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History of Lake Otsego Hugh MacDougall, Cooperstown Village Historian [email protected] October 2014

Table of Contents Introduction ...... 1 Turnpikes ...... 2 Tolls ...... 2 Turnpike Corporations ...... 3 Stagecoaches: ...... 3 Livestock ...... 3 The Great Western Turnpikes: ...... 3 Plank Roads: ...... 3 Roads: ...... 4 Early Local Roads ...... 4 East Side of Lake Otsego ...... 5 The Second Great Western Turnpike ...... 6 West Side of Lake Otsego...... 6 Otsego Lake Turnpike: ...... 6 Fort Plain and Cooperstown Plank Company: ...... 7 Back to Dirt: ...... 7 Becoming State Route 80: ...... 8 Slope Stabilization on Route 80: ...... 8 Pesticides along Route 80: ...... 8 Fracking and Lake Otsego: ...... 8

Introduction

This is a quick introduction to the roads that have surrounded Lake Otsego since the late 1700s, compiled from a variety of sources. It does not pretend to be complete, but should give an idea of how the road network serving the lake developed over the years. I begin, however, with a brief introduction to some of the concepts which relate to the topic.

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Included are information on the roads and turnpikes which once served the Village of Cooperstown. Today New York Route 80 between Cooperstown and Springfield, a two-, twisty, road generally near the Western shore of Lake Otsego remains the principal means of access to and from the North.

Turnpikes1

Early roads were usually built and maintained by local governments, but their abilities to do so effectively was limited. Beginning about 1800 in the United States therefore, there began to appear “turnpikes”—privately built and maintained roads created by corporations, and often running for considerable distances. They were supported by tolls, collected at periodic intervals along the road, where passage would be blocked by a bar or gate across it known as a “turnpike” to ensure that travelers paid the required amount. New York State had more of these Turnpike Corporations than any other, not all of which actually produced usable roads.

It must be remembered that before the advent of canals and (especially) railroads, roads were the only means of transporting both humans and livestock, and for a time—peaking in the 1830s—turnpikes were the major form of long-distance travel in New York State.

In her History of Springfield, Kate M. Gray quotes from a lecture given in 1903 to the Herkimer County Historical Society, by the Hon. Myron A. McKee:

“It was customary for teamsters to carry their own provisions and provender for their teams. The charges for such at the taverns were very moderate, not more than one shilling and six pence for lodging and hay. Great droves of all kinds of animals required for the city, cattle, sheep, swine and even turkeys were frequently seen. Turkeys in large flocks were not bad to drive, except that in the after part of the day, if they neared an orchard, they were apt to take to the trees, and no one could stop them; their day’s march was done.”2

Tolls: The amount of tolls collected at each toll-gate were set by the State in its Charters, and the following may be considered as typical3: Rates: 20 Sheep or hogs: 4 cents. 20 Cattle, horses, or mules: 10 cents. Horse and rider: 3 cents. Wheeled carriage with 1 horse: 6 cents, each additional horse 2 cents. Four-wheeled carriage or wagon with 2 horses, mules, or oxen: 9 cents, each additional animal 3 cents. Sleigh, or sled with 1 horse: 2 cents, with 2 horses, mules, or oxen: 3 cents, each additional animal 2 cents.

1 Daniel Klein and John Majewski, Economy, Community and Law: The Turnpike Movement in New York. Berkeley, CA: University of California, Transportation Center, Working Paper No. 76, June 1991; Daniel Klein and John Majewski, “Turnpikes and Toll Roads in Nineteenth-Century America”, E.H. Net Encyclopedia, February 10, 2008. http://eh.net/encyclopedia/turnpikes-and-toll-roads-in-nineteenth-century-america/ 2 Kate M. Gray, The History of Springfield, Chapter II (“Roads and Trails”), Cooperstown: General James Clinton Chapter No. 640, Daughters of American Revolution, 1935, p. 29, 3 Law passed April 24, 1837 for The Fort Plain and Otsego McAdam or Hard Road Company. Chapter 260, Laws of 1837. 3

Exemptions: Half price for any person residing within 2 miles of the toll-gate; no toll for persons going or returning from religious worship.

Turnpike Corporations: Turnpikes were generally built and administered by stockholding corporations organized on the same lines as other commercial entities, with Boards of Directors and stockholders who bought shares entitling them to a certain proportion of any profits. However, they rarely made profits and—which may seem strange to us today—were rarely expected to do more than pay their expenses of construction and maintenance. Rather, both stockholders and Directors hoped that the turnpikes would benefit the economies of the towns, villages, and individuals along their routes, and to buy stocks in them was often considered more as a civic duty giving prestige to the buyer.

Stagecoaches: .Not all of turnpikes’ use was by individuals, on horseback, with carriages or wagons, or otherwise. Rather, much of their for human beings was by “stage” coaches—owned and operated by complex “stage coach” companies which not only owned and operated the coaches themselves, but provided drivers and horses, and periodic “stages” along the route where exhausted horses could be exchanged for fresh ones. Often hotels or inns grew up around these stage points. Stage coaches usually ran on publicly advertised schedules, and charged standardized fares which might be set by State authorities.4

Livestock: A significant portion of the “traffic” on most turnpikes consisted of cattle, sheep, or pigs being driven to market—since there were as yet no boats or vehicles capable of transporting them.

The Great Western Turnpikes: The four sections of the so-called Great Western Turnpike, each a separate corporation, linked central New York State from East to West during the Turnpike age. :The First, chartered in 1799, ran for 52 miles from Albany to Cherry Valley, roughly following today’s US Route 20. The Second, chartered in 1801, ran for 45 miles from Cherry Valley to Sherburne, following (from Cooperstown on) today’s State Route 80. The Third, chartered in 1803, ran for 90 miles from Cherry Valley to Manlius. The Fourth, chartered in 1805, extended the Second for 30 miles from Sherburne to Homer. For some fifty years these four Turnpikes dominated much of east-west transport between Albany and central New York State.5

With the coming of canals (notably the Erie Canal opened in 1825), and of Railroads (which reached from Albany to Utica by 1836) big east-west turnpikes gradually lost their utility, and in the 1840s and 1850s many were abandoned by their owners and turned over to local governments. This frequently led to a marked deterioration in their care and maintenance.

Plank Roads:6

Beginning in the late 1840s a new form of road came into being—the plank road. These generally ran from north to south, to connect up with canals or railroads, and were considered for a short time as the

4 See generally, Robert F. Palmer, The “Old Line Mail”—Stagecoach Days in Upstate New York. Lakemont, NY: North Country Books, 1977 5 See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_turnpikes_in_New_York 6 Daniel B. Klein and John Majewski,”Plank Road Fever in Antebellum America: New York State Origins”. New York History, January 1994, pp. 39-65. 4 final triumph of road building. A plank road was constructed with a series of two heavy timbers laid lengthwise (like railway tracks), about four to five feet apart along a dirt foundation. On top of them were laid sidewise heavy planks, about five feet long and some 4 inches thick—generally not held in place by anything but their weight. A wide dirt track on the side allowed vehicles to pass each other, and deep drainage ditches were dug on either side. Like the turnpikes the plank roads were built and maintained by private corporations, often taking over existing local roads, who set up toll booths and charged tolls every few miles.

From 1844 to1854, some 340 New York State companies, more than in any other state, built over 3,000 miles of plank roads.

However, despite claims that they would last for 8 to 12 years, plank roads proved to last only about four years before needing replacement. Even when in good condition, rainy weather sometimes pushed mud up through the cracks between the planks, and better solutions to the road building problem were sought instead.

Macadam Roads:7

One of these solutions was the so-called macadam road, named after its inventor, the Scotsman John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836)—who just happened to be married to the sister of James Fenimore Cooper’s wife!

A macadam road was constructed of two layers of small, even-sized but angular stones. It could be built on top of ordinary dirt roads, because it allowed water to seep through while at the same time protecting its dirt foundation.

The bottom layer, some eight inches in thickness, was made of stones no larger than three inches in size. An upper layer, two inches thick, was composed of stones no larger than three quarters of an inch. The rocks were broken into the proper sizes by workmen with small hammers. The center of the road need be no more than three inches higher than its edges, and ditches on either side carried off excess water.

The first macadam roads in America were built in the 1820s, but they rapidly became popular. Sometimes they were sprayed with tar to make them waterproof, or covered with a final layer of smaller stones and dust to make them smoother. A century after their introduction, in the 1920s, macadam roads were replaced by the modern or “blacktop” road, or by , because automobiles raised such clouds of dust when using the original macadam. However, the term “macadam” has continued to be used generically as a term for any “paved” road.

Early Local Roads

Prior to the settlement of Cooperstown, most local roads near Lake Otsego were around the head of the lake. They were generally built and maintained by communities, in which the position of “Roadmaster”

7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macadam 5 or “Pathmaster” was a standard local position. Settlement here began well before the Revolution, most notably in Cherry Valley, though many communities were destroyed by Loyalist and Indian raids during the Revolution. One notable road was, and is, that running north from the head of the Lake and called the Continental Road because it was used by the Clinton and Sullivan expedition of 1779.8

It should be remembered that early roads in New York State tended to follow ridgelines, rather than valleys, so that it would not be necessary to build . This practical habit tended to delay the building of roads along the shores of Lake Otsego, because of the numerous streams flowing into the lake.

The quality and maintenance of these local roads varied widely, since they depended on local taxes, but in general their use as “public highways” made them free to all users. When turnpikes were established by State Law, they often took over sections of public highways, as well as taking private property by eminent domain, and began to charge tolls on them—often with exemptions for travelers living near them and making short trips.

East Side of Lake Otsego

Roads up the east side of Lake Otsego, following the side of the lake, preceded similar roads up the west side, but were not as developed.

The first such road was built—presumably in a hurry—in 1787, when William Cooper’s wife, after being brought down the lake by canoe to the Village founded by her husband, expressed strong objections to the prospect of returning the same way! To meet her objections, William Cooper had a crude road built up the east side of Lake Otsego, so that she could return by a coach which had been ferried down the lake on two canoes. It worked, but ropes had to be attached to the top of the coach, held by men walking alongside, to keep it from tipping over.9 This road was abandoned about 1794.10

Today, the twisting and often beautiful road up the East side of Lake Otsego constitutes part of Otsego County Route 31. Of its history, the website of the Otsego Lake Association states:11

“According to Kate Gray, (A History of Springfield)12 the road down the east side of Otsego Lake was built by public subscription in 1795. Burr Southworth remembers when it consisted of two dirt tracks with a strip of grass in between. There was a narrow steel by Pathfinder. There was no winter maintenance. When the road was paved after the war (World War 2, that is) that bridge was replaced. It was re-placed again not many years ago. The county drove pilings to shore up another bridge. Outside of that the road lasted until [tropical storms] Irene and Lee happened by.”

8 See generally, on local roads in the area, Kate M. Gray, The History of Springfield (1935), Chapter II (“Roads and Trails”), pp. 16-37. 9 James Fenimore Cooper, The Chronicles of Cooperstown (1838), Chapter II. 10 ibid.. Chapter III 11 http://www.otsegolakeassociation.org/news.html , Fall 2911 12 Kate M. Gray, A History of Springfield (1935). 6

James Fenimore Cooper used this road almost daily during his residence in Cooperstown from1836 to his death in 1851, in order to reach Chalet Farm, his “gentleman’s farm” (with a permanent overseer) at the foot of what is now called Star Field. It was on returning from Chalet Farm along this road, in 1840, that he conceived the idea of writing The Deerslayer, set in the Otsego Lake (“Glimmerglass”) of a hundred years before.13 Earlier, in 1838, Cooper had written that “the road along [the eastern] side of the lake is peculiarly pleasant, and traveled persons call it one of the most strikingly picturesque roads within their knowledge.”14

The Second Great Western Turnpike

A crude pre-Revolutionary road from Cherry Valley down into what is now the Town of Middlefield (then called “Newtown Martin”) was in 1791 carried over the ridge and down into Cooperstown near where Woodside Hall now stands.15 In 1794 a State Road from Albany was carried the hills (Mt. Vision) into the Village. Bridges were built across the entrance to the Susquehanna, first at its mouth and later at the site of the present bridge.

On April 4, 1801 the Second Great Western Turnpike was chartered and brought from Cherry Valley down to Cooperstown, entering the Village at what is now Main . It was then carried west to its terminal in Sherburne, New York, for a total of 45 miles.16 By means of it, travelers from Cooperstown could reach Albany in only four days!

West Side of Lake Otsego

Travel up the West side of Otsego Lake, including the present Route 80 to Springfield, took longer to develop. In 1830 a study had determined that it would not be practical to build a Canal from Cooperstown to the Erie Canal, though a primitive railroad was considered possible.

Otsego Lake Turnpike: In 1818 the State chartered the Otsego Lake Turnpike, extending from Cooperstown northward to Springfield. On leaving Cooperstown, however, it followed the ridgeline up to Pierstown17, along what is now called the Pierstown Road, before descending to the Lake and continuing up to Springfield. There it intersected with the Third Great Western Turnpike, which extended westward from Cherry Valley. The final portion of the Otsego Lake Turnpike was apparently known, at least for a time, as the Springfield Turnpike. For many years this was the only route up the west side of Lake Otsego.

13 Susan Fenimore Cooper, Introduction to The Deerslayer, Household Edition (1876-1874). http://external.oneonta.edu/cooper/susan/susan-deerslayer.html 14 Cooper, The Chronicles of Cooperstown (1838), Chapter VII. 15 Cooper, The Chronicles of Cooperstown (1838), Chapter II 16 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_turnpikes_in_New_York 17 James Fenimore Cooper had written in 1838 that “Pier’s Road” “had been little altered since 1786,” though it had been “straightened near the Village.” Cooper, Chronicles of Cooperstown (1838),Chapter III. 7

Fort Plain and Cooperstown Plank Road Company: In 1847 this Company was organized under a general Plank Road statute,18 to build a road, about 26 miles long, with a portion running along the West side of Lake Otsego. Construction was begun in 1850; it lasted for twenty years. However, on May 23, 1870 it was surrendered back to the community—probably because of the opening in 1869 of a railroad from Cooperstown south to Cooperstown Junction and the Albany and Binghamton line. Whether the planks were removed, or simply rotted in place, I do not know.

Under the general statute, Commissioners could determine the distance between outer limits of the road, not to exceed four rods (66 feet), “unless by voluntary sale to the company.”

Toll booths could be erected 3 miles from each other (this led to litigation concerning one in Cooperstown).19 Rates per mile were established for both plank roads and turnpikes, starting at ¾ cent for vehicles propelled by one animal. Exempt from toll were persons going to or from court sessions as jurors or as subpoenaed witnesses, to required training [presumably militia], funerals, as soldiers, to attend town meetings or elections at which they were entitled to vote, or farmers to their fields. Half tolls for persons living within one mile of a gate.

Back to Dirt: This roadway continued as a local road, and in a 1917 New York State Tour Guide it received the following listing by miles from Cooperstown through Springfield until crossing the East :

“0.0 Leave Cooperstown at of Main and Chestnut Sts. Go north on Chestnut one block 0.1 Turn left onto Lake St. 0.4 Curve right. Otsego Lake at right. Follow macadam up left side of lake to mileage 3.8. 3.0 School on left. 3.8 End of macadam. Good to East Springfield. 5.0 * Dangerous curves. 8.4 * Slow. Bad curves and cross bridge. 9.9 Springfield Center. Curve right, and through village. 10.1 Continue straight ahead at irregular four corners. 11.4 Springfield. Turn right onto main trip between Utica and Albany, down short hill, passing P.O. at right. 12.6 Middle Village. 13. 6 East Springfield. Continue straight ahead (Road entering from right is trip from Cooperstown, via east side of lake). Macadam road on to Cherry Valley.”20

18 see George Thompson Geddes, Observations upon Plank Roads, together with the General Plank Road Law of the State of New York.... Syracuse: L.W. Hall, 1850 http://books.google.com/books?id=- SI4AQAAMAAJ&dq=%22observations+upon+plank+roads%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s .This book, written by a plank road engineer, discusses many technical features to be sought in building plan roads, as well as including the General Plant Road Statute as amended through 1850. 19 Palmer vs. The Fort Plain and Cooperstown Plank Road Co., Frank Kernan, Reports of Cases...in the Court of Appeals.... Vol I, Albany: W. C. Little, 1855, pp. 376-391. 20 Scarborough’s Official Tour Book 1917. New York, , Canada and the East. Indianapolis: Scarborough Moter Guide Company, 1917. Trip 459, p. 282. 8

In May 1920, Motordom advised in its Bulletin of Road Conditions, that “Otsego County...Cooperstown-Springfield Center: Under construction. Open, but caution should be used. Through traffic advised to detour via Fly Creek.”21

Becoming State Route 80: In 1924 New York State began to give numbers to certain State Highways, not for the time being including Turnpikes. In 1928, however, the old Fort Plain and Cooperstown Plank Road between Cooperstown and Springfield was made a part of State Route 28, which also extended south to Oneonta. In 1930 this stretch was transferred to State Route 80, extending north from Springfield and west from Cooperstown, and it has been a part of Route 80 ever since. Today Route 80 runs from Nelliston on the Mohawk River southwest to Cooperstown, then west to Tully, and finally north to Syracuse.22

Slope Stabilization on Route 80: In recent months there has been controversy concerning the stabilization of the Otsego Lake shoreline along portions of Route 80 where erosion has caused problems. Issues concern title to the land between the roadway and the shore, and the stabilization methods used.

On July 18, 2013, the New York Department of Transportation issued a press release23:announcing a public hearing on July 25, 2013, in Cooperstown to discuss a proposed DOT project concerning the problem. The DOT design report is available at various locations.24

Pesticides along Route 80: Another long-standing controversy has concerned the use of pesticides along Route 80, because of their drainage into Lake Otsego. On May 20, 2014 the Department of Transportation and the Village of Cooperstown issued a press release announcing an agreement between the Department, the Village of Cooperstown, and the Otsego Lake Watershed Committee “to forego the use of Glyphosate based herbicides and test the use the herbicide known as "Scythe,."25 in a designated area along the West side of Lake Otsego. The Village will provide the herbicide (pelargonic acid) and the Department will conduct its application.

Fracking and Lake Otsego: There is a nation-wide controversy over the environmental safety of so-called “fracking” while drilling for Natural Gas. This has been especially controversial with regard to the Marcellus Shale layer underlying much of central and southern New York, including Otsego Lake.

New York State Route 80, which hugs the West shore of Lake Otsego from Cooperstown until near Springfield, is a winding, two-lane, picturesque road which forms the principal means of automotive

21 Motordom, Albany: New York State Automobile Association, Volume XIII. No. 12, May 1920, p. 9. http://books.google.com/books?id=kvg_AQAAMAAJ&dq=road+guides+%22new+york+state%22+cooperstown&s ource=gbs_navlinks_s 22 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Route_80 23 https://www.dot.ny.gov/news/press-releases/2013/2013-07-18 24 Village of Cooperstown Offices, 22 Main Street, PO Box 346, Cooperstown, NY 13326; Town of Otsego; Offices, 811 County 26, PO Box 183, Fly Creek, NY 13337; Town of Springfield offices in the Springfield Community Center, 129 29A, Springfield Center, NY 13337; Otsego County Offices, 197 Main Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326-1129; and Village Library of Cooperstown, 22 Main Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326. 25 https://www.dot.ny.gov/news/press-releases/2014/2014-05-20 9 access to Cooperstown to and from the North. It is heavily used both by local residents and by the tens of thousands of tourists who visit the Village every year.

Drilling near the lake would involve the use of roads like Route 80 by many very heavy trucks carrying sand, chemicals, and waste water, both damaging those roads and interfering both with local and tourist traffic.

One expression of local feeling about the fracking issue took place a year ago, on September 6, 2012, when a large number of local clergymen gathered on the West Side of Lake Otsego, at the New York State Historical Association, for an hour-length service entitled “Clergy Bless Waters of New York as Fracking Decision Looms.” With speeches and music, they joined in a common protest against fracking. The event was video-taped and can be seen on-line (as well as downloaded).26

26 http://www.shaleshockmedia.org/2012/09/10/blessing-of-the-waters/