On May 6, 1836, The Lewiston Rail-Road Company was incorporated in New York State.

[1][2][3] Its board of directors were Benjamin Barton, Bates Cooke, Lothrop Cooke, Joshua Fairbanks, Oliver Grace, Calvin Hotchkiss, Seymour Scovell, Leonard Shepard, Jacob Townsend, and Amos S.

The line started from the Niagara River wharves and the American Hotel in Lewiston, made a 'U' to climb from the river bank and followed along the streets heading east through Lewiston proper.

The line then crossed several farms, climbing the Niagara Escarpment to the top of Indian Hill to meet with the Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad at a point just west of the Tuscarora Reservation.

[1] The Lewiston Railroad had then began building a new route from the same starting point in Lewiston as the original line, but then headed south for about 5 miles to Suspension Bridge where the Grand Trunk Railway crossed the Niagara River into the US from Canada.