1897 Map of Olcott

About this map

Lake Ontario borders the northern edge of this Niagara County landscape, where the mouth of Eighteenmile Creek serves as a focal point for the lakeside community of Olcott. The shoreline is marked by the Olcott L. H. and the winding Lake Road, which connects scattered coastal settlements. Further inland, the agricultural character of Newfane, Somerset, and Hartland is defined by a rigid grid of roads and the critical path of the Rome Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad. This rail line, specifically the Niagara Falls Barker Line, supported a network of small depots and hamlets including Newfane Sta., Coomer Sta., and Appleton. The drainage patterns of numerous small waterways like Keg Creek and Fish Creek illustrate the natural irrigation that sustained this late 19th-century farming region before modern suburban expansion changed the local geography.