Clyde Blockhouse Historical Site

Clyde Blockhouse Historical Site. . In 1722 a blockhouse was built here by an expedition sent by Governor William Burnet of the Province of New York. The site was the location of an earlier French trading post, on the trail leading from Sodus Bay. During the French and Indian War, the Iroquois village of Sodoms was located here. The British built a stockade fort at the settlement in 1756, for the protection of its inhabitants. During the Revolutionary War the old fort fell into the hands of British Loyalists, who used it as a station smuggling supplies from Canada via Sodus Bay. After the war, a remaining blockhouse was used by squatters and smugglers until they were driven out by State militia in 1788. During the fighting, the structure was burned. In 1789, a trader named John Fellows came up the Clyde River, built a cabin here, and cleared a path to haul his boat to Sodus Bay. His was the first American craft on the Great Lakes. The site was used as a camping place by other traders seeking to bypass British held Oswego, and by boatman, hunters and trappers. The Clyde River was declared a public highway by New York State in 1799, and pioneers reported seeing the burned ruins of the block house. In 1809, a new blockhouse was built on the south side of the river at Lauraville Landing. It was the location of the first meeting of the Town of Galen in 1812. Clyde was called "Block-House” until 1817