Wayne County Life

Spearheaded by the Neighborhood Association of Sodus Point, a new historic

plaque commemorating the Coal Trestle has been now been installed. The

plaque has been placed on the bay side of Route 14 at the site of where the

coal trestle used to stand near the present day Sodus Bay Marina. The

structure that the plaque is mounted on was made to resemble the coal

trestle structure and has two railroad rails; one on each side of the

plaque. The plaque has two photos of the coal trestle. One photo is with a

coal ship being loaded with coal from the trestle. The other photo depicts

the coal trestle on fire. The plaque also has a QR code in the lower right

corner so those with a smart phone, IPAD or other tablet can access the

<http://www.historicsoduspoint.com/> WWW.historicsoduspoint.com web site and

get additional photos and information about the coal trestle. The coal

trestle was an important part of the economy of Sodus Point from 1872 until

it closed in 1967. In November 1971, it burned down during the process of

dismantling it to make way for a marina. At its peak, this icon of Sodus

Point was 800 feet in length and 60 feet in height, with eight pockets and

chutes. The yearly tonnage of coal shipments increased from 32,174 in 1872

to 2,401,676 tons in 1956. However, in the mid 1960s when boats were being

built that could carry 25,000 to 28,000 tons of coal, the Sodus Point coal

trestle, with its antiquated coal dumping operation and small coal storage

area, found it could not compete with other more modern facilities. A

special thanks to Mark Vande and Barb Clayton who designed the Coal Trestle

plaque structure. Also special thanks to Bill Huff, Jr. for the use of his

photos on the plaque and Sandi Saracen (Ontario Midland Railroad Corp.) who

donated the railroad rails for the plaque structure. Finally a thanks goes

to Paul Parker (South Shore Wood Products) who built and installed the

plaque structure. With the completion of this plaque, the infrastructure of

17 sites for Historic Sodus Point is now in place.  This includes seven

plaques, seven murals and three interpretive panels. In preparation for next

year's bicentennial of the Battle of Sodus Point, a self guided walking tour

pamphlet of the 17 sites is being created and plans are also underway for

several guided  walks. 

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