HomeMy WebLinkAboutContinuation Sheet - 44 East Main Street.pdfN.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet
Address: 44 East Main Street
Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg
Narrative Description of Property
A corner commercial Italianate-style three-story building on the south side of East
Main Street and north side of Elm Street, 44 E. Main functioned historically and
contemporarily as a gateway into the business district. All four facades of the building
reflect a high degree of detailing, although the west fagade is devoid of first or second
floor windows. Each floor is characterized by a different window design. First floor
windows have full, rounded arch hoods; second floor windows have segmented arch
hoods; third floor windows are lunette -style round -headed arched windows. Each
window has a stone sill, All three styles appear on the Main Street (north) fagade, the Elm
Street (east) facade, and the rear (south) facade. There are no windows on the west
fagade. The third floor is indicated by the presence of a brick beltcourse, while brick
corbelling is immediately under the metal cornice. The overall rectangular massing, flat
roof, materials and features are typical of Trumansburg's Italianate commercial buildings.
A one-story brick wing was added to the Main Street (north) fagade sometime
between 1929 (Sanborn Insurance Map) and the 1977 survey by the Tompkins County
Planning Department (Goldstein and Werbizky, 1977). This addition originally had plate
glass windows, which have been subsequently partially in -filled with wood and modern
vinyl Palladian windows. The hipped roof may be original this this wing, or added to
address water issues prevalent with flat roofs. The main entrance to this addition, serving
as the main entrance to the entire building, was enclosed and doors added to the east and
west sides. Seemed metal round arch projecting roofs, partially supported by modern
turned wooden posts, cover the brick landings to each entrance and are accompanied by
modern wooden balustrades.
N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet
Address: 44 East Main Street
Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg
Narrative Description of Property (continued)
On the rear (south) fagade, one first -floor window was altered for the installation
of a door and an abbreviated one-story gable -ended projecting entrance was added post -
1977 survey. The one-story gabled west wing and enclosed entrance was added prior to
the 1977 survey. A short brick chimney extends about the roof line.
The 1929 Sanborn Insurance map indicates that there was an addition to the east
side of the rear (south) facade. While it no longer exists, this may explain the absence of
first and second floor windows on that portion of the fagade, as this may have been in -
filled after the addition was removed. As the brick and metal detailing were painted post -
1977 survey, it is more difficult to discern changes in the brick.
As of June 2014, the building is use McCune and Murphy Physical Therapy.
Narrative Description of Significance
Constructed by the H.D. Barto and Company Bank, 44 E. Main is the first
building within the Village known to be constructed specifically as a bank. Prior to the
present structure's construction in 1864, the site was actively used, likely because it is
situated on raised ground before the land dips down to meet the Trumansburg Creek.
Such placement undoubtedly protected it from any flooding experienced by buildings at a
lower elevation.
According to A History of Trumansburg (1890), Albert Crandle of Owego moved
to Trumansburg in 1806 and two years later "erected a building on the lot between the
H.D. Barto and Co. bank and the resident of J.D. Bouton (Peitz house); subsequently
there was built an addition which covered the site of the present bank building." This
previous structure was constructed for "Mr. Hollenbeck of Owego who in connection
with Mr. Crandall opened a general store in one part and Mr. Crandall used the other as a
tavern." A barn connected with this structure was at the corner of Elm Street and East
Main, likely overlapping with the current structure's footprint. This barn was destroyed
by a fire in 1846.
Between 1845 and 1850, the property was sold to Herman Camp and these early
structures, undoubtedly built of wood, were torn down. On April 12, 1864, Herman Camp
sold now vacant parcel to H.D. Barto for $900. The H.D. Barto and Company Bank was
organized in 1863; H.D. Barto served as the first president and George E. Spink as the
first cashier.
Barto died in December 1873 and per his 1868 will, his widow, Kate Barto,
inherited the bank on the condition that she remained unmarried. Several years later Kate
Barto married a Mr. Delano, and the bank passed to H.D. and Kate's son, Fred D. Barto
on June 9, 1879. Fred D. served as the cashier and Henry L. Hinckley as the president,
and the bank reported a capital of $50,000 that same year. The following year, however,
N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet
Address: 44 East Main Street
Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg
Narrative Description of Significance (continued)
proved very challenging for the Barto Bank. It seems to have been heavily connected to
the Gregg Foundry, a very important employer in Trumansburg, which manufactured a
variety of farming implements, such as the Meadow King Mower, the Gregg Reaper, and
the Osborn Plow Sulky. According to Lydia Sears, by the 1880s the Gregg Foundry
"was having difficulties as the binder gradually was replacing the reaper on the nation's
farms. The company was never able to make a binder that worked and it failed in 1887.
The Gregg failure brought about the Barto Bank closing."
Fred D. Barto retained ownership of the building until his death (date unknown)
and Sanborn Insurance maps give some indication of the building's use after the Bank
bank closed. The December 1893 maps lists the property as in use as bank, although the
specific name is unlisted. By May 1898, the Gregg Hose Company, one of a few local
fire companies, used the upper floors.
The Gregg Fire Company was one of three different ones in Trumansburg, and
seemed to function as social clubs, including hosting dances, banquets, and marching in
parades in uniforms, as well of out of necessity in the fire -prone village. They organized
in July 1882 , eventually renting space across the road from the engine house located at
23 East Main Street. Their first members included: Will Jones, foreman; Charles Lisk,
assistant; R.V. Barto, secretary and treasurer; W.F. Creque and G.H. Almy. They decided
at their second meeting to be called the Gregg Hose after Chauncey P. Gregg, "a
prominent manufacturer and partner in Gregg Iron Works, one of the most important
industries Trumansburg ever had." The company lasted until the fire companies were
unified in 1927 (Martin, 29).
The May 1898 Sanborn map also shows for the first time the small addition to the
rear (south) fagade, thus added sometime between 1893 and 1898. On the December
1910 map, this addition was listed as in use as storage. This was used to store the hoses
for the Gregg Hose Co. (Martin, 29).
Fred D. Barto's widow, Ella Barto, conveyed the property to Albert F. Allen in
November 1907. By the 1910 survey by the Sanborn Insurance Company, 44 E. Main
was used for printing purposes, likely on the first floor, as well as the Gregg Engine
Company. During the September 1929 map, surveyors indicated a printing usage, but
also noted it was "not in operation." A previous historical survey suggested that this
"printing" referred to the local newspaper, The Free Press, which appears to have rented
the building between ca. 1900-1930.
In December 1939, Allen's widow sold the property to the Spencer Co-op
Society, Inc. The building was used as the Co-op's food store for the next few decades.
On April 11, 1961, the Spencer Co-op sold the property to the Tompkins, Schuyler, Tioga
County patron's Fire Relief Association, which went on to change its name to the Finger
N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet
Address: 44 East Main Street
Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg
Narrative Description of Significance (continued)
Lakes Co-op in 1963. The insurance company continued to own the building as of the
spring of 1977.
Joseph E. Farrell conveyed the property to Roberta Farrell on January 22, 2004
for $1, who conveyed it to the present owners on October 24, 2007 for $195,000. This
deed is listed as Deed Book 51689, Deed Page 9001. The building is currently occupied
by McCune and Murphy Physical Therapy.
Figure 1: Main (north) facade
N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet
Address: 44 East Main Street
Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg
Figure 2: Rear (south) and east facades
N.Y. Historic Resource Inventory Form - Continuation Sheet
Address: 44 East Main Street
Village/Hamlet: Trumansburg
Sources
Goldstein, Carol and Tania Werbizky. "Newell's Tourist Home, 44 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.
History of Tiago, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuler Counties. Philadelphia, PA: Everts
and Ensign, 1879.
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.
Sanborn Map Company, ProQuest Information and Learning Company, and
Environmental Data Resources, Inc. 2001. Digital Sanborn maps 1867-1970.
Ann Arbor, Mich.: ProQuest UMI. http://sanbom.umi.com/.
Tompkins County. "Property Description Report For: 44 Main St E, Municipality of
V. Trumansburg." Image Mate Online. Accessed June 18, 2014.