David Minor wrote:
"I'm wondering if anyone can tell me whether or not Transit Road, in Erie
and Niagara counties, formed the basis for today's Transit Road."
David:
My expertise is with the Holland Land Company's Cazenovia Establishment,
but I can pull some sources and give you an answer.
An excellent and recent study of the survey of the Holland Land Company's
western NY holdings (they had smaller and lesser known tracts elsewhere in
NY, as well as PA, and I believe VT) is Francisca Safran and John McIntosh
Jr's "Surveying the Holland Purchase" in 2 parts, in the journal
_Professional Surveyor_ May/June & July/August 1998, Vol.s 18#4, & 18#5.
Both pieces, sans photos, can be found on the web at:
http://www.profsurv.com/ps_scripts/article.idc?id=285
and
http://www.profsurv.com/ps_scripts/article.idc?id=306
the home page of the magazine is at:
http://www.profsurv.com/psarchiv.htm
There were two transit lines: the Eastern Transit Meridian surveyed in
1798, and the Western Transit Meridian surveyed in 1799. The lines were 32
miles apart and ran from the PA line northward to the shore of Lake
Ontario. The ETM, which followed the boundary between the HLCo and the
Morris Reserve, did not go directly to the lake, but took a jog westerly
for 2 miles near Batavia before continuing north to the lake. The Western
Transit Meridian ran straight to the lake and followed the western line of
the million acre tract granted to the HLCo. by Robert Morris.
From these baselines Joseph Ellicott then subdivided all the lands (except
Indian reserves) into townships of six miles square (the 32 miles between
the E & WTM necessitated creating two ranges of only 4 miles width).
Now, pull out a good atlas to follow the East and West Transit Meridians
(Delorme is great for this):
The ETM runs from the PA line in god's country (south corners of the Towns
of Bolivar and Alma, Allegany Co.) northward through more of god's country
to near the southwestern corner of Letchworth State Park, to a point just
northeast of Batavia where it turns 90 deg. west for 2 miles, then directly
north to a point on the lake about 3 miles east of the mouth of Orchard
Creek. Much of this line, running through god's country, is followed only
by township lines, except for scattered segments along its middle and
northern parts where highways named "Transit Road" follow the line. Part
of it lies along Town Line Road on the eastern edge of the Town of Canadea,
and another nearby section is followed by a short bit of Frace Road in
Belfast.
The WTM runs from the PA line south of Salamanca, directly through
Salamanca, just west of Springville (southern Erie Co.), near the eastern
edge of Buffalo, through the heart of Lockport, and hits Lake Ontario just
east of Olcott. Due to the very hilly topography in the southern part the
WTM is not followed by a highway until near East Aurora. From there north
it is mostly followed by several segments of "Transit Road," much of which
is present NY 78. Town lines can be used to follow much of the line where
highways are not present.
Because surveying the line with great accuracy necessitated clearing much
of the line of all trees, the surveyors often ended up with excellent paths
through the wilderness which, with a little furter work, were easily
adapted to use as roads. In the hill country to the south it would have
been easy to shoot from ridge to ridge, but in the level lands to the north
long lines were cut throught he forests and there we find the roads that
have been used since the lines were set out. (The northern area was also
more hospitable to settlement and thus the lines were more clearly defined
and followed.)
On a special note, it was Andrew Ellicott, brother of HLCo. Agent Joseph
Ellicott, who invented the surveyor's transit. Because Andrew was off in
Mississippi (with the only transit in the US) at the time of the Meridian
surveys, Joseph had his other brother Benjamin Ellicott construct another
transit for use in the HLCo surveys!
Dan W.
(native of Cazenovia, escapee from Binghamton, refugee in Richmond, VA)
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