive to periodic forays by the Paleo-Indian groups into the region when conditions were suitable. As the climate gradually became more temperate, these forays likely became more extended. Prior to 10,000 years ago, the ice had not retreated very far north of the lake and the Lake Ontario basin was still somewhat inhospitable. During the recession of the Wisconsin glaciation the project area was inundated by meltwater that formed the Champlain Sea (Ritchie 1980:4-5; Cressey 1966:22).
The archaeological record suggests that Paleo-Indian subsistence strategies emphasized hunting big game species, many of which are extinct. These included mastodon, mammoth, great beaver, caribou, and moose-elk, along with a variety of smaller game. Few tool associations have been made with aquatic resources, although this food source was probably utilized as the climate moderated (Funk 1972:11; Ritchie 1980; Salwen 1975). The remains of mammoths and mastodon have been found throughout much of the state, although not in Franklin or St. Lawrence counties. Pleistocene elk remains have been identified in southeastern St. Lawrence County (Ritchie 1980:10-11).
Adapted to the tundra, Paleo-Indians utilized a nomadic settlement system in which their movements followed that of game. During seasonal resource peaks, larger populations occupied strategically located base camps; and during periods of scarce resources, the population dispersed, occupying small camps and rockshelters on a temporary basis. A band- level social organization is attributed to Paleo-Indian groups, with each band consisting of 25 or 30 people (Snow 1980:150; Fitting 1968; Funk 1978). As climatic conditions allowed more permanent occupation of an area, this wandering became more restrictive and bands settled into loose territories.
Technologically, the Paleo-Indian period has been associated with the fluted Clovis point industry. These points are generally large (2.5 to 10 centimeters [1 to 4 inches] in length), with a flute on each face that facilitated hafting (Funk and Schambach 1964; Snow 1980).
Archaic Period (ca. 8000-1000 BC). The Archaic period is differentiated from the Paleo- Indian period by a functional shift in lithic technology, an apparent increase in population, changes in the subsistence strategy, and a less nomadic settlement system (Funk 1978; Tuck 1978a). These changes reflect an adaptation to an improved climate and a more diversified biome (Funk 1972:10). Three subdivisions are generally recognized for the Archaic: Early, Middle, and Late.
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-5 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA The Early Archaic tool kit consisted of Hardaway, Dalton, Palmer corner-notched, Kirk corner-notched, and bifurcate base points which frequently had serrated edges (Funk 1993). People of the Early Archaic also used end scrapers, side scrapers, spokeshaves, drills, gravers, choppers, hammers, and anvil stones. Although archaeological sites from the Early and Middle Archaic are rare, important sites have been found in central and eastern New York, in Ulster County and near Sylvan Lake, as well as western Connecticut, the upper Delaware valley and the Susquehanna valley (Dent 1991; Funk 1991, 1993; Nicholas 1988).
In addition to an improved climate and more diversified biome, a few technological changes, such as the production of ground and polished stone tools, serve to identify the Middle Archaic period (6000-4000 BC) (Funk 1991; Kraft 1986). The bannerstone, probably used as an atlatl weight, and the bell pestle were Middle Archaic innovations (Griffin 1967). People began to develop woodworking tools during this period, using coarse-grained stones and river cobbles as their raw materials. The Middle Archaic tool kit included anvil stones, choppers, netsinkers, an array of projectile points, axes, adzes, choppers, and other woodworking implements (Braun and Braun 1994; Funk 1991; Kraft 1986). The territorial "settling in" process begun during the Early Archaic continued into the Middle Archaic, stimulating a process of group isolation. Sites from these periods cluster along major rivers and marshy, swampy land as well as lowlands.
During the Late Archaic period (4000-1500 BC) hunting, fishing, and gathering remained the principal daily activities, although greater emphasis was placed on deer and small game like birds and turtles, shellfish, nuts and possibly wild cereal grains like Chenopodium. Associated with the shift in subsistence strategies was the increase in population densities, and as population increased, camps became larger and more numerous. Bands moved seasonally or when resources dwindled. Most sites of the Late Archaic were seasonal, special purpose habitation sites such as hunting camps, spring fishing stations, fall nut-gathering and processing stations, and shellfish processing, while some settlements located near major rivers or lakes were multi-activity spring and summer villages (Ritchie and Funk 1973). Groups probably congregated cyclically for exchange and socialization. Houses of this period may have been rectangular, 14-to-16 ft long and 7-to-13 ft wide. Several such house patterns were found at the Lamoka Lake site in the Finger Lakes region of New York State (Ritchie and Funk 1973).
The Terminal Archaic, sometimes called the Transitional period (ca. 1500-1000 BC), features a continuation of Late Archaic cultural and economic patterns, with a few innovative traits. Among these are a developing burial/ceremonial complex and, toward the end of the period, the introduction of ceramics. Frost Island phase culture was generally situated in central New York with extensions into western and northern New York (Snow 1980; Ritchie 1980; Trubowitz 1977). Artifacts characteristic of this phase include Perkiomen, Susquehanna Broad points, drills, and strike-a-lights made of reworked Susquehanna Broad points, flake tools, celts, netsinkers, hammerstones, pitted stones, anvil stones, and milling slabs (Funk 1993:197). The hallmark of this transition is the adoption of pottery around 1200 BC. The shift to pottery appears to have been preceded by the adoption of steatite or soapstone pots, which facilitated cooking and food preparation (Ritchie and Funk 1973:87; Funk 1993:198). The earliest pottery in New York State (Vinette 1 type) has been radiocarbon dated to about 1250 BC at the Frost Island component of the O’Neil site on the Seneca River.
Woodland Period (1000 BC-AD 1500/1600). The definitive characteristic of the Woodland period in New York State is the adoption of pottery technology, a development that occurred at different times from one location to another (Feder 1984:101-102; Sears 1948; Snow 1980:262). native groups also became more dependent on domesticated plants—including maize, beans,
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-6 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA and squash—although this change does not seem to have significantly altered subsistence and settlement patterns until the Late Woodland, after AD 1000 (Ritchie and Funk 1973:96). In the meantime, hunting and gathering continued to be important elements of native lifeways for much of the Woodland and people likely still employed these strategies, at least part time, at the time of contact with Europeans. With agriculture came settled village life, a general increase in population, technological changes, warfare, and a litany of social and political changes.
The Early Woodland period (1000-100 BC) is marked by several cultural phases in New York State, including the Meadowood, Middlesex, Orient, and Bushkill phases. Some of these phases, such as Meadowood, are better understood than others, while some arguably may not be very important in some local sequences. The Early Woodland is marked by an increase in burial ceremonialism. The Meadowood phase is strongly represented in northern, central and western New York, but its presence is weaker and more sporadic east of the Susquehanna valley (Funk 1976). Settlement type information is scarce for the Meadowood phase. Meadowood cremation cemeteries have been found in the St. Lawrence drainage, while in the western Finger Lakes region, both skeletal and cremation burials have been recovered in an apparent cemetery context at the Morrow site, Ontario County (Ritchie 1980). Dating to the Middlesex phase is the Muskalonge Lake site located in Jefferson County north of the project area near the Jefferson-St. Lawrence county line (Ritchie 1980:183).
The Middle Woodland period (100 BC-AD 1000) shows continued long distance exchange, although perhaps with varying strength at different times. In the Finger Lakes and surrounding locales in northern New York, a sequence of occupation sites shows evidence of a long, Middle Woodland cultural tradition referred to as Point Peninsula (Ritchie 1980). In northern New York, a transitional culture between the Middle and Late Woodland periods is marked by the Hunter's Home phase, an aspect of the terminal Point Peninsula tradition and sometimes designated Late Woodland (AD 1000-1500/1600) (Mason 1981; Ritchie and Funk 1973; Tuck 1978b). According to Ritchie and Funk (1973), most Hunter's Home sites are moderately large with heavy refuse concentrations, storage pits, house patterns, and a wide range of artifacts. Hunter's Home Phase economy can generally be characterized as a hunting-fishing-collecting system. Increases in both social complexity and population are evident, leading to the hypothesis that "maize horticulture was already being practiced as an important aspect of the Hunter's Home economy" (Ritchie and Funk 1973:356).
In New York State, the two primary Late Woodland traditions are Owasco (beginning ca. AD 1000) and the prehistoric Haudenosaunee (ca. AD 1300). Like most cultures in the Northeast at this time, Owasco subsistence was based on hunting, gathering, fishing, and horticulture. The Owasco were the first in this area to rely on a significant cultivation of maize. By the fifteenth century, a variety of Northern Flint corn proliferated after the introduction of beans and squash. The development of bean and squash horticulture is roughly correlated to a growth in population and village size. As time passed, Owasco peoples became more and more dependent on these cultigens, until they finally became the primary source of subsistence (Winter 1971; see Hart and Brumbach 2003 for a reevaluation of the dating for the components that comprise the Owasco culture, which undermines the use of Oswaco as a cultural construct).
The horticultural complex of corn, beans, and squash, a common occurrence in North America, are found together in some of the earliest Late Woodland sites in this region (Ritchie and Funk 1973; Funk 1976; Hart et al. 2003), indicating the importance of these plants for at least some early garden systems and subsistence strategies (Fritz 1990; Smith 1992). It is generally accepted that a heavy reliance on corn horticulture was supplemented by growing
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-7 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA beans and squash, with declining roles for hunting, fishing and gathering. Many local cultures with a lower reliance on agriculture may have included wild foods in the subsistence mix to a greater extent, particularly where animal protein could be substituted for the amino acid complement provided elsewhere by beans. Primary animal prey most likely included one or more of deer, fish, and shellfish, based on faunal evidence, site locations, and the prevalence of netsinkers and other fishing technology at some sites (Cleland 1982; Funk 1976; Ritchie 1980; Ritchie and Funk 1973).
Important changes occurring in this period were social rather than techno-economic. The technology of the period is characterized by refinement of the developments of earlier periods with styles and techniques becoming more regionalized. Horticulture, primarily the growing of corn, beans, and squash, was the primary source of plant food for the prehistoric Haudenosaunee, but never totally supplanted the hunting, fishing, and collecting strategy as the most important means of subsistence procurement. The practice of horticulture allowed or even necessitated increased sedentarism. With the added premium placed on land in the Late Woodland, territorialism increased (Whallon 1968).
During the late prehistoric and Contact periods, tribal clusters of Iroquoian-speaking peoples were situated throughout New York State and lower Ontario Province, Canada. Comprising several thousand people in at least one, and usually several, villages in proximity to one another, each tribal cluster was separated from the others by extensive and widespread hunting and fishing areas (Trigger 1978:344; Tuck 1978b:324). Cultural changes during the late prehistoric period laid the groundwork for the development of the individual nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (historically referred to as the Iroquois or Five Nations) during the historic period, in New York.
Contact Period (AD 1500–1650). This period dates the beginning of the end of traditional Native American cultural patterns due to ever-increasing political, military, religious and economic interactions with Europeans. The trends occurring at the end of the Late Woodland were greatly accelerated by contact with European explorers beginning in the sixteenth century. Native American nations in northern New York were profoundly affected by direct and indirect contacts with the fur trade, long before the arrival of a permanent European-American population to the area. In 1535, French explorer Jacques Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence River and met groups of Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans (the so-called St. Lawrence Iroquois or Iroquoians) at what is now Québec City and Montréal. There is some evidence, however, that Basque, Portuguese, and Breton fishermen were traveling to the Gulf of the St. Lawrence-Newfoundland area and making sporadic contacts with Native Americans prior to this time (Hoffman 1961; Brasser 1978:79-81; Trigger 1978:345-346).
Beginning in the last decades of the sixteenth century, the increasingly regular encounters between Europeans and Native Americans incubated a pandemic of European diseases among unprepared native populations, which decimated many native nations. The presence of typhus, smallpox, measles, and others ravaged native communities. In addition to the tensions introduced through simple contact with Europeans, trade has been recognized as having a major impact upon traditional aboriginal cultural patterns (Brasser 1978:83). Further, utilizing pre-existing intertribal exchange networks and relationships, changes in aboriginal cultural patterns were occurring as a result of the earliest tentative and sporadic introductions of European material culture. The source of these goods was the French outpost of Tadoussac in the lower St. Lawrence valley at the mouth of the Saguenay River where European fishing parties traded for furs with the local native groups (Trigger 1978:346-347). The most immediate
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-8 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA changes resulted from the introduction of a far superior material culture. Once the fur trade was established, assuring a stable supply of these goods, the manufacture of native goods rapidly declined until they were entirely replaced by European manufactured implements. Finally, changes occurred in sociopolitical relationships after 1640 as the fur trade intensified and the supply of furs declined. The most important of these changes was the formation of confederations, such as the Huron Confederacy, and the Five Nations or Haudenosaunee Confederacy of New York State.
During this time, a group referred to as the “St. Lawrence Iroquois” occupied villages along the north bank of the St. Lawrence River in what is now Canada. After 1550, these people vanished from this area. It is surmised that they succumbed to disease brought by the Europeans or conflict with the Haudenosaunee and the survivors were incorporated into either the Huron or Onondaga nations (Tuck 1978b:324; Trigger and Pendergast 1978:357, 360-361). As a result of the “disappearance” of the St. Lawrence Iroquoians, the project area appears to have become a middle ground between the Huron-Algonquian nations of present-day Canada and the Haudenosaunee nations of what is now New York State, and was not continuously occupied by either group, although the Mohawk exerted some control over the area. Despite its contested status, the current county was included within the traditional hunting areas of the Mohawk, with their principal villages around the Mohawk River (Trigger 1978:346; Durant and Peirce 1982 [1878]:22; Fenton and Tooker 1978:466).
2.3 HISTORIC PERIOD
Colonial Period. As noted, the French were the first recorded Europeans to penetrate the valley of the St. Lawrence River. By the end of the sixteenth century, the fur trade in the St. Lawrence Valley had become an important commercial and imperial concern. Commissioned to fortify outposts of trade in 1608, Samuel de Champlain founded Québec (1608) and established a trading post at what is now Montréal (1611). The year 1609 was momentous. Exploring the St. Lawrence River valley, Champlain and a small party followed the streams and rivers inland until they reached the lake that now bears his name. While there, his party engaged a group of Mohawk in bloody skirmish. Two of the latter were killed by gunfire, an action that would eventually help seal the fate of the French in the New World. Also in that year, Englishman Henry Hudson, sailing for the United Provinces of the Netherlands, sailed up what the Dutch referred to as the North River, reaching as far north as what is now Albany (Trigger 1978:346- 349; Tooker 1978:430; Fenton and Tooker 1978:467-469).
While the French were having conflicts with the Haudenosaunee, the Dutch were establishing a trading post called Fort Orange at present-day Albany in 1624. The arrival of the Dutch initiated an era of rabid competition among the imperial powers for the lucrative fur trade. This competition spilled over to the native nations with whom the Europeans dealt. As the supply of furs began to decline in the 1630s and 1640s, some Mohawk and Oneida were ambushing and attacking Algonquians and French in the Ottawa and upper St. Lawrence valleys. These raids would continue intermittently until the end of the century. In 1664, the British seized New Netherland from the Dutch, renaming it New York, thereby becoming the patrons of the Haudenosaunee. For the British, as it had earlier for the French, the fur trade became an essential imperial concern, and the struggle between the English and the French over the fur trade once again affected their Native American clients, who were forced to ally themselves with one or the other power. The subsequent competition in the New World resulted in the erection of fortified trading posts within the frontier by both kingdoms. In 1666, the French
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-9 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA established the short-lived outpost of Fort Ste. Anne on Isle La Motte, located on the Vermont side of Lake Champlain; it was abandoned in the 1670s (Abler and Tooker 1978:505-507; Trigger 1978:354-356; Hurd 1880:277-278).
Despite the erection of European posts in the Niagara and Champlain valleys and along the north and south shores of Lake Ontario, what is now northern New York was largely free of settlement until the middle of the eighteenth century. Two exceptions were settlements of Haudenosaunee who had converted to Catholicism in the 1670s, which were established in the St. Lawrence Valley: one called Caughnawaga and the other near Montréal (Fenton and Tooker 1978:468-469). Sometime between 1747 and 1755, a group of Iroquoians from Caughnawaga established a settlement on high ground along the south side of the St. Lawrence between the Raquette and St. Regis rivers. Called St. Regis, after Jean François Régis, this settlement expanded into the present Akwesasne reservation. In 1749, a collection of Christian Haudenosaunee who identified themselves as the Oswegatchies (consisting of Oneida, Onondaga, and Cayuga) settled near Fort La Presentation (present-day Ogdensburg). The fort served as a staging area for raids against British settlements in the Mohawk and Hudson valleys during the French and Indian War. The Oswegatchies, comprising approximately 1,500 people by 1751, were later dispersed into the St. Regis and Onondaga reservations (ca. 1807) (Hurd 1880:117, 375; Durant and Peirce 1982 [1878]:29-30, 46, 57; Blau et al. 1978:494-495).
During the French and Indian War in 1754, a small French force initially fortified Fort La Presentation during the early stages of the conflict. The following summer, 5,000 French under the command of Lieutenant General Louis-Joseph Montcalm de Saint Véran, Marquis de Montcalm, crossed Lake Ontario from Fort Frontenac and captured then demolished the forts at Oswego before returning to Montréal. However, the fall of Québec and the death of Montcalm in 1759 undermined French ambitions in North America, and precipitated their ultimate surrender. In August 1760, troops under the command of Major General Jeffery Amherst dispersed the French occupation in the area and occupied La Presentation. Montréal fell that same year and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763 officially terminated French claims in most of North America (Millard 1997; Durant and Peirce 1982 [1878]:33-40; Aldenderfer et al. 1982:III-30, 31).
While the migration of homesteaders into frontier and Haudenosaunee territory recommenced at the end of the French and Indian War, no permanent settlements had been established in the lands along the Mohawk valley north or west of German Flatts. Nevertheless, the erection of forts and trading posts and the trickle of European-American settlers into the northern and western woodlands aggravated relations with the native nations who already lived and hunted there. La Presentation (renamed Oswegatchie by the British), however, remained a British outpost during the 1760s through the 1790s (Tooker 1978:433-434; Aldenderfer et al. 1982:III-31; Blau et al. 1978:495; Durant and Peirce 1982 [1878]:57).
The British government patented much of the lands within New York State prior to the Revolution. The most northerly of these patents was Totten and Crossfield’s purchase. Obtained by Joseph Totten, Stephen Crossfield, and their associates ca. 1772, the northern extreme of the patent formed the southern boundary of what would become Franklin and St. Lawrence counties (see Figure 2.5). Much of the land covered by this patent reverted to the State of New York after the Revolutionary War. Other patents were granted to Elkanah Deane and 29 associates in 1769, William Beekman ca. 1769, and the Duerville Patent granted to Duer and Company prior to 1775 (Hurd 1880: 20-22; Sullivan and Martin 1970:27-35).
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-10 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA Early Settlement and Land Patents. Settlement of what is now Franklin County was nonexistent until the middle of the eighteenth century as conflicting patents issued by both the French and the British impeded settlement of the area. Several homesteaders settled in proximity to Lake Champlain prior to the American Revolution, but European settlement was deterred by the growing animosity between England and its colony. A group of Native Americans from Caughnawaga had settled at St. Regis in the western portion of Franklin County ca. 1760. The first Euro-American settlement of what is now Franklin County occurred in the present Town of Chateaugay in 1796 by Benjamin Roberts and Nathan Beman or Beeman (Hurd 1880:375; Sullivan and Martin 1970:20; Seaver 1918).
Lake Champlain is reputed to be the scene of the first naval battle fought by the United States Navy. On October 11, 1776, the engagement occurred in a strait between the mainland near Plattsburgh and Valcour Island. Patriot ships under the direction of Brigadier General Benedict Arnold were largely destroyed by a superior British force, but the battle postponed the British campaign to separate New England from the rest of the rebelling colonies. A second British attempt at splitting the colonies occurred the following year under the command of General John Burgoyne. Settlers in the Champlain Valley were driven out when the British invaded (Ellis et al. 1967; Hurd 1880:14-18).
Figure 2.5. Northern New York land purchases prior to 1800 (adapted from Ellis et al. 1967:157).
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-11 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA British-American settlement in northern New York dates from the end of the American Revolution. The British and their Loyalist allies were expelled from the new United States after the Treaty of Paris (1783) ended the Revolutionary War, although the British did not vacate forts along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River until 1796.
Northern New York was virtually unbroken wilderness in 1783 except for a few settlements fringing Lake Champlain. In fact, most of the region lying between Lake Champlain on the east, Lake Ontario on the west, the St. Lawrence River on the north, and the southern slopes of the Adirondacks remained wilderness until late in the nineteenth century [Ellis et al. 1967:156].
In May 1782, the New York State Legislature passed an act that reserved a tract of land for refugees from Canada and Nova Scotia who had sympathized with the American patriots during the Revolution. More than five years later, in 1787, the Commissioners of the Land Office finally set aside approximately 132,000 acres in what would become Clinton County for these refugees. The tract was divided into 250 80-acre, 250 420-acre lots, two lots of 500 acres, and 18 lots of 333⅓ acres. These 520 lots were granted to the officers and enlisted men among the 252 refugees (Hurd 1880:24; Meinig 1966:141; Sullivan and Martin 1970:30). William Bailey, an early settler of what would become the Town of Chateaugay, surveyed this patent in 1784 for the refugees.
In 1786, the New York Legislature set aside land north of the Adirondacks to satisfy the obligations promised to Continental soldiers. It had previously set aside an extensive tract in central New York for the same purpose, but had encountered difficulties extinguishing Native American title to the land. West of the Refugee Patent, the northern New York Military tracts were referred to as the Old Military tract to distinguish them from the Military Tract in central New York (see Figure 2.1). Each of the twelve tracts contained 100 square miles: Tracts 1, 2, 11 and 12 would be contained within Essex County; Tracts 3, 4, 5 and 6 would be included within Clinton County; and Tracts 7, 8, 9 and 10 would comprise Franklin County. Although these lands were reserved in 1786, none was ever patented to military claimants, testifying not only to the remoteness and undesirability of these lands for the individual claimant, but also to the degree to which they were sold to speculators. For example, Military Tract #5 was purchased by William Henderson in September 1794. He sold it to Jacob Mark in January 1795, who mortgaged it the following week to Robert and Jacob Leroy. By 1822, it was owned by John L. Norton and Hannah Murray, who divided it into 300 lots, which would later be included in the towns of Dannemora and Ellenburg (Hurd 1880:24, 305; Meinig 1966:141). Townships #6 and #7 of the Military Tract were patented by the State to James Caldwell in February 1785, who held them for nearly ten days before selling them off to Colonel McGregor for £500. In December 1795, McGregor sold portions of the tract to John Lamb, William Bell, George Bowne, Joseph Pearsall, Henry Haydock, and Edmund Prior, all merchants of New York City, to hold as tenants in common. The tract was divided into lots and distributed to the entrepreneurs based on the amount of their investment. The present-day Town of Chateaugay covers the eastern half of Township #7 except for a single tier of lots, which lies in the Town of Bellmont (Hurd 1880:439, 456).
Undaunted by the continuing tensions with Great Britain and the remoteness of the area, Alexander Macomb purchased 640,000 acres on the south side of the St. Lawrence River in 1787, which was equally divided into ten towns. Called the “St. Lawrence Ten Towns,” this tract included the northwestern portion of what would become St. Lawrence County (see Figure 2.1). The tract was surveyed into township parcels for sale the following year. The original towns were named: Louisville, Stockholm, Madrid, Potsdam, Lisbon, Canton, Oswegatchie, De Kalb, Hague, and Cambray. Later, after the state acquired northern New York in a 1788 treaty at Fort
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-12 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA Stanwix, Macomb added nearly four million acres, called Macomb’s Purchase (see Figure 2.1), to his holdings in 1791 (Durant and Peirce 1982 [1878]:70-79; Dill 1990). Macomb’s eponymous purchase was surveyed into six great tracts and put up for sale. “Tracts Four, Five, and Six fell under the supervision of William Constable, who took over complete control after Macomb became insolvent” (Ellis et al. 1967: 156-157). Tracts One, Two, and Three, comprising the northern part of Macomb’s Purchase, “had a similar history” (Ellis et al. 1967:157). “All in all, the north country proved a disappointment to most land speculators, who could not successfully compete with the holders of the richer lands of western New York and, subsequently, of the Great Lakes states” (Ellis et al. 1967:158). Great Tract No. 1 included all of Franklin County except the towns of Bellmont, Burke, Chateaugay, and Franklin (Hurd 1880:22).
The pioneers of northeastern New York were predominantly from what are now Vermont and New Hampshire. They entered the area across Lake Champlain after 1783 (Vermont was claimed as part of New York State until 1777). By the mid-1790s, settlement concentrated along Lake Champlain and had gradually filtered into the interior following the predecessor of the Old Military Road, which extended from Plattsburgh to Ogdensburg via Chateaugay. Benjamin Roberts traversed this road with his companions to what would become the Town of Chateaugay in 1796. Initial roads connected isolated settlements to nearby mills or crossroads, which were little more than deer trails (Hurd 1880:51; Sullivan and Martin 1970:196-197).
Another early road ran along the west shore of Lake Champlain to facilitate communication with Montréal. Called old State Road, it was laid out in 1790 and largely completed by 1793. The road extended from what is now Hudson Falls in Washington County to Canada (Hurd 1880:51, 202, 301; Sullivan and Martin 1970:196-197, 201-202). The first European-American settler within Macomb’s Tract Two was a now unknown Frenchman, who operated a sawmill in 1792 on the Grass River in what would become the St. Regis Indian reservation (Curtis 1894; Durant and Peirce 1982 [1878:402).
Macomb’s Purchase was surveyed for resale in 1792, resulting in the formation of townships, which were largely on paper and were not, at that time, formally settled or established as civil divisions (Durant and Peirce 1982 [1878]:77-78). Tract Two was divided into 18 townships, and included Massena. Suffering economic misfortune, Macomb had to deed the land to his agent, William Constable. Joining Constable in this endeavor was Daniel McCormick. In 1798, Macomb’s Purchase’s townships were divided among or sold to various land speculators. The future towns of Massena and Brasher was surveyed by Amos Lay for his proprietors, although Henry Child was probably the first agent (Curtis 1894).
Although land-based roads were generally poor, rivers provided inland transportation as well as power for the small sawmills and gristmills that slowly emerged from the wilderness. Because of its location and lack of inland roads, early settlements in northern New York were more closely tied to British settlements in Canada through the navigable Champlain Valley than to American settlements in the Mohawk valley. As a result of this proximity, violation of the embargo of British goods was an open secret and smuggling was rampant during the run up to the War of 1812 (Ellis et al. 1967:156; Meinig 1966:144-145, 153).
Named for then governor George Clinton, Clinton County comprised four subdivisions when it was initially organized: Champlain, Plattsburgh, Crown Point, and Willsborough (Hurd 1880:118). The county was created from Washington County in March 1788, and attained its present size in 1808 after several adjustments, including the formation of Franklin County. As noted, the first Anglo-American settlers of Franklin County were Benjamin Roberts and Nathan
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-13 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA Beman or Beeman in 1796 near the present Village of Chateaugay. Named for Benjamin Franklin, Franklin County comprised three towns upon its formation in 1808—Chateaugay, Constable, and Harrison (later Malone) (Hurd 1880:375).
Development of the western portion of the area included the surveying of a road between Oswegatchie and St. Regis in 1799, although in St. Lawrence County numerous inland rivers provided the initial highways. Later transportation improvements were in response to the overwhelming pressure of settlers from the south and east, and the landholders who wished to sell land, who had to travel on what in some cases were little more than deer trails. Because of its location and lack of inland roads, early settlements in St. Lawrence County were more closely tied to British settlements in Canada through the navigable St. Lawrence River than to American settlements in the Mohawk valley. Despite the improvements in roads and development of mills and other processing facilities, economic growth still lagged. A problem facing many rural farming communities was ensuring that local produce could reach places where they could be purchased (Ellis et al. 1967:156; Meinig 1966:144-145, 153; Durant and Peirce 1982 [1878]).
The earliest settlements were in the future town of Madrid, in 1793, and at Oswegatchie on the St. Lawrence River in 1796. Nathan Ford, Samuel Ogden’s agent, sold goods out of a store set up in a building of the old fort. Ford erected a sawmill, gristmill and fulling mill in the area of the fort. Other early settlements include the vicinity of Massena village in 1798, Louisville and Canton in 1800, Lawrence in 1801, Stockholm, Hopkinton, and De Peyster in 1802, and De Kalb and Potsdam in 1803 (Durant and Peirce 1982 [1878]:81). A road was cut from the Oswegatchie settlement to Black River by 1801. In 1801, the Ten Towns were combined into the Town of Lisbon, Clinton County. The next year, 1802, St. Lawrence County was created from portions of Clinton, Herkimer and Montgomery counties, and the Town of Lisbon was reduced in size with the formation of the towns of Oswegatchie, Madrid, and Massena (Durant and Peirce 1982 [1878]:84). The early settlers of the county were predominantly Vermonters who filtered into the area along the St. Lawrence and Black river valleys between 1783 and 1825.
Created in March 1802, the Town of Massena was named for Marshal André Masséna, an officer in Napoleon’s army and included what are now the towns of Brasher, Hopkinton, Louisville, Stockholm, Norfolk, Lawrence, Parishville, Piercefield and Colton. Massena attained its present size in 1825 after the creation of the Town of Brasher, which was named for Philip Brasher, a legislator and owner of large tracts of land in the town. Early settlement in the town of Massena and Brasher concentrated along the rivers, which provided sources of power for mills, as well as transportation for the early lumber industry. The lumber sources were quickly depleted, so that grain soon replaced lumber as the main product. In the first year after the formation of the Town of Massena, which at that time also included the Town of Brasher, a number of mills, taverns, and a few stores were established. Also in 1803, the first bridge across Grass River was built. The first saw mills also were established that year by Daniel Robinson, Calvin Hubbard, and Stephen Reed in the general vicinity of the future village of Massena. The first school was taught, and Elijah Bailey also opened a tavern nearby on the St. Lawrence (Curtis 1894). Early settlers of Massena included Mamri Victory, Bliss Hoisington, Seth reed, Calvin Plumley, David Lytle, Jacob and David Hutchins, Nathaniel Kezar, Elijah Bailey, Leonard Herrick, and John Bullard (Durant and Peirce 1982 [1878]:403).
In the Town of Brasher, G.B.R. Gove erected the first sawmill in the town near what is now Brasher Iron Works on the Deer River. Daniel McCormick was the proprietor of the central
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-14 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA portion of the town and he arranged for a group to settle near what is now the village of Helena in 1817. McCormick conveyed his interests in this area to Joseph Pitcairn in 1818. By 1819 some of the permanent settlers were Benjamin Nevin, William Johnson, Jeremiah Schoffs, Enoch Hall, Francis Brown, Amos Eldridge and Francis Nevin (Durant and Peirce 1982 [1878]: 412, 414).
War of 1812. Since the St. Lawrence area was a boundary between the British in Canada and the Americans in the United States, northern New York was the northern theater in the War of 1812, and Lake Champlain was again the scene of numerous skirmishes and an important naval engagement (Meinig 1966:153; Ellis et al. 1967:140-141). During the first part of the conflict, several small engagements and cross-border foraging activities occurred. Major General Wade Hampton advanced from Plattsburgh to the present-day Chateaugay village during the late summer and early autumn of 1813 in anticipation of an invasion of Canada which never materialized. A blockhouse was erected near Marble River north of the village during the winter of 1813, and was burned near the end of the war (Child 1862:9; Hurd 1880; Seaver 1918). The Battle of Plattsburgh on September 11, 1814 was a decisive American victory in the face of extreme odds. Outnumbered naval forces under the command of “Commodore” Thomas McDonough thwarted the invasion, just as British soldiers were about to decimate severely overmatched American troops at Plattsburgh. The British retreat ended active warfare on the lake, although periodic skirmishing occurred in areas to the northwest.
Post-War Development. After the War of 1812 revealed the inferior condition of transportation in the North Country, President James Monroe ordered the military to provide the labor to improve it. After 1817, the improved road between Plattsburgh and Chateaugay was called the Old Military Road, later the Old Military Turnpike after tolls were charged on it to enable repairs (Hurd 1880:51, 202, 301; Sullivan and Martin 1970:201-202).
Despite the improvements in roads and development of mills and other processing facilities, economic growth still lagged. A problem facing many rural farming communities was ensuring that their products could reach markets. Logging, lumbering, and timber-related products were the initial commodities of North Country counties during the early years of settlement. Once the initial round of tree clearing had been completed, the pioneers worked the land in preparation to sow their crops or graze their animals. An abundance of wild animals provided sources of food for the residents of the North Country. Deer, bear, raccoon, rabbit, fox, partridge, and wild turkey populated area forests, as did dangerous competition from wildcats and wolves. Substantial bounties were advertised for killed wolves. In 1817, for example, a bounty of $15 was offered for any wolf killed in the Town of Chateaugay and $30 for a panther. The amount for a wolf was increased later to $20 (Seaver 1918; Hough 1853:273, 472).
Internal Improvements. While inland transportation was still poor, the advent of the steamboat greatly improved transportation within the Champlain corridor. John and James Winans of Burlington, Vermont, constructed the first steamboat on Lake Champlain (the Vermont), between 1807 and 1809. The completion of the Champlain Canal to Whitehall by 1823 further energized business and access to the North Country. Much of the increase in commercial activity, however, was focused along the lake and inland areas had to wait for the construction of railroad lines for greater access to markets.
In the future Town of Brasher, a sawmill was established on the Deer River in 1815, although settlement of the area in general did not begin for two more years. When settlers arrived, they concentrated in the area that would become the village of Helena. These first
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-15 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA settlers were McCormick’s men, and an extension of his enterprise. The first blacksmith was Robert Means, the first carpenter James Platt, and the first miller was James Nicholson. The Quaker Settlement in the Town of Brasher was established in 1824 by Peter Corbin, John Phelps, and David Blowers. Associated with this settlement was Joseph Merrill who had a store and ashery in 1830. Settlement was sufficient for the formation of the Town of Brasher in 1825. Other settlements in Brasher include Brasher Falls, located on the St. Regis River, and first settled by John Crapser in 1826; and Brasher Center, located about three miles from Brasher Falls, and settled with the formation of a sawmill in 1832 by John Cooper (Curtis 1894).
Economic developments after 1840 included the use of convicts to produce goods whose revenues were used to offset the costs of running the prisons. Skilled artisans and tradesmen protested the added competition, which undercut their businesses. In 1845, the state legislature passed an act establishing a state prison north of Albany for the purpose of mining iron ore and manufacturing iron products, located in Clinton County. By January 1846, the prisoners had erected their own prison, as well as a storehouse, clerk’s and physician’s office, lime house, machine shop, carpenter shop, foundry, and dwelling for clerk and agent (all wooden). The permanent prison was completed and the mine opened by spring 1846 (Hurd 1880:49-50; Department of Correctional Services [DOCS] Today 1999). The mined ore was initially sold to private ironmongers. The state abandoned the operation in the mid-1870s. In 1879, the prisoners manufactured hats, principally ladies’ fine felt hats. To facilitate the manufacturing and industrial operations at the prison, the Plattsburgh & Dannemora Railroad was constructed in 1878. By 1880, the line was extended to reach the burgeoning Lyon Mountain iron-mining establishment (Hurd 1880:48-50; DOCS Today 1999; French 2003 [1860]). The prison served as a key economic factor for the area in the nineteenth century. Important for both manufacturing and mining, the prison also was catalyst for railroad construction in the central portion of the county in the latter portion of the nineteenth century.
While agitation for railroad lines to Ogdensburg and Boston percolated through the Adirondacks in the 1830s and 1840s, the Northern Railroad (Rutland Railroad) would not be completed until 1850, and the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company Railroad would not penetrate the Champlain valley until after the Civil War (Lyman 1976). Railroads provided farmers and entrepreneurs of northern New York a means of getting their products to market more efficiently. Curiously, agitation for a rail link to the Great Lakes shipping port of Ogdensburg emerged from the eastern markets in Boston. After nearly two decades of discussions, negotiations, and politicking, construction of the Northern Railroad (Rutland Railroad) finally began in March 1848 and was completed in September 1850. The generally east-west-running line linked Ogdensburg to Rouses Point on Lake Champlain and passed through the towns of Chateaugay, Clinton, Ellenburgh, Altona, and Mooers—its importance deriving more from the freight it carried rather than the people. In July 1851, the Northern Railroad (Rutland Railroad) pioneered the use of refrigerated cars, carrying eight tons of fresh butter from Ogdensburg to Boston (Lyman 1976). The line operated butter, freight, milk, mail, and passenger trains. Despite its importance to the local economy, the railroad struggled financially. It was reorganized as the Ogdensburg Railroad in 1858 and the Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain (OLC) Railroad in 1864. In 1870, the Vermont Central Railroad leased the OLC. It became part of the Rutland Railroad in 1901 and part of the New York Central system in 1905 (Lyman 1976). The line remained financially troubled and became the Rutland Railway in 1950. Passenger service was discontinued in 1953 and freight service in September 1961. The tracks were removed in the mid-1960s (Lyman 1976).
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-16 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA Late Nineteenth-Century and Twentieth-Century Developments. In the first years after the Civil War, Malone and northern New York became the scene of a serio-comic episode in Irish history, when members of the Fenian Society in America attempted to execute a poorly planned invasion of Canada. The Fenians were an outgrowth of the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood, which had been formed to raise money and arms in an effort to free Ireland from British rule. After the war, Irishmen who had served in the military and could not find employment gravitated to areas along the United States-Canada border. In June 1866, approximately 2,000 Irish-Americans massed in the frontier village of Malone (more than 5,000 had been arrayed at disparate locations along the border between Buffalo and Malone) as part of a plan to invade Canada. By capturing the dominion the Fenians hoped to exchange it for the freedom of Ireland. Troops under the direction of General George Meade and orders from President Andrew Johnson dispersed the gathering. The group melted into the landscape only to reform in 1870. At that time, the Fenians managed to organize sufficiently to cross the international border to encounter armed Canadian resistance. An exchange of gunfire proved enough of a fight for the Fenians, who abandoned their weapons and fled the battlefield. Those Fenians not arrested boarded trains and left the area (Lyman 1976; Hurd 1880:413).
By the Civil War, bark skinners harvesting for the tanning industry and charcoal makers for the iron industry had reduced the primeval forest cover of the Adirondacks. In the late nineteenth century, lumbering operations entered the higher Adirondacks cutting trees for pulp and lumber. These companies purchased and cut large tracts of timber land, later forfeiting denuded acres to the state in lieu of taxes. During this time, the destruction of such large swaths of forest raised an outcry and resulted in the creation of the Adirondack Forest Preserve in 1885. The Adirondack Park was created in 1892 and contains six million acres of both state- owned and private land. The Forest Preserve was made “forever wild” as a result of the 1895 New York State Constitution. Today the Forest Preserve covers approximately 2.5 million acres (Adirondack Park Agency 2003; Haynes 2001).
The commercial lumbering and pulp industry began a long decline in the early twentieth century before essentially dying out in the 1920s. During the early years of the twenty-first century, several wind-energy projects and wind farms have been constructed or are in the process of being constructed in western Clinton and northern Franklin counties. Today, the area remains a rural mix of small farms, towns and forests. Tourism, timbering, dairying, and some farming are the dominant economic activities in the area, as has generally been the case for well over a century. In 2000, St. Lawrence County had a population of 111,931 and Franklin County had a population of 51,134.
ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY
Town of Norfolk. Formed in 1823 from the Town of Louisville, the Town of Norfolk’s boundaries were increased in 1834 with the addition of a portion of the Town of Stockholm (Curtis 1894). The town was first settled in 1809 and settlement occurred rapidly for the next few years. Erastus Hall was the first to settle in the town, after Judge Raymond, the land agent, induced him to explore the town (then the Town of Louisville). Hall contracted to have a frame house built on the east side of the river in 1809. Also arriving that year were Martin Barney and Eben Judson. The next year, Judson brought his whole family, including his wife, three children and his and his wife’s brothers. The family was soon enlarged with the birth of the first baby born in the town, Roscius W. Judson. Major Bohan Shepard had a sawmill erected on Trout
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-17 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA Brook in 1810. Jonathan Culver established mills at Hutchins’s Falls in 1812. The first road in the town (to Massena) was constructed in 1810.
The first clearing of land for crops was done in 1811 for James D. Le Ray. It consisted of ten acres, in what would become Norfolk hamlet, with wheat as the crop. Le Ray sold his land to Morris. Four years later, Judge Russell Atwater purchased this tract and some neighboring land in Louisville. Atwater built mills in 1816. The iron components of Atwater’s mills, and other supplies, were brought by Durham boat up the Raquette River.
The two main urban centers of the town were Norfolk and Raymondville. Iron production was an early industry at Norfolk, with the establishment of the Phoenix Iron Company in 1825 by E. Keyes & Co. The furnace burned down in 1844. William Plake built a forge near the furnace two years later. A town hall was erected in Norfolk in 1852 for $650. It burned down in 1871 and was rebuilt. Norfolk also had several shingle mills (one owned by E.W. Bemis and the other by Matthais Van Zandt), and E.H. & L.L. Atwater had a sash factory and a large brick hotel. There was also a tannery, which was abandoned in 1870, and for a short time a starch factory.
The first bridge across the Raquette River in the town was constructed in 1814, at what was then Racketon. The hamlet was soon renamed Raymondville, after the aforementioned land agent Judge Raymond. Other early setters of the hamlet were a wagon maker named Joseph Clark, and a brick maker named William Coats. Erastus Hall established a brickyard about a half mile from the hamlet in 1817. W.S Bennett had a woolen factory, and John and James Donnelly had a grist mill, and N.C. Bowen had a starch factory. The Town of Norfolk had 4,565 residents in 2000, and the hamlet had 1,334 residents.
Town of Stockholm. One of the original Ten Townships (No. 2), the Town of Stockholm was formed in 1806 from the Town of Massena (Curtis 1894). It was reduced in size in 1823 and 1834, both times a portion of the town was annexed to the Town of Norfolk. The first land agent for the town was Dr. Luman Pettibone, working for Mr. McVickers, the proprietor. He visited the town in 1800, but by 1802, Ebenezer Hulburd was a second land agent. Pettibone and Hulburd both settled in the town in that year, along with Benjamin Wright, Isaac Kelsey, Abram Sheldon, and the next year seven families arrived. Pettibone and Hulburd both settled in the area that would become known as Stockholm (a.k.a. East Stockholm).
During the War of 1812, many families abandoned their homesteads, out of fear of attack by Native Americans (Curtis 1894). Pettibone and Warren Webster built stockades around their homes, providing some defenses for themselves and other town residents who could assemble in these miniature forts if needed.
Samuel Reynolds built the first sawmill in the western part of the town in 1804 (Curtis 1894). Subsequently, in 1811, Amos Bicknell built the first gristmill west of Reynolds’ mill, on the West Branch of the St. Regis River. Bicknell added a carding mill in 1815. The location of Bicknell’s mill became known as Bickneyville and was eventually renamed West Stockholm. When a Mr. Pierrepont built a road from Parisville to Norfolk in 1815, known as Market Road, the route of the road was originally a mile east of Bickneyville. As the small hamlet around Bickney’s mills grew, the road was moved to pass through the hamlet. Early settlers of what would become West Stockholm include Luman Newell, Roswell and Stiles Nelson, Thomas and Benjamin Knowlton, and Benjamin Bisbee. Other industries of the village included a shingle mill and starch factory owned by George W. Gibson, a foundry and machine shop begun by Carlton
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-18 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA Smith in 1846, and a butter tube factory run by Levi Wellington. By 1894, merchants included H.D. Pinney, George W. Gibson, and Carl Wellington.
The small village of Winthrop (later Brasher Falls-Winthrop) was established on the St. Regis River when the O. & L.C. Railroad was put through the town (Curtis 1894). Once known as Stockholm or Stockholm Depot, the first settler of the village was Isaac Kelsey. Culver Stearns opened the first store here in 1850, and two years later a post office was established, with Philo Abbott as postmaster. Ebenezer S. Crapser manufactured lumber, shingles, and starch. By 1894, other merchants included E.M. Shaw (who was also postmaster), E.F. Russell, J.W. Morrison, J.W. White, G.H. Russell, and A.D. Miller.
Throughout the nineteenth century, the town remained largely a rural, dairy-producing area, with butter-making the main product of the farms, and butter and butter-tub factories the main industries (Curtis 1894). Several other hamlets were established throughout the town, none of them having substantial populations or industries. These include: Southville (or South Stockholm), where a post office was established in 1825 and the main industry was a butter factory; Skinnerville which once had a sawmill, grist mill, a shingle mill, tannery, and starch factory; Stockholm (East Stockholm), first settled by Perribone and Hulburd, which once had a sawmill and several shops; Buckton (once Buck’s Corners), first settled by Asahel Buck in 1825, and once had a sawmill, grist mill, starch factory, butter factory, and store; Knapp's Station (North Stockholm P.O.), first settled by Moses Knapp in 1828, and located on the O. & L.C. Railroad; and Brookdale (a.k.a. Scotland), first settled by John Grandy and once having a sawmill and store. In 2000, the Town of Stockholm had 3,592 residents.
Town of Lawrence. Formed in 1828 from the towns of Brasher and Hopkinton (Curtis 1894), ownership of this town passed through a number of land speculators, with only a few early settlers establishing homesteads. Most of the early settlers were in the northern and central parts of the town. Mr. Brewer was the first to establish a homestead, building a small shanty in 1801. He only stayed a year, however, and sold his farm to Samuel Tyler. Tyler, his brother Joseph, along with Joseph St. Clair, Avery Sanders, Ephraim Martin, and Abijah Chandler, brought their families in 1807, all coming from either Vermont or New Hampshire. At that time the land agent was Judge Bailey of Chateaugay. All but five of the early families fled during the War of 1812 and did not return.
Most of the town land was then acquired by William Lawrence in 1820. Lawrence lived in the area for only about three years prior to his death in 1824, when his son, D. Lynch Lawrence inherited it. The son established land agents and began selling lots soon after acquiring ownership. The town remained generally rural, focusing on dairying, with only two small urban centers: Lawrenceville on the Deer River and Nicholville on the east branch of the St. Regis River.
Asa and Joseph Tyler settled at Lawrenceville in 1807 and Ephraim Martin started the first sawmill in 1809. John Shepard kept a log tavern in 1820, later replacing it with a frame building. M. & M.V.B. Barney had a hotel for 40 years, beginning in 1842. Other industries included another sawmill owned by Charles Kellogg, a tannery built by William Taylor, a starch factory (1847) and a planing mill owned by L. Hulburd. Josiah F. Saunders had a store in 1822. By 1894, W.D. Wilder operated a sawmill and a gristmill. Cooperative stores, involving the ownership of dozens of local people, were established in the nineteenth century. Lawrenceville’s was started in 1848, owned by 30 cooperative members, and run by O.F. Shepard, James Harris, and Peabody Newland. It lasted until 1863, when it was closed up by R. McEuen. Another one replaced it in 1871, with 21 members, and run by Shepard and Lucius Hulburd as
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-19 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA directors. By 1894, there were three general stores and a furniture store in the village. In 1860, the Lawrenceville Academy was established.
Nicholville, originally named Sodom, was established with the construction of a sawmill in 1817 by Samuel Wilson, who also built a gristmill in 1822. The community eventually grew to include both sides of the river and was renamed for E.S. Nichols, the estate executor for William Lawrence. Settlers in 1820 include Eli Bush, Chester Armstrong, Calvin Converse and Horace Higgins. William Lawrence (possibly a son or grandson of the original proprietor) built a stone gristmill in this area in 1826. Soon after, other mills, including saw, shingle, carding, and fulling mills, as well as a sash factory, were established. Zephaniah Platt opened the first store in 1828. Other store owners included Lyman Day, James Sherer (1846-1874), and Sumner, Sweet & Co. (1857). James Trussel had the first hotel in 1830. The New England Protective Union Store was in business in Nicholville from 1846 to 1867, replaced the next year (1868) by the Union Store Company, owned by 70 people and run by Jonah Sanford, and closed in 1880. In 2000, the Town of Lawrence had 1,545 residents.
Town of Brasher. Formed in 1825 from the Town of Massena, expanded in 1827 with the annexation of a portion of the Town of Chesterfield, and then reduced again a year later with the formation of the Town of Lawrence (Curtis 1894). Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bordering on the St. Regis reservation, the town was named after Philip Brasher, an early prominent landowner and speculator. The first permanent settler in the town was G.B.R. Gove, who established a sawmill on the Deer River in 1815. Two years later, several families settled near what would become the village of Helena, brought to the town by Russell Atwater (see the Town of Norfolk discussion), a land agent of Mr. McCormick. These early settlers included William Johnson, Amos Eldridge, Jeremiah Shuff (or Schoff), Enoch Hall, and Francis Brown. A prominent early family was the Nevins, who included brothers Francis and Benjamin. Francis Nevin had arrived in 1817 and Benjamin two years later. The first miller was James Nicholson, James Platt the first carpenter, and Robert Means was the first blacksmith. A short-lived Quaker settlement was also established in 1824 by Peter Corbin, John Phelps, and David Blowers.
The usual industries were established in the town including a variety of mills (Curtis 1894). An ashery and store were run by Joseph Merrill beginning around 1830. Over time, dairying and butter production grew, with nine butter factories in operation by 1894. Between 1835 and 1877, iron was manufactured in the town at the Basher Iron Works. Begun by Stillman Fuller, a furnace was built on the Deer River in 1836, and was owned by several proprietors. Skinner & Bush (W. Skinner of Buffalo and R.W. Bush of Ogdensburg) owned the furnace and maintained the rights for ore production between 1837 and 1840. Bush was replaced by William H. Alexander until 1855, when Skinner took over full control of the company, which he held until his death in 1874. The iron was at first sold in pig, but later a foundry was established, where stoves and other castings were made. In 1843, a machine shop was added to the plant. The furnace was burned either wholly or partly on four occasions. The shops were idle from 1874 to 1877, when John F. Skinner restarted only the shops. The post office was established in July 1849. Samuel Fletcher opened a hotel at Basher Iron Works in 1846.
Other early settlements include Helena, Brasher Falls, and Brasher Center (Curtis 1894). First settled in 1819 by Benjamin Nevin, the village of Helena was named after the daughter of Joseph Pitcairn, an early businessman who attempted to build a stone mansion on the St. Regis River, but had to abandon the project. The land agent for the village was at first the aforementioned Atwater and later Francis Nevin in 1819. The next year, the patriarch of the Nevin family, John, arrived with two more sons, Holmes and David. Benjamin Nevin operated a
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-20 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA mill here, which burned in 1828, was rebuilt and continued to be used at least until 1894. A. and L. Burgett had a tannery. Being so close to the border with Canada, the early residents of the village traveled to Cornwall for supplies, resulting in an early Customs House being constructed in the village.
John Crapser built the first dam and sawmill at Brasher Falls in 1826 (Hough 1853; Curtis 1894). Crapser was able to recruit Dutch immigrants to the village, but their residency was short-lived. Early settlers included William and Joseph Stevens, Jehiel Stevens, Orin Patridge, Joseph Estes, David Blowers, Asa Winters, Ethan Johnson, Justin Bell, and Samuel Blodgett. Crapser’s mill was joined by a stone gristmill owned by Calvin T. Hulburd, who, with his brother E.S. Hulburd, came from Stockholm in 1839. Calvin purchased 600 acres including most of the village site. Elmore Church took over the sawmill, establishing also a shingle mill. Joseph Merrill had a woolen factory near the mill starting in 1845. Other industries included factories for making agricultural implements, pumps, novelties, tannery, starch, and hoe and forks.
The first merchant at Helena was John Cooper, with other early merchants including Stowell & Burrows, L. Gory, Joseph Hall and S.C.P. Thorndyke (Curtis 1894). Merchants in 1894 included C.C. Lantry, John R. Crowley, and C.T. Fletcher. The first hotel was established by Ezra Ballard in 1840. A hotel was established in 1840 by John L. Stevens.
A small hamlet developed as Brasher Center, begun with the establishment of a sawmill by John Cooper in 1832 (Curtis 1894). Families settling here include Crapser, Curtis, and Johnson. E.S. Crapser had a starch factory and sawmill, while John Crapser had a forge for about five years, beginning in 1850. By 1894, these industries had been abandoned and the hamlet had only a butter tub factory and a feed mill. Merchants included Joseph Hall (beginning in 1837), Jonas and Michael Crapser (1858), and William Curtis. By 1894, John F. Skinner was the sole merchant in the hamlet. The Town of Brasher had 2,337 residents in 2000.
FRANKLIN COUNTY
Town of Moira. Formed in 1828 from the Town of Dickinson, the Town of Moira was first settled in 1803 by Appleton Foote, who was the resident land agent of the town owners, Robert Gilchrist and Theodorus Fowler (Seaver 1918). Also arriving in 1803 were Benjamin Seeley, Jonathan Lawrence, and Joseph Plumb, although the latter two did not bring their families until the following year. Lots within the town were soon sold to several settlers, including Luther Bradish, Robert Watts, Peter Kean, and Samuel Foster. Many of these early settlers soon moved to other parts of the county, in effect only serving as land speculators. Foster replaced Foote as land agent, when Foote moved to Malone. Foster followed suit a few years later, settling in Dickinson, and was replaced by Philip Kearney. Jonathan Lawrence and his son served more permanently as land agents and sold most of the land to actual settlers. The Lawrence family had the most substantial and longest influence on the history of the town. Jonathan had been a Revolutionary War soldier, had defended Franklin County against British invasion in 1812, ran a hotel (started by Benjamin Seeley), and held several town offices. The town remained sparsely populated after the end of the War of 1812, and had only about 800 residents in 1830.
Almost exclusively an agricultural economy throughout its history, the Town of Moira had the typically small-scale industries of the nineteenth century, including sawmills, gristmills, carding mills, distilleries, tanneries, and creameries. In the middle of that century, starch
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-21 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA factories (made from potatoes) were also present. The first sawmill was erected by Appleton Foote, the land agent, in the area that would become Brushton. Other mills included a sawmill owned by Phillips and Bowen north of Brushton, another sawmill near Brushton owned by Asahel Green, and a carding mill operated by S. Farnsworth. The earliest tannery was operated by Merritt Crandall for Robert Watts, started before 1835, in the vicinity of Brushton.
Settlement and industries in the town centered in Brushton and Moira. Henry N. Brush settled at Brush’s Mills (now Brushton) in 1835, and had a number of industries or businesses not only at this hamlet but also other parts of the town. In addition to his mills, he also had a distillery, tannery, and a starch factory. Captain William R. Tupper and Colonel Christopher A. Stone opened the first starch factory in 1851. Other starch factories were owned by D.W. Tupper, C.J. Lawrence, and D.D.D. Dewey. For a few years, beginning in 1877, O.H.P. Fancher had a brickyard near Farrington Brook. By 1918, the creameries had been consolidated into four owned, respectively, by Stiles & Erwin, James O’Connor, Clayton Tryon, and F.L. Richard. All but the last was in the vicinity of Moira hamlet. Also in the town was a cheese factory operated by the Borden Condensed Milk Co. and a dairy shipping station at Moira hamlet, owned by the Levy Dairy Co. Both of these companies provided milk products for New York City.
Merchants in the village of Moira included Clark Lawrence, Captain Rufus Tilden, Sidney and Orrin Lawrence, D.W. & C.J. Lawrence, and Warren L. Manning, Ira Russell, and Baker and Dana Stevens; and somewhat later M.V.B. Meeker, D.D.D. Dewey, Clark & Crandall, L.J. Dickinson, Horace M. Stevens, Wm. E. Dawson, and A.L. Sayles. By 1915, there were six or eight mercantile businesses. At Brushton merchants included Henry N. Brush, V. Parsons Hill, James Farnsworth, B.F. Whipple, and John S. Hill. By 1900, they were A.L. Sayles, J.B. Crandall and J.H. Enright, and Dodge & Burnap's meat market. In 1915, there were 18 to 20 stores. Newspapers at Brushton included the North Star (1884), the Brushton Facts and Fallacies (1899), and the Brushtonian. At Moira, the newspaper was the Northern Adirondack, started in 1887, but not long-lived. In 2000, the Town of Moira had a population of 2,857.
Town of Bangor. Formed in 1812 from the Town of Dickinson, The Town of Bangor was reduced in size with the formation of the Town of Brandon in 1828 (Seaver 1918). Benjamin Seeley and Joseph Plumb were the first settlers in the town, arriving in 1806. Soon arrived were James and Jehiel Barnum, Chester Tullar, Robert Wilson, and Joel Griffin. Joshua Dickinson was one of the prominent developers of the town, having at one time grist, linseed oil, and starch mills, a store, and a hotel. Colonel Luther Taylor had a tavern, and Hal Bentley had a hotel. By 1826, Caleb Bates and Reuben Davis had a carding mill. Abel Wilcox had a tannery. The first merchants at Bangor village included William G. White, Gardner Green, Barnes & Brown, Danforth Patterson, Joshua Dickinson, L.B. Patterson, and G.L. Sargent, among others. Starch factories were important in the town, the first erected around 1846. Bangor village had four starch mills, West Bangor had three, and there was one at North Bangor. There was also a hemlock bark extract mill (for tanning) at Bangor village around 1870, owned by Charles J. Adams and Harry Stancliff.
West Bangor (a.k.a. Pottersville) had an early sawmill built by Joseph Ross, Sr. A coffin and cabinet factory were eventually added to the sawmill (Seaver 1918). Daniel P. Moore had a tavern at West Bangor, and Levi Potter had a hotel. West Bangor also had a Protective Union Store cooperative in the mid-nineteenth century. Other merchants included Joseph Ross Dana Adams, Gustine Adams, William L. and George W. Taylor, S.B. Lawrence, Dr. Ira A. Darling, Nelson C. Lawrence and John O'Connell, but by 1918, there were only two stores.
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-22 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA North Bangor was incorporated in 1914, with 307 residents. Like West Bangor, it had electricity provided by the Malone Light and Power Company (Seaver 1918). The Rutland railroad ran through the town about one-half mile north of North Bangor. By 1918, North Bangor had a creamery, feed mill, and a shingle mill. Timothy Barnes operated the first hotel. Early merchants included George H. Stevens, J.D. Fisk, and Henry and Clinton Stevens. By 1918, the merchants were Fred W. McKenzie, Alfred Brockway, Orville S. Rhoades, L.E. Farrington, Robert Todd, and Fred M. Johnson (flour, feed and agricultural implements). Fred Murphy had a meat market, John B. Mallette had a blacksmith shop, and Herbert Griffin had a marble works.
Creameries were common in the town in the late nineteenth century, including those owned by Lytle Bros in North Bangor, Isaac Carpenter, Joe Labarge (at Cooks Corners in 1888), Frank L. Allen (at Bangor), and G.L. Donaldson (at West Bangor). Benjamin F. Jewett revolutionized dairying with the invention of the Jewett Pan, which prolonged the life of milk by keeping it cool, an important contribution to dairying from 1870 to 1900, when other methods were developed (Seaver 1918). By 1918, Bangor village had electricity, run by the Malone Light and Power Company (Seaver 1918). It had a grist mill, creamery, wheelwright shop, blacksmith shop, paint shop, harness and agricultural tool store, and meat market. The population reached 2,520 in 1860, and declined to 2,179 by 1915. In 2000, the town had a population of 2,147.
Town of Malone. The Town of Malone was formed in 1805 from the Town of Chateaugay and was originally named Harrison. The name was changed to Ezraville in 1808, and then to Malone in 1812 (Child 1862). It was the parent township, directly or indirectly, for all but four of the towns in the county (except Belmont, Burke, Chateaugay, and Franklin).
The town was first settled in 1802 by John and Nathan Wood (Child 1862; Town of Malone 2006). Four years later, the first school in all of what would become Franklin County was established in the town, called the Franklin Academy. The school had an official charter by 1831 and merged with the village schools in 1868. Its most famous graduates were nineteenth Vice President of the United States William Almon Wheeler (in the Hayes administration, 1877-1881) and Almonzo Wilder, the husband of Laura Ingalls Wilder (author of the Little House on the Prairie books). Early industries including sawmills, tanneries, and carding mills were quickly established. Most of these industries and settlement in general concentrated along the Salmon River, which crosses through the center of the town and village. The river drops about 600 feet as it flows through the town, producing considerable hydropower for the early mills.
Malone was made the county seat in 1808, when Franklin County was formed from Clinton County (Town of Malone 2006). As the political center of the county, the unincorporated village of Malone had a courthouse with a jail. At that early date there were no church buildings, so the courthouse was also used for worship. The War of 1812 brought mixed change to the town. The village was sacked during the war, but an extensive road network was constructed, and an arsenal was established in the village in 1812. After the war, a stagecoach was established through the town between Plattsburgh and Ogdensburg (Town of Malone 2006).
Beginning in 1815, iron mining was undertaken in the town. In addition to iron ore, “Duane Paint,” similar to sienna, was also produced from iron ore for outdoor use (Child 1862). By 1862, a sandstone quarry was in operation about a mile south of the village of Malone. In 1850, the Ogdensburg & Champlain Railroad was established, with its headquarters located in the village of Malone. Along with the railroad headquarters, the main railroad car shops were situated in the town. The railroad was a real boon for the town, providing relatively easy and rapid transport for local dairies, and resulting in a boom of creameries established in the town, producing butter
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-23 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA and cheese (Town of Malone 2006). In 1853, the Village of Malone had a population of 2,039 and was incorporated. The village also supported the Water Works Company, established in 1857, to supply water for the village, and the Bank of Malone.
The village and town also played roles in mid-nineteenth-century military events. During the Civil War, the 9th Regiment NYS Volunteers established Camp Franklin about a mile east of the Village of Malone, using it for recruitment and rallying the troops in the fall and winter of 1861-1862 (Child 1862). By the next year, the land had become the fairgrounds of the Franklin County Agricultural Society. After the Civil War, the Fenians (a group of Irish Americans and former Union soldiers) conducted a series of largely ineffective raids on Canada to try to force the British Empire to grant independence to Ireland. One of the raids was staged from the Village of Malone (MacDonald 1910).
The Malone Golf Club was originally designed by Donald Ross and Willard G. Wilkinson in the 1930s, and redesigned for a total of 36 holes by Robert Trent Jones in 1987 (Malone Golf Club nd). The Town of Malone had a small airport beginning in 1949, established by the town and the Civil Aeronautics Board (Town of Malone 2006). The town’s Industrial Development Agency currently runs a business park on Creighton Road. Current residents include the Coca- Cola Bottling Company, North Start Industries, Valco Furniture, Giggles and Wiggles Day Care, and ComLinks Gleaning Warehouse. The population of the Town of Malone reached 14,981 in 2000, and the Village of Malone had a population of 6,075.
Town of Burke. The Town of Burke was formed in April 1844 from the Town of Chateaugay and was named for the British political philosopher Edmund Burke. It had been known previously as West Chateaugay. Early settlers emigrated from Vermont and Canada by the late 1790s, with Jehial Barnum, Jr., recognized as the town’s first settler, owning several hundred acres. Settlers by 1805 included Barnum, Azur Hawks, John and James Allen, Warren Botsford, Noah Lee, Gates Hoit, Moses Eggleston, Rufus Jones, Israel Thayer, Samuel Haight, Reuben Allen, Benjamin and Lewis Graves, Simeon Reed Jr., and Ira Smith (Seaver 1918).
During the nineteenth century industrial development predominantly focused on locally oriented gristmills, sawmills, tanneries, asheries, starch factories, brickworks, and quarries. The town supported an iron foundry for a short time in the 1830s. Some of these industries declined in correlation to the loss of the area’s forests, leaving mainly stone quarries and several gristmills by 1920 (Seaver 1918). Alexander Church operated the first sawmill near Burke Center in 1811. The sawmill remained in operation until 1858. Several other sawmills were erected along the small streams in the town. During the nineteenth century, these mills were short-lived, most in existence for five or ten years. By 1918, the Town of Burke did not support any sawmills (Seaver 1918). Only one gristmill was known to have been in operation in the town during the nineteenth century. Erected by Jehial Barnum, Jr. and Joseph Goodspeed in 1832, the mill passed through numerous hands and was still in operation in 1918. A feed mill erected during the early twentieth century was located near the railroad (Seaver 1918).
An inventory of Burke’s other industries during the course of the nineteenth century included four starch factories, four asheries, four tanneries, a planing mill, a harness shop, two cheese factories, nine creameries (the first erected in 1874), a bedstead and wooden bowl factory, a cabinet shop, and two quarries. Most of these operations were of short duration, usually between ten and twenty years (Seaver 1918). On June 30, 1856, a tornado swept through the Town of Burke from Hawk’s Hollow to Chateaugay, destroying an estimated 200 buildings. The town attained its largest number (2,240) of residents in 1860.
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-24 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA There were two primary roads in Burke during the nineteenth century. One between Malone and Chateaugay in the southern part of the town and the state road between Burke Center and Thayer’s Corners. Other roads connected the hamlets to each other or the main roads. The first hotels in Burke were operated by Charles Dunham, who had a liquor license in 1805 and 1806, and James Hatch in 1806. Numerous other taverns/inns were in operation sporadically during the nineteenth century, but by 1918 the town had only one hotel—the Maple Leaf Hotel in what is now Burke (Seaver 1918).
During the 1850s, the Northern Railroad (Rutland Railroad), was constructed through the southern third of the town with a station at “the Hollow” (what is now Burke) (Seaver 1918). This community developed into the principal settlement of the town because of its position near the railroad. The community extended north and south of the station along Mill Street (County Route [CR] 34) as well as along the Malone-Chateaugay Road (CR 23). At one time, Burke possessed a developing industrial core, supporting, a sawmill, tannery, starch factory, and planing mill, all of which were out of existence by 1918. That year, the hamlet had “a school house, a hotel, a creamery, a milk shipping station, a feed mill, two or three small shops, a half dozen stores, and a small group of dwellings, a Grange hall and an Odd Fellows’ hall, and a Methodist and a Catholic church” (Seaver 1918). In 2000, Burke had a population of 213.
Other community centers included Burke Center, Sun and Thayer’s Corners. The Hamlet of Burke Center contained “the town house (built in 1851 and 1852), a Presbyterian church, the store of Lorenzo W. Thayer (the same structure built by Joseph Goodspeed in 1828), and a half dozen dwelling houses” (Seaver 1918). The community of Sun developed around George and Henry Jordan’s farm, which included a creamery, a store, shops and a steam sawmill prior to 1918. By 1918, only a milk skimming station, a store and several dwellings remained (Seaver 1918). Thayer’s Corners contained 10 or 12 dwellings by the early twentieth century. Since the 1860 census, the general population trend has been declining, with the occasional modest rebound. For example, the town’s population had fallen to 1,772 in 1910, rebounding to 1,835 in 1915. However, in 2000 the population was 1,359.
Town of Chateaugay. The town was created in March 1799 from the towns of Champlain and Plattsburgh as part of Clinton County. Initially comprising the entirety of Franklin County, the town attained its present size in 1844, with the erection of the Town of Burke. It was part of Township #7 of the Old Military Tract as surveyed in 1795. The earliest road was a path cut through the woods from Beekmantown, which was improved into the Old Military Road from Plattsburgh. Beekmantown, six miles west of Plattsburgh, was a frontier settlement in the mid- 1790s. The road to Fort Covington was laid out by 1798; the road to Malone was another early path (Hurd 1880:376; Seaver 1918).
Benjamin Roberts and Nathan Beman were the first settlers in the town erecting cabins near what is now the Village of Chateaugay in 1796. Other early settlers in the Town of Chateaugay were John Allen, Lewis Ransom, and Samuel Haight (Child 1862:9; Hurd 1880: 375). Early landowners were Allen, Ransom, Haight, David Mallory, Jacob Smith, Silas Pomeroy, Gideon Collins, Azur Hawks, Noah Lee, Gilbert Reynolds, David McMullen, Jesse Ketchum, Samuel Turner, Claudius Britton, Peleg Douglas, Stephen Vaughan, Gates Hoit, Ezekial Hodges, Israel Thayer, Thomas Smith, and Moses Corban. Mallory erected the first gristmill and sawmill on Marble River in 1797 for Nathaniel Platt. Elisha Howard also operated a mill in Platt’s Hollow in 1797. In 1810, the town had a population of 625 (Hurd 1880:457; Seaver 1918).
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-25 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA In 1806, Nathan Beman and James Hatch received licenses to operate public houses or taverns. In 1810, Barnabas Hatch, John Vernal, Joseph Jones, Samuel Person, Stephen Cook, Ralph Shepherd, and Amos Eldridge received licenses to keep taverns. Jacob Smith built the first tannery, located in the northeastern part of the town. Thomas Smith built the second on Boardman Brook prior to 1829, which remained in operation until 1891, when it burned. Calvin Douglass owned a tannery in 1885 (Hurd 1880:459; Seaver 1918).
The Chateaugay River was a primary source of power in the early years of the town. In 1813, the river powered three sawmills, two gristmills, a fulling mill, a papermill, and a carding machine. By the 1880s, the area’s rivers provided the power for Scriver and Roberts’ flour mill, Calvin Douglass’ flour mill and carding mill (OPRHP site #03308.000003), Willard Alvord’s gristmill and sawmill, H.H. Hill’s sawmill, Oscar F. Chase’s sawmill, and D.W. Mitchell’s sawmill. At what is now the Village of Chateaugay, H.A. Douglass and Co. operated a tannery, Don A. Seabury had a butter factory, and there was a cabinet shop, undertaking establishment, and a planing mill (Hurd 1880:466, 467).
During the War of 1812, a short-lived blockhouse was erected near Marble River north of the village; it was burned near the end of the war. During the summer of 1813, General Wade Hampton was stationed at Chateaugay as part of a force for a planned invasion of Canada, which never materialized. The following year, the town was invaded by British forces and foraged for provisions (Seaver 1918).
William Bailey had a farm near the “Four Corners” in 1800 (Depot Street in 1918) and erected an iron forge on the High Falls of the Chateaugay River. The ore bed near Upper Chateaugay Lake was quickly exhausted and the forge abandoned (Hurd 1880:458). He built a sawmill and the Douglass gristmill in 1806, and may have erected a paper mill although it was probably never in operation (Hurd 1880:466; Seaver 1918). The Village of Chateaugay, the only village in the town, was incorporated in 1868. Early stores in the village were run by James Ornsbee, Amasa Freeman, Standish and Smith, and Charles and John Bacchus (Hurd 1880:459). In 1880, the village contained a Catholic and four Protestant churches, three hardware stores, two grocery stores, a boot and shoe shop, three drug stores, a haberdashery, two harness makers, a school, two hotels, and several factories and shops (Hurd 1880:463). By 1850, the Northern Railroad (Rutland Railroad) ran through the central part of the town and had a station at the village.
Adam M. Bennett erected the first creamery in the town (second in county) in 1871. It was discontinued in 1909. Other short-lived creameries were in existence during the late nineteenth century into the early twentieth. Some of these were Watson Sunderlin, Big Spring Creamery, Maple Street Creamery, Boardman Spring Creamery, Timothy Costello, Crystal Spring Creamery, and Alder Spring Creamery. Only two creameries were in operation in the town in 1909 (Seaver 1918). One reason for the decline in creameries was the establishment of a milk shipping station on the railroad in 1910. Butter factories in the 1870s were operated or owned by Adam M. Bennet, Selden Phillips and William Douglass, Porter W. Douglass, and W.L. Collins (Hurd 1880:467). Six starch factories operated in the town until the end of World War I— all of which passed through numerous owners. Some of these factories included Clark Patterson’s near High Falls, George T. Hall’s in the southern part of the town, Thomas Bennett’s on the Marble River, George Greene’s on the Marble River, and Patterson and Douglas’s also on the Marble, and Kings’ factory built in 1873 (Seaver 1918).
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-26 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA The Village of Chateaugay was “an important station” on the Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain (formerly the Northern Railroad/Rutland Railroad). During the Civil War period, “an extensive mercantile trade” was conducted from the town with Canadian clientele (Child 1862:9). By the beginning of the twentieth century, the Chateaugay Pulp Company operated a pulp mill near High Falls, which it had constructed in 1892, and was under the ownership of William Johnston’s estate. The High Falls Pulp Company also erected a pulp mill near High Falls in 1895 but this business burned in April 1918 (Seaver 1918). In the early twentieth century, potato growing and dairying were the primary occupations.
A tornado ripped through the central portion of the Town of Chateaugay in 1856, destroying much of the Village of Chateaugay (one estimate placed the number of structures damaged in the village at 138 and another at 185) (Seaver 1918; Hurd 1880:466). Fire damaged numerous village structures in 1868 and a portion of the business district in 1893. A great fire swept through the general area in May 1877. Hundreds were left homeless, notably the 400 or so inhabitants of Clinton Mills who were employed at the R.W. Adams and Company. Only five homes remained in Clinton Mills after the blaze (Hurd 1880:302-303).
The Town of Chateaugay attained its highest number of residents in 1850, 3,728 people, no doubt a result of construction and completion of the Northern Railroad (Rutland Railroad) that year. The town had a population of 2,719 in 1875, 2,903 in 1915, and 2,036 in 2000. In 1915, the village had a gravity system of water works (established in 1880) and was electrically lighted. Main Street was paved with brick and had a public sewer system since 1895. The village had 1,196 residents in 1915 and 798 in 2000 (Hurd 1880; Seaver 1918).
2.4 DOCUMENTARY RESEARCH
2.4.1 Historical Map Analysis. Maps reviewed included the New Topographical Atlas of St. Lawrence County, New York (Beers et al. 1865), the Atlas of Franklin County, New York (Beers et al. 1876), and USGS quadrangle maps for Chateaugay (1915), Malone (1917), Moira (1917), and Massena (1907). Relevant portions of the Beers atlases are reproduced when map documented structures (MDS) are shown within or immediately adjacent to the APE, such as when the proposed route crosses roads. The USGS maps (Figures 2.14 through 2.26) are reproduced for the whole of the APE and are presented at the end of this section.
Franklin County. For the majority of the proposed route in Franklin County, the APE is within the railroad bed, except where it parts from the tracks, between the villages of Chateaugay and Burke, and in the Town of Malone, north of the village, and in the western part of the Town of Moira. Therefore, no MDSs are shown within the archaeological APE in those areas within the railroad bed. There are a total of 28 map documented structures within Franklin County, summarized in Table 2.2.
MDSs 1 through 10 are typically farm houses located along CR 23 in the towns of Chateaugay and Burke, except for MDS 6, which is a school house (Figures 2.6 and 2.7). The route probably passes through the yard areas of these farm houses. Five of these houses appear to be shown on both the Beers map from 1876 and the topographic map from 1915 (see Figure 2.14), two are shown only on the 1876 map, and three are shown only on the 1915 map.
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-27 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA Table 2.2. Map Documented Structures in Franklin County. Comments MDS Beers 1876 Topographic Quadrangle (Preferred route unless specified) Town of Chateaugay [Fig. 2.6] Chateaugay 1915 [Fig. 2.14] MDS 1 W.F. Hoit (Lot 45) present (not labeled) southeast side of CR 23 MDS 2 -- -- (Lot 46) present (not labeled) south side of CR 23 MDS 3 W. Rust (Lot 46) present (not labeled) south side of CR 23 Town of Burke [Fig. 2.7] MDS 4 P. Hatsford (Lot 46) present (not labeled) south side of CR 23 MDS 5 H. Green (Lot 46) -- -- south side of CR 23 School House south side of CR 23, south of MDS 6 School No. 3 (Lot 47) railroad bed MDS 7 A. Loomis (Lot 47) -- -- south side of CR 23 south side of CR 23, east of the MDS 8 -- -- (Lot 47) present (not labeled) bend in the road south side of CR 23, southwest MDS 9 -- -- (Lot 47) present (not labeled) of the bend in the road W.H. Bromley southeast of CR 23, just south of MDS 10 present (not labeled) (Lot 32) the railroad tracks Town of Malone [Fig. 2.8] Malone 1917 [Fig. 2.17] large warehouse in MDS 11 I. Premo approximate location of I. Main Premo
MDS 12 S. W. Weed large warehouse Preferred
MDS 13 D. Alexander present (not labeled) Alternate Route MDS 14 N. Dugone present (not labeled) Preferred MDS 15 P. Chimpne (sp?) present (not labeled) Preferred MDS 16 unlabeled present (not labeled) Alternate (north) MDS 17 unlabeled present (not labeled) Alternate (north) MDS 18 J. Degori present (not labeled) Alternate (north) MDS 19 P. Lamica present (not labeled) Alternate (north) Alternate (south); MDS 20 G. Paddock Undetermined may be along road possibly outlying structure MDS 21 G. Paddock between Preferred Route Alternate (south) and Alternative 3 in 1917 Town of Moira [Fig. 2.9] Moira 1917 [Fig. 2.21] MDS 22 P. Gravel (Lot 119) present (not labeled) south side of Route 6 MDS 23 -- -- (Lot 120) Structure south side of Route 6 MDS 24 J. Enright (Lot 131) present (not labeled) south side of Route 6 MDS 25 E. Cushing (Lot 132) present (not labeled) south side of Route 6 MDS 26 School House S.H. No. 7 south side of Route 6 MDS 27 J. Burket (Lot 133) -- -- south side of Route 6 MDS 28 M. Burley (Lot 133) present (not labeled) south side of Route 6
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-28 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA PREFERRED ROUTE ALTERNATE ROUTES
Figure 2.6. The Town of Chateaugay in 1876, showing the Preferred and alternate routes (Beers et al. 1876).
PREFERRED ROUTE ALTERNATE ROUTES
Figure 2.7. The Town of Burke in 1876, showing the Preferred and alternate routes (Beers et al. 1876).
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-29 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA At the Village of Malone, the Preferred Route and three alternatives cross Salmon River north of the village. The 1876 atlas for the Town of Malone (Figure 2.8) shows details about the MDSs that may be within the immediate vicinity of each of these routes. The historic maps are less accurate than the modern maps and GIS information therefore one-to-one correspondence between past and present is inexact. In this case, the map from 1876 appears to be contorted and so the precise location of the MDS and the relationships of proposed routes to the roads, creek and MDS are unclear.
PREFERRED ROUTE ALTERNATE ROUTES
Figure 2.8. The Town of Malone in 1876, showing the Preferred and alternate routes north of the Village of Malone (Beers et al. 1876).
There are eleven map documented structures within or immediately adjacent to the APE, identified as MDSs 11 through 21 on Table 2.2. All are within Lot 47 of the 1876 map. On the west side of the river, the Main Route is near an MDS labeled I. Premo in 1876 (MDS 11). There is a possible warehouse in this area on the 1917 topographic map (see Figure 2.17). On the east side of the river, and the west side of Park Street, the Preferred Route appears to cross near MDS 12 identified as belonging to S.W. Weed. Just south of this the southernmost alternate route is MDS 13, labeled D. Alexander (see dashed line on Figure 2.8). This appears to also be shown on the 1917 topographic map. On the east side of Park Street, the Preferred Route crosses between two structures along the middle route, the northern one labeled N. Dugone (MDS 14) and the southern one P. Chimpne (sp?) (MDS 15). These structures also appear to be shown on the topographic map).
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-30 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA The northern alternative route is near two unlabeled MDSs (MDSs 16 and 17). The two unnamed MDSs on the east side of Park Street also appear to be shown on the 1917 topographic map. South of these unnamed structures is MDS 18, labeled J. Degori.
The southernmost alternative route crosses Park Street near MDS 19, labeled P. Lamica. This appears to also be shown on the 1917 map. On the east side of Park Street, the southernmost alternative route crosses two structures belonging to G. Paddock (MDSs 20 and 21). One of these may be the outlying structure on the 1917 map, that is closer to the Preferred Route, but outside the APE. In 1917, more structures are depicted along the east side of Park Street. None appear to be within the APE, although the southernmost alternative route appears to cross through the backyards of these structures. No structures are shown within or immediately adjacent to the central alternative route.
There are seven map documented structures in the Town of Moira. MDSs 22 through 28 are typically farm houses located along CR 6, except for MDS 26, which is a school house in Lot 132 in 1876 (Figure 2.9). The route probably passes through the yard areas of these farm houses. Five of these houses appear to be shown on both the 1876 map and the 1915 topographic map (see Figures 2.21 and 2.22), one is shown only on the 1876 map, and one is shown only on the 1915 map.
PREFERRED ROUTE
Figure 2.9. The Town of Moira in 1876 showing the preferred route (Beers et al. 1876).
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-31 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA St. Lawrence County. For the majority of the proposed route in St. Lawrence County, the APE parallels existing roads, except in three areas: in the village of North Lawrence; in the northwest corner of the Town of Lawrence near Brasher Falls-Winthrop; and south of the village of Winthrop. In the Town of Stockholm and the portion in the Town of Norfolk, the proposed route is along the southwest side of Route 49. Therefore, the primary sensitive areas for map documented structures are in these areas. Maps from 1865 are presented below for North Lawrence (Figure 2.10), the northwest corner of the Town of Lawrence (Figure 2.11), the Town of Stockholm (Figure 2.12), and the Town of Norfolk (Figure 2.13). Analysis of the St. Lawrence County route is summarized in Table 2.3.
In the Village of North Lawrence, there are seven map documented structures: MDSs 29 through 35. All but one of the structures on the North Lawrence subplot from 1865 (Figure 2.10) are also shown on the topographic map from 1917 (Figure 2.23). These included structures identified as belonging to G. Babeove (MDS 29) and A. Baynes (MDS 30) on the south side of William Street (Route 52). Baynes was at the intersection of William Street and Railroad Street, while Babeove was situated at the eastern edge of the hamlet (at far right on Figure 2.10). The remaining map documented structures were in the southern part of the hamlet. At the east was a structure labeled D.T. (MDS 31). This may be the railroad depot, although on the 1865 map it is too far from the tracks. This MDS was also shown on the 1917 map. In 1865, there were two stores (MDSs 32 and 33) depicted in the area on opposite sides of Main Street, as well as an unlabeled structure just south of the railroad (MDS 34). A different unlabeled structure (MDS 35) was shown on the 1917 topographic map. An unlabeled road was located north of the railroad tracks in 1865 (between West Avenue and Water Street), but on the 1917 map a road is, instead, depicted south of the tracks. The difference in location may be because the tracks were only proposed in 1865.
The railroad tracks are not illustrated on the map of the Town of Lawrence although a line has been drawn in the location of the tracks (see approximate center of Figure 2.11). The representation of the road in relation to the tracks in 1865 may be inaccurate, since the topographic map was made fully 50 years later. Today, the railroad is abandoned and the area of the tracks has been graded. There is no east-west road adjacent to the former railroad bed.
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-32 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA Table 2.3. Map Documented Structures in St. Lawrence County. MDS Beers 1865 Quadrangle Comments Village of North Lawrence Moira 1917 MDS 29 G. Babeove (sp? present (not labeled) south side of William St. MDS 30 A. Baynes present (not labeled) William St. and Railroad St. MDS 31 D.T. present (not labeled) south of tracks and west of creek MDS 32 Store present (not labeled) east side of Main St. MDS 33 Store present (not labeled) west side of Main St. MDS 34 unnamed -- -- SW intersection of tracks and Main St. between Main St. and West Ave., south MDS 35 -- -- Structure of railroad tracks Town of Lawrence Massena 1907 near where railroad tracks intersect MDS 36 B. Scripture Present with Barnage Road MDS 37 B. Scripture Present near bend in Barnage Road Town of Stockholm Massena 1907 MDS 38 -- -- Structure southeast side of 11C MDS 39 R.B. Griswold -- -- northwest side of 11C MDS 40 A. Varney present (not labeled) southwest side of Route 49 MDS 41 T. Dailey -- -- southwest side of Route 49 MDS 42 D. Ferris Present southwest side of Route 49 MDS 43 -- -- Structure southwest side of Route 49 MDS 44 D. Dailey -- -- southwest side of Route 49 MDS 45 N. McCarty -- -- southwest side of Route 49 MDS 46 L. Grandy -- -- southwest side of Route 49 MDS 47 L. Grandy present (not labeled) southwest side of Route 49 MDS 48 B. Streeter present (not labeled) southwest side of Route 49 MDS 49 -- -- structure southwest side of Route 49 MDS 50 -- -- structure southwest side of Route 49 MDS 51 S.H. No 17 present (not labeled) southwest side of Route 49 MDS 52 B. Tryon present (not labeled) southwest side of Route 49 MDS 53 L.B. Curtis present (not labeled) southwest side of Route 49 MDS 54 Parsonage present (not labeled) southwest side of Route 49 MDS 55 -- -- Structure southwest side of Route 49 MDS 56 B.S. Shop present (not labeled) southwest side of Route 49 MDS 57 -- -- Structure southwest side of Route 49 MDS 58 -- -- Structure southwest side of Route 49 MDS 59 -- -- Structure southwest side of Route 49 MDS 60 -- -- Structure southwest side of Route 49 MDS 61 S.H. Douglas present (not labeled) southwest side of Route 49 MDS 62 Cemetery present (not labeled) southwest side of Route 49 Town of Norfolk Massena 1907 MDS 63 D.M. Porteus present (not labeled) southwest side of Route 49 MDS 64 J. T. Cary present (not labeled) southwest side of Route 49 MDS 65 -- -- Structure southwest side of Route 49 MDS 66 L. Brandish present (not labeled) southwest side of Route 49 MDS 67 Cooper Shop -- -- southwest side of Route 49 MDS 68 Mrs. Wing -- -- southwest side of Route 49
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-33 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA PREFERRED ROUTE
Figure 2.10. The Hamlet of North Lawrence in 1865, showing the proposed route (Beers et al. 1865).
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-34 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA West of the village, in the northwest corner of the Town of Lawrence, the proposed route crosses Barnage Road. One map documented structure (MDS 36), identified as belonging to B. Scripture, is located near the route in 1865 (see Figure 2.11), as well as on the topographic map from 1907 (see Figure 2.24). Farther southwest on Barnage Road, there is a second structure (MDS 37) belonging to A. Stark, which is also shown on the 1907 map.
PREFERRED ROUTE
Figure 2.11. The proposed pipeline route in the northwest corner of the Town of Lawrence in 1865 (Beers et al. 1865).
There are 25 map documented structures (MDSs 38 through 62) along the proposed route in the Town of Stockholm (Figure 2.12a, b; see also Figures 2.24 and 2.25). All but MDSs 38 and 39 are on the southwest side of Route 49. They are typically farmhouses, but also include a School House (MDS 51, in Lot 4), a parsonage (MDS 54, in Lot 4), a blacksmith shop (MDS 56), and a cemetery (MDS 62, in Lot 5).
There is a similar pattern in the Town of Norfolk (Figure 2.13), where five of the six MDSs were farmhouses (MDS 63 through 66, MDS 68). MDS 67 was a cooper shop. Three of these (MDSs 63, 64 and 66) are shown are both maps, MDS 65 is shown only on the 1907 map (see Figure 2.26), and MDSs 67 and 68 are shown only on the 1865 map.
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-35 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA Figure 2.12. The Town of Stockholm in 1865 showing the preferred and alternate routes (Beers et al. 1865).
PREFERRED ROUTE ALTERNATE ROUTE
2-36 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA PREFERRED ROUTE
Figure 2.13. The southeast corner of the Town of Norfolk in 1865 showing the preferred route (Beers et al. 1865).
2.4.2 Site File and Archival Review. The area investigated for the site file check encompasses approximately 300 square miles. A review of the archaeological site files at the NYSOPRHP and New York State Museum (NYSM) did not identify any archaeological sites within the proposed gas route. Fifteen archaeological sites were identified within three miles of the APE (i.e., within the six-mile study corridor). All of these are historic sites. Only five of the sites are less than one mile from the APE, four of which are less than 800 ft (244 m) away.
Table 2.4 presents a summary of the sites by nearest municipality. Near Chateaugay, the Douglas Mill site (OPRHP #3308.000003), a former carding mill and tannery, is 800 ft (244 m) north of the APE, on the banks of the Chateaugay River. Near Malone is a site designated AO33-15) and consisting of a cobble and fieldstone foundation, located 4,514 ft (1,376 m) north of the APE. Also near Malone is the M.C. Chapman Farmstead, located 1.2 miles (1.9 km) south of the APE. There are three sites within North Lawrence, the closest identified as Site 2, located 118 ft (36 m) northwest of the APE. The others are 486 ft (148 m) north and 640 ft (195 m) south of the APE, respectively. All of the eight sites near Lawrenceville are between 1.8 miles (2.8 km) and 2.4 miles (3.9 km) south of the APE. These include four foundations (often with cellar holes), a possible blacksmith shop, a saw/grist and starch factory, a school house or doctor’s office, and Old Schoolhouse #15. Approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Brasher Falls is a site consisting of a foundation dating between 1850 and 1880.
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-37 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA Table 2.4. Archaeological sites within three miles of the St. Lawrence Gas project area. Additional Distance OPRHP # Time Period Site Type Site # from APE Chateaugay Douglas Grist/ fieldstone foundation 3308.000003 Carding Mill and 800 ft (244 m) N ca. 1839 ruins Tannery Ruins Historic ca. 1876-modern house and associated 3308.000061 1200 ft (365 m) N Residence era (1980 or later) farm buildings 3308.000062 Site PCI/Burke 1 1300 ft (396 m) N ca. 1880-1920 historic scatter
3308.000063 Site PCI/Burke 2 1400 ft (427 m) N ca. 1880-1920 historic scatter
Malone 3315.000002 AO33-15 4514 ft (1376 m) N Mid-19th- early 20th cobble and fieldstone M.C. Chapman 3315.000051 1.2 mi (1.9 km) S post 1858 no information Farmstead North Lawrence 8915.000005 Site 2 118 ft (36 m) NW 20th century structural foundations 8915.000004 Site 1 486 ft (148 m) N 19th century no information Mid-19th- early 20th 8915.000006 Site 3 640 ft (195 m) S no information century Lawrenceville 8915.000012 Site A 2.2 mi (3.6 km) S Mid-19th century possible blacksmith shop 8915.000013 Site B 2.3 mi (3.7 km) S ca. 1850 dwelling foundation saw or gristmill, or starch 8915.000014 Site C 2.4 mi (3.9 km) S Pre-1865 factory school house and/or 8915.000015 Site D 2.4 mi (3.9 km) S 1850s-60s doctor’s office 8915.000016 Site H 2.4 mi (3.9 km) S pre-1865 dwelling cellar-hole 8915.000017 Site K 2 mi (3.3 km) S 1858-1865 cellar-hole depression 8915.000018 Site L 2 mi (3.3 km) S Pre-1858 Old Schoolhouse #15 buried foundation and 8915.000019 Site M 1.8 (2.8 km) S Pre-1858 cellar-hole Brasher Falls MDS 3/ 1.03 mi (1.65 km) 8901.000007 ca. 1850-1880 foundation Foundation 1 N
Previous Investigations. Twelve previous surveys were conducted within the vicinity of the project area. These are discussed by township, below.
Town of Chateaugay. Five cultural resources investigations were conducted in the vicinity of the Town of Chateaugay project area. One was by Black Drake Consulting, one was by Panamerican Consultants, Inc., and three were through Hartgen Archeological Associates, Inc.
Black Drake Consulting conducted a Phase I investigation for sewer improvements, finding no cultural resources. In 2008, Panamerican conducted a Phase I investigation for an expansion of the Burke Cross Border Patrol in the Town of Chateaugay. Three historic sites were
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-38 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA identified, all located along US 11, more than 1,200 ft (365 m) north of the current project area. The southern boundary of the survey area for that project was the railroad tracks within the current St. Lawrence Gas Line project area. Hartgen conducted Phase I and II investigations for the Chateaugay Business Park. During the Phase I investigations, nineteenth-century historic scatters and one previously unidentified historic site were identified. A Phase II site evaluation was conducted for the historic site (Hartgen 2008), designated the Nathan Beman Homestead site. This site is not within the current project area.
Black, Andrew T., Jennifer Capshaw, and Christina L. Kester 2003 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey, Chateaugay Sewer Improvements, Town of Chateaugay, Franklin County, New York. Black Drake Consulting, Champlain, NY
Hartgen Archeological Associates, Inc 2003 Phase IA Literature Review for Phase 1 and Phase 2 and Phase IB Archeological Reconnaissance for Phase 1, Chateaugay Industrial Park, Village of Chateaugay, Franklin County, New York. Hartgen Archeological Associates, Inc.
2004 Phase IB Archeological Field Reconnaissance for Part 2, Chateaugay Business Park, Village of Chateaugay, Franklin County, New York. Hartgen Archeological Associates, Inc.
2008 Phase II Site Evaluation, Nathan Beman Homestead Archeological Site HAA 3371, OPRHP 03PR04572, Chateaugay Business Park, Village of Chateaugay, Franklin County, New York. Hartgen Archeological Associates, Inc.
Hayward, Michele H., Christine M. Longiaru, Mark A. Steinback, Rebecca J. Emans, Michael A. Cinquino, and Joseph J. Kline 2008 Phase I Cultural Resources Investigation for Customs and Border Protection Facilities Expansion, Burke, Town of Chateaugay, New York. Panamerican Consultants, Inc., Buffalo Branch, Buffalo. Prepared for Parsons, San Antonio, TX.
Town of Malone. Four previous cultural resources investigations were conducted in the vicinity of the Town of Malone project area. Three of these were through the New York State Museum and one was by Stephen J. Oberon. The Oberon investigation was for an upgrade of the wastewater treatment facility. No cultural resources were found. The New York State Museum project were all for proposed construction or the expansion of state correctional facilities. No significant cultural resources were found.
New York State Museum 1985 A Cultural Resources Survey Report of the Proposed Malone Correctional Facility, Town of Malone, Franklin County, New York. New York State Museum, Albany.
1990 A Cultural Resource Management Survey of Bare Hill Correctional Facility Annex, Town of Malone, Franklin County, New York. New York State Museum, Albany. 1997 Cultural Resource Reconnaissance Survey Report of CORPS-OGS-DOCS, OGS # 40631, Proposed 750-Bed Maximum Security Facility, Town of Malone (MCD 03315), Franklin County, New York. New York State Museum, Albany.
Oberon, Stephen J. 1981 Cultural Resource Survey Stage I, Malone, New York, Field Investigation Phase, Franklin County, C-36-823
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-39 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA Town of Brasher. One previous cultural resources investigation was conducted in the vicinity of the Town of Brasher project area by the New York State Museum. The only archaeological site found was the aforementioned MDS3/Foundation 1, located 1.03 mi (1.65 km) north of the proposed gas line route. No cultural resources were identified within the current APE.
New York State Museum 1992 A Cultural Resource Survey Report of PIN 7043.96.101/ BIN 1-00886-0 and BIN 1- 00887-0, Route 11/ St. Regis River, Hamlet of Brasher Falls, Town of Brasher, St. Lawrence County. New York State Museum, Albany.
Town of Norfolk. One previous cultural resources investigation was conducted in the vicinity of the Town of Norfolk project area by Stephen J. Oberon. No cultural resources were identified.
Oberon, Stephen J. 1980 Cultural Resource Survey Stage I, Raymondville, New York, Field Investigation Phase, St. Lawrence County, C-36-710.
Town of Lawrence. Two previous cultural resources investigations were conducted in the vicinity of the Town of Lawrence project area, by Garrett Cook and Pratt and Pratt Archaeological Consultants, Inc. The 1984 Cook survey was conducted for the NYS Department of Transportation. It identified eight archaeological sites, all of which are 1.8 miles (2.8 km) or more south of the current APE (see Table 2.1), discussed above. Pratt and Pratt (1981) did not identify any archaeological sites.
Cook, Garrett 1984 A Cultural Resource Survey Report for the NYSDOT, PIN 7043.66, Lawrence Project, Town of Lawrence, St. Lawrence County.
Pratt and Pratt Archaeological Consultants, Inc. 1981 Stage I Addendum and Stage II Cultural Resources Surveys of the Sewer System and Treatment Facilities for the Hamlets of Nicholville and North Lawrence in the Town of Lawrence, St. Lawrence County, New York.
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2-40 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA Panamerican Consultants, Inc . 2-41 2-41 . St. Lawrence Gas Line PhaseIA
Figure 2.14. The Town of Chateaugay in 1915 showing the Preferred and alternate routes (USGS Chateaugay, NY 1915). Panamerican Consultants, Inc . 2-42 2-42 . St. Lawrence Gas Line PhaseIA
Figure 2.15. The Town of Burke in 1915 showing the Preferred and alternate routes (USGS Chateaugay, NY 1915). Panamerican Consultants, Inc . 2-43 2-43 . St. Lawrence Gas Line PhaseIA
PREFERRED ROUTE
Figure 2.16. The Towns of Malone and Burke in 1915 showing the Preferred Route (USGS Chateaugay, NY 1915). Panamerican Consultants, Inc . 2-44 2-44 . St. Lawrence Gas Line PhaseIA
Figure 2.17. The Town of Malone in 1917 showing the Preferred and alternate routes (USGS Malone, NY 1917). Panamerican Consultants, Inc . 2-45 2-45 . St. Lawrence Gas Line PhaseIA
PREFERRED ROUTE
Figure 2.18. The Towns of Bangor and Malone in 1917 showing the Preferred Route (USGS Malone, NY 1917). Panamerican Consultants, Inc . 2-46 2-46 . St. Lawrence Gas Line PhaseIA
PREFERRED ROUTE
Figure 2.19. The Town of Bangor in 1917 showing the Preferred Route (USGS Malone, NY 1917). Panamerican Consultants, Inc . 2-47 2-47 . St. Lawrence Gas Line PhaseIA
Figure 2.20. The Towns of Moira and Bangor in 1917 showing the Preferred Route (USGS Moira, NY 1917; Malone, NY 1917). Panamerican Consultants, Inc . 2-48 2-48 . St. Lawrence Gas Line PhaseIA
PREFERRED ROUTE
Figure 2.21. The Town of Moira in 1917 showing the Preferred Route (USGS Moira, NY 1917). Panamerican Consultants, Inc . 2-49 2-49 . St. Lawrence Gas Line PhaseIA
PREFERRED ROUTE
Figure 2.22. The Towns of Lawrence and Moira in 1917 showing the Preferred Route (USGS Moira, NY 1917). Panamerican Consultants, Inc . 2-50 2-50 . St. Lawrence Gas Line PhaseIA
PREFERRED ROUTE
Figure 2.23. The Town of Lawrence in 1917 showing the Preferred Route (USGS Moira, NY 1917). Panamerican Consultants, Inc . 2-51 2-51 . St. Lawrence Gas Line PhaseIA
Figure 2.24. The Towns of Stockholm and Lawrence in 1907 showing the Preferred and alternate routes (USGS Massena, NY 1907). Panamerican Consultants, Inc . 2-52 2-52 . St. Lawrence Gas Line PhaseIA
PREFERRED ROUTE
Figure 2.25. The Town of Stockholm in 1907 showing the Preferred Route (USGS Massena, NY 1907). Panamerican Consultants, Inc . 2-53 2-53 . St. Lawrence Gas Line PhaseIA
PREFERRED ROUTE
Figure 2.26. The Towns of Norfolk and Stockholm in 1907 showing the Preferred Route (USGS Massena, NY 1907). 3.0 Archaeological Field Reconnaissance
3.1 METHODOLOGY
A Phase IA cultural resources investigation is designed to identify and assess sensitivity and potential for locating cultural resources within the project’s area of potential effect (APE). These resources include archaeological sites (prehistoric and historic) and standing structures or other aboveground features. The investigation consists of a background/literature search, a site file check, and a field reconnaissance of the project area. The geography, prehistory and history of the region are reviewed in order to understand the historic background of the APE and provide a context for any cultural resources that may exist within the corridor (see Section 2.0). Archaeological and historic site files at the New York State OPRHP are reviewed as an initial step to determine the presence of known archaeological sites within a six-mile (9.6-km) corridor around the APE. These files include data recorded at both the OPRHP and the New York State Museum (NYSM). The site file check revealed numerous previously recorded archaeological sites within the transmission line study corridor (see Section 2.4.2). Field reconnaissance is conducted to observe and photographically document the setting and general conditions (e.g., disturbances, drainage, sensitive terrain) of the APE.
Information collected during the Phase IA survey (i.e., background research and field investigation) is used to assess the sensitivity of the project area for the presence of cultural resources. Areas are considered to have low archaeological sensitivity according to the following criteria:
graded and cut areas through surrounding terrain (e.g., hills or gorges), such as those resulting from road construction areas that appear to have large amounts of fill areas previously impacted by construction of utilities, drainage ditches, streets or other obvious areas of significant earth movement areas including poorly drained soils and wetlands areas having slopes greater than 15 percent
Areas of archaeological potential and high sensitivity are identified based on the following criteria:
undisturbed areas that are environmentally sensitive with relatively level well- drained soils or in the vicinity of potable water such as springs, streams or creeks (these characteristics typify known site locations in the region) known prehistoric or historic site locations within or adjacent to the project area historic map-documented structure (MDS) locations identified within or immediately adjacent to the project area
3.2 PREHISTORIC ARCHAEOLOGICAL SENSITIVITY
The setting of the project area was suitable for prehistoric resource procurement (e.g., hunting, fishing and gathering). The project area is sensitive for small campsites but the location was generally not favored for settlement. As presented in Section 2.4.2, no prehistoric sites have been reported within a three-mile radius of the APE. There are multiple streams and rivers
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 3-1 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA (Chateaugay, Little Trout, Trout, Salmon, Deer, St. Regis) that cross the project area flowing north toward the St. Lawrence River. The most sensitive locations for sites are in proximity to those drainages and adjacent to wetlands. Stray finds (i.e., isolated artifacts) or low density and scattered artifact assemblages are the most likely prehistoric deposits due to paucity of reported sites. Sensitivity is low for prehistoric sites typically associated with larger settlements (e.g., villages, burials, mounds). The likelihood of finding prehistoric quarry sites is low. The bedrock of the project area is a poor source for lithic material favorable for prehistoric knapping (e.g., calciferous sandstone and limestone, gneiss). Although limestone is present it doesn’t appear to be a good source for chert as there are no reported quarry sites in a three-mile radius of the 47.54-mile pipeline corridor which encompassed 300.14 square miles around the project area. The archaeological sensitivity is also low for rock shelter sites because rock overhangs are not common in the gently sloping terrain of the project area.
3.3 HISTORIC ARCHAEOLOGICAL SENSITIVITY
The project area is sensitive for the presence of a variety of historic archaeological resources associated with but not exclusive to urban centers (e.g., Malone [Franklin County seat]), rural villages and hamlets (e.g., Brasher Falls, North Lawrence, Moira, Brushton, North Bangor, Burke, Chateaugay), mills at river and stream crossings, farmsteads, and the historic O&LC Railroad. Sensitivity for historic resources is considered low for approximately 49 percent (23.3 miles [37.5 km]) of the pipeline route where it follows the center of the abandoned railroad bed as the ground is likely disturbed. Portions of the APE that are considered particularly sensitive for historic sites are at or in proximity to historic map-documented structure (MDS) locations. There are 68 MDS locations in the vicinity of the pipeline corridor on the late- nineteenth century (Beers) and early twentieth century maps reviewed during this investigation (see Section 2.4.1). These primarily include residences but other MDSs for other types of functions (e.g., stores, warehouse, schools, cooper shop, possible railroad structure) are also depicted in the area (see Tables 2.2 and 2.3). The Preferred Route also passes a historic cemetery in the Town of Stockholm (St. Lawrence County). All but six of the MDS locations are along or near the Preferred Route.
Although 15 historic sites have been reported within a three-mile radius of the pipeline corridor, no sites were previously identified within the APE. Only one of the 15 sites is in proximity to the APE. Site OPRHP #8915.000005 (also reported as “Site 2”) includes the twentieth century structural foundation remains recorded to be over 100 ft (30 m) northeast of the pipeline APE. The site location is on the north side of a street that is no longer extant but formerly followed the north side of the historic railroad. Therefore, proposed pipeline construction will not likely affect this site.
3.4 FIELD RECONNAISSANCE
The Phase IA field reconnaissance began at the eastern terminus of the proposed pipeline route in the Town of Chateaugay, Franklin County, and continued west, ending at the Town of Norfolk, St. Lawrence County. The discussion of observations, therefore, also follows this east to west direction. Due to its great length, the proposed corridor was divided into four segments to facilitate discussion. The segment locations and representative photographs of the route setting are illustrated on USGS topographic maps in Appendix B.
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 3-2 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA 3.4.1 Segment 1. This easternmost segment includes the pipeline corridor between the Villages of Chateaugay and Malone (see Appendix B: Figures B1 through B4). The eastern end of the project area begins on the western side of County Route [CR] 374 (Lake Street) in the Village of Chateaugay, in the parking area of the fire hall located at 2 Lake Street, slightly north of Monroe Street (Appendix C: Photograph 1). The Preferred Route follows the former railroad corridor into a wooded area from the asphalt parking area. The railroad bed varies greatly in height in the area between CR 374 and Cemetery Road. What appears to be a standard railroad berm of approximately 3 ft (1 m) is consistent throughout much of the area, with the exception of the berm over the Chateaugay River, which was in excess of 100 ft (30 m) in height.
The Preferred Route leaves the railroad bed west of Cemetery Road on CR 23 to presumably avoid a residence now located on the site of the former railroad bed. On the east side of CR 23, the Preferred Route follows a cut lawn (Appendix C: Photograph 2) and then crosses to the west side of the road onto a previously investigated farm field (Hayward et al. 2008) (Appendix C: Photograph 3). The section where the Preferred Route deviates away from the former railroad corridor remains archaeologically sensitive whereas the route following on the former railroad corridor is likely very disturbed. An alternate route continues to follow the railroad corridor from CR 23 to its intersection with Ketchum Road (Appendix C: Photograph 4). The Preferred Route follows the south side of CR 23 until it reaches Ketchum Road. Prior to the intersection of Ketchum Road and CR 23, the abandoned railroad bed falls within an agricultural field where the old railroad berm has been removed and likewise on the southwestern corner of the intersection (Appendix C: Photographs 4, 5 and 6). The removal of the railroad berm could have possibly exposed archaeologically sensitive soils and therefore portions of this area could be archaeologically sensitive. The traditional berm of approximately 3 ft (1 m) in height begins again in this field on the southwest side of CR 23 and Ketchum Road and continues unchanged to Montgomery Road in the Village of Burke.
The proposed route leaves the railroad corridor berm at the intersection of CR 36 (Depot Street) in the Village of Burke. On the eastern side of CR 36 the route moves slightly north onto a grassy lawn (Appendix C: Photograph 7). The route also crosses the parking lot associated with The Village Market, 827 Depot Street (Appendix C: Photograph 8), prior to its return onto the railroad bed located behind the grocery store.
The Preferred Route follows the abandoned railroad across the top of a historic tunnel at Little Trout River (see Section 4.4.2), where the berm reaches a height in excess of 50 ft (15 m). The river flows through (Appendix C: Photograph 9) and then exits to Pikeville Road further west. Much of the abandoned railroad bed in this area is currently used as a hiking trail and snowmobile trail. The Preferred Route follows the center of the berm from the abandoned railroad bed between Pikeville Road and US 11 in the Town of Malone. The route follows the abandoned railroad bed through agricultural fields where it often serves as a hedgerow between the fields.
3.4.2 Segment 2. This segment includes the portion of route that crosses the north side of the Village of Malone (see Appendix B: Figure B4). This area includes the Preferred Route and three alternate routes. The Preferred Route follows the east side of the abandoned New York Central Railroad corridor as it enters the Village of Malone east of Murray Road (Appendix C: Photographs 10 and 11). The route follows a dirt access road along an existing powerline corridor west of Murray Lane (Appendix C: Photograph 12). The Preferred Route then continues west of CR 30 where three alternate routes diverge from the Preferred Route. The area just
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 3-3 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA west of CR 30 is sloped as the route follows a dirt access road around a small ridge (Appendix C: Photograph 13). The Preferred Route continues to follow the powerline corridor until it heads south crossing an open field toward East Park Street. The northernmost alternate route runs north from the powerline corridor through wooded terrain and turns west following an unpaved access road to Lower Park Road (Appendix C: Photograph 19). The northernmost alternate route crosses the Salmon River on the west side of Lower Park Road (Appendix C: Photograph 20) and continues south across cut lawns of the Village of Malone water pollution control plant. As the route continues south it then crosses Lane Street and heads south up a sloped area located on the west side of West Street (Appendix C: Photograph 21).
The central alternate route and portions of the Preferred Route cross a grassy field and agricultural lots before meeting at East Park Street and follows west to cross the Salmon River (Appendix C: Photographs 14 and 18). The southernmost alternate route follows along the tree- line on the south side of the same grassy/agricultural fields as the Preferred Route and central alternate route and then follows between a channelized drainage and the asphalt parking lot and driveway of the Northstar Behavioral Health Services building (Appendix C: Photographs 15 and 16). Once crossing to the western side of Lower Park Road, the southernmost alternate route runs north and connects to the Preferred Route (Appendix C: Photograph 17).
The Preferred Route continues westerly from a steep embankment (Appendix C: Photograph 22) and through a wooded area and along the northern edge of a plowed agricultural field (Appendix C: Photograph 23) until reaching CR 37 where it resumes following the abandoned railroad bed (Appendix C: Photograph 24).
3.4.3 Segment 3. This segment of the Preferred Route is within the Towns of Bangor and Moira in Franklin County (see Appendix B: Figures B4 through B9). The route crosses the Villages of North Bangor, Brushton, and Moira. Much of the route follows the abandoned railroad bed through agricultural fields. The railroad bed is typically 3 ft (1 m) in height and is currently used as a hiking trail and farm field access road. The railroad bed has been apparently removed in some sections of the route. An example of this is the asphalt parking lot of “Sample Lumber Company” at the intersection of CR 122 in the Village of North Bangor (Appendix C: Photograph 25). Some portions of the former railroad corridor have been converted into pasture or farm roads, as evident on Lee Road in the Town of Bangor (Appendix C: Photograph 26).
The Preferred Route leaves the former railroad corridor in the Village of Brushton and enters a wooded area east of Little Salmon River (see Appendix B: Figure B7; Appendix C: Photographs 27 and 28). The route continues in the wooded area until it rejoins the abandoned railroad bed on the east side of CR 17 (Appendix C: Photograph 29). West of the Village of Moira the Preferred Route primarily follows alongside county roads (see Figure B8). At the intersection with CR 6 (Wangum Road), the route follows along the west side of CR 95 (Appendix C: Photograph 30). The route continues to follow the roadside into St. Lawrence County (see Figure B9).
Areas of low archaeological sensitivity in Segment 3 include the abandoned railroad bed, asphalt parking lots and drives, buried utilities, wetlands, and road crossings. Generally, the archaeologically sensitive portions of this segment are those where the proposed route leaves the former railroad corridor. The largest portion of sensitive terrain along this part of the route is an undisturbed wooded area north of the Village of Brushton (see Figure B7). Other sensitive portions could include cut lawns along Wangum Road west of the Village of Moira.
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 3-4 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA 3.4.4 Segment 4. This segment includes the proposed pipeline route in St. Lawrence County (see Appendix B: Figures B9 through B13). The route crosses the Towns of Lawrence, Stockholm, and Norfolk, including the Villages of North Lawrence, Brasher Falls, Winthrop, and Brookdale. It also crosses a small portion of the Brookdale State Forest.
The Preferred Route follows the south side of the road along CR 52 (Appendix C: Photograph 31). The Preferred Route passes on the south side of the Village of North Lawrence. The setting of the route in the Village is generally cut lawns and roadside ditches (Appendix C: Photograph 32). The route crosses the asphalt parking lot of the Breyers Yogurt factory on the east side of the village (Appendix C: Photograph 33). The route follows the abandoned railroad corridor on the southwest side of the Village but leaves the former railroad and enters an undisturbed wooded area on the south side of NYS Route 11c (Appendix C: Photograph 31). The proposed pipeline route then follows the south side of NYS 11c. This portion of the preferred Route includes locations with higher archaeological sensitivity including proximity to brook crossings (e.g., Trout and Allen Brooks) (Appendix C: Photographs 34 and 35).
As the route approaches the east side of the Villages of Brasher Falls and Winthrop, it enters a wooded area on the south side of NYS 11c and then heads west along the abandoned rail bed (Appendix C: Photographs 36 and 37). South of the Village of Winthrop, both the Preferred Route and a potential alternate route follow roadsides, cross wooded terrain and two branches of the St. Regis River (Appendix C: Photograph 37-41) The Preferred Route crosses less disturbed terrain than the alternate route. The alternate route crosses the western branch of the St. Regis River and enters a wooded area on the east side of NYS 11c; it briefly runs along the west side of the road before it enters the woods (Appendix C: Photographs 42, 43 and 44), where it then rejoins the abandoned railroad corridor (see Appendix B: Figure B11).
The Preferred Route then leaves the abandoned railroad bed on the south side of Pickle Street at the intersection of CR 49 (Appendix C: Photograph 45). The route follows along the southwest side of CR 49 through generally rural landscapes (Appendix C: Photograph 46) and crosses Squeak Brook (Appendix C: Photograph 47) and Plum Brook (Appendix C: Photograph 48). In the Village of Brookdale, the small Brookdale Cemetery is located on the south side of CR 49 (Appendix C: Photograph 49). The route then enters the Town of Norfolk. The west end of the Preferred Route is west of the intersection of CR 49 and CR 38 (Appendix C: Photograph 50).
Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 3-5 St. Lawrence Gas Line Phase IA