On November 27, 1852, the town of Shirley was created from the town of Collins. In the Spring of 1853, the town changed its name to North Collins. North Collins is situated in the southern part of the county a little west of the center, with Eden on the north, Concord on the east, Collins on the south and Brant on the west. It comprises township 7, range 7, of the Holland Company survey, excepting the northernmost lot in each of those tiers; it contains an area of forty-three square miles.
From here on, we shall discuss the rise and fall of the town of Collins and its communities, beginning with the village of Gowanda.
Gowanda:
The Gowanda area was settled early on in the history of the area. It was first known as Aldrich Mills, followed by Lodi (1823) and finally Gowanda. The village incorporated in August 1848. For those who have questioned my remarks about Gowanda being part of Collins but Collins is not part of Gowanda, now is the time to explain.
In 1898, Gowanda was described as an incorporated village of approximately 2,000 inhabitants, lying on both sides of the Cattaraugus Creek which is the dividing line between Cattaraugus and Erie Counties. The village lies equally in the town of Collins, Erie County and the town of Persia, Cattaraugus County; thus making my remark historically accurate.
Also at that time, Gowanda, which was situated thirty-three miles from Buffalo and thirty-seven miles from Jamestown gave adequate reason for locating a train depot in the village. In fact, eight trains stopped at the Gowanda Station on each week days and four on Saturday.
Technologically savvy, Gowanda installed a gravity fed water system to its resident around 1888. The water was supplied from the hills surrounding Gowanda, located in the town of Collins. While the earliest water systems were created during the mid to late 1700's (a public water works in Bethlehem, PA in 1755 and 2 private water companies in Providence, RI in 1772) by 1866 there were only 136 public water systems in all of the United States. In 1896, the village created a sewer system along all of its major roads. This initial sewer system cost $19,000. While sewer system building became intense during the mid - 1880's, this was being accomplished mainly in urban areas.
W. R. Smallwood would begin the Gowanda Telephone Company, which survived well into the twentieth century. The local office was kept in use well into the 1960's, when the entire area serviced by this office still required operator assistance to place even a local call. (Our number was Gowanda 986M2!)
Military Service:
Gowanda was the first local village/township in Cattaraugus County to send a Cadet to West Point. Oscar F. Winship would graduate and enter into service as 2nd Lieutenant of Dragoons on July 1, 1840. He fought at the end of the Florida Indian War and in the Mexican War.
Frank H. Bailey would be the first local man entering in the Spanish American War. He served as Chief Engineer on the Raleigh, part of the Atlantic Squadron that captured the Spanish Fleet at Manila.
Early Merchant: Ralph Plumb
Ralph Plumb, a 50 year resident of Erie County at the time of his death, began the first store in Gowanda (while it was still named Lodi). Plum was also Post Master in 1829. In 1843, he was elected Erie County Sheriff. He would also run a fourteen year Supervisory roll in the town of Collins. He purchased many acres of wood lands, building and operating both a saw mill and grist mill in the Cattaraugus side of Gowanda.
Join us next week as we continue looking at Gowanda with an historic perspective!