JOCKEY STREET

In it’s early days, Houghton Creek was extremely isolated, with rugged features and a heavily timbered landscape. The village was only accessible by a narrow dirt road which proved muddy in the Spring, dusty in the Summer, and deep with snow in the Winter. 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 these.

Between 1851 and 1878, canal boats pulled by horses or mules transported lumber, firewood, shingles, cheese and potash. Packet boats also 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 spent their free time 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