Dunkirk, New York, USA
1854 - Dunkirk

Dunkirk, an important post-town of Pom- fret township, district of Buffalo creek, Chautauque county, New York, on Lake Erie, at the western terminus of the New York and Erie railroad, 469 miles from New York city. It is beautifully situated, the ground rising as it recedes from the lake, so that at a distance of a mile from the shore it is 100 feet above the level of the water. The vicinity is free from local diseases, and the climate delightful. The railroad company are making preparations fur an extensive business. Individual enterprise also is actively engaged in developing the resources of the place. In 1824 the United States government erected a lighthouse on the W. point of the bay, and subsequently a beacon light at the principal channel. Since then, a breakwater has been thrown across the harbor, making it one of the best protected on the lake. It is much resorted to by vessels in bad weather: it is free from ice somewhat earlier in the spring than that of Buffalo. From its facilities for communication both with the E. and W., and from the great amount of trade and travel which, from its central position, it must attract to it from all parts of the country, Dunkirk is likely to become one of the most wealthy and populous cities on the lake. Among the articles received at this port in 1852, were — flour, 182,139 barrels, value $819,625 ; wool, 4796 bales, $369,700; furs, 1022, $153,300; leather, 1490 rolls, $178,800; bacon, 2800 casks, $140,000; butter, 1,761,150 pounds, $317,007; live hogs, 14,805, $117,660; pork, 6643 barrels, $112,931 ; tobacco, $105,920. The total value of all the articles received by lake, for the year ending December 31, 1852, was $3,274,756. Dunkirk contains 2 banks and 1 newspaper office. A railroad connects it with Buffalo, and another with Erie, in Pennsylvania, 50 miles distant. Population of Pomfret township, 4483 ; of Dunkirk, in 1858, about 3000.

A New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States: Giving a Full and Comprehensive Review of the Present Condition, Industry, and Resources of the American Confederacy ... Thomas Baldwin (of Philadelphia.) Joseph Thomas January 1, 1854 Philadelphia : Lippincott, Grambo & Company 1854.

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