Journal Register, Medina, N.Y.
July 6, 1990
Bethinking of Old Orleans
C.W. Lattin County Historian
Vol. XII No. 27 Cobblestone Folk Tales Fact or Fancy
If a man is sufficiently imaginative to produce evidence in support of a lie he might just as well speak the truth at once. Oscar Wilde.
It’s often much more difficult to write about something than to do it. Anybody can make history! But to write about it so that it is accurate, takes great skill. Old stories, myths and legends although intriguing, inventing and sometimes amusing, can be quite misleading. So it is with cobblestone buildings which were erected in our area during the second quarter of the 19th century.
The first published research on this subject did not occur locally until 1916 in an article by Marc Cole which appeared in the Country Gentleman. It was too late as he was not able to get first hand information from a cobblestone mason as they were dead. Rather, he took second and third hand information. When more serious research began in the 1940s it was in the form of looking at the existing cobblestone buildings. In visual terms they produced evidence, yet in audible terms remained silent. In more recent years researchers have found diaries, ledgers, account books and articles from periodicals dating to the 1840s and 50s, that now give us more factual information on cobblestone buildings.
In his first book on the subject in 1944, Carl F. Schmidt spoke of these structures as Cobblestone Architecture. When he published his second book in 1966 he referred to these structures as Cobblestone Masonry. Indeed, he recognized his first terminology was erroneous. Actually, cobblestone buildings were built in various architectural styles including: Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, and some were simply utilitarian or lacking a specific style. In other words, without knowing it, we sometimes create our own myths. Therefore, to be correct, it’s cobblestone masonry, not architecture.
But the myths go on. For instance, “Ox blood was used to color the mortar.” Fact or fancy? Well, it’s fancy! Cobblestone masons did not to our knowledge color their mortar with ox blood. The mortar was simply locally burned lime mix with sand. Originally many cobblestone masonry buildings would have appeared with very light, almost white colored mortar when new. As the lime in the mortar eroded, the color of the sand has become more predominate. if colorants were ever used, researched has not yet proved what.
Cobblestone masons were secretive about their mortar mixes.” Fact or Fancy? Well this is fancy also! It was no secret how to make soft line mortar. Brick and quarried stone buildings used the same kind of mortar. In 1838 The Genesee Farmer and Gardner’s Journal published the recipe.
“Cobblestone masons were secretive about how they laid up their walls.” Fact or fancy. This, too, is fancy! This myth began because cobblestone masons covered up their work temporarily, not to keep people from seeing what they were doing, but so the sun wouldn’t dry out the mortar too quickly. People going by obviously just didn’t understand there was a pragmatic reason for this and assumed otherwise.
“The pointed horizontal mortar moldings between the rows of stone were put on to deflect Indian arrows.” Fact or fancy? This one is total fabrication! What few Indians who traveled through this area during the early years of cobblestone construction, were peaceable. Various designs in the mortar were simply aesthetics.
“All cobblestone buildings are made of stones picked up at the lakeshore.” Fact or fancy? This is false! Most all of the early cobblestone structures made use of field stone in their entirety except quarried trim. However, most of the later cobblestone buildings used lake-washed stone for outer or exterior veneer with the inner thick rubble wall made of fieldstone or perhaps in a few cases quarried stoned.
“Having such thick masonry walls must really insulate.” Fact or fancy? This common remark is totally inaccurate. A twenty-inch stone wall, although solid has practically zero insulate quality. Indeed, stone houses are cooler in the summer only because of dampness. But get a warm spell for two weeks and the cob bluestone house is just as hot as any other. In the winter they stay cold.
“Cobblestone masons built several cobblestone buildings in an area at the same time so they could go from one to another because the mortar didn’t set up so quickly.” Fact or fancy? Although this sounds quite plausible, it’s necessarily true. Actually the mortar sets up quite quickly. We do know that approximately four rows for stones could be laid up at a time. Otherwise, it would squish out. With careful observation of a cobblestone building, you can see the overlap of joints, usually about four rows above one another. In constructing the cobblestone church at Childs, the building was begun in April and completed in October, all in the fair weather season of 1834. These mason just were not dilly-dallying around at other locations.
And finally, “cobblestone buildings were built by masons who worked on the canal.” Fact or fancy? Once again, this is fancy. It makes a nice story but other than hearing or even reading this misnomer, no one has been able to prove its legitimacy. Some cobblestone masons who were in their twenties during then 1840s were just too young to have worked on the canal which was completed in 1825. This also carries over to “the Irish who dug the canal and then built these structures.”
Legends such as these die hard. Not to belittle the Irish, as indeed, they did work on the canal when it was widened and deepened beginning in 1836. Immigration records begin to show an influx of people from Ireland starting in this decade. Perhaps that’s when the legend began. For the most part, cobblestone buildings were built by local Yankee or English-descended masons. Many were professional contractors.
Legends, myths, folk tales and fabrications, for whatever reason, add color to our own local heritage. In many cases, that’s all we have. But before we assume that all these tales are completely true, we must continue to delve into our past. If anyone can prove any of the so-called legends mentioned herein, please respond to the Cobblestone Resource Center. It is anxious to acquire documented information in the form of old letters, ledges, diaries or publications from the 1830’s, 40’s and 50’s or any written proof. But please, no hearsay. The folk tales, although charming, are not there documented evidence we need.
Note: The Orleans County Department of Tourism has a website listing the 98 cobblestone buildings in that county. The site is:
http://orleanscountytourism.com/cobblestone/
Albion
14615 Zig-Zag Road - Then and Now
This house was built by Daniel Brown who was born in Columbia County in 1787. It is of Greek Revival architecture and dates to about 1840. The old photo shows two wings that are now gone. Mason Paul Briggs said: “I did all the repointing under the porch on the right side of this house. I should add that there was originally a wood wing on the house on the east side which burned and actually pre-dated the cobblestone part. There was plaster over that wall since it had been an interior wall visible on the interior of the wood framed part of the house. When the wood framed part burned, the plaster wall complete with wallpaper fragments was boarded over. I removed the wood, and took the excess mortar (plaster) off the stonework which never was meant to be seen. I repointed it and weathered it to match the other exterior joints though it was rather random cobble in appearance. Someone else did the modern brick chimney on that side. A realtor owned the house at the time and her husband was a general in the National Guard.” The quoins are of Medina sandstone.
3278 Gaines-Waterport Road
3278 Gaines-Waterport Road
Smoke house at 3615 Eagle Harbor - West Barre Road, built in the 1830s. It was demolished in the late 1960s.
Unusual Greek Revival-style roof line on this old cobblestone smoke house on the Hartley Johns Farm on at Eagle Harbor Station Road.
This is the old District 8 school house at 13883 County House Road, built in the 1830s with field cobbles. It has been a private residence for many years.
This house at 3505 Butts Road was built for Nathaniel Lake in 1846, and was long referred to as the Lake Manse.” It is trimmed in Medina sandstone.
This house at 3449 Keitel Road was built by Eliphas Bidwell who came here in 1835 from Brunswick, N.Y..
This house at 3949 Clarendon Road was built in 1843 on the Otis Hartwell farm. It remained in the family for several generations. It features several patterns of stone work.
This home at 3505 Butts Road was built for Nathaniel Lake in 1846 and was long known as the "Lake Manse." Much of the masonry is of sand stone.
About 1845 Hiram Curtis built this foundry of field cobbles on the southeast corner of Main and Orchard streets in Albion north of the Erie Canal. The firm manufactured farm implements. It was torn down about 1895. From 1857 J. H. French map of the village of Albion.
Barre
The Lee house at 13121 West Lee Road was built in the late 1830s of water polished cobbles . It was one of the first homes in the county to have carbide lights.
5306 Oak Orchard Road
This former school house at 5283 Oak Orchard Road was built in 1845 and has been a private residence for many years.
District School house No. 6 at 4757 Pine Hill Road, was built about 1830 of fieldstone cobbles and is remarkably well intact. Students attended classes in the winters. It was heated by a wood stove. It's one of the few such buildings with a cobblestone entry way. For years after it was closed it was cared for by Calvin Nesbitt who lived nearby and attended school there as a boy.
District School No 5 Cobblestone School, later Rich’s Corners School District, was built in 1846 and razed in 1959. It was located south of Holley Road. For years it was used as a community center and Sunday School. Note the stones the front were set in a herringbone pattern.
Jacob Finch and his wife, Sarah, came from Otsego county in 1826. This home at 4721 Pine Hill Road was built in the 1830s. They had nine children.
Chester Orson came to this area from Otsego county in the 1840s. He built this house at 5809 Crane Road. The date stone says "C.O. 1852 "
This home at 4617 Culver Road was built by Bryant White, an early pioneer who settled here in 1818. It is built of field stones.
The house at 13619 Miller Road was built by James Goodwin about 1844. It is built of field stone.
This house at 14581 Pusey Road was built in 1841 by James Pusey, one of the early settlers of the town. He was born in England.
Barre School District No. 15, Crane and Trench Roads, May, 1972. Walls had been plastered and door enclosed. Photo by Cary Lattin.
Cobblestone Society collection
Carlton
This house at 1402 Oak Orchard River Road has a full herringbone design on the front. The Second Empire mansard roof and the porch trim were added in the 1870s.
The Everett Gray house at 2040 Kent Road was built in 1836, according to the keystone above the door. Gray came to Carlton in 1822.
Isaac Caswell house at 2224 Kent Road was built in the 1840s. It is believed to have been built by James Grear.
Isaac Caswell house at 2224 Kent Road was built in the 1840s. It is believed to have been built by James Grear.
965 Kent Road
1685 East Kent Road
1297 Lakeshore Road
15329 Marsh Creek Road
The Butterfield House at 4690 Bennett's Corners Road is one of 90 cobblestone structures in Orleans county. It was built in 1849 of lake cobblestones by James Butterfield who, with his wife Lydia, came from Rodman, Jefferson county about 1830. The original farm consisted of 100 acres. In 1852 Butterfield left home to try his luck in the California Gold Rush. Meanwhile the family ran the farm. He didn't return until 1870. After the death of Lydia in 1887, the house was bequeathed to two of his children. After 90 years in the same family it was subsequently sold and has had several owners since then. It was placed on the National Register in 2010.
Gaines
The brick part of this house at 14799 Ridge Road at Rowley's Corners, was built first for John Hutchinson in the 1830s. The cobblestone addition came later. Hutchinson owned a nearby brickyard which may account for the fact that the main portion of the house was built of brick. The windows are not symmetrical across the face of the house. The semi-honeycomb cobblestone pattern is common in that area. Also he large wooden dormer is not original. Hutchinson was on the building committee for the Universalist Church in Childs in 1833-34. Construction may have been the work of James Grear.
3118 Densmere Road
3060 Allen's Bridge Road
2289 Kent Road
3060 Allen's Bridge Road
2289 Kent Road
Samuel Hill who came Gaines in the spring of 1823, built this house at 3278 Oak Orchard Road (North Main Street in Albion) in the late 1830s. It is constructed of field cobbles.
Smoke house at 2824 Gaines Waterport Road
Smoke house at 2824 Gaines Waterport Road
District School #4, 2728 Gaines-Waterport Road
2378 Gaines Waterport Road
The Bacon house, 3077 Oak Orchard Road. The farm was established in 1828 by Moses Bacon and has been in the same family since then. The house was built in 1844 by Elias Bacon, Moses Bacon's brother. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. Unfortunately a good view of the front of the house is obliterated by trees.
12818 Ridge Road
This Greek Revival house at 13076 Ridge Road was built for Zebulon Whipple in 1844. Very unique is the fact that the entire front facing the road is of the herring-bone pattern while the sides are of the standard cobblestone construction.
This photo was taken about 1923 of Ethel Watters Neal and her daughter, Mary Elizabeth, of Buffalo, who were out for a ride along Route 104, then known as the “Million Dollar Highway.” Mary was the mother of Jean Palmer, wife of Cobblestone Society member Richard Palmer
1840. In the 1840s and 1850s it housed the West Gaines Post Office.
13238 Ridge Road
13575 Ridge Road
District No. 1 cobblestone school house, 13592 Ridge Road
13725 Ridge Road (prior to restoration); below, now restored.
13756 Ridge Road
13789 Ridge Road
14268 Ridge Road
Cellar entrance to 14268 Ridge Road
Centerpiece of the Cobblestone Society complex at Childs is the Universalist Church at 14389 Ridge Road. After much work the building was completed in 1839. It is constructed of field cobblestones gathered from nearby. Membership declined in the 1880s. It was sold to the Cobblestone Society in 1963 and has since been restored inside and out. A museum and gift gallery are maintained in the basement.
Centerpiece of the Cobblestone Society complex at Childs is the Universalist Church at 14389 Ridge Road. After much work the building was completed in 1839. It is constructed of field cobblestones gathered from nearby. Membership declined in the 1880s. It was sold to the Cobblestone Society in 1963 and has since been restored inside and out. A museum and gift gallery are maintained in the basement.
Smoke house at 14389 Ridge Road
Gaines District No. 5 school house at 14447 Ridge Road, Childs, was built in 1849 and used as a school for 100 years. It is a part of the Cobblestone Society complex. It was built by William J. Babbitt who came to the town of Gaines from Rhode Island in 1810 when he was 24. He was a blacksmith and established the area’s first brick yard. He also served as justice of the peace, postmaster and assemblyman. It is said he suggested the name Gaines for the town. The exterior of the building is of lake-washed stones with sandstone quoins. It has been restored and is interpreted as a mid-19th century rural school.
Tablet above entrance
14403 Ridge Road
14407 Ridge Road
14407 Ridge Road before being extensively altered.
Historical marker in front of 14407 Ridge Road.
14493 Ridge Road
14493 Ridge Road
This former District No. 11 school house at 3147 Gaines Waterport Road
was built in 1846 at a cost of $350. It is now a private residence.
3118 Brown Road
15071 Ridge Road, was built in 1836 for Lauren Billings and Roxanna (Rexford). He was Justice of the Peace in Gaines and served in the New York State Militia.
The Bullard-Lattin House at 3178 Gaines Basin Road was built about 1844 by noted local mason Cyrus Witherell for Brigadier and Lovina Parker Bullard. The Bullard family owned the property until 1885 when it was purchased by Bartlett Marshall Lattin. It has been in the Lattin family ever since and many of the original furnishings survive. A descendent, Cary Lattin, was Orleans County Historian for many years and one of the founders of the Cobblestone Society. The front of the house is of water-washed stones and quoins are red sandstones. Walls are 18 inches thick.
15071 Ridge Road
3118 Brown Road
15071 Ridge Road, was built in 1836 for Lauren Billings and Roxanna (Rexford). He was Justice of the Peace in Gaines and served in the New York State Militia.
The Bullard-Lattin House at 3178 Gaines Basin Road was built about 1844 by noted local mason Cyrus Witherell for Brigadier and Lovina Parker Bullard. The Bullard family owned the property until 1885 when it was purchased by Bartlett Marshall Lattin. It has been in the Lattin family ever since and many of the original furnishings survive. A descendent, Cary Lattin, was Orleans County Historian for many years and one of the founders of the Cobblestone Society. The front of the house is of water-washed stones and quoins are red sandstones. Walls are 18 inches thick.
Local preservation effort in town of Gaines rescued
this schoolhouse from destruction.
District 2 school house, 3286 Gaines Basin Road
By Al Capurso
Detail showing colorful stonework
of District No. 2 schoolhouse.
Gaines District #2 Schoolhouse, 3286 Gaines Basin Road,
Albion, restored by the Gaines Historical Society.
Photos by Al Capurso.
_______
The history of this schoolhouse begins with a pioneer settler named Lansing (Allison) Bailey who, with his younger brother Joel, walked five days from Whitestown, Oneida County, N.Y. and purchased an article of 250 acres of land on November 18, 1811. After securing their location and registering it with the Holland Land Company office in Batavia, they returned home. In February of the following year, Lansing, Joel, Lansing’s wife Zada, and their one year old son Davis drove a yoke of oxen and several young cattle back to what was to become Gaines Basin. This location is a mile and a half west of where Albion is now and just north of where the Erie Canal now crosses. In 1811, this was virtually an unbroken wilderness.
While Lansing and Joel lived in the bush shanty they built from February to April 1812, Zada and Davis staid with pioneer settler Daniel Pratt on the Ridge Road, just west of Gaines Corners. Lansing Bailey described the shanty as being so small they would wake up in the morning with their legs covered with snow. In late winter 1812, Lansing, Joel and Daniel Pratt cut a trail from the Bailey shanty to the Ridge Road where Pratt’s cabin was located. Bailey states they accomplished this two mile feat in less than half a day.
Lansing’s biography tells the story that about this time, their dog barked earnestly at a large hollow log and determined a bear to be within. Lansing killed the bear with an axe, only to discover a young cub in it as well. They took the cub home attempt to care for it. He states that Mrs. Joseph Adams, a relative living on the Ridge Road, had recently lost a babe. Mrs. Adams agreed to nurse the cub until it became rather “harsh” in its manners.
During the spring of 1812, Lansing moved his wife and son from Daniel Pratt’s into a newly built cabin he described as a 12 feet by 16 feet hovel house of logs, with a floor of loose boards and slanting roof that overhung the cabin for storage of items. The Bailey’s are also credited with establishing what is now called Bacon Road, connecting Gaines Basin and Oak Orchard Road, at a community later named The Five Corners.. Bailey nicknamed the 1.5 mile stretch, “Lonesome Road."
In May of 1813, Lansing assisted in his wife’s delivery of twin baby girls, Ada and Zada. Joel had run to Sylvester Farr’s cabin at The Five Corners for female assistance. When they returned they found Zada, the wife with one baby, and Lansing on another bed with the other, all doing well. Lansing reported he made a cradle out of a hollow log to use as a rocker with a baby being able to lay at each end. Lansing and Joel cleared 15 acres of land this first year.
Tragedy struck that August in the Bailey cabin. First, Joel became ill with the ague and fever so common in pioneer days. He died on August 10. Soon Lansing’s wife Zada came down with the same fever before Joel could be buried.
Lansing was alone to care for his sick wife, three month old twins and two year old son. On August 15, Zada died. The families of Daniel Pratt and Joseph Adams on the Ridge Road stepped in to care for the children. After brother and wife were interred in Gaines Cemetery, the first burial ground in Orleans County, Lansing returned to his cabin and spent, as he reports, one of the most lonesome nights in his life.
Lansing’s father arrived from Stephentown to take the twins home with him while Mrs. Joseph Adams cared for Davis. Lansing worked to secure his corn crop; returning himself to his father’s home. In 1815, Lansing married Sylvia Pratt of Stephentown and the two of them came to Gaines Basin to start anew. Lansing built a nicer cabin and the five of them created a happy loving home.
In the summer of 1816, Lansing heard men shouting in the woods south of his cabin. Upon investigation he found the Erie Canal surveyors staking out the canal route. Lansing, upon hearing from them the plan they envisioned laughed at the notion of making water run uphill the 300 feet difference between Gaines and Albany. Yet, this is exactly what the canal engineers accomplished. In fact, Bailey and other settlers profited immensely with the advent of the canal since they had a way of moving their farm produce to lucrative markets. Lansing’s area was chosen for one of the turn-arounds of the canal called basins; thus Gaines Basin.
Census records from 1820 to 1830 show a doubling of families and school age eligible children. The earliest mention of a school at Gaines Basin was 1823, taught by Nancy Bullard, daughter of local pioneer and Revolutionary War veteran David Bullard. In 1826, the teacher was 14 year old Caroline Phipps. She taught several terms, then attended Gaines Academy in 1831. She grew to world-wide fame as the founder of the Phipps Union Seminary for Women in Albion, 1837. This institution flourished until the mid 1870’s under her directorship.
The 1823 Gaines schoolhouse was described as a slant roof shanty, 12 by 14 feet square with a loose board floor. This description bears a striking similarity to the first cabin built by Lansing and Joel Bailey. The difference in the two feet dimension could be from not counting the roof’s overhang. The location description of the schoolhouse (east side of the Gaines Basin Road, near where the canal now passes, is a practical pin point to where the Bailey’s first built.
Prior to 1827, Lansing Bailey, his wife Sylvia and their several children moved to Barre, now the village of Albion. In 1832, having outgrown the log shanty schoolhouse, the parents of Gaines Basin decided to build a schoolhouse of cobblestone. This building was built with three times the square footage of the shanty on the opposite side of the road. This schoolhouse served the Gaines Basin community for 112 years, until it was closed due to centralization in 1944. A trustee ledger of expenses inclusive of the years 1879 to 1917 has been found and offers a glimpse into the running of 19th century rural one room schoolhouse.
The Town of Gaines had 12 school districts in it’s day, six of which were made of cobblestone. Five of the six still exist. One was razed in 1900 when replaced by a larger wood frame building. Fortunately, organizations such as the Cobblestone Society and the Orleans County Historical Association are now actively working to restore and preserve these historic gems.
Former school house at 3147 Waterport Road
C.A. Danold and Sons’ Custom Flouring Mill on the east side of Eagle Harbor Road was built in 1837 by W.F. Collins and James Heaton. It was the largest cobblestone building ever built in Orleans County. It burned in 1839 but was rebuilt. It burned again in 1926. A portion of the wall still remains. This picture is dated 1879. Cobblestone Society collection
727 Route 272
1349 Center Road
1727 Kendall Road
1879 Route 237. Old school house used for fire
department activities.
1889 Kendall Road
Smoke house at rear of 2205 Kendall Road
2205 Route 237
16967 Route 18 (Roosevelt Highway)
17237 Kenmore Road
Murray
Old school house at 2889 Route 247
3129 Hulberton Road
3334 Groth Road
This fine old five-bay cobblestone house at 15545 Ridge Road (Route 104) in the Town of Murray, Orleans county, was was built about 1851 by mason Alfred Rugar with large field stones. It features an interesting semi-circular arch over the front door. This property was purchased by Oliver VanKirk in 1835. It is built of field stones of various sizes and shapes set in ashler mortar, with no embellishment. Noticeable are the brick lintels set vertically over the windows and door.
Old school house at 2889 Route 247
3129 Hulberton Road
3334 Groth Road
3544 Hurd Road
3631 County Line Road
3845 County Line Road
3827 Transit Road
16131 Ridge Road
Date stone on 16131 Ridge Road
16861 Ridge Road at Carton Road
It may be just a matter of time before the long-abandoned John Hunn House at 17141 Ridge Road, opposite East Holley Road in the town of Murray will join many others that have disappeared over the years for one reason or another. It's chief problem is it is too close to the highway. It is built of a combination of fieldstone with some lake-washed stone laid with V'd mortar joints. Stones are of different sizes, shapes and colors. The sills of of red sandstone. It is believed to have been built by Enoch Macomber, a mason who came from Vermont.
The Historic American Buildings Survey done in the 1930s noted:
"This house, built ca. 1840, is an interesting example of a field stone building erected during this period by the early settlers. In it one finds part of the design and detail following the old order of cornice, frieze and other parts giving the house character. An essential feature is the fact that the main portion of the house stands as it was originally built, with only minor changes, the top portion of the chimneys having been rebuilt and some smaller window pane sash relocated in the frame addition.
"The roof construction is of rough sawn timbers. The foundation and side walls are Medina stone; the side walls are faced with cobblestones obtained from the local fields; the stones are from the Medina strata commonly used in this section of the country for many buildings. They vary in color, some reds, browns, and gray yellows. The interior is quite typical, with the woodwork and mouldings all produced by hand. The floors are of pine boards and at the head of the stairs one arrives in a fairly large hall." Below are photos taken in the early 1930s when the house was still occupied.
16035 Ridge Road
16184 Ridge Road
16184 Ridge Road in 1970s
Photo by Robert Roudabush
17120 Ridge Road
Date stone at 17120 Ridge Road
Ridgeway
Largest Cobblestone Building in North America
This 22-room, 6,307 square foot building is one of the largest surviving cobblestone structures in North America. It was built in 1837 and was known as the Spencer House and later as the Cobblestone Inn. It was a stagecoach stop on the Ridge Road in the early days.
The building's outstanding feature is its size. There is no hard evidence that it was a stop on the Underground Railroad before and during the Civil War. But it is an important example of an early cobblestone masonry. It represents the first wave of prosperity in Upstate New York.
The building is located on the northwest corner of the junction of Route 104 and Oak Orchard River Road (Orleans County Route 53). It is roughly 800 feet west of where the highway crosses the Oak Orchard River, and thus the ground around it slopes gently eastward. The building itself is on a 1.3-acre graded lot, elevating it slightly above the intersection. There are houses to the west along either side of the road and woods to the east as it slopes to the river.
The building itself is a two-story L-shaped structure seven bays on the long leg, paralleling Oak Orchard River Road, and four on the short. It is faced in cobblestones, five rows per Medina sandstone quoin, with a hipped roof pierced by a single central brick chimney with stepped parapet walls at the north and west ends. There is a wide plain frieze below the overhanging eaves. Besides the quoins, the sills, lintels, and water table are all sandstone as well. On the east side are two modern wooden porches at entrances along that wall. There is visible evidence of the roofs that once sheltered both.
From the main entrance on the south wall a long central entrance hall runs north to a long four-bay room and then ends in a group of service-related rooms. The second floor has, in addition to its small guest rooms, a similar room in that space. The interior retains much of its original plaster and Greek Revival woodwork. The main staircase has its original stringers, newels and balustrade
History
There is little documentation of the building's history. The arrangement of the cobblestone facing is consistent with the middle period of the style, 1836–1845. The interior layout with the large public dining room on the first floor (probably expanded later on by removing a few rooms) suggests the inn did a lot of business on a competitive stage route.
Traffic on the stage routes declined first with the opening of the Erie Canal to the south, and then the rise of the railroads in the mid-19th century. The inn survived by becoming primarily a restaurant, and saw its business revive in the days of automobile tourism in the 1920s in that capacity. In the mid-20th century, that business declined when the New York State Thruway was built to the south in Genesee County. After being vacant for a while, the inn was converted into a residence. It has remained in that use, with no alterations, since then. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
Cobblestone barn and smoke house at 12050 Ridge Road
2499 Swett Road
11570 Ramshaw Road
3528 Culvert Road
3789 Culvert Road
12387 Ridge Road
___
Country Life in America, February, 1916 PP 22-23
Shelby
11388 Martin Road, Shelby Center
Cobblestone smoke house at 11388 Martin Road
Cobblestone smokehouse on Route 63, Shelby.
Photo by Alan Gilbert
A Master Builder of the Early
Nineteenth Century
By Marc W. Cole
Cyrus Witherell slight wisp of an Englishman, a carpenter, a stone mason, and a builder, came into Orleans County, New York, about 1814. He ives and labored in the village of Gaines, and the results of his work stand today, a monument to his genius and technique. The log cabin was then prosperity's home, the ox cart was the common vehicle, and the celebrated Ridge Road was not yet entirely surveyed.
Once this Ridge Road was an Indian trail from the Genesee to the Niagara River, and it soon became the main highway for pioneers of northwestern New York. The settlement of Gaines began about 1809, and about 1816, when the stage coach line from Canandaigua to Buffalo was established via the Ridge, it became a thriving village. Witherell no doubt helped build many pioneer log cabins, but as soon as this settlement was sufficiently prosperous, his building was confined almost entirely to stone, and law brick. Taking the material at hand, the water-worn lake stones that lay in beds along this road, he wrought all the pleasing effects shown in the illustrations with the single exception of the doorway in Fig. VII, which was built many years later by home labor, but clearly shows the influence of his style in the neighborhood.
All the houses in which those doorways stand are within a three mile radius of Gaines, and were probably built between 1820 and 1835. The lumber which this builder with ideas used was taken from standing pine woods, and it was chosen with keen an eye that flaws are not to be found even after nearly a hundred years of service.
Fig. I is one of the earliest examples of Witherill's work. The woodwork of the doorway is very simple and the stone work is not as regular nor as cleverly done as in his later work; it seems to show a lack of confidence and freedom. In Fig. II both the doorway and the house itself show a marked improvement both in treatment and design. Perhaps his environment was more congenial, at any rate he was working for a Free Thinker, a Free Mason, and a social nabob of the pioneer days.
The stones used in the main part of the house are perfectly matched and blended in color. Through the dark green of the ivy the look like the solid red and brown colorings of a Persian rug. There is almost no variation in the size of the flat stones used in the herring-bone pattern, and the mortar ridges between the courses are as regular as if cast in a form. The capitals to the columns at the doorway and on the left wing are hand carved; the columns are solid and were worked out and fluted by hand, showing today the tool marks even under many coats of paint.
Witherell must have been gifted with a log of that doubtful blessing, artistic temperament; he was greatly influenced by his environment, and unless this suited, his work reflected his discomfort. This can easily be seen in the general effect of the house and doorway to it shown in Figs. II and IV. This was built only a year after the vine covered home in Fig. II, but it stares blankly into the north and the door is almost sinister in its plainness.
The cold air of the house is relieved only by the warm colors of the stones and the darker reds of the facings to the windows, door, and corners; these could not be hidden. But on this job Cyrus was working long hours for a strict Calvinist - a crusty, penurious landowner who meat bearing down on all the building expenses, who wanted no frills; and his architect and builder wrote large over all the house of the cheerless atmosphere in which he wrote larger over all the house of the cheerless atmosphere in which he worked. There is the same material, the same general plan followed, almost the same dimensions used as in Fig. II, the contrast is remarkable.
Further off the Ridge Road, cobblestone were not easily found, but an outcrop of sandstone served for the material in the house whose doorway is shown in Fig. VI instead of being used only in ornamentation as in the other buildings. Here Witherell did not get the sam durable mixture in his mortar or else material was new and unfamiliar, for the masonry is not so cleverly done, nor so well preserved, but in the woodwork he fairly outdid himself. How long the wood for it was seasoned we can only guess, but its present day conditions in spite of a lack of paint and direct exposure to the sun, tells a tale of sterling quality and masterful joinery.
The door and woodwork are all white pine. Wrought iron nails of the finest diameter were used, and the delicate sash mullions and mortices meet without a visible joint. It is almost impossible to find a crack in the deep-set panels below the side-lights, and there has been no paint here to protect the wood for thirty years. The columns are of course solid, and the capitals and the detail below the top sash are built up from different shapes and molding and half-round stuff, yet they look like carved work on very close inspection.
A lusty inn-keeper once stood in the doorway of Fig. V and many a fair lady has spread her crinoline upon the balcony on which the upper door once opened. They may have watched the coming of the stagecoach, for this was a most important stop and the horses were changed before this door. Our builder used brick for this hotel, as a brickyard had been opened a few rods back from the building and the cobblestones were becoming too expensive a material for the many homes being built.
Whether Cyrus was the originator of the herring-bone pattern with the flat lake stones, or not, it is almost certain that his designs, so very favorably situated to be seen and admired by travelers, were widely copied. Ten stagecoaches of two competing lines passed these doors each day, carrying the business and social life of western New York, and many houses of the same generals design can be found quite frequently along the valley of the Genesee and the Niagara frontier, showing where some passing admirer of Wetherell's has attempted to duplicate it. Witherell's life was spent almost
entirely in Orleans County, all his working years surely, and his style and knowledge of design must have been largely a boyhood memory only of New and Old England.
These almost classic entrances have endured through the stagecoach days, when they looked out on the great social and political artery of early times; through the hard and narrow days which followed, when they served but as exits for some sad funeral train or some merry wedding party; through a time when they were sold for mortgage debt, when their owners struggled fruitlessly against diminishing returned from the land, and the sons of the household heard only the calls of urban life; until today, once more the social stream waxes before them.
Motors flirt the highway dust their way, and their owners once more are swinging wide the doors to newer methods and to a larger life, for farms are profitable now and the pride and satisfaction of country living have returned.
Fig. I. One of the earliest examples of Witherell's handicraft, and not so cleverly executed as his later work.
Fig. III. Built a year later than Fig II, but under unpleasant circumstances, which are reflected in the whole atmosphere of the house.
Fig IV. Doorway of Fig. III, almost sinister in its plainness. Although following the same general design and dimensions, note how much less pleasing it is than the one in Fig.II.
Fig. V. An old brick hotel by Witherell. It once had a balcony upon which the upper door opened.
Fig. VI. Sandstone was the material used here, but the masonry is not so well preserved as is the wonderfully constructed woodwork. This house has recently been torn down and the doorway now graces a new home in a neighboring city.
Shelby
11388 Martin Road, Shelby Center
This is a wooden frame building constructed over a former old carriage house. It is on the farm Andrew Ellicott who purchased from his uncle, Joseph Elliott, agent for the Holland Land Company, in 1825. Andrew died in 1839 and his wife in 1850.
Cobblestone smoke house at 11388 Martin Road
 |
This is known as the Cone-Dewey house at 10181 West Shelby Road is located just east of the Niagara–Orleans county line near Dewey Road. It was built of field cobbles in 1836 for John Shelp and is one of six cobblestone structures in the Town of Shelby. It includes 145 acres. It was occupied by Shelp and his wife, Mary, and her father, Oliver Cone, a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Shelp came from Schoharie county in 1821. Mr. Shelp lived thee until he died in 1868. In 2008 the house, two barns, and a milk house on the grounds were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is considered one of the finest examples of cobblestone architecture in western New York. Shelp, came from Schoharie County in 1828. In 1836 he moved his family into the new house and remained there until his death in 1868. He and his descendants were prosperous and productive farmers who expanded and improved the property. In the mid 20th century the house was abandoned and fell into disrepair. It was restored in the mid-1960s. The house contains a huge fireplace originally used for both heating and cooking. A bake ovens built into the side of it.
If you can find it in the jungle of vegetation this house at 4540 Millville - East Shelby Road has an interesting characteristic - the one of a kind design over the front door. This is generally known as a relieving arch, a Roman technique for adding strength to a wall for better support. However, in this case it is purely decorative as cobblestones would not offer any structural strength.
The Alanson Tinkham house at 12524 Barber Road was built of field stones about 1840.
The bell tower now sits on the ground next to the building.
12405 West Lee Road
Millville Academy building was erected in 1839. It prospered for many years. In 1849 it had 172 students enrolled. As other academies were built, the number of students diminished and its charter was forfeited in 1875. But it continued to be used as a public school - District 7 of the Town of Shelby - until June, 1854. It became the property of Millville Methodist Church in 1956. Warren Scharlett restored the belfry and bell and replaced missing windows. For awhile it was a community center and later as Cornerstone Christian School. It is now a private residence. The bell tower and bell have been removed and are sitting on the ground next to the building.
If you can find it in the jungle of vegetation this house at 4540 Millville - East Shelby Road has an interesting characteristic - the one of a kind design over the front door. This is generally known as a relieving arch, a Roman technique for adding strength to a wall for better support. However, in this case it is purely decorative as cobblestones would not offer any structural strength.
The Alanson Tinkham house at 12524 Barber Road was built of field stones about 1840.
This structure at 13285 Maple Ridge Road was built in 1841 as a Society of Friends (Quakers) meeting house. From 1874 to 1884 it was a Presbyterian church. Then it was resold by to the Quakers who used it until about 1900 when it was remodeled as a grocery store and gas station, being used as such until 1972. It became a specialty shop in 1977 but is now a private dwelling. It originally had two doors in the front. It is constructed of field cobblestones with sandstone quoins.
The bell tower now sits on the ground next to the building.
12405 West Lee Road
Millville Academy building was erected in 1839. It prospered for many years. In 1849 it had 172 students enrolled. As other academies were built, the number of students diminished and its charter was forfeited in 1875. But it continued to be used as a public school - District 7 of the Town of Shelby - until June, 1854. It became the property of Millville Methodist Church in 1956. Warren Scharlett restored the belfry and bell and replaced missing windows. For awhile it was a community center and later as Cornerstone Christian School. It is now a private residence. The bell tower and bell have been removed and are sitting on the ground next to the building.
This property, now 10339 Letts Road, was purchased by William Henderson in 1840 who may have built this house. It is constructed of field stones.
Cobblestone smokehouse on Route 63, Shelby.
Photo by Alan Gilbert
Yates
Jackson Blood house at 142 South Main St., Lyndonville, built in 1847, is a fine example of Greek Revival architecture. It was placed on the National Register in 2005. Jackson and Mary Blood came from New Hampshire to Batavia by covered wagon pulled by oxen in 1817. Mary is said to have ridden in a chair suspended by ropes from the the top of the wagon like a swing. Later they moved to Lyndonville and built this house of stones gathered from the shore of Lake Ontario. An unusual decorative feature of the facade of the main block is a semi-elliptical stone arch in the gable which springs from the lintels of the outermost second-floor windows. Blood descendants recalled how family members spent days at the lake shore gathering the right size and color of stones and returning home with three or four bushels of evenly sized gray and red sandstones at a time. The quoins are squared limestone.
This old 1846 school house at 11870 Platten Road is in excellent condition. But the original Greek revival frieze work and cornice moldings are covered up by the aluminum. The windows were originally 6 over 6 and most likely had shutters. The original door is missing and the windows appear to have been modified as can be seen by the cement running down the edges.
This house at 12449 Lake Shore Road was built in 1847 by Guernsey Warner for Abel S. Barnum who came here in 1831 after purchasing 113 acres from the Holland Land Company. It is faced with lake-washed red sandstones.
This house at 12551 Roosevelt Highway was built for Reuben Root about 1840. He was an early-day vessel captain on Lake Ontario.
This house at 12449 Lake Shore Road was built in 1847 by Guernsey Warner for Abel S. Barnum who came here in 1831 after purchasing 113 acres from the Holland Land Company. It is faced with lake-washed red sandstones.
This house at 12551 Roosevelt Highway was built for Reuben Root about 1840. He was an early-day vessel captain on Lake Ontario.
No comments:
Post a Comment