Published: January 05, 2009 01:37 am      

FARLEY: Prime swamp land investment

Many have said that the key to success in any business transaction is good timing. Such was the case with land speculators who bought up parcels of land along the proposed route of the Erie Canal in the early 1820s. History records that many men made great sums of money in land dealings, such as Lockport’s Washington Hunt, who followed the Erie Canal all the way to the state Capitol. We also know that other men were not so successful in their land speculation. The story of Col. William Bond is a tale of the latter, when in spite of his best efforts; Bond lost his shirt and his property, too. In the end, even the community decided to turn its back on this early land speculator and changed the name of the street bearing his name from Bond Street to Hawley Street after 1826.

With any land transaction, the adage, “Buyer beware,” is definitely appropriate. The following article taken from the Cayuga Republican of March 8, 1820, offers a glimpse into why this is true. Even with the reports of unprecedented early success for Erie Canal towns along the completed middle section of the canal, one still needed to exercise caution when buying and selling property there. While reading the clipping below, remember the “wet” nature of this “prime” land around the Montezuma swamps.

“FOR SALE. Montezuma Village Lots. The lots in the village of Montezuma are now offered for sale, being surveyed of different sizes to suit purchasers. The natural advantages of this village are supposed to be greater than any village possesses on the Canal from Lake Erie to Utica. It must be the place of deposit for the produce from the Cayuga Lake, the Seneca Lake, the Canandaigua Lake and outlet, Mud Creek and the Seneca River. Its inexhaustible sources of soft water, of a far superior to that at Salina, will always render it a place of importance for manufacture of that necessary and useful article.”

“Its clay for making the different kinds of ware has been found to be excellent; and it is expected that the abundant supply of water to the Canal will afford a sufficiency of waste water for mill-seats, and all other necessary hydraulic purposes. The bridge over the Seneca River is now building, connecting it with a Turnpike road to the east and west, which with the rapid progress of the settlement in its immediate vicinity, must inevitably, render it a place of the first importance in the western country.”

“An opportunity is now afforded for persons to purchase, who wish to settle in a growing village, or to invest their money in the purchase of property which will rapidly increase in value. More than fifty village lots have been sold this spring, and purchasers who wish to have a choice of stands are requested to call soon. Enquire of Comfort Tyler and Peter Clarke, Esq’s. at Montezuma, where a map of the village may be seen, or of Joseph Otis, James Lovatt or James B. Clarke, New-York, committee for said company.”

Montezuma is an odd choice of names for a wetland in central New York, but it was the choice of Peter Clark, a New York City doctor, who acquired the property throughout the marsh in the early 1800s. It is said that Clark became enamored with the mystique of Montezuma after a trip to Mexico, where the name of the former Aztec Emperor was commonplace. Clark had hoped that his estate might contain some of the valuable salt deposits that made many landowners rich in this Finger Lakes region. Even though his dream of a productive salt industry on his property failed to materialize, the name Clark chose for his hilltop home, Montezuma; did stick and was used by locals and travelers alike to describe the marshy area nearby. The name was later adopted by the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge that was established in 1938 to protect the native flora and fauna in this 7,000-acre marshland.

Doug Farley is director of the Erie Canal Discovery Center in Lockport. The ECDC is now closed for the season but will open for any group. Call (716) 434-7433 for details.