Letchworth State Park Border Property With History

Whitetail Properties is pleased to present an amazing opportunity to own a piece of American Civil War history. Bordering the "Grand Canyon of the East" - Letchworth State Park, this property was once the site of the famous Cascade Hotel and the original east entrance to the Portage Bridge that spanned the Genesee River, which majestically roars through the award-winning park. Letchworth State Park was voted the #1 State Park in 2015, among over 6000 parks across the country. Further, it was also voted the best attraction in New York State in 2017. The bridge originally required over 300 acres of timber to construct. At the time, it was the longest and tallest wooden bridge in the world, but today has been replaced with a modern steel bridge to connect the east and west sides over the upper falls. This property was the landing site for materials for the new bridge, and today offers views of the bridge and a look over the upper waterfalls, where mist rises amid fall color. The property is wrapped by over 70% borderland with Letchworth State Park for a distance of 8/10'ths of a mile as neighboring property. Inside the park, frequent visitors would recognize the War memorial that celebrates the First New York Dragoons that trained in Portageville on the Parade Grounds and shipped off to war to famous battles from the train depot next to the Cascade Hotel. They mustered out June 30th, 1865, from here. Most interesting is that the original foundation stone for the memorial is on the property to visit. The memorial once called this property its home until it was moved into the park in 1917. Over the years, the owners have found civil war-era artifacts, including whisky bottles, lockets, arrowheads, and Indian jewelry. They are physical mementos and connections to the past days of a special time in history. The Parade Grounds, where the troops had trained and staged, are at the bottom of the hill, only a mere 1.2 miles away. The Portageville Park Entrance is only 1 mile from the property and is the southwest entrance to the park. The property is also the highest ground on the southeast corner of the park area at 1320 feet, where local balloon rides float overhead as they tour the falls and park features from above. In more modern times, the popular Finger Lakes Trail was established and also wraps around the property for those with a hiking spirit. All creatures great and small call this property home. Deer, Turkey, Bear, and even a nesting pair of Bald Eagles are frequently observed on the property. A 2200 sq ft home sits on the property that is 75% completed and is located on the bluff edge on the southern border. This could be completed with little work and time or converted into a welcome center for a commercial opportunity. With the way the property is oriented, there is an opportunity to commercially enhance the upper pasture into a campground, RV park, a housing development, or retirement village with premium lots overlooking the southeast bluffs and northwest park border. Trails are established through the woods for access to all corners of the property, and further commercial opportunities present themself for lower development at the base of the bluff. Perhaps you are a history or nature person and would like to keep it well preserved, as William Pryor Letchworth did, and keep it natural. His dedication reads, "God wrought for us this scene beyond compare, but one man's loving hand protected it, and gave to his fellow man to share." Check this one out and call for a private tour. Photo Credits: Tom Cook, Tom Breslin, Wikipedia