Jockey Street
In it’s early days, Houghton Creek was extremely isolated. Rugged features and a heavily timbered landscape throughout the area made it difficult to settle. Because the Genesee River was not suitable for navigation, the village of Houghton Creek was accessible only by a narrow dirt road which was muddy in the Spring, dusty in the Summer, and deep with snow in the Winter. Until 1851, when the canal reached Houghton, horses pulled wagons and buggies in the Summer or sleighs and cutters in Winter to move people and goods. After the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, areas remote from profitable markets, such as Houghton Creek, had an interest in building lateral canals to extend transportation to other parts of the state. The Genesee Valley Canal, connecting the Erie Canal with the Allegheny River at Olean, was one of those laterals. In 1836, the New York State legislature authorized construction and work began the next year. Following the Genesee River to Belfast, the canal then turned southwest through Cuba to connect with the Allegheny River, reaching Olean in 1856. Between 1851 and 1878, canal boats pulled by horses or mules transported lumber, firewood, shingles, cheese and potash. Packet boats provided passenger service from Rochester to Olean. Pulled by 4 – 6 horses, these packets managed speeds up to 6 miles an hour. Stagecoach drivers sometimes added to the pleasure (or anxiety) of their passengers by racing with the passenger boats. During the winter months the canal was frozen over, idling the canal boats. Some of the boatsmen, often rough men, spent their time while they were out of commission at the local taverns in Houghton Creek. Racing along Jockey Street became a favorite recreation to pass the time. We named our medium house roast Jockey Street to remember this unique piece of our history.
