Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutContinuation Sheet - 21-23 E. Main, Trumansburg.pdfN.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet Address: 21-23 East Main Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg Narrative Description of Property Constructed c. 1865 after a massive fire demolished the north side of Main Street in 1864, the current building is one of three blocks that survives of Trumansburg Italianate commercial period. Of the block, it retains the least amount of historical integrity. The cast iron facades present on adjoining units to the west are not present on these units. A photograph taken between 1864 and 1871 shows its original cast iron store front and second -floor wrought iron balcony (Sears). By contrast, #23 served for several decades in the late 1800s and early 1900s as the Gregg Hose Co, an engine house for a fire company. This usage suggests it may never have possessed a cast iron storefront or that if it did, it may have been removed at an early date to accommodate the storage of fire engines. 21 and 23 East Main Street essentially function as a single building, sharing an internal stair case that is access by a first -floor door centered on the street (south) fagade. The eastern portion (#23) was an addition from 1879, indicated by the slight variation in the roof lines, configuration of the brick, and abbreviation of the third window from the east. In comparison, the windows of the western portion (#21) are centered. The ornate corbelling along the cornice, particularly the inclusion of the round -arch (arcade) to mimic the style of the windows, is repeated on #23, as is the corbelled belt course that links the subtle brick hoods distinguishing the windows on the second floor. The second - floor round -arch windows retain their historic fixed, arched, two -lights; rectangular 1/1 vinyl sash windows are installed below. These are insufficient for the size of the opening, and the remaining space below the windows has been filled in with plywood or another composite material. The brick is painted. The first floor on the main (south) fagade has been extensively altered. At the time of the 1977 survey, the first -floor facade had been altered by board -and -batten cladding and modern windows. As of 2014, the board -and -batten has been replaced by clapboard. A projecting cornice caps the siding is at an incompatible height with the adjoining unit to the west, beginning immediately at the termination of the stone sills of Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014 N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet Address: 21-23 East Main Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg Narrative Description of Property (continued) the second floor. #21 is characterized by two plate glass windows near the center and to the west, with a modern glass and metal door and the doorway to the internal staircase on the eastern side of the unit. The first floor of #23 contains a contemporary door with a window air conditioner unit overhead, and two 1/1 windows with vinyl sas Narrative Description of Significance Trumansburg has an unfortunate history of massive fires, and buildings that stretched the length of the north side of Main Street from Union Street to the Presbyterian Church were consumed in a monstrous conflagration on February 22, 1864. In The History of Trumansburg (1890), local historians record the fire in the following way: There was no fire apparatus of any description in the town ... it became apparent that the town must go not with out standing the almost superhuman efforts of the people to check the conflagration. Lines of men, women, and even children were formed, buckets of water were passed, and the advancing flames persistently fought at every step until delicate women would fall to the ground from sheer exhaustion....Main Street from the bridge to the Presbyterian Church and Elm Street to the corner of Whig were filled with the house hold goods and merchandise of all descriptions ... Thee scene at daylight beggards description. One half the town in ruins, scores of homeless people searching the saved property for their belongings. (As quoted by L. Sears, 53). The Trumansburg New York Incorporation Centennial (1972) notes that many of the buildings devoured in the fire were of wood and the majority of owners chose not to rebuild, instead selling the lots. The new owners overwhelmingly constructed their new buildings out of brick, historically an urban guard against fire, and adopted more uniform designs and greater set -backs. The block at 7-23 East Main Street reflects this new building style. #21 was constructed between 1864 and 1871 for commercial purposes, and the adjoining #23 was built by the Village c. 1879. The catastrophic fires of 1864 and 1871 compelled the Village to take a more proactive approach to fire fighting. County Historian Carolyn Martin writes, "J.D. Bourton was re-elected president of the village in 1879, in a special election which presented the villagers the proposition to build an engine house. That engine house is today the building housing Gregory's Restaurant. A small door to this station was left unlocked and whoever got there first to turn [on] the alarm and rang the station bell. Church bells, the only method of alarm for years, picked up the danger signal and tolled it for miles" (27). In April 1887, Sanborn Insurance Map officials surveyed #21 and #23 (listed on the map as #409 and #410, respectively). Despite the variation in the length of the buildings to the rear (north), the presence of an overlapping, shared staircase is an early Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014 2 N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet Address: 21-23 East Main Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg Narrative Description of Significance (continued) indication that the two units operated as a single structure. #21 is noted as a millinery and #23 is listed as a "fire engine house," with a hose tower identified on the rear (northern) portion of the building. The usage for both units remained the same in the December 1893 and May 1898. In the December 1905 survey, #21 is described as a "fancy goods store and millinery" and as "millinery and notions in December 1910. In both surveys, #23 continued to be used as a fire engine house. A surveyor of in 1910 helpfully listed some of the equipment stored in the building, including: "1 steamer, 1 hand engine, 1 chemical engine" as well as hose and other items. In the final survey of September 1929, surveyors simply noted that #21 was simply a store. The Village Board approved the sale of the engine house at a meeting held on March 25, 1925, due to the approved construction of a new fire house and village administration building on Union Street. By 1929, a "plumber" and a "shop basement" were noted on the survey. (Sears notes a parade by the Gregg Hose Company in 1924, suggesting they were still active.) Subsequent research by former Village Historian Lydia Sears writes of quite the neighborly squabble. Mr. Sylvanus Earle's wife ran a millinery shop on Main Street, next door to the village engine house, #23. Mr. and Mrs. Earle lived on the second floor of #21. In the late summer of 1886, Mr. Earle saw the men of the Gregg Hose Company (engaged in dubious activities, which he presumably shared in the community. Angered, the "cream of Trumansburg's young manhood" reputedly assaulted him in retaliation. Sears writes, The story of the assault and Mr. Earl's suit for damages of $1500, is briefly as follows. Six members of the Gregg Hose and one of the Excelsior fire companies entered the Gregg Hose parlors where Mr. Earle and three others were playing whist. The young men engaged in, `a friendly encounter,' which broke up the game. Mr. Earle, on the witness stand swore that he was made the subject of gross indignities; he was made a beast of burden, they rode him, they pushed him, they tripped him up, and tossed him. They threw him headlong to the floor, extinguished the lights, and guarded the door to prevent his exit. In short they terrified him to the extent that he was...'scared almost to death and broke down and cried,' as he himself testified. He was finally assisted through the window of the balcony of his apartment by stones before his loving wife let him in through the window." After 15 minutes deliberation, the jury in the case "returned with a verdict of no cause for action (83-84). Historically, these units were not the eastern terminus of the row of buildings. Sanborn Insurance Maps indicate that there were additional two buildings immediately to the east: #25 and #27, as indicated on the September 1929 map. The former appeared to share a wall with #23, and may have been connected to the Engine House. #27 was a feed mill. The 1977 survey indicates that a fire consumed the feed mill, which likely was Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014 3 N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet Address: 21-23 East Main Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg Narrative Description of Significance (continued) responsible for the demolition of the adjoining building. This site today serves as a parking lot for #23. Both #21 and #23 served as a restaurant for much of the 20th century. In 1933, John Jeffery and Francis German started the J. and G. Restaurant in the #21. Around 1934, it became Gregory's when John Gregory first bought out Jeffery's interest and then German's interest. (According to Lydia Sears, Gregory purchased Paul McDonald's building, which housed the plumbing business and allowed the restaurant to expand.) The exhibit by the Ulysses Historical Society discussed in the cited article by the Ithaca Times states that on October 1, 1946, John Delaurentis purchased the building and Paul McDonald, who had operated a plumbing section (referenced in the 1929 Sanborn Map) in #23, moved out, allowing the restaurant to expand. Either way, Delaurentis sold the business to Stanley Springer on October 1, 1976 and Spring renamed it the Shin Hollow Tavern, after a reputed early reference to Trumansburg. (Local lore states that in the early days of the community, imbibers at the local taverns would bump their shins on the many tree stumps left over from clearing the land and building the village.) As of June 2014, #21 houses Good to Go Market, a small organic grocery store that opened in November 2010. In #23 is Dragon Village, a Chinese take-out restaurant. Originally Dragon Village had a sit-down restaurant in #21, but condescend into a single unit. Partial History of Ownership of #21-23 Date Acquired Book Page Village of Trumansburg -1871 John Delaurentis October 1, 1946 Stanley Springer October 1, 1976 Barry J. Michael, Inc. Joseph Seamon January 2, 2003 42481 8001 (current owner)February 21, 2007 50447 7001 Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014 4 N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet Address: 21-23 East Main Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg Figure 1: Main (south) facade Figure 2: East facade Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014 5 N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet Address: 21-23 East Main Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg Sources Digital Sanborn Maps 1867-1970. Ann Arbor, Mich.: ProQuest UMI, 2001. Goldstein, Carol and Tania Werbizky. "21-23 E. Main Street," NY Building Structure Inventory Form, Division for Historic Preservation. Albany, NY, Spring 1977. Martin, Carolyn A. Trumansburg, New York Incorporation Centennial." Trumansburg, NY: The Trumansburg Centennial Association Incorporated, 1972. Sears, Lydia. A History of Trumansburg, New York, 1792-1967. Location unknown: I -T Publishing Corp, 1978. Tompkins County. "Property Description Report For: 21-23 Main St E, Municipality of V. Trumansburg." Image Mate Online. Accessed July 29, 2014. Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014 6