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On The Rails to Mooers
Mooers, the booming rural town of the 1900s and 1920s
Nestled within the thick forests of Clinton County, New York lies the tiny and rich in history town of Mooers, New York.
Mooers was first settled in 1796 and was founded as a township on March 20, 1804. The town's name came as an honor to a prominent early settler of Clinton County, Major General Benjamin Mooers.
Over the past two hundred years the town has seen many changes both in businesses and people who were once part of the town's lifeline. It wasn't until the early 1900s that the town's industry started to thrive.
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"There were a lot businesses and a lot of action on Main Street then," Rene Rabideau, a lifetime resident of Mooers, says.
The businesses in Mooers during that time were in response to the railroad, "Great Northern," which later became known as the Rutland, owned by the Rutland Railroad Company of Vermont. This railroad was one of the earliest in the entire country running from 1845 to 1961 and provided rail service between Rutland, Vermont and Ogdensburg, New York.
And by 1852 this wasn't the only railroad that passed through Mooers. The Hudson and Delaware station opened on October 17, 1852, offering rail service from Plattsburgh to Montreal, Quebec once a day until February 7, 1925 when the Mooers station was abandoned for service.
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With the advent of the railroad's presence in Mooers, during these early years in the town's history, it allowed for an economy to thrive.
"The railroad had a tremendous impact on the town," Carol Nadeau, the Mooers town historian, says.
According to Nadeau, at the height of Mooers' prosperous economy between the 1900s and 1920s, main street was filled with many specialty shops. These shops included hat stores, general stores, blacksmith shops, meat markets and barbershops.
"The railroad had a tremendous impact on the town."
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One such store that was built during Mooers' heyday was Goodrich's store, owned by Frank Goodrich Senior of Mooers Forks, New York.
"He was always kind of interested in stores, and got the money, and built the store," Frank Goodrich Junior says.
According to the Historical Review of the Town of Mooers and Goodrich Junior, Goodrich Senior built his first store in the early 1920s, after returning from World War I.
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In 1924 the store burned. Then in 1925 he built another store, which still stands to this date, on the corner of route 11 and Blackman Corners Road in Mooers Forks, which was only a stone's throw away from the Mooers Forks railroad depot. For forty-seven years Goodrich Senior operated his store in the town of Mooers, and in 1966 passed away, due to a lengthy battle with an illness, just shortly after the railroad left Mooers in 1961.
Specialty shops weren't the only businesses that sprang up during this time period in Mooers according to Nadeau. Nadeau recalls hotels like the Bromley House, built in 1883, and the Woodley House, built in the early 1900s, were a direct result of the railroad in Mooers. Businessmen would stop in Mooers to stay the night and get a warm meal. According to the Historical Review of the Town of Mooers, The Bromley House, formerly known as the Phoenix, was described as one of the best places to eat in the entire county according to the Plattsburgh Republican on April 12, 1883. The railroad also during this time, according to Nadeau, helped many people who were already established make an even better living.
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It allowed farmers, lumber mills, and other specialty businesses in the area the ability to ship their goods out of town according to Nadeau, such as milk and wood to be sold in larger markets. This also allowed goods to be shipped directly into the area such as groceries or other necessity items that people could buy at general stores throughout the town.
According to the Historical Review of the Town of Mooers, the railroad didn't just allow for businesses to prosper, it also allowed for professions such as doctors and dentists to come into the rural area. Early doctors such as Dr. Root and Dr. Childs started practicing in the town around the 1850s, and many others continued to follow them after they left or died.
Driving through main street Mooers, the town's past can be seen very well; historic buildings of the town's past still standing to this date, such as Monette's furniture store built in 1874. These buildings are a reminder of the people who once lived in a different time, where most of their necessities were close to home, or within walking distance. The railroad became a huge boost to the town's economy during the early 1900s and 1920s, enabling many within the community to make good money.
Rabideau chuckles, "If it wasn't for the railroad we would still be in the bush."
Do you or a relative have any fond memories of Mooers, New York as a kid or adult?
The Great Fire of 1877
In the late 1800s, Mooers, was not connected by the many back roads that it has today but was mostly carpeted with thick forests, prime for saw mills and lumber yards.
Around the time of May 1877, a huge fire started somewhere in Canon's Corners, which is approximately four miles west of Mooers, and raged for an entire day, destroying many homes and businesses along its path. During this period in time, many people who lived in the town did not have insurance on their property, according to The History of Clinton and Franklin Counties, New York, which resulted in a huge loss for many families living in the area at that time.
Many businesses stretching from Canon's Corners to a mile west of Mooers Forks, were lost in this massive fire, including many farms, houses, saw mills and a church.
Events like these despite the fact that they burned many historical items along the way, show how Mooers itself could have been engulfed in history's past as well. If it wasn't for the fire stopping a mile outside of Mooers Forks in May of 1877, Mooers itself, would have only been a picture of history and nothing more.