12/29/2025
The West Hill opened for traffic in 1922
The history of the Village of Warsaw in the twentieth century is tied to the two tall ridges that line the Oatka Valley. As car traffic increased, a solution was needed for the eastern and western approaches to the growing village. However, those routes were tied to an evolving state road system that emphasized through traffic, bypassing hamlets and small towns in favor of speedy travel. However, the Warsaw Board of Trade knew that the Village's economic well-being was tied to car traffic. Linking east-west traffic through downtown became one of the most significant civil engineering accomplishments in the history of Warsaw.
As the State’s highway map developed, the quest for a western approach to the Village of Warsaw became paramount. A formal survey of the Gulf Road in 1911 determined that the path was too steep and too costly to improve. Alternate routes were considered. Initially, planners acknowledged that the most practical route into the Village would follow the road down to the Sanitarium, now known as Mt. View, merge with Brooklyn Street, then turn left onto Liberty Street, and finally turn right onto Buffalo Street. Over time, it was acknowledged that the tricky turns presented challenges. The New York State Highway Commissioner, Frederick Greene, preferred linking Mt. View to Jefferson Street to avoid the two sharp turns on the lower portion of Mt. View. Work on this route began, and the original unused roadwork that cuts across the sliding hill remains to this day. That route was eventually abandoned. Some considered sending cars onto Wethersfield Road, then down Liberty Street, and eventually onto Buffalo Street. A breakthrough occurred in late April 1920 when banker Wolcott J. Humphrey encouraged local representatives, State Senator John Knight and Assemblyman Albert “Bert” Gage (whose only daughter he married later in June), to lobby Greene for the Gulf Road route, which took traffic directly through the downtown business district. It worked! Plans were drawn, and in May 1921, the contractor was awarded to Samuel Rosoff of New York City. That summer, 25 laborers, 10 teamsters, a steam shovel, along with 200 lbs of dynamite, set to work reshaping the twisting dirt road into a modern concrete highway. To accommodate farmers who used horses, a cobbled path was installed alongside the concrete road. In addition, to accommodate the anticipated increase in car traffic, a modern bridge was built spanning the Oatka Creek on West Buffalo Street. In August 1922, the Gulf Road was opened for traffic. The following summer, small retaining walls, sidewalks, and stair steps were completed for foot traffic. All of this took place as East Hill Road underwent its massive transformation. By 1924, east-west traffic began traveling through Warsaw. The ever-increasing flow of automobiles from points west, like Buffalo, East Aurora, and Canada, inspired the growth of filling stations, hotels, motels, food stands, and restaurants.
