Published: September 11, 2008 10:05 pm      

CITY OF TONAWANDA: A step in time

Nearly 50 people got a good workout and plenty of historical perspective about the City of Tonawanda as Walk the Villages held its final guided tour of 2008 Thursday evening.

The tour stepped off from Clinton Park and wrapped up there two hours later. In between, Arthur Pappas, a trustee for the Historical Society of the Tonawandas, explained various points of interest along the way, including Clinton Park itself, Salem United Methodist Church of Christ and the historic Benjamin Long Homestead.

Before the walk began, Mayor Ron Pilozzi said to the participants, “Hopefully you’re going to see things you haven’t seen before.”

That was certainly the case for John and Barbara Newman. “I’m learning a lot of things I didn’t know, and I’ve lived here all my life,” Barbara said. The Newmans have also walked East Aurora, Orchard Park and Clarence during the series of events.

“I think this program is wonderful. We’ve learned so much about the towns that we’ve gone to,” Barbara said of Walk the Villages, a fitness and tourism program initiated by retiring state Sen. Mary Lou Rath, R-Williamsville. People are encouraged to walk the historic and business districts of a variety of participating towns and villages.

The highlight of Thursday’s city walk was a free tour of the Long Homestead, which sits on Long’s Point, where Tonawanda Creek meets Ellicott Creek. The Pennsylvania German-style home was built in 1829, and features two front entrances and a stone wall built into a dirt bank to keep the home warmer during the winter and cooler in the summer.

Pappas opened the tour with a history of the Tonawandas, particularly the fact that in 1857 North Tonawanda withdrew from Tonawanda over a gravel dispute. People on both sides of the canal, Pappas said, were taking gravel without paying taxes on it.

“That was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and the two cities split...and ever since, we’ve had the rivalries, some friendly, some not so friendly,” he said.

The walk proceeded down Clinton Street to Central School, built in 1870. It was destroyed by fire in 1896 and, three years later, was rebuilt as a kindergarten through 12th grade school.

Next, the group stopped at 82 Clinton St., the home of the mayor and his wife Christine. It was built in 1896 by Edward Betts, who then sold it to the Kibler family.

Pappas pointed out the unique architecture of many of the old homes along Clinton Street, highlighting the fact that many people come from around the country to examine the Buffalo region’s architecture. “We’re really nationally renowned for that, and this is just a small example of that,” he said.

Other stops on the one-and-a-half mile walk included Stamps tavern, a building that was constructed in 1888 and was the city’s original post office, and the downtown business district on Main Street. The business district used to include shops that catered to every need a resident had, Pappas said.

While noting that it’s not as bustling as it once was, Pappas said it is coming back, little by little.

Among the final stops was St. Francis of Assisi Church, built in 1862 at a cost of $10,000. The church did not have a contractor nor an architect when it was designed, Pappas said, adding that most of the construction was handled by parishioners, mostly German immigrants at the time.

“The Tonawandas are absolutely dominated with historical churches,” Pappas said.

Tonawanda’s Walk the Villages tour was designed to highlight the main historical areas of the city and also to expose people to the shops on Main Street, but there was another benefit as well.

“This is a great way to get strangers to become new friends,” said Swiftwater Merchants Association President Kory Schuler, who helped organize the walk.

Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.