New-York tribune., 1896-12-06
A WONDERFUL ROAD.
THE STORY OF THE RIDGE"-DESERTED
BY THE sTAGE-CoACH, REDIsCOv-
FRED BY TIE BICYCLE

i hardy and yenturesome New Enklanders, impelle6
| by the same vague. uneasy onghgs which sent
| their yellow headed ancestors into Britain. put
! their families and their Penates into carts drawn
by oxen, and commencing their souls to God. set
! forth across the horrid wds which intervened be-
| tween their civilized Massachusetts homes and the
| perous savagery Of Western New-York. They
found. after hewing their way through vine-grown
trails to the banks of the Genesee. a sudden won.
| drous read confronting them. They drove eau.
| tiously along it and with that simplicity which has
always chara cterized the primeval desgnat tions OF
| natural phenomena discovered by unaffected voy-
| ayers, called it the Ridge and to this day the
| Ridge il still remains.
| AS far as itself concerned the Ridge to-day
presents just about the aspect IT did when the
| first white settler gazed upon 1t in amazement
The trees. OF course have been cut away. but the
| road remains the same. That Is what the Ridge
! was and is a natural road but utterly unlike all
| other roads made by nature carved out by the
hand of man. Tl,e Ridge, then. Is level elevation,
| rising at gentle slope and running almost due
west, with hardly break from east OF ivondequolt
| Bay through, Ontario Monroe orleans and Niagara
counties to RIdgeway, and thence northwavI In q
moro lightly marked lie to Niagara-on- the Lake
distance of nearly 1JO miles. making natural but
perfect thOroughfare. once used by the staA'e-
coaches and now by the bicycles.
| When the early settlers came they a wooded
ridge with a comparatively narrow Indian trait
running through II; but little work ens bled them
| o away the underbrush and open up the mag.
niicent highway to the general traffic Of the times
As settlers came the road grew wider and
wider The rich farm lands along Its borders were
eagerly seized by the thrifty New -Englanders and
log huts lotteJ the gentle slope of the mysterious
highway. The first village to be settled along the
road Parma. a few miles of Rochester
where mill was built. whose old cobblestons
foundations still remain. although the rest has
been thrice replaced by new wood
As soon as the settlers saw what a glorious lana
they had into they wrote back to their
friends among the Massachusetts hills TO come out
One letter written by Jonathan Bartlett who SET.
tied at Carkson with his wife in 1870 his cousin.
Obadiah Bartlett in North Eastburyport. Masa
says that - most marvellous highway. which we
call the Ridge. because it is lifted above the level
Of the surrounding country. offers most desirable
means fer RAPID and easy visitation. excelIing in
many respects such as drainage and levelness, the
best roads OF your own State" This is the first
known mention madcof the Ridge road to any one
In New England
TRAGIC TALES OF THE ROAD
After Rochester had been founded. and had
grown n sturdy and famous little town: after
the various villages along tho road to Niagara
on-thc-Lake and the Falls and what is Buf.
fao. he'd begun to take size and Importance the
forest lands slowly cleared way. although
not entirely. for in many wild end unfrcquented
spot the great primeval still present
like sentries. along the very brow Of the gentle
ridge. The farm lands thus formed produced
abundant crops. which made the careful farmers
wax prosperous.
Soon the Ridge Road and its towns became
famous for their free hospitality and pie; sent
society. The excellence of the highway mad, II
advantageous for stage coaches that from la,
to $50 the Ridge the great thorCughfare for
all travellers who came from Boston. New
York and Albany Tho increase in the numbers
Of inese transient guests. many OF whom were
wealthy. and drove In their own gorgeous equ
pages made adequate hotel accommodations nec-
essary Tavern after tavern sprang up. and be-
came famous its tables and wines ana beds were
described glowingy by tired travellers The
houses Of the settlers. too became bigger ana
more prctentious. until many OF them which SAL
stand great. old-fashiored, Colonial brick ma l.
siors elm-hidden and ivy-grown now. rivalled In
speador the manor houses Of Virginia. Their
owners became noted for their hospitality. and an
invitation to party In one OF the Ridge houses
cnvied mark Of social position. Many a.
white-haired old lady well remember how, on
the cold fan nights Of the early ifes with jangle
OF harness. rattle and roar of wheels and blare
of he rms. the great numbering stage-coach Oaded
with laughing crowd of Young people would
roll along the Ridge from Rochester and rattle up
to big brick mansion. with the chimneys at escn
end and every little window cleaning welcome
which failed
Then. of course the amount OF wealth which
was carried over the old road in the coaches was
the cause of many dark deed. The Ridge for
miles now. and in those days even more so. runs
along heavy woods. with houses near and
weird legends told Of travellers disappearing
never TO be seen again; OF cries at midnight. and
hGTSeS & pGCr men cnmon to an
unsettled countryside many OF them too true. Tor
II The old trees along the Ridge could tak ak 'nes ae
might tell queer stores OF slgnts seen ""e" '"e
nights were dark a..
The Ridge the height of'ts fame ,,rths IN the
Aye years preceding the opening or tne railro@aa az
through the western counties. lnat was ltS
Ths Ts & e9qSnss Sss siSppea e :eep New
towns sprung up to the south which their
4G% they xass the
the days of the war the Ridge hamiets kept up
snd ,Re dsrup,ion Isl S Of families broke down
those customs. Many of the beautiful old oldr,nnssd man
them Others. stil Kept by ne families who n,I Su,i
them, slowly went TO decay through posgri' Of the
sleepy towns in the heart of New Ensa.n 3 nanarr l
fully like that OF Massachusetts,; and. without theul
much stretch Of imasination one can sanfS tsSrqish
the still avenue OF elms and red brick mansions
of Carkson
IT'S GLORIEs REAwAKENED.
But of late years the old Ridge. which lay dream
ing of bygone gores day after day for two decades
awakened only by the passage Of some farmers
wagon the reading OF a herd OF cattle. has peeh
aroused to part OF its former prestige aggrandized
by much modern praise. The bicycle, with It's
ubiquitous and explorative rider. has done 1t. Just
il has done many other things in Its orisihAi
fashion The advent OF the modern wheel made
road riding a most natural consequence. Next came
the discovery OF good roads. There lay the Ridge
high and dry level and picturesque in a marvel,
lousy short time two narrow. hard gravelly paths
worn along parallel TO the old stone fences a.
the brow of the slope, not made by contractor. put
just away by the thousands of wheels when
go flying them the warm summer after-
moons. the very best kind OF sidepaths. From the
Genesee to Niagara -on -the-lake they extend anu
on Sundays they filed with merry army OF
whcelmen. every OF whom will proclaim that
the Ridge road Is the best cycling thoroughtare OH
the whole continent. The vast numbers of these
rapid travellers have terminated the old. coseyoo
ing brick taverns. whose modern but lazy owners
advertise special rates for wheemen and call