Flight of Five: Where Art and Science Tamed Nature

The story of Lockport, New York, is a tale of water and stone, and the hearty pioneers who tamed both in their bid to finish the Erie Canal in 1825. The canal provided a jumpstart for our nation also gave Lockport its name, its economic success, its appearance, and its storied past...

This "artificial river" was the brainchild of DeWitt Clinton and other New York visionaries who felt it was man's destiny to complete what the Creator had begun and construct an interior waterway that would connect the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes... One of the problems Clinton faced was what to do when westbound boats met a 70-foot tall solid rock wall on the last leg of their trip to Buffalo and Lake Erie. Eastbound boats would have to be lowered the same distance from the stony heights in order to reach the level countryside below.

To read more of Douglas Farley's story, see page 8 of the Summer 2009 Heritage Magazine.

Rural Richardson: The Farm at the Buffalo State Hospital

Originally the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane, later the Buffalo State Hospital and Buffalo Psychiatric Center, and today the Richardson Olmsted Complex, the name of the land at 400 Forest Avenue has changed along with the public view of mental problems...

While attention is focused on the stone and brick of the main buildings, no one seems to remember that behind those spreading wings there was a different kind of complex - almost a complete village which supported the entire community of more than 3000 inmates.

To view the rest of this story by Ruth L. Davis see page 18 in the Summer 2009 Heritage Magazine. Subscribe now!

The Diverse Career of Raphael Beck

Born on November 16, 1858 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Sbran Raphael Beck, the eldest of eight children, was named after the famed Italian High Renaissance painter. He was raised in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he first studied painting under the tutelage of his father...

Young Raphael Beck had his first lessons in painting in his father's studio, where he was joined by his brothers and sisters. At least four of the Beck children grew up to be artists, with Raphael being the most successful.

To read more of this story by Lynn S. Beman, see page 32 of the Summer 2009 Heritage Magazine.

 

 

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