The small village of Lakewood, New York, sits securely along the southwestern shore of Chautauqua Lake. Although bordered on the south by a busy commercial hightway, the essence of the village lies along the lake and is a desirable bedroom community for prosperous business and professional families. Large rambling homes built in another century and streets that wind and encircle bespeak a colorful past.

To view the rest of this story by Helen G. Ebersole, see page 52 in the Spring 2008 Heritage Magazine. Subscribe now!

Travelers on the New York State Thruway west of Syracuse speed through a desolate and lifeless nether land known as the Montezuma Swamp. Even at the blurring speed of 54 miles per hour, the region casts a pall over the modern roadway, its lifeless appearance and its silhouette of dead trees and stagnant water. The passage this century is now swift and innocuous, but that was not always the case. The march is quite pervasive and presented one of the worst problems for the 18th century contractors building the Erie Canal...The canal was slated to cross a four-and-a-half mile of soupy terra "non" firma, neither land nor water, but as one observer described a "streaky and unpleasant mixture of both."

To read the rest of Douglas Farley's story, see page 60 of the Spring 2008 Heritage Magazine.