A Matter of History: Town of Lyonsdale

By Ramona Salmon

     Most towns beginnings were successful due to the dogged determination of the first settlers. It was not so, however, for the Town of Lyonsdale. The town was officially formed (from the southern part of Greig) in 1873 by the board of Supervisors. Eventually the power of the Moose River resulted in the leather, lumber and wood-pulp manufacturing. The State also provided for the construction of reservoirs for equalizing the water supply to the town. However, it was earlier in 1794 that the actual first settlers came from France to the area in Lyonsdale, known now as Lyons Falls, but at that time was called High Falls. Their hopes were to form a flourishing establishment within the wild wooded country. To get to High Falls they blazed their own trail using pruning hooks. Later the trail would be called the French Road. Most of their money went for provisions that were expensive to obtain out in the wilds. the 'would be' French settlers found the deficiency and inadequacy of northern New York's wilderness beyond their capacity of endurance. Most of them packed up and left the area some to New York City and others, back to France.

The Castorland Company of France

      The reason the French came here in 1794 was their association with the Castorland Company, also known as the French Company. The company paid for the construction of the first official road opened in Lewis County in 1798 from Rome, NY to High Falls. If not for the browsing of the bookstalls in Paris by an American, the story of the Castorland Company, published in 1801 many have been lost. It was translated, brought to America and resides in the NYS Museum in Albany. In describing Lyonsdale, it refers to the rivers that abound with fish, the beauty along the riverbanks and the abundance of fowl. Unfortunately ,m it also gives an accounting of the company's destruction of almost all of the beaver dams, as well as their intent to make the wolves and elk disappear. sadly , the account reads, 'Our hunters will soon make (wolves and elk) disappear, for you know, that wherever man establishes himself, this tyrant must reign alone.'

Early Tidbits

     The first crime recorded in Lewis County was by a man named Crocker who worked for the French. In 1796, he stole a watch and other small articles. Once found out, he escaped and the items were never recovered. in 1799, a white man came to High Falls stating that his black companion died on the Beaver River Road. The white man was believed to have murdered his companion. However, the deceased remains were so decayed that no evidence could be found to prove the white man guilty, so he was released. In the late 1800s, the yellowish brick ruins of the French house at High Falls were discovered.

Caleb Lyon

     In 1819, before Lyonsdale was officially a town, the first settlement began under the agency of Caleb Lyon who was of Scottish ancestry. In 1823, Caleb himself settled in Lyonsdale where in 1829 he built a bridge, and in 1830-31 a gristmill. In 1835, he was found dead in the woods near the Davis Bridge. He was believed to have died from what people then called apoplexy. Apoplexy was a cover-all worked for any sudden loss of consciousness that was followed by death, such as heart attack, aneurysm or a cerebral hemorrhage. The photo accompanying this story is that of a plaque in memory of Caleb Lyon. Its location in the intersection of the River and Davis Bridge roads in Lyonsdale, and was placed there in 1951 by his great grandson Clarence Lyon Fisher.



Ramona Salmon lives in the Town of Watson (in Lewis County) and enjoys writing about North Country people and places that piques the interest and brings back fond memories fro the readers.



Boonville Herald, 
October 26,2011 - November 1, 2011,
Page 10