19th century Chester — Bridging the divide

It was a day to celebrate the shortening of the commute between two adjoining Adirondack towns.

“A social gathering of the people of Chester and Johnsburg was held on Friday last on the steel suspension bridge over the Hudson River which has just been completed by our townsman, Robert C. Gilchrist, at his own expense, for the purpose of uniting the two towns and furnishing the inhabitants of Chester with a nearer and easier access to the Adirondack railroad,” the Chestertown correspondent wrote on Sept. 12, 1871, in a dispatch that was published Sept. 19 in The Glen’s Falls Republican.

“The company now proposes to establish a depot at that place, and upon this the trade and travel of the whole country around will naturally radiate,” the report continued. “The (traveling) distance to Chestertown is shortened two miles, and the steep and dangerous mountainous roads are avoided.”

The intent was to maximize the use of waterpower along the Hudson River for economic development.

“Nature has formed this place for an industrial settlement. … Here an unlimited supply of water can be obtained, and at a reasonable outlay. Immediately at hand is a boundless supply of the finest of hard woods, such as black ash, maple, butternut, etc., as well as other woods used in the making of furniture,” the correspondent reported.

“The country around also supplies more wood than a factory could consume, and the day not far distant when the hum of the spindle and the busy clank of machinery will make their echoes in these mountains,” the report concluded. “This is also a fine situation for a hotel here at an early date.”

In other 19th century town of Chester news collected from historic newspapers of the region:

• “A number of our citizens contemplate attending the dramatic entertainment at Warrensburg Friday evening to witness the presentation of ‘The Deacon’ by local talent,” the Chestertown correspondent reported in The Morning Star of Glens Falls on April 14, 1894.
• The new Rochester Clothing Company store that opened in Chestertown on Nov. 1, 1893, did not stay in business long.

But the storefront was quickly filled with another retailer.

“A Mr. Wilbur, of Ticonderoga, has rented the south store in the Remmington block, formerly operated by the Rochester Clothing store, and will, on April 1, open a jewelry store and general repair shop,” the Chestertown correspondent reported in The Morning Star of Glens Falls.

• “The social party at the Chester House Friday evening last was a great success. Thirty couples were present and participated. Weatherhead’s Orchestra was all that could be desired,” the Chestertown correspondent reported in The Morning Star on Feb. 3, 1894.
• “Mr. Hooper of the Fourteenth township is operating the first garnet separator of the kind ever worked in the town,” the Igerna correspondent reported in The Morning Star on Feb. 10, 1894.

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