NATURAL RESOURCES

The Seneca River forms the northern boundary of the town of Brutus and a flood plain extends southward from the river to an average distance of about one mile. From the Seneca flood plain the land rises from gradually to abruptly to the south. The higher land is made up mainly of drumlins, moraines and their outwashes. The Seneca River is about 380 feet above sea level at the State Pier near the Cato Road Bridge. A bench mark at the corner of Oakland Road and West Brutus Streets in Weedsport gives an elevation of 398 feet. Another on East Brutus is marked 433 feet. The highest point in the town, located near the south-east corner, is nearly 700 feet. Streams enter the town from the south at an elevation of about 550 feet. On the west side of the town two creeks, Cold Spring and North Creek, along with their tributaries provide the needed drainage. During the construction of the "Improved Erie Canal" about 1868, Cold Spring Brook was diverted from its natural course and directed eastward along the south side of the canal to a confluence with North Brook at the site of the Centreport Aqueduct, west of Weedsport. On the east side of the town, Putnam Brook provides the main drainage system. North of Weedsport this stream flows westerly and joins Cold Spring Brook for a short distance before flowing into the Seneca River.

Before so much of the timber was removed from the upland areas, these streams carried much larger quantities of water than they do at the present time. Several dams were constructed on the streams and were used to provide water power to operate small mills. Putnam Brook, before the Civil War, had a dam and a mill on the Sheldon farm near 8315 Jericho Road. Farther north, about east of 8401 Weedsport-Sennett road, another dam and a "Plaster Mill", a mill for processing gypsum existed as late as Civil War times.

A small saw-mill existed at about 8260 Shepherd Road, owned and operated by Oliver Stevens. Two other small mills, one on either side of the stream, were in use as late as the 1920's. They also were operated by Oliver Stevens who sawed logs in one mill and ground grains in the other.

The largest dam on Putnam Brook was located near the Montezuma Turnpike (SR 31B) east of Weedsport. This dam provided water to operate a flour mill near the site and later fed water into a mill pond which in turn powered a saw-mill located ]usl north of the village firehouse. Waste water from the mill drained into Weed's Basin.

With the passing of the saw-mill, Brutus Roller mills used the water to operate its flour making and feed grinding service. The mill pond was rather narrow but extended southward to East Street.

Locally, North brook is known as Ball 's Creek and Putnam Brook as Oliver's Creek.

Until World War II, the economy of Brutus was built on agricultural land. A considerable proportion of the land area was low and poorly drained. Many of the moraines and drumlins were too steep to be worked even with horses -- but they were most useful for pasture. The rich Ontario loam soils of which the drumlins were composed were capable of high production where they could be tilled. Ontario loam soils in Brutus have a high lime content and produce excellent yields of alfalfa as well as other hays. The same soils also produce wheat, corn, barley and oats.

When horses were the main source of farm power, many of the Brutus hills were under cultivation, but large acreages are now idle because they cannot be worked efficiently with modern equipment.

A nearly forgotten natural resource of Brutus is gypsum. Gypsum was surface-mined in several places in the town, particularly in the eastern portion until Civil War times. The rock was ground in a mill on Putnam Brook and the product spread on agricultural land, somewhat as lime is applied today. "Burned" gypsum produces plaster of paris and was the main ingredient in the old wall plaster. The "dry-wall" of today is a gypsum "board." Gypsum applied to farm soils was popularly known as land plaster. The industry never became important here because it was often necessary to remove six to eight feet of overburden in order to reach the gypsum stratum.

In the early days, sand and gravel were removed from numerous "pits" in the moraine and outwash areas. The relatively small deposits soon became impractical to work and the only gravel pits being worked commercially in the area are on the Arthur Sayles farm on Shepherd Road and the farm at 8401 Weedsport-Sennett Road.

Mineral Spring water was another natural resource within the Village of Weedsport. The Spring was located in the field west of the Marshall Manor motel. Traditionally water from the Spring was prized by the Indians, some traveled from Canada to drink the mineral water.

About the time of the opening of the Erie Canal, a man named Raynor built a sanitarium on the site and "for a time had the sanitarium filled with patients." In 1908 the Spring was taken over by Michael Coyle and Charles Caywood. They bottled the water and shipped it to New York City for use in fine hotels. It carried the title "Arrowhead Water From the Famous Weedsport Mineral Springs."