West NY News

This week, several events from Chautauqua County's past are revisited, offering insights into the region's historical milestones. The period between April 13 and April 19 is marked by significant occurrences, from the incorporation of cultural institutions to incidents of fire and natural disasters.

April 13 saw the Chautauqua Lake Camp Meeting Association's incorporation in 1871, a precursor to the later renowned Chautauqua Institution. On the same date in 1920, the Celoron auditorium succumbed to a fire. In Jamestown, the groundbreaking for the Third Street Bridge took place in 1925, while the bakery explosion at Jones Bakery marked the day in 1973.

On April 14, Saint Paul's Episcopal Church was organized in Mayville in 1823. The day also recorded the introduction of "spiritual springs" by blacksmith John Chase in 1852, leading to the peculiar Kiantone Harmonia episode. Jamestown witnessed the burning of its last livery stable in 1924, the demolition of an old school in 1958, and the opening of Chautauqua Mall in Lakewood in 1971. Another notable event on this day was the 1974 tornado in French Creek, while 1985 was marked by a ritual destruction of rock-and-roll records in Jamestown. Further, a fire destroyed Belknap Business Forms in Westfield in 1995.

April 15 features the visit of federal Indian negotiator Col. Thomas Proctor to Kiantone in 1791. The common school system in New York State was established by law in 1814. Kiantone's "Spiritualist Springs" dedication occurred in 1853, while Jamestown saw peculiar ordinances in 1870, curbing bathing in the Chautauqua Lake Outlet, allowing geese freedom, and limiting speeds. Other notable occurrences include the 1898 Police Department Ball, the 1906 formation of Kidder Memorial Methodist Church, the 1947 incorporation of the Jamestown Boxing Association, and the 1955 arrival of the first Salk polio vaccine shipment. In 2010, the Quality Market store in Lakewood closed.

April 16 witnessed the chartering of Jamestown Academy in 1836. The Fredonia Grange #1, New York’s first Grange, was organized in 1878. A meat market opened in Busti in 1900, while a church in the area suffered a fire in 1948. The county faced its first anthrax scare in Dunkirk in 1999, and the Ethan Allen furniture plant in Mayville closed in 2003.

April 17 is noted for a survivor's fall in 1898 and a Liberace performance in 1963. In 2000, Wellman Road Cemetery was taken over by the Town of Busti.

April 18 highlights include the founding of the Chautauqua County Bank in 1831 and the official layout of Third Street in Jamestown in 1876. The Jamestown chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution began in 1900, and a fire damaged Mayville's St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in 1901. The establishment of Samuel M. Porter Camp of the United Spanish War Veterans occurred in 1904. In 1968, the Jamestown Little Theater was dedicated, while 1972 saw a gambling raid on local American Legion posts.

April 19 marks the completion of the Erie Railroad in 1851 with a ceremonial spike connecting it to Dunkirk. Jamestown transitioned from a village to a city in 1886, and the local Little Theater opened in its current location in 1969. Finally, the opening of a Tops supermarket in Jamestown occurred in 1997.