Dolgeville, New York  13329, USA

When our first settlers arrived in this area they faced a dense forest, an almost unbroken wilderness.  As the very first settlers came, they walked in carrying packs and such on their backs.

As the very first property owners came up here from the Valley they would naturally look for the easiest way for obvious places to cut roads through.  These early roads would then follow the path of least resistance, with brush and trees being cut by the local residents.  In time these trails would be widened for carts and wagons, and that is the way our first roads came into being.

Catherine Clemons Cline, writing in 1960, stated that: "The first survey of a road, (presumably what is now Route 29, formerly called the Old State Road), was made by Christian Getman, under the direction of Sir William Johnson, the lines being made with a pocket compass.  The road began near Johnson Hall and passed through Rockwood to Lassellsville."

In 1954 Mrs. Dorothy Ives, Town Historian in Salisbury for many years, wrote: "Settlers followed trails through wilderness, and the first road contract was cut from Johnstown to Salisbury; it followed the East Canada Creek, on the East side of the creek.  The creek was crossed at Emmonsburg instead of at Stratford."  This road probably followed a lot of what is now Route 29, diverging at some point in the Town of Oppenheim and crossing at Emmonsburg to get to Salisbury.

The Old State Road itself would eventually cross the East Canada in Dolgeville, then called "Green's Bridge."  This road has had a few different names; The Black River Road, and for part of its length, the Military Road.  Now it is our familiar Route 29.

Paul Draheim, former Herkimer County Historian, wrote an article for the "Evening Times" on this road in 1976.  This is what he said about the beginnings of our road: "It all started about 173 years ago, (1830) when a meeting was called by the Road Commissioners in Johnstown.  Here, pioneers from the wilderness outposts assembled to petition the commissioners concerning the route to the Black River country.  The road was surveyed in 1806 and within two years a wilderness road was opened."

The new State Road probably followed much of the path plotted out by Christian Getman and Clarence Brookins.  By 1803 we had a number of settlers in our area, and so the surveyors of the new State Road did not have to go through pure wilderness as trails already existed.

Mr. Draheim continues: "It was in March, 1803, that the New York State Legislature provided for raising $41,300 by lottery for the construction of several roads.  One of them was that called "The State Road."

Our Old State Road, and many others, would be paid for through a State Lottery.  This practice died out by the 1840s, but came back in the 1960s and now provides our politicians with quite a bit of money to spend as people try to "get rich." "Hey," as the TV ads say, "you never know!"

The road that was completed in 1808 was not paved; it was just a dirt road.  Paving would have to wait approximately 120 more years.  Probably there were stumps left from fallen trees and plenty of mud holes, especially in the spring.  Zachary Green built the first bridge over the East Canada in 1805, and so the community would be named for him briefly.  By 1826 the name changed to "Brockett's Bridge," and finally to Dolgeville.

I don't know if Mr. Green charged tolls, but he probably did as this was customary in the 19th. century.  Putting a bridge across the creek, about where the present Rt. 29 bridge is today, was quite a project in those days and I am sure Mr. Green expected to make some money on it.  There have been approximately four bridges at this site to carry the Old State Road or Rt. 29 across the water.

One of my Grandmothers had a saying she used a lot.  It went, "I'll see you if the Good Lord is willing and the creeks don't rise."  I never give this much thought for years, but just take a look at the East Canada in the spring and see if you would like to walk across.

One of the major events on our Old State Road happened shortly after it was completed.  In 1814, Major General George Izard, after the British invasion down the Champlain Valley had been stopped north of Plattsburgh, was ordered to take a portion of his army to Sackett's Harbor on Lake Ontario.  With no roads through the wilderness, Izard went south through Lake George, Saratoga and Johnstown and then west on the new road.  His command totaled around 4,000 men, making this the largest parade we have ever seen in these parts.  The Regular Army units involved were the 4th., 5th., 10th., 12th., 13th., 14th., 15th., 16th., and 45th. infantry regiments.  Izard also had a troop of mounted Dragoons and his light artillery marched as infantry.  This march took place in mid-September, 1814.  I don't know if Zachary Green collected tolls for all these men, their horses and wagons; if so, he must have made quite a bit of money.

Mrs. Eleanor Franz wrote the following in the Dolgeville-Manheim Historical Society's book on the Underground Railroad in 2000: "During the War of 1812 hundreds of soldiers, cannons and supply wagons passed through along its length.  After that war, the road continued to be a great thoroughfare, even in the winter when it was thronged with farmers taking their produce to market.  Taverns sprung up every couple of miles or so to deal with the commerce, as droves of cattle, sheep, hogs, flocks of turkeys and geese and wagon loads of dried apples passed by.  Brockett's Tavern was a favorite stopping place and every night it was thronged with lodgers from garret to cellar.  Sometimes as many as one hundred ox teams were tied up outside."

Through traffic on the Old State Road diminished after the Erie Canal was completed in 1825, followed by the railroads down in the Valley by 1836.  However, it remained a vital artery for local people.  A stage line and freight wagons were operated by Robert Higbie of Oppenheim until the 1840s, and Isaac Cramer later operated a stage line through to Johnstown.  An obituary for Mr. Richard Guile of Dolgeville, dated March 2, 1935 stated that he owned a stage line to Johnstown for four years, and then operated a stage line from Dolgeville to Little Falls until the Dolgeville Railroad put him out of business.

Starting in 1924 our Old State Road became the "new" New York State Route 29.  Budd Claus, Supervisor in the Town of Oppenheim for many years, remembered when Rt. 29 was paved.  He said that a contractor named Murray had the section from Dolgeville to Oppenheim Center, and Russ Casler had the contract from the Center to Vedder's Corners.  Some of the contractors hired Mexican laborers, and there was a camp for them in Oppenheim near Poke Johnson's.  The stones for the base were all crushed by machines near the sites, and concrete was also mixed right along-side the road.  Budd said that the base was so good that it has lasted for many years; the only problems seem to be with the edges of the roadbed where it was widened in more recent times.  Budd also said that much of the work was done by teams of horses hauling dump wagons, graders and scrapers, supplemented by men using picks and shovels.  Quite a bit of manual labor went into building both our "old" and "new" State Roads.

Budd told me that the paving project on Route 29 was completed in 1927, the last year that Henry Ford's famous "Model T" was built.  Automobiles were getting more luxurious, and so were our roads.  They still are.

Many attempts to link our community by rail with the Mohawk Valley were contemplated until Alfred Dolge succeeded in 1892.  The first attempt to build a railroad line was promoted by Colonel Jeremiah Drake, in 1834.  He envisioned building a railroad line to the southern Adirondack region passing through Brockett's Bridge (Dolgeville).  The Manheim & Salisbury Railroad Company was incorporated in 1834 to build a railroad line from Finck's Basin through Brockett's Bridge to Devereaux (Stratford).  The main purpose of this line was to connect the vast resources of the Adirondack forest with the Utica & Schenectady Railroad Company line that was being constructed along the north shore of the Erie Canal in the Mohawk Valley.

In late 1836, Major Daniel B. Winton of Brockett's Bridge got involved in the effort to build a railroad line extending north from the Mohawk Valley.  He had recently arrived in Brockett's Bridge and was in the midst of building a large leather tannery operation along the East Canada Creek.  Also in 1836, another scheme was promoted to link the Utica & Schenectady Railroad Company line with the Adirondack region by passing through Brockett's Bridge.  The St. Johnsville & Ogdensburgh Railroad Company was organized with the ambitious goal of linking the Mohawk River with the St. Lawrence River.  The promoters of this railroad line proposed linking up with the Manheim & Salisbury Railroad Company line at Brockett's Bridge, or persuade them to change the southern terminus to St. Johnsville.  Almost immediately after these discussions, the Manheim & Salisbury Railroad Company petitioned the Legislature of the State of New York to alter the name of the incorporated company to the Mohawk & St. Lawrence Rail Road & Navigation Company.  The plan was to connect the Mohawk River with the St. Lawrence River with a continuous route comprised of railroad lines and water navigation.  Both of these efforts failed to raise the necessary capital and never materialized.  The effort seemed to lose momentum after the departure of the biggest local booster, D. B. Winton, from Brockett's Bridge in 1842.

The next attempt to link the Adirondacks with the Mohawk Valley by rail was proposed in 1882.  The Little Falls, Dolgeville & Piseco Lake Railroad Company line route went as far as an actually being surveyed.  The proposed route of the line was to cross S. Main Street near Beaver Brook.  Although the railroad line was never built, it did provide future investors with a potential route to Dolgeville from Little Falls. 

In 1888, a railroad line was proposed along an east-west route from Saratoga to Utica.  The line was surveyed with a route passing through Gloversville and Dolgeville.  The community invested $2,000.00 with Julius Breckwoldt responsible for collecting the Dolgeville capital.  However this line also failed to materialize and was abandoned in 1890. 

Transferring manufactured goods and raw materials between the nearest railroad line at Little Falls, New York and Dolgeville proved to be time consuming and very expensive.  The road between Little Falls and Dolgeville was often impassable.  Alfred Dolge utilized 50 horses to accomplish this transfer between the two communities.  The horses required a large stable building, which he erected on Dolge Avenue in 1888.  Alfred Dolge saw the need for a railroad line to the Village of Dolgeville as vitally important for the survival of manufacturing in the community.

Wall Street investors organized the Little Falls & Dolgeville Railraod Company in 1891, for the purpose of building a railroad line from Little Falls to Dolgeville  The total cost of constructing the line was put at $250,000.  The amount was issued in bonds, with the people of Little Falls and Dolgeville assuming $75,000 worth of the total.  Alfred Dolge invested $5,000, and persuaded five other Dolgeville businessmen to subscribe to $1,000 apiece.  A contract to build the railroad line was awarded to C. W. Edwards & Son, who in turn subcontracted the majority of the construction work to the Dutton & Welch Company.

Ground was broken for the new line during the first week of May 1891.  By the end of June, construction came to a standstill.  Throughout the summer, construction would start and stop virtually by the week.  By early October, construction came to a complete standstill and the company folded.  Various reasons were given, including a lack of money and difficulty in acquiring land, however it appears that the Dutton & Welch Company was simply unable to manage such a complicated building project.