Bowmansville is a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
located in the town of
Lancaster in
Erie County,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, United States.
It is named after Benjamin Bowman, the owner of
sawmill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...
s on
Ellicott Creek
Ellicott Creek is a stream in Western New York, United States. It is a tributary of Tonawanda Creek, which in turn flows into the Niagara River.
Course
Ellicott Creek originates in southwest corner of Genesee County, just northeast of Darien L ...
in the center of the hamlet.
Geography
Bowmansville is located at (42.562793, -78.410556).
Bowmansville is in the northwest corner of the town and is centered on the Genesee Street Bridge (
NY Route 33) over a cataract in Ellicott Creek. Downstream from Bowmansville, in the town of
Cheektowaga
Cheektowaga () is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town has grown to a population of 89,877. The town is in the north-central part of the county, and is an inner ring suburb of Buffalo. The town is the ...
, bordered by Ellicott Creek, is the
Pfohl Brothers Landfill, a
Superfund
Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...
site. It is a suburb of
Buffalo, NY
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
.
History
The first settlers of the town of Lancaster, as near as can be ascertained, were James and Asa Woodward, in 1803, in Bowmansville. In 1808 a road was cut from
Buffalo through
Lancaster village eastward, and in the same year Daniel Robinson built the first sawmill in town at Bowmansville. ''Circa'' 1810, Benjamin Bowman purchased this mill and built another, and since then the place has been designated by his name. The
gristmill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...
s were owned by the Bowman family for approximately fifty years; the gristmill passed to John Pentelow and is now abandoned. Bowmansville also had a train station for the
West Shore Railroad
The West Shore Railroad was the final name of a railroad that ran from Weehawken, New Jersey, on the west bank of the Hudson River opposite New York City, north to Albany, New York, and then west to Buffalo. It was organized as a competitor ...
, just off Maple Drive north of the hamlet.
Economy
Significant businesses in the area include Audi Buffalo, founded in 1921, on
Genesee Street
Genesee, derived from the Seneca word for "pleasant valley", may refer to:
Geographic features Canada
* Genesee, Alberta, an unincorporated community
United States
* Genesee, California
*Genesee, Colorado
*Genesee County, Michigan
*Genesee C ...
, Salvatore's Italian Gardens Restaurant on
Transit Road
New York State Route 78 (NY 78) is a state highway in western New York in the United States. While it is signed north–south, the southern portion runs in an east–west direction across Wyoming and Erie counties, from its beginning ...
, the former Harris Hill Golf Center (closed in 2015), and the offices of Dr. Philip Penepent.
Services
Bowmansville contains the Bowmansville Volunteer Fire Department, located at 36 Main Street.
Major highways
*
Interstate 90
Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...
(
New York State Thruway
{{Infobox road
, state = NY
, type = NYST
, alternate_name = Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway
, maint = NYSTA
, map = {{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, type=line, stroke-width=2, type2=line, from2=New Yor ...
) East-West tollway that passes just north of the hamlet
*
New York State Route 78
New York State Route 78 (NY 78) is a state highway in western New York in the United States. While it is signed north–south, the southern portion runs in an east–west direction across Wyoming and Erie counties, from its beginning ...
(
Transit Road
New York State Route 78 (NY 78) is a state highway in western New York in the United States. While it is signed north–south, the southern portion runs in an east–west direction across Wyoming and Erie counties, from its beginning ...
) North-South highway that marks the west edge of the hamlet
*
New York State Route 33
New York State Route 33 (NY 33) is an east–west state highway in western New York in the United States. The route extends for just under from NY 5 in Buffalo in the west to NY 31 in Rochester in the east. It is, in fact, t ...
(Genesee Street) East-West Highway through the hamlet from the Lancaster town line on the west to the town line on the east
References
{{Erie County, New York
Hamlets in New York (state)
Former census-designated places in New York (state)
Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area
Hamlets in Erie County, New York