EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the latest report in a series about the famed Lockport Cave and the flood of rumors that persist about underground Lockport.
On a damp Friday, Scott Ensminger and I met with Scott Geise, the owner of Old City Hall at 2 Pine St. next to the Erie Canal and a knowledgeable Lockport canal historian. It was windy and cold as we circled the building trying to imagine its history — the remains of an old external stone water basin on the north side, chiseled stone arches where the water from the early canal entered and exited the building — and admiring the sturdy structure that records state was built from Lockport limestone in 1859-1860.
Old City Hall, which was at one time was the real Lockport city hall (1893-1974), has been mentioned several times by the patrons of local drinking establishments as a local place with tunnels, a secret Prohibition-era room and sublevel basements reaching deep into the earth.
The building was raised for the Benjamin C. Moore Company and was known as the Pine Street Custom Mill. It was powered by canal water that ran through the mill races from the canal. In 1884 it was converted to a water pumping station by Birdsill Holly, the famed inventor from Lockport, and used by the Holly Water Works. Some of the Holly equipment remains at 2 Pine St. today. Holly had more than 150 inventions to his name; in Lockport he is known for his pump-driven water supply systems for both household use and fire protection utilizing fire hydrants. He also created a central steam heating system for downtown buildings; some of the tunnels for the heating remain under the streets and sidewalks of the city.
With Geise as our guide, Ensminger and I explored the building. On the main floor is a nice restaurant, Stooges Burger Bar, in the same location as “Old City Hall,” the trendy local nightspot in the 1970s. Behind the restaurant is a large room that was a courtroom in the days when this structure was used by the government.
Below the main floor things get interesting. Descending a level, under the courtroom, is a thick, locking metal door that looks like the entrance to a large safe. Inside the “Vault” is a dusky, secure room with a bar that reportedly, during Prohibition, was used by thirsty judges and lawyers after a hard day in the courtroom above.
There are levels below levels in this building. Descending to another basement, we encountered rows of Holly Manufacturing Company machinery. A sizable hole in the floor revealed another deep cavern, 30 feet down, with the shadows of large water moving equipment visible.
Underground Lockport report
The stories were true: Old City Hall has more beneath ground level than above. In addition to the Vault we explored levels of basements below the main building’s foundation, and there is a deep third that we did not explore. There are tunnels — old mill races — that are yet to be searched. We did not find any entrances to the Lockport Cave.
This area of Lockport is interesting. Years ago, outside Old City Hall, beneath Pine Street, underground voids were discovered by an out-of-town sewer contractor who contacted me through my Vanishing Past blog for more information about the Lockport Cave, thinking he may have broken through to the cave. Due to legal concerns that possibility has not been explored. Pine Street towards the locks is the area that has been proposed as one of the exits of the Lockport Cave, a spillway or a stream having created the geographic cut through the escarpment that allowed the Lockport locks to be built.
Ensminger and I are researching the 20-plus stories about Underground Lockport that we have received. As we’ve knocked on doors most people said yes, go explore, but some did not. If you have a story, we can work out how to disguise the location. We just accepted invitations to explore three stone wells and we will be writing about them in the future.