Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutContinuation Sheet - 43-45 E. Main, Trumansburg.pdfN.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet Address: 43-45 East Main Street Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg ICCJ� -- Narrative Description of Property The converted residence of 43-45 East Main Street is located on the north side of the roadway. The adjacent property to the east, 47-49 East Main Street, has the same set- back. The L-shaped two-story building has a front gable and a side -gable wing is a late example of the Greek Revival style. A very heavy entablature runs under the eaves, terminating in returns on the gable ends. The clapboard building has thin corner boards. The first and second floor windows, with the exception of the storefront and the enclosed porch, are 1/1 light vinyl replacements. The storefront on the main (south) fagade is original. The storefront retains the shape and massing of the neighboring cast iron facades, but lacks the materiality. These storefront is defined by a narrow cornice capped by flat stock. The windows flush with the fagade are divided into four lights by wooden mullions. The paired door is set back, with a transom above it and paneling below. The surrounding storefront is also paneled at the bottom. The space between the gable end and gable wing is in -filled by a one-story enclosed porch with shed roof. Five windows with fixed sash and 2/2 lights wrap around the porch, three on the south facade and two on the west facade. A twelve fixed -light is on the northern end of the west fagade of the porch. The roofs of both the porch and the building are clad with asphalt shingles. Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014 N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet Address: 43-45 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 appears to contract this phenomenon. Based on the historical descriptions of the fire, it seems unlikely that a building constructed of wood would survive the conflagration in such immaculate shape. Instead, it's more likely that the replacement building was constructed in c. 1864 of the Greek Revival style, despite the fact that this falls a few years outside the style's typical period of influence (A Field Guide to American Houses). The first Sanborn Insurance Map survey of April 1883 identified that the eastern portion of the building served as a grocery story, while the adjacent western gable wing served as a dwelling. The porch was already extant on this map. The next map of December 1893 repeats the designation. The May 1898 map indicates that the western portion continued to be used as a dwelling, while the eastern commercial space served as a "work room." A jewelry store moved into the eastern commercial space by the time of the December 1905 survey; the western portion continued to be a dwelling. By the December 1910 map, the western portion continued to function as a dwelling, while the adjacent "store" was vacant. In the final September 1929 Sanborn again identified the western portion as a dwelling, with the inclusion of a small addition, possibly a garage, at the rear (north) of the property. The eastern portion continued to be identified as a store. Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014 2 N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet Address: 43-45 East Main Street Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg Narrative Description of Significance (continued) Partial History of Ownership of Building_ Date Acquired Book Page Charles Stewart Caroline Hoover 1/29/1995 748 329 i F�- (current owner) 10/7/2005 48028 2001 Figure 1: Main (south) facade Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014 3 N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet Address: 43-45 East Main Street Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg Sources Celebration of the Bicentennial of the United States of America in the Town of Ulysses and the Village of Trumansburg. Publisher unknown: 1976. 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. McAlester, Virginia, and A. Lee McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Knopf, 1984. Sears, Lydia. A History of Trumansburg, New York, 1792-1967. Location unknown: I -T Publishing Corp, 1978. Tompkins County. "Property Description Report For: 45-47 Main St E, Municipality of V. Trumansburg." Image Mate Online. Accessed July 29, 2014. Compiled by Katelin Olson, August 15, 2014 4