Early Industry

Early Industry. . , The first small local industries harnessed the power of the Chuctanunda to assist settlers carving farms out of the primeval forest that stretched from horizon to horizon. You are standing near the location of the original sawmill, grist mill, and an iron forge that made wheel rims and scythes., The clearing of the land itself contributed to the development of new industries. The burning of felled timber provided material for the manufacture of potash, and fuel for the burning of now accessible limestone to produce quicklime. Other industries arose to manufacture brooms and linseed oil, harvesting broomcorn from the river bottom lands and flax from the uplands, respectively. , As the area began to grow, the need for service industries grew as well. Stage coach stops, taverns, and toll gates were important businesses along the Mohawk Turnpike, a main route for military and commercial traffic before the coming of the canal and the railroad, and the path taken by hundreds of thousands on their way to settle Western New York and beyond., [ Lower Inset: ] , Geology , Chuck's (The North Chuctanunda Creek) rocks and fossils have a story to tell. Where you are standing, early plant and sea life thrived in the tropical climate of the Cambrian Age. Their remnants dropped to the bottom of the warm, shallow sea. In time, the sea mud dried. Billions of years later it became the layer of rock called Chuctanunda Dolostone, similar to limestone. Clam like fossils (brachiopods) are visible in the rock today., The last Ice Age reached its maximum height over Amsterdam about 21,750 years ago. Its melting carved the Chuctanunda waterfalls and the Mohawk River Valley., [ Photo and Drawing Captions: ] , - The first City Seal showing main industries in the City: broom, wallpaper, carpets, under garments, and buttons, - One of the 460-million-year-old Brachiopod fossils found in the stone walls of this park, - One of the earliest maps showing industry along the creek. Notice the early spelling of the Chuctanunda Creek: Tjoughtenoonda Creek