HomeMy WebLinkAboutContinuation Sheet - 2 E. Main, Trumansburg.pdfN.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet
Address: 2 East Main Street
Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg
Narrative Description of Property
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#2 is an ornate Italianate commercial style three-story building, the most
impressive building of its contemporaries, as well as the tallest. The first floor is
commercial and the upper floors are residential.
An excellent local example of the style, the building features very showy and
lovely brickwork on the main (north) facade. The third -story paneled cornice is especially
notable, featuring dentils and small "houses" above the corbelled end brackets. The first
story cornice is bracketed.
The building retains the original 2/2 wooden double -hung sash, ornate round -arch
hoods and a distinctive single "sill" that runs the length of both the second and third
floors under the bands of four windows.
The cast iron fagade is exposed and flanked at the western and eastern ends by
brick pillars. The cast iron has paneled pilasters with daisy -patterned capitals. The only
modifications to the openings are the slight enclosure of the doors (one main entrance,
one to access the internal staircase). Below each of the plate glass windows are
decorative "gothic" quatrefoil grill work, historically also present on the adjacent
building, Rongovian Embassy (1, 3, 5 West Main).
The brick on the rear (south) fagade is experiencing spauling; many spots have
been patched with concrete, while gaps remain where bricks are missing. This fagade also
retains part of the original window detailing. The sills are identical to the north and east
facades, but the window are delineated with a flat arch constructed of brick. The upper
halves of the second (3) and third floors (4) contain the original two fixed -lights. The
bottom halves vary between double -hung sash with one/one (third floor) and 6/6 lights
(second floor). The first floor windows have been filed to accommodate an attached,
Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014
N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet
Address: 2 East Main Street
Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg
Narrative Description of Property (continued)
raised, one-story addition sided with T-111 and covered with a shed roof. The building is
accessible from an eastern staircase constructed of pressure -treated lumber. The basement
can be accessed from a door underneath the addition.
Narrative Description of Significance
The second great fire in Trumansburg history (the first occurring in February
1864), erupted on May 5, 1871 and proceeded to destroy the parts of the commercial
district that were spared seven years earlier. The fire erupted along the south side of Main
Street and quickly spread among the wooden buildings. County Historian Carolyn A.
Martin wrote, "Even buildings on that side of Main Street were lost, and when the fire
jumped across the street four more went, among them the Washington House, one of the
finest hotels for miles .... In all, twenty-three businesses were lost." As in the case of the
1864 fire, arson was suspected but never proven (Martin, 25-26).
The row of predominantly brick buildings (the masonry Biggs Building is the
exception, a replacement due to fire) along Main Street west of Trumansburg Creek were
constructed after the 1871 fire. The previous lots were smaller and the buildings
constructed of wood. The fire provided the opportunity for the creation of larger lots and
the construction of larger, brick buildings in a compatible Italianate commercial style
(Martin, 27). According to the History of Trumansburg (1890), F.B. Stone purchased the
eastern half of a lot and "built ... the store occupied [in 1890] by C.L. Chapman" (90).
The 1977 survey noted that the bricks many have been brought in from the Seneca
Falls/Waterloo area, as Trumansburg never produced any great quantity of brick.
The survey work for the first Sanborn Insurance Map in Trumansburg was
completed in April 1887, listing #2 as a clothing store. It continued to be used for this
purpose as designated on the December 1893 map and again on the May 1899 map. In
this later edition, a hand -powered printing shop was located on the second floor. The
building continued to sell clothing on the first floor as of the December 1905 map, with
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) utilizing the upper floors.
Trumansburg's IOOF chapter, Tuckahannock, was organized in 1844 (Sears, 32).
They rented the upper two floors of #2 until they completed their own building (25-27
West Main) in 1906. The December 1905 Sanborn shows a clothing store still occupied
the first floor, and the December 1910 Sanborn indicates the clothing store expanded to
sell boots and shoes. The final September 1929 map only indicates that the building
contained a store. The 1977 surveyors interviewed Anna Tunison, who recalled the C.L.
Chapman clothing store operating through the 1920s from this location.
As of 2014, the first floor houses NY Pizzeria, while the upper floors contain
apartments.
Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014 2
N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet
Address: 2 East Main Street
Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg
Narrative Description of Significance (continued)
History of Ownership of Building_ Date Acquired Book Page
W.J. Stone
F.B. Stone
David H. Laurie
c. 1871
(current owner) November 4, 1997 808 157
Figure 1: Main (north) facade
Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014 3
N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet
Address: 2 East Main Street
Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg
Figure 2: Rear (south) facade
Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014 4
N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet
Address: 2 East Main Street
Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg
Sources
Celebration of the Bicentential of the United States ofAmerica in the Town of Ulysses
and the Village of Trumansburg. Publisher unknown: 1976.
Digital Sanborn Maps 1867-1970. Ann Arbor, Mich.: ProQuest UMI, 2001.
Goldstein, Carol and Tania Werbizky. "9-15-19 E. Main Street," NY
Building Structure Inventory Form, Division for Historic Preservation. Albany,
NY, Spring 1977.
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: 19 Main St E, Municipality of
V. Trumansburg." Image Mate Online. Accessed July 29, 2014.
Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014 5