Because it was Built 209 years ago by soldiers. One of the first roads
in the country planned for military purposes by the Federal Government
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| Military Road, The long Arching Line From Lewiston to Black Rock |
In planning the national defense after the revolutionary war, the new federal government realized the need of a military highway extending straight through from the top of the Lewiston escarpment to the bluff at Black Rock, on which a large fortification was planned to guard the entrance to the Niagara River. The Military Highway would replace the old Portage Road which followed too closely the winding course of the Niagara River.
Thus was Military Road conceived by the federal government, and in 1801, General Moses Porter, commander at Fort Niagara, was ordered to use his troops to build it. The troops did not like the order, but they went to work with a will, and in 1802, the right of way for the road had been cleared. It was a tremendous undertaking for the soldiers because the road was cut straight through the forests and cleared over treacherous swamp lands. Bridges were built at Tonawanda, but work ceased on the road surface when the state and federal authorities disagreed. The argument lasted seven years, and it was not until 1809 that New York State gave $1500 for the project and the road was completed.
The large fort proposed at Buffalo was never built, although a small one was built in Black Rock in 1807 and enlarged into Fort Tompkins in August of 1812. It was at the top of the bluff at the bend in Niagara St. About the only use the "military" road got during the War of 1812, was when the American General McClure fled over it to Buffalo in the winter of 1813, leaving Fort Niagara to take care of itself against the British invasion he had caused by burning Newark (Niagara on The Lake).
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| On center Median, Sheridan Drive at Military Road. |
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| 1010 Niagara Street |
