Friends of the Clyde Blockhouse

Prior to 1810, the first road in the area was an old military trail called the State Road, that led from Salina (Syracuse) to the Blockhouse. This was probably the trail blazed by Sheriff William Colbraith and the State Militia in 1788. Early settlers found the road impassable. Traveling up the Clyde River, pioneers such as Luther Redfield reported seeing the charred ruins of the Blockhouse in the years 1801-1805. About 1809, Jonathan Melvin, Jr. built the first log dwelling within the current village limits, on the south side of the Clyde River. This residence was also built as a blockhouse, and soon the settlement of Lauraville grew up around it. Melvin's blockhouse, also referred to as the Galen Blockhouse, was the location of the first meeting of the Town of Galen, in 1812. 

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The Northwest Indian War (1785-1795) and the Simcoe Affair of 1794 caused alarm among settlers, and a survey party was attacked by Tuscarora Indians at Swift's Landing (Palmyra) in 1789. This resulted in several other blockhouses being built in the region, including at Seneca Falls, Palmyra, and Canandaigua.

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During the War of 1812, the Galen Blockhouse guarded the bridge that once spanned the river at the foot of Waterloo Street. Fear of a British attack proved well founded; on June 19, 1813, British warships appeared off Sodus Bay. Messengers were dispatched across the countryside to raise the alarm, while a local band of militia gathered to defend Sodus Point. Under the cover of night about 100 British troops landed and, in a sharp skirmish, two Americans and two British were killed; the British retreated to their ships with three American prisoners. In the morning, the British fleet opened fire with cannon and landed troops again, this time burning the settlement.

 

Word of the British attack had reached Lauraville, and the Galen Militia, led by Captain Luther Redfield, set out for Sodus Point. After marching all day and night, they arrived there at dawn on June 21st, just as the British fleet sailed away; the militiamen stayed about a week before returning home. British forces made a similar attack on Pultneyville (Williamson), on May 15, 1814. Few settlers arrived in Wayne County during the war.

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The Galen Blockhouse was located just west of the Route 414 bridge, on the south side of the river and on the northeast corner of Waterloo and Geneva Streets. It was destroyed after 1820.