Land Acknowledgment, First Nations of New York, Native American Histories: Westward Expansion

This collection features seven images covering 1825, a pivotal year on the Niagara Frontier. This year saw a visit from General Lafayette to the Buffalo area; Major Mordecai Manuel Noah purchasing land on Grand Island, N.Y., to create a city, Ararat (Arrarat), for "Jews of all nations"; the trial of the three Thayer Brothers for the murder of John Love; and a view of Buffalo from that time.
Collection owner: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library

This autumnal view of Ithaca's South Hill portrays the inclined plane on which railroad cars were drawn by horses up the hill, then to Owego and back. The climb was made in two stages; the lower plane measured 1,733 feet in length, and the upper plane was 2,225 feet long. The second, steeper, section was ascended using power from a windlass as well as horsepower. Via this method, Ithaca's gypsum and salt were transported to Owego and beyond to the Atlantic coast. The Ithaca-Owego Railroad, that ran this feat of engineering, was bankrupt by 1842. Norris sought to give the steep scene a sense of distance and depth by treating the foreground in a steady, exacting manner, while the upper reaches of the incline plan are painted in a looser wash.

Including The Central New York Farmer and Rural Architecture.