A Gowanda Timeline

1816 - Ahaz Allen builds the first bridge across the Cattaraugus Creek in Hidi. It stands until 1830, when it was condemned and torn down.

1828 - E.W. Henry comes to Lodi and sells goods in a store near the creek and close to the bridge on the south side of Main Street.

1861 - Gowanda's newspaper, The New Yorker, devotes seven columns to the Civil War situation in its April 19 edition, after Fort Sumter is fired on, Colonel Thomas Parker's regiment is accepted by the War department on Aug. 23 and surgeon G.W. Barr opens a recruiting office in the Barker Block.

1867 - Pine Hill Cemetery is incorporated.

1876 - A new school, Gowanda Academy, is built. Prior to completion, classes are held in the Welch Block. The cost to build the new school, a brick building, is $18,000.

1904 - The Iroquois Press Building is built on Water Street. It subsequently is known as The Frontier Publishing Company, one of the most successful printing establishments in Western New York.

Nov. 1 1912 - The J.N. Adam Memorial Hospital - named for the famous Buffalo mayor - opens in Perrysburg. Dr. Horace LoGrasso is appointed superintendent. The institution is built by the City of Buffalo for the treatment of incipient pulmonary patients.

1919 - Gowanda Post 409 of the American Legion forms with nearly 100 members.

1940s - The Lodi School for Young Ladies is organized under the supervision of Mrs. M.H. Cowles and A.M. Fish. Tuition is $3 per quarter and the curriculum includes chemistry, astronomy, geology, Latin, French and "mathematical sciences." There was an extra charge for music, drawing and French.

1966 - A public hearing is held on water classification for Cattaraugus Creek. Opposition to upgrade is expressed by village officials, chamber of commerce and industries Moench Tanning and Eastern Tanners Glue Division, and Peter Cooper Corporation. A New York State Conservation Council representative states, "The water should be pure enough for migrating trout to come up creek." At that time classified "special class" - "any usages EXCEPT agricultural, fishing, bathing, or source water for drinking, culinary or food-processing purposes."

1967 - Gowanda Class of 1967 Valedictorian is Michael Zawadzki; Salutatorian is David Markell.