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Map from the Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Chautauqua New-York from actual surveys and records, published by F.W. Beers & Co., New York, 1881.
1881 property owners in Watts Flats
Appleby, G. W. Badgley, M. J. Bagley, J. Bagley, Wm. Bailey, Mrs. Burt. W. Chipman, E. A. Curtis, A. Curtis, Mrs. S. Davis, C. Deming, L.C. Dorn. D. D. Fenton, T. Gates, E. A. Gittins, S. Hill, C. P. Hoag, Sandford Hubbard, L. Hurlbut, E. Kerr, J. B. Martin, Mrs. E. Mattison, J. R. Moore, E. G. (Hotel) Morey, C. L. Morse, Ella Richardson, H. B. Slayton, Mrs. M. Slayton, O. J. Stuart, J. Terry, H. Terry, H. N. Terry, J. Terry, T. T. Terry, W. H. Trask, Mrs. L. Volkenberg, J. Wedge, E |
Watts Flats
Historical Leaflet No. 6 Watts Flats Information about Watts Flats is taken from The History of the Town Harmony by George C. Fowler and Irene B Nagel published in 1976. There is no mention of how the name "Watts Flats" originated or why the railroad company gave their station the name Panama Station instead of Watts Flats, or why the Post Office Department chose Watts Flats for the name of the post office in any of the Chautauqua County Histories or in the two Chautauqua County Atlases. Mr. Fowler talked to many of the older residents in his tenure as town historian and found no one who has any knowledge of how the name originated. He reasoned that it was named from some early settler by the name of Watt, but there was no one with that name on the early maps. One traditional story that Mr. Fowler had been told of is that in the early days a settler by the name of Watt owned land in the vicinity. Another traditional story is that in the early days a man by the name of Watt Terry lived in the vicinity and that Watts Flats was named for him. Both of these stories are traditional and have no historical backing. "Panama Station" came from the village of Panama. When the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company built their track through the Town of Harmony in 1860-61, the right of way through Watts Flats ran in a northeast and southwest direction through the center of the village. It was what was known as wide gauge track and the steam locomotives were wood burning. Around 1880, the width of the track was changed to the present standard and the locomotives were fueled with coal. Watts Flats Station was located at the summit of a very steep grade and a very sharp curve in the track for the west bound trains. It was known as Sand Hill. Soon the railroad company built a long shed on the south side of the track east of the main road, in which to pile wood for the locomotives. This made a market for wood which the settlers cut and drew to the shed and it was a way for them to get much needed cash. At about the same time the railroad company built a water tower or tank just west of the depot and on the south side of the track. They built a reservoir on the creek northeast of Cherry Corners and piped the water down to the water tank. The Chautauqua County Gazetteer for 1873-74, gives the following facts about Watts Flats, Panama Station: Situated in the southeast part of the Town of Harmony on the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, it contains a railroad depot, a school house (about one mile north of the business area), one saw mill, one feed mill, four stores, one hotel, two blacksmith shops, one shovel handle manufacturer and about thirty houses, no church buildings. The Watts Flats Post office was established on August 28, 1863 and discontinued on February 28, 1950. For more information, contact the Harmony Historical Society: 1934 Open Meadows Road Ashville, New York 14710 Phone:(716) 782-3074 Website: harmonyhistoricalsociety.org |