HomeMy WebLinkAboutContinuation Sheet - 39 E. Main, Trumansburg.pdfN.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet
Address: 39 East Main Street
Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg
Narrative Description of Property
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The two-story, wood frame structure is flush with 37 East Main Street to the west
and 41 East Main Street to the east. The building is located on the north side of the road,
and Trumansburg Creek runs due north of the building. It is built into the hillside that is
gradually sloping upwards to the east.
The formerly commercial building has been significantly altered in the 20th and
21St centuries, and only retains the massing of the original building. The use the vinyl
siding and replacement windows have rendered what was likely a vernacular structure
unrecognizable as a historic building. The roof of the rectangular structure appears from
aerial photography to be completely flat. A shallow, but distinct, projecting cornice
creates horizontal cap on the fagade.
A narrow steeply pitched porch roof, similar to the one on 37 East Main, runs the
length of the street (south) facade. This is likely the same shape as the porch that
originally extended along both 39 and 41 East Main. A short balustrade runs between the
posts supporting the porch roof.
The window and door opening are likely alterations to previous configurations.
The main (south) fagade is asymmetrical and contains a variety of openings of various
sizes.
The north facade was inaccessible when the property was surveyed in June 2014.
The building currently shares a tax parcel with 41 East Main to the east, and the
two buildings have been sided as if they are a single unit.
Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014
N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet
Address: 39 East Main Street
Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg
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. 43-45 East Main Street is one of four wooden buildings
along the north side of East Main Street to contradict this phenomenon.
The first Sanborn Insurance Map survey of April 1883 identified the building as a
grocery with a shooting gallery in the basement. The December 1893 shows the building
has been subdivided by a simple frame partition, with a vacant space in the western
portion and a grocery in the eastern portion. In the May 1898 map, the western space was
simply designated as "music," suggesting a store, with the grocery still in the eastern part.
A pool room had been installed in the basement.
The western portion was used as storage by the time of the December 1905
survey; the eastern was designated as vacant. Five years later (December 1910), Sanborn
surveyors noted that a telephone exchange occupied the western section, while a cigar
factory and pool (hall, presumably) occupied the eastern one. By this time, an awning or
solid type of covering stretched the length of the main (southern) facade of the building, a
continuous piece that connected with the adjoining building (41 East Main) to the east.
As of the final Sanborn map of September 1929, the telephone exchange, pool hall, and
cigar factory continued to occupy the same places within the building.
As of June 2014, the building is exclusively in use as a residential apartment
complex, having been converted from commercial use at some point in the 201h century.
Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014 2
N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet
Address: 39 East Main Street
Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg
Narrative Description of Significance (continued)
Partial History of Ownership of Building Date Acquired Book Page
David C. Vanetten
Shelby J. Hildebrand 9/10/1992 684 144
(current owner) 8/26/2003 43880 5001
Figure 1: Main (south) facade
Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014 3
N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet
Address: 39 East Main Street
Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg
Sources
Digital Sanborn Maps 1867-1970. Ann Arbor, Mich.: ProQuest UMI, 2001.
A History of Trumansburg. Trumansburg, NY: The Free Press, 1890.
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: 39-41 Main St E, Municipality of
V. Trumansburg." Image Mate Online. Accessed July 29, 2014.
Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014 4