Question: Although it looks like this man it participating in a fun activity, what he was doing was practicing how to save his own life. Do you know where he was and why he was practicing on the chute?
Last week’s answer: Over the years the Baldwinsville area has been known by a number of names. The name Ste-ha-ha, or Stones in the Water, was a very appropriate name given by the Native Americans for the seven-foot rifts that were located approximately between what is now North Street on the north and the cemetery on the south.
It was the only place for miles where the river could be crossed without much difficulty.
When our first permanent settler, John McHarrie, came to this area in 1792 or 1794, he saw those rifts as a means of making a living. John built a log cabin approximately in the section where Riverview Cemetery and McHarrie Street are now located (his tombstone is in that vicinity).
He turned the hindrance of the rapids into profit by establishing himself as a boat man to assist boats over the rapids. At that point Baldwinsville on the south side of the river near there became known at McHarrie’s Rifts. He must have made a good living since that was the period of rapid westerly expansion following the American Revolution. As more people came and settled near McHarrie, the little settlement became known as Mackville or Macksville. This name may not have been an official name — its spelling depends on which noted early historian you read.
One couple that he helped was Dr. Jonas C. Baldwin and his wife Betsy, who were relocating from Little Falls to Ovid. They were leaving their established home in the eastern part of the state, and Betsy was unhappy with the thought of becoming a housewife in the wilderness. To appease her, her husband promised that he would buy any land along the way that she liked.
While waiting for their possessions to be carried over the rifts, they walked the lush forest and lands on the north side of the river. He kept his promise and purchased that land. Although they did not settle here immediately, eventually he was persuaded to come back here and develop his property.
When Baldwin came back in 1807, the rifts were still here. He petitioned the state and received the right to build a dam across the river. This necessitated the building of the first bridge where he was allowed to collect tolls from those crossing the river.
He also got permission to build a canal to by-pass the dam. This agreement gave him the right to “own” the river from Montezuma to Oneida Lake. (Remember this was before the Barge Canal was dug in 1908.) Baldwin also had mills and a store. His first home here was a log cabin in the vicinity of River and Charlotte streets.
As more settlers built around him, the area became known as Columbia until the post office was established in 1817. The designation for the area, including Mackville, became known as Baldwin’s Bridge. According to early historians, it was changed to Baldwinsville because it sounded better.
If you want to know more about Baldwinsville history, visit the Baldwinsville Public Library, the Shacksboro Schoolhouse Museum and the historians a the towns of Lysander and Van Buren.
Contact Editor Sarah Hall at [email protected] or leave a message at 434-8889 ext. 310 with your guess by 5 p.m. Friday (please leave the information in the message; we are not generally able to return calls regarding History Mystery responses). If you are the first person to correctly identify an element in the photo, your name and guess will appear in next week’s Messenger, along with another History Mystery feature. History Mystery is a joint project of the Museum at the Shacksboro Schoolhouse and the Baldwinsville Public Library.
