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.
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Thirsting for knowledge I stopped at Shamus Restaurant on West Avenue. It was History Night and part of the restaurant’s proceeds for the night were going to the Niagara History Center. In the interest of further education, I took a seat at the bar and ordered a strong drink to ward off the cold. I was on a mission to dig up more legends and facts about the original Lockport Cave, whose entrance was located on East Avenue near Cave Street. In the 1880s it was on its way to becoming a show cave and a tourist attraction. Unfortunately it flooded and was abruptly closed in 1886.
Since the cave was shut down, and knowledge is scarce, some local residents have disturbing unanswered questions passed on through generations. They are troubled by the thought of undefined underground labyrinths hollowing out the ground beneath the city. What’s down there? Alligators, big rats, mill races, criminal hideouts, rivers, tunnels, human bones, speakeasies, Underground Railroad escape grottos, treasure, sink holes? All of these possibilities have been relayed to me by Lockport residents. Because I took on the serious and demanding task of canvassing the bars, having few drinks, and documenting the tales that easily flow, I now have more than 30 accounts to investigate.
At the bar I met Patrick Balkin, an attorney, who has been following my reports. His office is at 365 Market St., formerly the location of the home and law office of Washington Hunt, who was the New York state governor from 1850 to 1852. Hunt’s other home was the nearby historic Wyndham Lawn on Lake Avenue.
The property on Market Street, across the way from the Erie Canal, dates to 1831. Balkin said his office is built into the base of the Niagara Escarpment, with springs behind it, and the cellar has a few bricked and filled areas that were passages to somewhere or for something. This needed to be investigated.
There are several springs on the escarpment behind the house including the capped-over historic Garden Street Spring. I consulted my geology expert, Scott Ensminger, and he said that while these levels of the escarpment are not likely to have caves, they can have natural springs.
In Lockport’s early years, a residence on Market Street beside the canal was very desirable. The canal was a highway of information and goods flowing east through the whole of New York and reaching down to Albany, the Hudson River, New York City and beyond, continuing west to the Great Lakes and the undeveloped territories. The boats and the people were daily transmitters of news, gossip, newspapers and documents; it was the fastest communication available. Prior to the opening of the canal, news traveled as fast as a horse on rough trails.
Early on a Monday morning I met with Balkin and his staff at 365 Market St. I always ask the same questions when entering an old house in Niagara County: Are there any tunnels, cave entrances, Underground Railroad stories, spirits or ghosts? What is the history? Is there anything different about the property? We went on a tour and then we went to the basement. It’s deep, with thick stone walls and carved beams.
Previous accounts state that the small, finished plaster-over-stone walled rooms were maid’s quarters. Any possible tunnels were bricked up years ago and may have just been outside entrances or a root cellar.
As with most old houses in Niagara County, there are stories involving a presence at the Washington Hunt house. It’s 194 years old; it has experience a lot of living and has seen much. Very quietly, it was reported to me that a wispy, non-threatening spirit has been felt in the building and the basement — and that is all they would say.
According to records the property has been many things: a home, a law office, a macaroni factory, a mission, a bakery, a multi-family apartment house, a grocery store, the Sportsman’s Corner, an antique shop, and a used furniture store. In 1955, Washington Hunt’s brick law office was moved from the property to the Niagara County Historical Society’s complex at 215 Niagara St., and it can be viewed there. In the 1970s, as part of the Urban Renewal process, and with an attempt at some historic preservation, 365 Market St. was rehabilitated into a law office and apartments. Yes, in 1839, Washington Hunt entertained the eighth President of the United States, Martin Van Buren, at this house.
With his office beside the Erie Canal, Balkin has returned to his family’s worksite. His grandfather, Kyron Balkin, was a professional engineer employed by the State of New York, starting in 1921, whose work areas included the canal in Lockport. His father, Thomas J. Balkin, was an Erie Barge Canal superintendent from 1970 until 1995; his section included Lockport as it was between Buffalo and Fairport.
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Thanks to Patrick Balkin, Paula Rose and Scott Ensminger (“The Falz Guy”), the Niagara County Historian’s Office and the Niagara County Historical Society for their assistance with this report. Thanks also to Ann Murphy at the Shamus for her generous donation to the Niagara History Center.