Pultneyville, New York
Encyclopedia
Pultneyville is a hamlet located in the Town of Williamson
, Wayne County
, New York, USA. Framing the mouth of Salmon Creek, it is on the northern border of the town, the southern shore of Lake Ontario
. The hamlet was originally laid out in 1806 and is listed with the National Register of Historic Places
. At one time a significant Great Lakes
trading port and site of a War of 1812
skirmish, it now is a quiet, Western New York
bedroom community.
Set between the fruit orchards and a Great Lake on the Seaway Trail
, many of Pultneyville's activities focus on summer sailing and theatre. The hamlet boasts an active marina and is home to the second-oldest little theater in the United States.
and this military expedition defeated the Senecas near present-day Victor, New York
, about 25 miles south of the landing site.
Pultneyville is named for Sir William Pulteney, a British baronet who was an English land speculator. Pulteney and his partners purchased a 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km²) of the former Phelps and Gorham Purchase
in 1790. There is some ambiguity as to when settlement first occurred: some sources refer to Dan Russell as being the first white inhabitant of the area in 1794, others cite "Yankee" Bill Waters in 1804. Waters' cabin was located on the peninsula just north of the harbor inlet.
In 1806 Jacob W. Hallet, a land agent for Pulteney, acquired 1,000 acres (4 km²) of the "Pulteney Estate". In 1806 the first post office was established with Hallet as its postmaster
. Most of the early settlers were of English and Scot descent. In subsequent years the Dutch immigrated to this area.
On May 15, 1814, British troops under the command of Sir James Yeo
landed in the hamlet. Yeo's fleet had already successfully raided Oswego
to the east and unsuccessfully attacked Rochester
to the west before attempting to obtain stores from Pultneyville. After negotiations between Yeo and Gen J. Swift, commander of the Americans, an agreement was reached permitting the invaders to seize supplies without resistance (most of the residents' stores had been previously removed to a place of safety and the residents were intimidated by the size of the British fleet). A dispute broke out, however, and weapons fire began on both sides, including a cannon bombardment from Lake Ontario. Two citizens were killed and three wounded, and two were taken prisoner as the British fled. Commodore Yeo's official report to the Royal Navy
stated:
A Canandaigua, New York
newspaper reported a different version of the events about two weeks later, stating that the British landed and proceeded to a warehouse before negotiations were complete. "General Swift, whose force was too inferior to justify an open attack (and which if attempted must have exposed his men to the guns of the whole fleet) commenced a fire upon them from an adjacent wood, which wounded several and became so harassing as to induce them to re-embark, when they commenced a cannonade from the fleet upon the town, which was continued for some time but with no other injury than a few shot-holes through the houses.". The two American prisoners were taken to Halifax, Nova Scotia
, but were released two months later.
During the early years of the 19th century, activity in Pultneyville focused on agricultural commerce from the surrounding region (as far south as Canandaigua) and the maritime trade on the Great Lakes
. Pultneyville was Wayne County's only port until the opening of the Erie Canal
in 1823. From about 1811 through the 1890s (when the customs office closed), shipping in this small hamlet extended to the Atlantic Ocean and the world via the Saint Lawrence River
, including eastern seaboard
cities such as New York City, Boston and Baltimore
. In 1865, it was home to nearly 30 Great Lakes captains, and many sailors from Pultneyville crewed on whalers around the world. In 1874 the first railroad appeared when the Lake Ontario Shore Railroad
line opened and the center of trade moved three miles south to Williamson. Pultneyville's significance as a commerce center sharply declined, and the customs house was closed in 1892.
In 1985 parts of the hamlet were designated an historic district and listed with the National Register of Historic Places as the Pultneyville Historic District
. The honor recognizes the community's architectural significance, particularly in the areas of Federal
, Second Empire, and Greek Revival
styles. Additionally, Gates Hall
, a structure built in 1825 as a multi-denominational church, is still in use as a performance theater and meeting hall. It, too, is listed with the National Register of Historic Places (2000) in recognition of its contributions in the areas of architecture (Queen Anne
and Greek Revival
), social history, and performing arts
. During the second quarter of the nineteenth century lectures on the evils of alcohol
and slavery
, the merits of women's suffrage
, phrenology
and spiritualism
were held in the church. During the Civil War
the church was used for packing barrels of supplies for Union Army
soldiers. In 1867, the Pultneyville Lyceum began performing improvised stage productions with gasoline lamps serving as spotlights. Contemporary community theater organizations have continuously staged productions in the building since 1961. As a result the Library of Congress
found Gates Hall to be the second-oldest little theater in the United States.
Williamson, New York
Williamson is an Upstate New York town in the northwest part of Wayne County, New York, U.S. on the south shore of Lake Ontario. The population was 6,777 at the time of the 2000 census. The town is named after Charles Williamson, a land agent of the Pultney Estate...
, Wayne County
Wayne County, New York
Wayne County is a county located in the US state of New York. It is part of the Rochester, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area and lies on the south shore of Lake Ontario, forming part of the northern border of the United States with Canada. The name honors General Anthony Wayne, an American...
, New York, USA. Framing the mouth of Salmon Creek, it is on the northern border of the town, the southern shore of Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
. The hamlet was originally laid out in 1806 and is listed with the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. At one time a significant Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
trading port and site of a War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
skirmish, it now is a quiet, Western New York
Western New York
Western New York is the westernmost region of the state of New York. It includes the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of the Great Lakes lowlands, the Genesee Valley, and the Southern Tier. Some historians, scholars and others...
bedroom community.
Set between the fruit orchards and a Great Lake on the Seaway Trail
Seaway Trail
The Great Lakes Seaway Trail, formerly named and commonly known as the Seaway Trail, is a National Scenic Byway in the northeastern United States, mostly contained in New York but with a small segment in Pennsylvania...
, many of Pultneyville's activities focus on summer sailing and theatre. The hamlet boasts an active marina and is home to the second-oldest little theater in the United States.
History
In the latter part of the 17th century the French traded with the Indians at the mouth of Salmon Creek, but no permanent settlement was established until circa 1800. The area is also the landing point for a French military force of 1,600 soldiers from Canada in 1687. At the time, the governor of Canada, Marquis de Denonville, was determined to destroy the IroquoisIroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
and this military expedition defeated the Senecas near present-day Victor, New York
Victor, New York
Victor is a town in Ontario County, New York, USA. The population was 9,977 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Claudius Victor Boughton, a hero of the War of 1812.The Town of Victor contains a village, also called Victor...
, about 25 miles south of the landing site.
Pultneyville is named for Sir William Pulteney, a British baronet who was an English land speculator. Pulteney and his partners purchased a 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km²) of the former Phelps and Gorham Purchase
Phelps and Gorham Purchase
The Phelps and Gorham Purchase was the purchase in 1788 of the pre-emptive right to some 6,000,000 acres of land in western New York State for $1,000,000 . This was all land in western New York west of Seneca Lake between Lake Ontario and the Pennsylvania border...
in 1790. There is some ambiguity as to when settlement first occurred: some sources refer to Dan Russell as being the first white inhabitant of the area in 1794, others cite "Yankee" Bill Waters in 1804. Waters' cabin was located on the peninsula just north of the harbor inlet.
In 1806 Jacob W. Hallet, a land agent for Pulteney, acquired 1,000 acres (4 km²) of the "Pulteney Estate". In 1806 the first post office was established with Hallet as its postmaster
Postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...
. Most of the early settlers were of English and Scot descent. In subsequent years the Dutch immigrated to this area.
James Lucas Yeo
Sir James Lucas Yeo KCB was a British naval commander who served in the War of 1812.Yeo was born in Southampton on 7 October 1782, and joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman at the age of 10. He first saw action as a lieutenant aboard a brig in the Adriatic Sea, and distinguished himself during the...
landed in the hamlet. Yeo's fleet had already successfully raided Oswego
Oswego, New York
Oswego is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 18,142 at the 2010 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in north-central New York and promotes itself as "The Port City of Central New York"...
to the east and unsuccessfully attacked Rochester
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
to the west before attempting to obtain stores from Pultneyville. After negotiations between Yeo and Gen J. Swift, commander of the Americans, an agreement was reached permitting the invaders to seize supplies without resistance (most of the residents' stores had been previously removed to a place of safety and the residents were intimidated by the size of the British fleet). A dispute broke out, however, and weapons fire began on both sides, including a cannon bombardment from Lake Ontario. Two citizens were killed and three wounded, and two were taken prisoner as the British fled. Commodore Yeo's official report to the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
stated:
A Canandaigua, New York
Canandaigua (city), New York
Canandaigua is a city in Ontario County, New York, USA, of which it is the county seat. The population was 11,264 at the 2000 census...
newspaper reported a different version of the events about two weeks later, stating that the British landed and proceeded to a warehouse before negotiations were complete. "General Swift, whose force was too inferior to justify an open attack (and which if attempted must have exposed his men to the guns of the whole fleet) commenced a fire upon them from an adjacent wood, which wounded several and became so harassing as to induce them to re-embark, when they commenced a cannonade from the fleet upon the town, which was continued for some time but with no other injury than a few shot-holes through the houses.". The two American prisoners were taken to Halifax, Nova Scotia
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
, but were released two months later.
During the early years of the 19th century, activity in Pultneyville focused on agricultural commerce from the surrounding region (as far south as Canandaigua) and the maritime trade on the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
. Pultneyville was Wayne County's only port until the opening of the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
in 1823. From about 1811 through the 1890s (when the customs office closed), shipping in this small hamlet extended to the Atlantic Ocean and the world via the Saint Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
, including eastern seaboard
Eastern seaboard
An Eastern seaboard can mean any easternmost part of a continent, or its countries, states and/or cities.Eastern seaboard may also refer to:* East Coast of Australia* East Coast of the United States* Eastern Seaboard of Thailand-See also:...
cities such as New York City, Boston and Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
. In 1865, it was home to nearly 30 Great Lakes captains, and many sailors from Pultneyville crewed on whalers around the world. In 1874 the first railroad appeared when the Lake Ontario Shore Railroad
Lake Ontario Shore Railroad
The Lake Ontario Shore Railroad was a short-lived common carrier railroad in New York that was absorbed by the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad.- Construction :...
line opened and the center of trade moved three miles south to Williamson. Pultneyville's significance as a commerce center sharply declined, and the customs house was closed in 1892.
Landmarks and events
Pultneyville Historic District
Pultneyville Historic District is a national historic district located at Pultneyville in Wayne County, New York. The district includes 35 properties containing 33 contributing primary structures and 18 contributing outbuildings. It encompasses the historic core of Pultneyville...
. The honor recognizes the community's architectural significance, particularly in the areas of Federal
Federal architecture
Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the United States between c. 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815. This style shares its name with its era, the Federal Period. The name Federal style is also used in association with furniture design...
, Second Empire, and Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
styles. Additionally, Gates Hall
Gates Hall and Pultneyville Public Square
Gates Hall and Pultneyville Public Square is a historic theater and village green located at Pultneyville in Wayne County, New York. Gates Hall was built in 1826 by the Union Church Society as a place of worship for the community's Methodists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians. In 1867, the...
, a structure built in 1825 as a multi-denominational church, is still in use as a performance theater and meeting hall. It, too, is listed with the National Register of Historic Places (2000) in recognition of its contributions in the areas of architecture (Queen Anne
Queen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
and Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
), social history, and performing arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
. During the second quarter of the nineteenth century lectures on the evils of alcohol
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
and slavery
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
, the merits of women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
, phrenology
Phrenology
Phrenology is a pseudoscience primarily focused on measurements of the human skull, based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules...
and spiritualism
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
were held in the church. During the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
the church was used for packing barrels of supplies for Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
soldiers. In 1867, the Pultneyville Lyceum began performing improvised stage productions with gasoline lamps serving as spotlights. Contemporary community theater organizations have continuously staged productions in the building since 1961. As a result the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
found Gates Hall to be the second-oldest little theater in the United States.