HISTORICAL SOCIETY
About the Museum
The train depot that houses our Museum was previously a station stop on the old Rome Watertown & Ogdensburg railroad. The station was remodeled and enlarged in 1912 by the New York Central Railroad. In the heyday of this station, five passenger trains and many freight trains passed through it daily. One of the freight trains was referred to as the “Milk Train.” This train stopped at the small rail crossings to pick up milk cans that the farmers had dropped off. The main freight that the railroad hauled in the fall season was apples and cabbage. During this era, Wilson also had canning factories, vinegar works, an evaporator (for drying fruit) and a lumber company located near Wilson Station. These businesses were spawned by the development of the railway.
The last use of this station by the railroad was in 1959. Wilson Canning Co. purchased the station in 1961 to use as a warehouse. In 1965, Dr. John Argue acquired the station from the Wilson Canning Co. and used it to store his automobile collection. The Wilson Historical Society was formed in 1972 and, shortly afterwards, Dr. Argue gave the old station to the Town of Wilson with the stipulation that the Wilson Historical Society could use the building for meetings, etc. The society painted the old station red and built an addition on the south and west end. ~Written by C. F. Horton
The Hojack Line
After the Civil War, there was a great boom in railroad construction and lines were built every which way.
The Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg (RW&O) already was a successful line which formed a triangle connecting Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg, plus several short lines into the Adirondacks.
The Lake Ontario Shore Railroad, which was a grand-daddy to the Hojack, was organized in 1860 at Oswego, N. Y., with the hope of extending it from Oswego to Lewiston, following the shore of Lake Ontario and passing through five Western New York counties – Niagara, Orleans, Monroe, Wayne, Cayuga and part of Oswego. At Lewiston, it would span the Niagara River to join a Canadian Western Railroad.
Much bickering went on between the towns along the proposed route. When the arguments subsided, there were a few men who could claim responsibility for bringing the railroad to their respective towns. A few of these men were Reuben Wilson of Wilson; Joseph Bowler of Ransomville; Oliver Scovel of Youngstown and Burt Van Horne of Burt. These towns, as well as others, were bonded to help finance the route. Wilson was bonded for $117,000. At one time, the bonds paid 14 percent.
And so the railroad was begun at Oswego only to be held up 18 miles from Oswego because of a lack of funds. It was resumed for another 51 miles west to Ontario, east of Rochester. There it was delayed again. In 1875, it reached Kendall, N. Y. It seemed destined never to reach Wilson because it now was facing bankruptcy.
In 1876, the Lake Ontario Shore Railroad was sold to the prosperous RW&O for 73 cents on the dollar. The RW&O extended the tracks to Lewiston and at last Wilson had a railroad service on June 12, 1876.
This was a day of celebration for Wilson. Stores closed, schools closed, everyone turned out – ministers, layman, rich and poor, big and little – in wagons, on horseback, and on foot they came to see the first train cross the Townline Road on the Lake Ontario Shore Division of the RW&O.
Spanning the Niagara River failed in the planning. Three bridges had already been costly – one over the Genesee River, one over the Oswego and one at Burt, N. Y. The bridge at Burt was considered an outstanding construction for the time. It was 390 feet long and 78 feet along the waters edge. Just go over and see that bridge and the deep gorge it spans. The track crosses the West Creek Road west of St. Andrew’s Church and the bridge is just to the right of the road.
The western end of the Lake Ontario Shore Railroad from Charlotte to Lewiston was dubbed the name “Hojack” because of a story handed down about Jack Welch, a farmer, who was one of the first engineers on the RW&O. He was so used to driving horses that every time he slowed for a station he would brace himself and pull that old wooden brake lever and holler “Whoa!”. So this western end of the Lake Ontario Shore Line (later the RW&O) was called “Whoa Jack” and later “Hojack.”
In the 1900s, every station agent wore his cap and uniform with brass buttons when he met his passenger trains. That was a must. All “Hojack” crews were required to give one long, two short and one long toot on the engine whistle as the train approached the bridge at Charlotte on the Genesee River.
One engineer, making his qualifying run from Syracuse to Watertown, climbed down from his cab and gave the necessary one long, two short, and one long toot on the whistle. A chief dispatched walked up to him and said, “You must be from Charlotte and you're driving the Hojack.”
One engineer on the Hojack we all know was William Secor who lived on the Brayley Road in Wilson. He was the father of David, Dudley and Ida Mae. He was an engineer for many years.
In the late 1800s, the RW&O came upon hard times but was reorganized in 1883 by Charles Parsons, who had acquired control of the railroads stock. He, with Henry Britton, proceeded to make the RW&O prosperous again.
The New York Central railway ran parallel to the RW&O, ten miles south of it. When the N. Y. C. saw the prosperity of the RW&O line through the influence of Parsons and the Vanderbilts, it leased the RW&O and later took it over, forcing it out of business. However, the name RW&O was retained for a number of years on literature, ads and timetables.
The Hojack was not the only train to use rails to Wilson. Many fast trains passed through Wilson, such as the Wabash and the White Mountain Express.
From 1891 to the late 1920s, businesses were very profitable on and around the railroad station in Wilson. But in the 1930s, changing times and changing methods of transportation – airplanes, semitrucks, cars, etc. – brought financial worries to the N. Y. C. Passenger service was discontinued in 1934 after freight services had been discontinued in 1959.
In 1968, the N. Y. C. and the Penn Railroad merged and operated as the Penn Central. It was declared bankrupt in 1970. In 1976, it was placed under the Conrail System which was backed by Federal and State subsidies.
Our Hojack Line was phased out.
If we judge a railroad by its appearance, it seems that the Hojack is dead. It is miles of rotting ties, rusted spikes and twisted rails. For lack of maintenance, the old “One Tracker” shows the effects of neglect. Nature is reclaiming it with weeds and brush.
But, is this “Country Cousin” dead, or waiting for someone to prove its worth again?
The old Hojack was a boom to Wilson in the early 1920s. At that time, Wilson had the only High School for miles around. Students came to Wilson High from Lyndonville, Barker, Appleton, Newfane and Ransomville, using the Hojack for transportation. The children from the east rode the morning milk train going to Niagara Falls. This train immediately returned bringing children from Ransomville. At night when the trains brought the empty milk cans back to Wilson, the students returned to their homes in the same fashion.
Hazel LaVan said her group reached Elberta at 5:45 P. M. and then walked one or two miles to their homes. (Different from our bus-carried kids today.)
The Hojack brought many visitors to Sunset Beach and to the Sutherland Hotel in Wilson.
Businesses sprang up on the four corners of Townline Road (now Rt. 425) near the Wilson Depot (now the Wilson Historical Museum). Wilson became a very busy town. ~Written by Dora C. Wakemen, 1983 (Dora was one of the original seven trustees when the Society formed in 1972)
