#pennyanoddity

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Do you know Penn Yan?: Penn Yan Oddity No. 61 through No. 90

By Jonathan Monfiletto

Anyone who has conducted research either through Yates County’s digitized newspapers or the Yates County History Center’s subject files has likely come across items titled either “Penn Yan Oddity” or “Yates County Oddity.” These items – snippets might be a good word – provide information about various aspects of local history, seeming to answer some sort of question or mystery.

Seeing so many of these snippets – and finding the answers but seeming not to find the question – I decided to scour our digitized newspaper database to see if I could find all of them, the questions with the answers. It turns out the oddities – 90 Penn Yan Oddity items, 52 Yates County Oddity items – were part of an advertising campaign in the 1940s for Baldwin’s Bank, then located at 127 Main St. in Penn Yan, the present-day home of the Arts Center of Yates County.

The Penn Yan Oddities ran in The Chronicle-Express in consecutive weeks from February 20, 1947 to November 11, 1948, and then the Yates County Oddities picked up right away in the newspaper from November 18, 1948 to November 24, 1949. So, for more than 2 and a half years, readers of The Chronicle-Express could learn something about local history each week in the newspaper.

Each item started out as an advertisement for Baldwin’s Bank with the phrase “Do You Know Penn Yan?” at the top of the graphic followed by the question for the week. In the middle, the bulk of the ad, would appear information about the bank’s various services and offerings. The bottom would direct the reader to look for the answer elsewhere on the same page and then look for another Oddity the following week.

In this article, I present Penn Yan Oddity No. 61 through No. 90. Each question and answer has been transcribed exactly as it appeared in the newspaper, which changes made only for typographical errors and not for grammatical style. The only time words have been removed from the items is in the case of references to photographs or other information that appeared elsewhere in the newspaper.

61) Where was the Post Office before the present building?

The present federal post office building was erected at a cost of some $60,000 in 1912. Two houses were moved to make room for the building. Before that time the federal department was housed in the central rear area of the Arcade building, ground floor.

Does anyone remember what houses were moved to make room for the present post office and where those dwellings are now?

62) What building is now on site of first Catholic church?

Perhaps without a magnifying glass you will be able to see in the picture of the Lake Keuka outlet on this page the steeple of the first Penn Yan Catholic church on Pine street, now Keuka street. It is in the left background of this picture. And very faint against the skyline in the extreme left is the steeple of the present St. Michael’s church on Liberty street. The Wemple Phalen residence was built some years ago at 118 Keuka street on a lot which was filled in over the basement and foundation of the old church, which remained there in ruins for many years.

63) What building now stands on site of old casket factory?

The light and life around the Penn Yan Public library today definitely do not suggest the historic fact that it stands on the site of the Hopkins brothers’ planing mill in which were made grape boxes, caskets, and furniture.

Until 1905, the embryonic Penn Yan library nested in one small room of Penn Yan Academy. Andrew Carnegie funds erected the present library building on a lot donated by patriotic local citizens. The collection of books immediately grew, their use increased, and Penn Yan became proud of its library.

Learning this, it is still difficult for many to believe that within a half century a yard of logs and the planing mill occupied the location of what is now Hopkins place, the short street with three dwellings at the rear of the library. The home at No. 5 Hopkins place, occupied by Arthur R. Wright and family, was originally a portion of the mill office. Later it was moved towards Main street, then again moved to its present foundation to make way for the library building. The planing mill was razed.

Elisha G. Hopkins, to dip a bit into local history, was born in Whitestown, Oneida county, Nov. 8, 1792, living his adult life in Penn Yan and dying here March 22, 1871, while he was at work in the planing mill. Mrs. Bertha Parker, his granddaughter and a resident at 210- Main street, the first house south of the library, is the proud possessor of a chair and other articles of furniture which he made in the mill. He erected a square house on the site of the present dwelling, in which Mrs. Hopkins’ sister, Mrs. Jasper (Effie Grace) Smith passed away April 8.

Elisha Hopkins had two sons. Fletcher Hopkins built the dwellings at 111 and 113 Chapel street after the hitching barns were torn down. These sheds served members of the First Methodist church, which then stood about where Dr. Barbara Strait’s home and the Episcopal parsonage are. Mrs. Fred Whitaker of Court and Liberty streets and Edward G. Hopkins of 128 East Main street are his daughter and son.           

The other brother was Edward Gilbert Hopkins, who lived in what is now the Fred Beard residence, 424 Liberty street. About 1900 he tore down the house of his father had built, south of the library, and erected the present residence. The Hopkins brothers operated brothers operated an undertaking business, making some of the caskets in their own planing mill and buying others when customers wanted something more ornate.

Hopkins place – one of Penn Yan’s shortest streets – today bears no trace of the log piles and three story planing mill which made it a busy center of industry before the century turned.

64) What streets are named after men who were killed?

Garfield, McKinley, and Lincoln avenues, all three grouped just east of East Main street, were named after three presidents who were assassinated.

65) Where does East Main Street begin?

Or, let’s put this week’s Penn Yan Oddity question this way – Where does Main street begin?

Some will say at the corner of East Main and Lake street. Others, at the outlet. And some, at the Water-Seneca street intersection. There has been general confusion on this point and the numbers on the Quenan and the Blakesee blocks at the Main Street bridge are misleading.

Actually, Main street starts at the Water-Senecan street intersection and runs north to North avenue where it becomes North Main street. East Main begins at the Lake street intersection. All addresses between Lake and Water streets are correctly described as Main Street bridge.

Recalling Penn Yan history supplies the reason. For years only a low bridge over the Crooked Lake canal, outlet, and mill races linked Main with East Main. After abandonment of the canal on the north side of the outlet and the building of the railroad on the south side, the present red brick structures were erected 60 years ago, now known as the Quenan, Blakeslee, and Chronicle buildings. These, together with the mills, and other structures in this section are therefore correctly addressed as Main Street bridge.

66) How many streets in Penn Yan?

There are 51 official streets in the village and 14 non-official, besides several that are on real estate development maps and laid out more or less formally.

While the village may do some maintenance work on the 14 unofficial streets, no deed has been turned over to Penn Yan for the land which they use.

67) What Penn Yan streets have no houses on them?

Only two of the official streets in Penn Yan have no houses – they are Central avenue and Bason street, both of which connect Seneca and East Elm streets in the business section – unless you call the village lockup on Basin street a residence.

The old Delano home on Delano place is now being used as an office by Rapalee Auto parts. But Delano place is one of those much travelled thoroughfares that is not an official street. It is owned by the New York Central railroad.

68) What Penn Yan streets bear the same name as New York counties?

Four of Penn Yan’s official streets carry the same names as New York state counties: Clinton, Hamilton, Franklin, and Seneca.

69) How many cemeteries in Penn Yan?

This week brings the lively question – how many cemeteries are there in Penn Yan? The answer is easy. There are two.

Or are we wrong?

The west boundary of the Lake View cemetery and the Village of Penn Yan coincide in part. So after all, St. Michael’s cemetery is not in Penn Yan.

But still the correct answer is two, for the old Catholic burying ground southeast of Five Points along the banks of the ravine still contains numerous graves and is a cemetery, through badly overgrown.

70) How many miles of streets are there in Penn Yan?

There are between 18 and 19 miles of official streets maintained by the Village of Penn Yan, according to Street Commissioner Jay Rice.

71) How many miles of paved streets in Penn Yan?

Of the 19 miles of streets in Penn Yan 8½ miles are paved with curb gutters and the balance is resurfaced and macadamized, according to Jay Rice, superintendent.

72) Where were the old Penn Yan fairgrounds?

Early maps of Penn Yan show the fairgrounds located west of Pine (now Keuka) street.

73) How many fire alarm boxes are there?

There are 41 fire alarm boxes in the village in the six districts, including the two in the engine houses.

74) [Question missing from Baldwin’s Bank advertisement].

This week we’ve asked a question about Penn Yan which we aren’t sure we can answer correctly ourselves.

Work on the early Academy building was finished in the summer of 1859, the original public school building then cost $8,000 to erect. In 1905 the structure was rebuilt and enlarged to make the present Penn Yan Academy or senior high school building at a cost of $24,000. Pictures of the original and the rebuilt buildings would indicate that the same cupola or belfry, with minor changes, has topped the edifice for the past 89 years. If so, the same bell may have hung there to call students to school up until this last year when it was no longer rung.

Can anyone tell us if the 350-pound bell just lowered into the school attic as the cupola was removed has been hanging there ever since 1859?

75) Where was the first Yates County Court House?

The first session of Yates county court convened the first Tuesday of June, 1823, in the residence of Asa Cole, Penn Yan. As a matter of record the first meeting of the supervisors of the new-born county as held in the same residence.

76) Where was Penn Yan’s first post office?

Penn Yan’s first “post office” was a hole in a convenient tree in which the stage coach driver deposited the mail. And the first “postmaster,” was the mail carrier as well, toting the letters in his hat.

77) What was the first railroad to serve Penn Yan?

The first railroad service in Penn Yan was started nearly a century ago. It was in September of 1851 that the Canandaigua and Jefferson railroad, now the Pennsylvania, was completed to connect Canandaigua with Watkins Glen. At first it was a broad six-foot track. Later a third rail was added to accommodate the present standard gauge of 4 feet, 8½ inches. With the three rails trains of both gauges could operate over the route.

When the service opened there were five trains daily each way, with extras during the state fair at Elmira.

78) Where was the first engine house?

Penn Yan’s first fire engine house was located near the present Sheldon Engine House No. 2. It was a wooden building on the south side of North avenue, between Main and Jackson streets.

The first fire company was organized in 1835 and Thomas H. Locke, a bookbinder and justice of the peace, was elected the first fire chief. By direction of the board of trustees he purchased in Rochester Penn Yan’s first fire engine. The “Neptune” was worked by brakes and was the reason for construction of the first engine house near the center of Penn Yan’s business activity, a century ago.

79) Where was the first school held?

In 1820 there was a rude school house on the Main street site of the present Penn Yan Academy. It was 39 years later before the first academy building was erected there, Penn Yan schools using several different buildings and locations during the intervening years.

80) Where was the first bank located?

The Yates County bank was the first banking institution in Penn Yan and it occupied the location now used by Lown’s store. It was organized in 1831, but later failed.

81) Where was the first grist mill?

The first grist mill in Penn Yan was established by David Wagener on the south side of the Lake Keuka outlet in 1796. Five years earlier he had joined the Friend settlement near City Hill and become a part owner of the first mill in this area – erected by the followers of the Universal Friend on the Lake Keuka outlet. The first mill in Penn Yan became the Andrews mill and was located on the east side of the Main Street bridge, and it was known also as the Jillette or White mill. It was burned July 19, 1913, and was never rebuilt. Foundations of this mill may still be seen between the railroad tracks and the outlet. The mill straddled the main race from which it derived power.

82) Where was the first frame dwelling?

Abraham Wagener (popularly known as Squire Wagener) built the first frame house in the village and moved into it Jan. 1, 1800. It occupied the present site of the Dr. G. Howard Leader residence, 173 Main street. The next year he erected the second mill on the outlet at the Main street bridge location, north of the first one erected by his father, David Wagener. The second mill is now the Birkett Mills.

83) Where was the first tavern located?

The first tavern in Penn Yan was located on the site of the present residence of Mrs. Minnie L. Ayres, corner of Liberty street and Maple avenue. North and Maple avenues followed the highway that went through the early community of Penn Yan connecting the original Friend settlement at City Hill with the later and permanent location in Jerusalem township. Dr. John Dorman, who came here in 1795, erected this second frame house in the village and opened the same as a tavern. In an addition built on his son, Joel, started a store.

84) Where was the first show held?

The first show given in Penn Yan is said to have been the display of an elephant in a barn the first residence south of what is now the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial hospital. This was on the Zachariah Wheeler place, 128 years ago, in 1820.

85) What was the first newspaper in Penn Yan?

Abraham H. Bennett 130 years ago last May established a Democratic newspaper – the Penn Yan Herald, predecessor of the Penn Yan Courier, formerly the Penn Yan Democrat.

This was the first newspaper in Penn Yan and Yates county.

86) Who started the first band?

Six years after Penn Yan was organized as a village the first band startd with A.M. Cobleigh, “key-bugle” player, as the leading figure. Benjamin L. Hoyt, Charles Lee, William Sears, and Edwin C. Gillett were among the players in the 10-piece band.

87) What was the first transportation service?

So far as we can determine the first scheduled transportation for passengers between Penn Yan and other communities was the Bath to Geneva stage coach service which came through Penn Yan by way of the Bath road. John Magee of Bath operated the stage coach line. The present Bath to Geneva bus route, however, follows the West Lake Keuka road from Hammondsport to Penn Yan.

88) Which was the first church?

The First Presbyterian church of Penn Yan was the first to organize (Feb. 18, 1823) in this village.

89) What was the first Penn Yan military company?

Keuka Rifles, Co. I, 33rd Regiment, New York Infantry, was the first military company organized in Penn Yan.

90) Whose driveway contains an historic tombstone?

In the driveway at the rear of the Paul R. Taylor residence, 342 Main street, is a piece of tombstone bearing the notation – “Died 1807 at 55 years.” Mrs. Dudley Griffiths of Clifton Springs, formerly of this community, says the dates agree and believes this is a particle of the headstone over the grave of Thomas Hazard Potter, who married Patience Wilkinson, sister of Jemima, “The Universal Friend.”

His grandson, Jeptha Potter, is supposed to have moved the remains of his ancestors to the Penn Yan cemetery when he moved here and took over the stone house on Main street, erected by Morris Fletcher Sheppard. According to a date on the cornerstone, Mr. Potter in 1878 did some remodeling. It is presumed that the piece of tombstone was brought to the present Taylor property then.

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Do you know Penn Yan?: Penn Yan Oddity, No. 31 through No. 60

By Jonathan Monfiletto

Anyone who has conducted research either through Yates County’s digitized newspapers or the Yates County History Center’s subject files has likely come across items titled either “Penn Yan Oddity” or “Yates County Oddity.” These items – snippets might be a good word – provide information about various aspects of local history, seeming to answer some sort of question or mystery.

Seeing so many of these snippets – and finding the answers but seeming not to find the question – I decided to scour our digitized newspaper database to see if I could find all of them, the questions with the answers. It turns out the oddities – 90 Penn Yan Oddity items, 52 Yates County Oddity items – were part of an advertising campaign in the 1940s for Baldwin’s Bank, then located at 127 Main St. in Penn Yan, the present-day home of the Arts Center of Yates County.

The Penn Yan Oddities ran in The Chronicle-Express in consecutive weeks from February 20, 1947 to November 11, 1948, and then the Yates County Oddities picked up right away in the newspaper from November 18, 1948 to November 24, 1949. So, for more than 2 and a half years, readers of The Chronicle-Express could learn something about local history each week in the newspaper.

Each item started out as an advertisement for Baldwin’s Bank with the phrase “Do You Know Penn Yan?” at the top of the graphic followed by the question for the week. In the middle, the bulk of the ad, would appear information about the bank’s various services and offerings. The bottom would direct the reader to look for the answer elsewhere on the same page and then look for another Oddity the following week.

In this article, I present Penn Yan Oddity No. 31 through No. 60. Each question and answer has been transcribed exactly as it appeared in the newspaper, which changes made only for typographical errors and not for grammatical style. The only time words have been removed from the items is in the case of references to photographs or other information that appeared elsewhere in the newspaper.

31) Where were the Lake Keuka steamer docks before the railroad connected Penn Yan and Dresden?

… the steamers on Lake Keuka at one time docked at the foot of Keuka street, then called Pine street, across the channel from where the docks were later constructed when the railroad replaced the canal and the unloading of freight on the same side as the railroad was an obvious advantage.

32) Where is the residence of a former U.S. Consul to Honolulu?

Philip Ogden, residing at the corner of Hamilton and Clinton streets, lives in the house once owned by his grandfather, Darius A. Ogden, editor of the Penn Yan Democrat, village postmaster, county assemblyman and consul to Honolulu, Hawaii. President Franklin Pierce appointed him Aug. 4, 1854. The residence is a century old

33) Where is there a tree grown around a two by four?

At the corner of North avenue and Main street by the home occupied by Frank Wheeler, a maple has grown around a piece of two by four which years ago was placed in the crotch.

34) Where is there still in use the home of a former German baron?

The residence at 324 North avenue, set far back on the north side of the street and used by the Newark State school for one of its colonies, was the home of Baron Oscar Theobold von Lingke, wealthy and eccentric music teacher, who went to Germany and brought back his bride to live in this village, later moving to Pennsylvania. Baron von Lingke dabbled in chemistry. Once, during the some five years he lived here, he set fire to the old house while mixing a chemical concoction.

35) Where is the fountain that once stood near Birkett Mills?

Rev. Thomas C. Kane of St. Michael’s Catholic church is viewing the heavy metal fountain that once held water for thirsty horses. For years it stood at the corner of Main and Seneca streets now occupied by the Birkett Mills filling station.

Can anyone tell us when the watering “trough” was removed to St. Michael’s cemetery and transformed into its present task of adding a lovely touch to the landscape?

36) What residence once served Penn Yan as a hospital?

The apartment house at the end of East Main street, No. 248, was once the Hatmaker hospital.

Laurence E. Carey purchased it in early 1946 from Ed Smith. There are four apartments in the former hospital building. … As the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial hospital was being constructed on North Main street, the Hoyt residence, now the nurses’ home was used temporarily for a hospital.

37) Where is there an old school with an iron picket fence in front?

In front of the Wagner, Penn Yan hotel, still stands the iron picket fence. This building was erected by Ebenezer B. Jones. Mrs. Hebe O. Ellsworth, wife of General Samuel Stewart Ellsworth, the next occupant, erected in the front yard a fountain and the fence. The property was once used as the site of a tavern and a school. In 1824 an English sea captain, Elijah Holcomb, built the tavern, “Washington House.” Business was poor and it soon became a school – “The Yates Academy and Female Seminary,” opening its doors the first Monday in January 1829. In 1834 there were over 340 boys and girls attending, but the school closed after 10 years. The frame of the old building was moved across Main street and is now the jail barn, at the rear of the courthouse.

38) What street in Penn Yan bears the family name of the late U.S. president?

Delano place, running from Liberty street to the old boat docks, now the Keuka Lumber company, was named after a cabinet maker. His daughter, Miss Anna Delano, was an accomplished artist and gave painting lessons to many in this community until her death 35 years ago. The Delano residence is now occupied as an office and salesroom by Rapalee Auto Parts company. In shape the dwelling still appears much as it did in the old days when the Delano family owned most of the land in that part of town.

39) Where are the biggest and heaviest shears in Penn Yan?

Walter J. Calhoun, junk dealer, 226 Keuka street, has motor-driven shears which weigh, six and a half tons. They are used for cutting salvage metal, preparatory to shipment and sale. These shears snip pieces of steel off from an auto frame as if it were but a match and yet can also cut a piece of silk ribbon.

40) What Penn Yan residence was once used as a school?

Some 90 years ago N.W. Ayer conducted a private seminary in Penn Yan for what were designated at that time as “young ladies and gentleman.” He was assisted by Mrs. Ayer, and they not only taught the rudiments of education but were painstaking in teaching their pupils proper deportment for all occasions. In classes they always addressed those who attended their school as “Miss” and “Mister,” never becoming familiar enough to call them by their first names. The pupils were supposed to address each other with the same formality.

The “Young Ladies Seminary,” as it was called, was conducted for many years in the Shoniker house which is now 105 East Main street. From there the school was moved to the present home of Oliver Sheppard at 169 Main street. It was quite successful for a time, but after the founding of Penn Yan Academy in 1859, its patronage was materially lessened.

Mr. Ayer went to Philadelphia in 1868, where he established the famous N.W. Ayer & Son advertising agency which ahs become one of the largest and most prominent in this country.

41) What two streets bear the names of apples?

Stark Avenue

Wagener Street

Abraham Wagener, “founder” of Penn Yan developed the Wagener apple in an orchard at the rear of his Mansion house, now the Knapp hotel.

42) How many streets bear the names of former presidents?

Lincoln Avenue

Garfield Avenue

McKinley Avenue

43) Do you know that Penn Yan’s “natural bridge” has just been cut down?

The maple tree in front of the Methodist parsonage, 219 Main street, Penn Yan, has just been cut down. Limbs growing together bridged across a fork in the tree to make the oddity.           

44) What streets are named after some of the Finger Lakes?

Two Penn Yan streets are named after some of the Finger lakes – Keuka and Seneca.

45) What Penn Yan streets are named after kinds of trees?

Five Penn Yan streets carry the names of kinds of trees:

            Elm and East Elm street

            Walnut street

            Cherry street

            Chestnut street

            Maple avenue

46) What business block was erected on old canal locks?

… it marks a big step in the development of Penn Yan – the abandonment of the village as a port on the inland water system carrying commerce via the Erie canal and its further development as a center served by railroads. A branch of the Fallbrook railroad, now the New York Central system, was constructed between Penn Yan and Dresden to replace the six-mile canal. A total of 27 locks to lift and drop boats 267 feet during the short winding course paralleling Lake Keuka outlet made the canal inefficient, and it was abandoned after serving from 1833 to about 1877.

Barges loaded with grain and produce on Lake Keuka entered the canal’s first lock under what is now known as the Chronicle annex, formerly the Hasson block, 108-10 Water street – occupied by the Modern Beauty shop and Penn Yan Business services. Twenty years ago this spring workmen dug up the sill of the first lock under this building to help establish legal questions as to water levels in Lake Keuka.

The tow path crossed the outlet about where the railroad trestle now spans the stream above the state damn. At one time, however, the dam was some 100 feet further upstream than the present structure. In 1834, a year after the canal was opened, the dam was raised six inches to better serve the canal, but since then it has not been raised or lowered.

The rear of a portion of the Birkett’s Mill warehouse on Water street, viewed today from Main Street bridge, clearly shows the second story overhanging, so as to easily permit gravity feed of grain into canal boats which would be tied up in the basin beneath the building.

After negotiating the first lock, canal boats would proceed to Dresden passing directly under what is now the Chronicle-Express office, under the Main Street bridge span and along the outlet side of Seneca street on their tedious way down towards Seneca Lake and Dresden. A short spur of the canal carried barges to the rear of the buildings on the east side of Main street, which gave Basin street its present name.

47) What hotel was replaced by a movie theatre?

Yes, it’s true, folks, in case you don’t happen to remember – the Shearman house, one of Penn Yan’s hotels, was transformed into what is now the one and only movie theatre – the Elmwood on Elm street. See any resemblance?

In March of 1921 the late Harry C. Morse, famed Lake Keuka steamboat pilot and captain, purchased from the Odd Fellows Building association the Shearman house and the adjoining business block … and converted them into a movie theatre, which he named the Elmwood. Five years before Mr. Morse purchased the Sampson theatre, on East Elm street, now Jewett’s garage. Dr. Franklin S. Sampson erected this large structure in 1910 and it was widely used for stage shows, movies, and basketball games, also as a miniature golf course. Mr. Morse for a time operated both theatres. The old Cornwell Opera house, now the Grange hall, was showing a bill of movies at the same time – making three in all competing for business. Following the death of Mr. Morse in 1936 the Elmwood was sold to the Schine chain and the Sampson theatre ceased to be used for entertainment.

48) How many Penn Yan streets were named after U.S. generals?

Three Penn Yan streets bear the names of famous United States Generals – Jackson, Sherman, and Grant.

49) What streets bear the names commonly used for boys’ first names?

Four Penn Yan streets bear names commonly used as first names by boys – Clinton, Henry, Lawrence, and Franklin.

50) Where is there a house built at an angle to the street?

The residence of Mrs. Delos Sprague, 231 East Main street, is built at a marked angle to the sidewalk and street which it faces.

51) How many streets bear the names commonly used for girls?

Two Penn Yan streets bear names commonly used as the first names of girls – Violet and Myrtle.

52) Where is there a meteor?

In front of the Fred Carroll homestead, corner of Ogden street and South avenue, now owned by Mrs. Lena M. Snyder, is a meteorite about the size of a bushel basket and weighing 976 pounds. Mrs. Alfred Carroll saw it fall on the farm in Potter in the year 1887. It was been exhibited for many years on the Penn Yan place, the property, 151 South avenue.

53) Where does the sidewalk make a detour to avoid a tree?

In front of the former Christie Briggs residence at 214 East Main street, the entire sidewalk swerves wide to avoid a large oak tree; also in front of the Gilbert Smith residence, 223 East Main, the walk detours around a big elm. In numerous other places the sidewalk is indented to permit room for a tree and its roots but this is one place where the walk makes a detour.

54) How many stone houses are there in the village?

There are, we believe, but two stone houses within the village limits – the field stone Wagener house, owned by Paul Ritchey on Highland drive, and the Paul R. Taylor residence on Main street. The latter was built of stone quarried practically within the village.

Do you know where that quarry is? …

Dr. Waddell, years ago, erected four masonry houses on Hicks street and Waddell avenue, but these are really cement houses in which stone was merely used for filling.

55) How many former street names can you identify?

Following are two lists of Penn Yan street names. The first list contains names used today. The column to the right contains the names of the same nine streets used years ago …

            East Elm                   Jacob

            South Ave.                Boundary

            Chapel                       Church

            Garfield                     Sheridan Place

            East Main                 Jillett

            Keuka                        Pine

            North Ave.                Head

            Seneca                       Canal

            North Liberty          Quarry

56) Where is there a house not built “on a square”?

While there are several street intersections in Penn Yan which are not made at right angles, the buildings on the corners are usually “on the square” with the line of one wall at a 90-degree angle with the intersecting line of the next wall.

The north and west sides of the Bush house at the corner of North avenue and Jackson street, are an exception, however, and form an angle of less than 90 degrees. The same is true of the Guile apartment building containing the Market Basket store at the corner of Main street and North avenue.

57) Where was the Gas House?

Penn Yan’s first gas house was on Jackson street, completed by the Penn Yan Gas Light company Sept. 25, 1860, when gas was first turned on in the Yates county seat. In June of 1888 William T. Morris bought controlling interest in the company and rebuilt the works on Jackson street.

Nine years later the corporation purchased the Tuttle malt house on Water street … and in 1899 built the stone gas house now used by the Penn Yan winery, along Lake Keuka outlet, and the large steel gas tank familiar to many adults. This storage tank was razed by the New York State Electric and Gas corporation seven years ago since pipelines had earlier replaced the huge container. Gas was first piped to Penn Yan from Geneva Jan. 16, 1929.

The original gas company, organized May 11, 1860, was incorporated by Darius A. Ogden, L.O. Dunning, George McAllister, Samuel H. Wells, and Charles Stark, with a capital of $10,000. The company, serving the public from the Water street plant, was headed by Mr. Morris with Morris Tracey as secretary and Michael F. Buckley as superintendent. The plant was moved downtown since by the first of this century most of Penn Yan’s business had been firmly established in its present location rather than at the location of Head and Main streets.

One of the first Penn Yan Oddities in this series revealed one of the original gas street lamp posts still standing in front of the Elias Wallace residence on East Main street. Others were found transplanted to support clothes lines at the rear of the Frank E. Monnin residence and the Gilbert Smith home on East Main.

Mrs. Ernest Pierce of Keuka Park recalls that her uncle, Harrison (Phinney) Brown, once chief of police in this village, for years was the official lamplighter, starting first with kerosene lamps and then progressing to the newer gas lights over 80 years ago. Mr. Brown lived at 122 Clinton street, reaching his house by a series of steps leading from the sidewalk up the bank on the north side of the street. The late Carl F. Brunt built the present dwelling on the site of the Brown home. Mr. Brown met a tragic death when struck by a train some 60 years ago between Clinton street and the Pennsylvania depot.

58) Where was the Stevens steam engine built?

Pearl Simmons used one of the popular Stevens steam farm engines for powering his farm jobs years ago. These were made in extensive shops which spread out on both sides of Head street, just west of the Main street intersection. The Harry O. Bennett and Dr. Glenn Hatch residences occupy land entirely used by the once thriving engine making plant. Later the industry moved to Auburn.

59) The village corporate limits lie in how many townships?

The Incorporated Village of Penn Yan is in three townships – Milo, Benton, and Jerusalem.

Most of the village lies in Milo, but from the center of North Avenue to the north is Benton township, and a very small portion of the village lies within Jerusalem township at the west end. As a matter of fact, the main drive in the Lake View cemetery roughly marks the Milo-Jerusalem boundary line.

60) What structure is being built on site of early movie house?

George Miller is creating a new building at 118 Elm street to accommodate the Gordon Allen lunch and pool room, replacing the old frame structure which stood on the site since Civil War days. When it was torn down recently workmen found wooden pins holding the front frame work and a sign dated 1871.

For over 60 years it was operated as a blacksmith shop, Charles Wren being the last smithy to hold forth in that location. About 1908 it became one of Penn Yan’s first movie theatres. William Wickham of Salamanca first brought movies to Penn Yan, recalls Nathaniel P. Sackett of Elm street, operator for the Elmwood theatre. Mr. Wickham’s first theatre was located where the New York State Electric and Gas corporation office is now. Business was good so he rented the old blacksmith shop on Elm street and started a Nickelodeon there. The row of electric lights which illuminated the front could be seen until the structure was razed a few days ago.

In this building Mr. Sackett having purchased from Mr. Wickham, first introduced novelty or vaudeville acts between films, while the operator was rewinding and changing reels. John Roche, local boy who gained recognition and wealth in Hollywood, got his start here with a song and dance routine.

A later occupant of the building was John Hoban’s meat market, which moved there from the White building, replaced by the Jolley Chevrolet structure. Hoban’s market remained there until April 1, 1925, when it exchanged locations with Mike Roche’s restaurant, moving to its present location, which George Miller had owned previously.

[yatescountyhistorycenter]

Do you know Penn Yan?: Penn Yan Oddity, No. 1 through No. 30

By Jonathan Monfiletto

Anyone who has conducted research either through Yates County’s digitized newspapers or the Yates County History Center’s subject files has likely come across items titled either “Penn Yan Oddity” or “Yates County Oddity.” These items – snippets might be a good word – provide information about various aspects of local history, seeming to answer some sort of question or mystery.

Seeing so many of these snippets – and finding the answers but seeming not to find the question – I decided to scour our digitized newspaper database to see if I could find all of them, the questions with the answers. It turns out the oddities – 90 Penn Yan Oddity items, 52 Yates County Oddity items – were part of an advertising campaign in the 1940s for Baldwin’s Bank, then located at 127 Main St. in Penn Yan, the present-day home of the Arts Center of Yates County.

The Penn Yan Oddities ran in The Chronicle-Express in consecutive weeks from February 20, 1947 to November 11, 1948, and then the Yates County Oddities picked up right away in the newspaper from November 18, 1948 to November 24, 1949. So, for more than 2 and a half years, readers of The Chronicle-Express could learn something about local history each week in the newspaper.

Each item started out as an advertisement for Baldwin’s Bank with the phrase “Do You Know Penn Yan?” at the top of the graphic followed by the question for the week. In the middle, the bulk of the ad, would appear information about the bank’s various services and offerings. The bottom would direct the reader to look for the answer elsewhere on the same page and then look for another Oddity the following week.

In this article, I present Penn Yan Oddity No. 1 through No. 30. Each question and answer has been transcribed exactly as it appeared in the newspaper, which changes made only for typographical errors and not for grammatical style. The only time words have been removed from the items is in the case of references to photographs or other information that appeared elsewhere in the newspaper.

1) Where do autos now park on what was once the site of the village school?

The Maiden Lane Parking station was once the site of the Maiden Lane school where many of Penn Yan’s citizens received their education when they were children during the span from 1842 to ’93. Younger adults will recall when the school house was converted to a hitch barn by the late Owen Hoban, father of Leo and Owen Hoban; later sold and known as McConnell’s hitching barn for many years, finally being razed to make way for parking.

2) Where is there an octagon barn?

At the rear of the residence of John Andrews, 312 Clinton street, purchased from Mrs. Charlotte Becker, is an eight-sided barn, built in 1855 by Myron T. Hamlin. The builder sold the place to Darius Adams Ogden, first U.S. Consul to Honolulu and grandfather of Philip Ogden of Clinton street. Mr. Ogden built the house which Mr. Andrews now owns and gave it to his son, Darius Adams Ogden, jr., as a wedding present. The octagon barn may easily be seen on the north side of Clinton street as one drives along.

3) Where is there one of the old gas street lamp posts in original position?

In front of the Elias Wallace residence, 118 East Main street, Penn Yan, standing in its original position and now serving as trellis for a trumpet vine, is one of the old gas street lamp posts – the kind they have been singing about over the radio.

Can anyone tell us when they were installed, who was the last person employed to light them, when were they abandoned for the old style carbon electric arc lamps?

4) Where did Lake Keuka boats dock at Penn Yan in days before the dam and canal?

Before the dam made the outlet of Lake Keuka navigable for large boats and when horses forded the stream at Indian Pines, the boat dock for the north end of the East Branch was located near what is now Red Jacket park. In fact, the narrow drive which marks the north boundary of the park is a public highway leading from Lake street to Lake Keuka and the old dock. Horse drawn vehicles after fording the outlet would use this right-of-way to gain the Bath road, rather than driving into Penn Yan and crossing where the Main Street bridge is now located.

5) Where in Penn Yan is there still standing an iron hitching post?

In front of the Arthur Putney residence, 121 North avenue, is a metal hitching post – a pair of horses’ heads holding the two rings convenient for hitching. For years this was in Penn Yan’s business section and Park’s carriage works until some 35 years ago occupied the site of Dr. Glenn Hatch’s present residence, immediately next door to the Putney home.

There must be other hitching posts – metal or stone – still standing between the sidewalk and curb in Penn Yan. Where are they? If there is one in your neighborhood phone the Chronicle-Express – phone 123 – and for the fun of it, we’ll see how many still remain in Penn Yan.

6) How many other places are named Penn Yan?

There is only one Penn Yan in all this shrinking world – and that is in little Yates county, New York. Michigan once had a Penn Yan, but that Penn Yan shrank, too, until finally the post office name was withdrawn. In fact, the name has disappeared entirely in that section today. Nearest to “Penn Yan” is Pingyang, Korea, or Penang, an island, just west of the Malaysian peninsula, which the Japanese took in their early hop-skip-and-jump invasion south along that Asiatic protrusion.

7) What street is in the shape of a circle?

Wagener court, which opens onto and lies directly east of Benham street, is circular in shape. Four houses, erected by H. Allen Wagener, are on the street, built in 1918.

8) Where is there a residence in Penn Yan with 11 outside doors on the ground floor?

The residence at 155 North avenue, formerly owned and operated by the Turner sisters, has 11 doors opening from various parts of the house to the outside and all on the ground level. Two of the outside doors open towards the street on the front porch.

Recently this big old house was purchased by Fred Russell. Mrs. Elsie Reed Haney, who is in charge of the school cafeteria, rents the home.

9) Where in Penn Yan is there a tree with two limbs grown together forming a bridge?

A maple tree in front of the Methodist parsonage, 219 Main street, has two limbs which have grown together forming a perfect bridge and loop of wood.

10) Where is there a tree tied in knot?

A horse chestnut tree in front of 112 Benham street is thriving even though its main branches grow in a hard knot, some seven feet above the ground. About 50 years ago the late Richard Danes tied the twigs in a knot as a prank, never expecting the tree to live.

11) Which Penn Yan church occupies the site once used by a furniture factory?

The Curtis Chair factory once stood at the corner of Main and Clinton streets, the site now being used by the St. Mark’s Episcopal church and the late Seward McDonald residence. Samuel F. Curtis, grandfather of late Mrs. John Howard Perkins of Clinton Street, made furniture and coffins there until July 3, 1867 or 68, when the factory burned, along with the several houses between it and Jacob’s creek. The fire also destroyed the chain bridge across the brook. Approach to the second story of the houses back of the factory was direct from the elevated walk. After the fire the Johnson wagon repair shop occupied the location. Later the Episcopal Church moved from Main street, opposite Penn Yan Academy, to its present location.

12) Where are there old canal locks in Penn Yan through which railroad trains pass?

The trains of the New York Central railroad pass through locks of the old Crooked Lake canal near Cherry street, as well as at numerous other places during its eight-mile serpentine route, following the outlet from Penn Yan to Dresden. First used in October of 1833, the canal continued to carry boat traffic between Keuka and Seneca lakes until about 1877. Over two dozen locks were required to lift and lower the boats the difference of 265 feet between the lakes. The mason work of several of these locks is still in good condition and easily seen.

13) What Penn Yan church was once a public school?

The Free Methodist church on North avenue, just east of Main street, was a public school erected about 1843 or a dozen years after the first brick school house on the Liberty street site. After use as a school for a number of years it was transferred to the Free Methodists.

14) Under what buildings would excavators find the remains of an old canal tug boat?

If excavators were to work under the rear of the Armstrong restaurant, formerly Heath’s, and also under the Corcoran hardware they would very likely find the remains of a tug boat, which was sunk there in a spur of the old Crooked Lake canal before the latter was abandoned about 70 years ago. This spur, running a short distance north of the main canal, was handy for loading and unloading cargoes consigned to and from Penn Yan. Local industries along the canal or outlet banks had their private wharves. The waterway carried much traffic from the entire Lake Keuka community into Seneca lake and the Erie canal system to the Hudson and New York City.

15) What Penn Yan residence was once a thriving hostelry?

The Ottaway house at 210 North avenue was once one of the best-built hotels in Penn Yan. Operated by Mr. Pierce, it served guests when the corner of Main and Head (North avenue) streets, was the center of Yates county and Penn Yan commerce. Early in the 19th century there were three inns doing a brisk business there. This was before Vernon township, which then included Milo and Jerusalem townships as well, was named Benton. In 1818 the meeting at which Milo township was organized was held in one of those inns. Until recently a horseblock covered a liberal flowing spring which once supplied a watering trough in front of the building.

For many years the edifice has served as an apartment house.

16) Where did the original outlet leave Lake Keuka?

Before the present channel was dug, the mouth of the Lake Keuka outlet was about 50 feet further west, toward the West Lake road, than now. A little swale in back of the beach shows where the original outlet bed was. The stream then meandered in a wide curve through the present march, which at that time was a wooded area. The delta across the outlet at the mouth of Kimball creek now directs the Keuka water flow into the marsh where it follows somewhat the original stream bed.

17) What Penn Yan apartment house was built for and used as a church?

The dwelling at 300 Main street, now occupied by five tenants and owned by Mayor Mervin J. Rapalee, was originally a Wesleyan church and is shown as such on the Penn Yan map printed in 1854. Another map in 1896 indicates that it was then the residence of C.B. Struble.

Rev. Benjamin Bradford served as pastor of the church at one time. His grandson, Rev. Arthur Bradford, is now pastor of the strong Congregational church in Providence, R.I., and his wife is a sister of Mrs. Walter A. Hendricks of Penn Yan.

18) What house has a front door opening directly on one street and back (or opposite) door opening directly onto another street?

Two or three houses near Five Points have front doors facing on Seneca street and rear doors, at the opposite end of the house, facing on East Elm street. The last village directory lists the Seneca street entrances as the front doors with Seneca street numbers.

19) In what nearby city is a rose garden named for a former Penn Yan man?

Sunday the Syracuse Rose society presented its annual rose show and the crowning of a Rose queen in Mills Memorial gardens of Thornden park, located near the Syracuse university campus.

These rose gardens were originated and managed by Dr. Edmund M. Mills, who served as pastor of the First Methodist church in Penn Yan from 1881 to ’84, leaving the local pulpit to become district superintendent. Rose culture was his hobby and as a plaque in the park indicates, he was a recognized authority on roses. Dr. Mills died in Santa Ana, Calif., March 15, 1933.

20) Were are numbers from 1 up cut in the stones of the sidewalk? And why?

The walk on the west side of Elm Street running along the Lake View cemetery is comprised of stones into which on the inside edge has been cut, about every 100 feet, numbers running from one up. Can anyone tell us when the numbers were put there and for what purpose?

21) Where is Penn Yan’s old steam powered fire engine pumper and the old hand pumper?

The old Silsby steamer, made in Seneca Falls, went into salvage during the last war. It was purchased in the fall of 1872, the year of the Big Penn Yan conflagration.

Stored in a shed on the north edge of Lake View cemetery is an old brake engine, Excelsior No. 2. The Excelsior company was formed in 1854, the year the downtown engine house was erected, and the break engine, the third purchased by this company, was then acquired.

22) Where is the oldest house in Penn Yan?

The dwelling at 105 Cherry street, owned by Miss Ida Caviston and now occupied the past nine years by Mr. and Mrs. Rufus Burley, is supposed to be the oldest residence in Penn Yan. It was built by Samuel Lawrence about 1810 for his bride.

23) Where is the official marker showing Penn Yan’s altitude?

The only official bench marker in the series, running from Dresden to Bath, that is located in Penn Yan is a bronze plate embedded in the limestone water table of Penn Yan Academy. Under the windows of Principal Donald Grants office. The reading on the marker indicates that it is exactly 767 feet above sea level but Owen Hoban, civil engineer and contractor, says recent maps correct the reading for that particular marker to 768.497 feet above sea level.

24) Where is the public drinking fountain that stood at the four corners years ago?

On the side of the Deckerman residence, 127½ East Main street, next door to the office of the New York State police, is a small fountain – rebuilt from the public drinking fountain erected at the corner of Main and Jacob (East Elm) streets just 50 years ago as a community service by the Loyal Temperance legion. The fountain was an ornate affair intended to serve both man and canine. Difficulty with the valve led to discard of the fountain from its conspicuous place at the four corners and eventually it turned up, greatly changed in appearance, as now, in the lawn of the Deckerman brothers.

25) Where was there a movie studio?

The E.R. Ramsey property at 414 North Main street, just acquired by the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial hospital for its expansion program, provided the studios for the Penn Yan Film corporation. Buildings of the pliaduct factory, started in January of 1910 … provided studios for the local branch of the infant movie industry five years later. The feature-length film, “Wheat and Tares,” shown at the Elmwood last fall, was one of the products of the local studio. Several others were scheduled for production when Mr. Ramsey’s death in an auto accident June 13, 1916, halted all plans for future filming.

Students and friends of the old Keuka college and institute as well as the public will have an opportunity to view the 32-year old film showing many Keuka college and Penn Yan scenes as background and numerous present residents as actors and extras. This courtesy screening of the film will be at the Elmwood theatre at 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16.

26) Where is Penn Yan’s subway?

Penn Yan’s subway extends under the sidewalk from the corner of Main and Water streets to the Main Street bridge and dam. It is used only by workmen, but has ample room since Main street from Water to the bridge is many feet higher than when it first spanned the old Crooked Lake canal and outlet and there were no buildings where the Chronicle-Express office and neighboring blocks are now situated. The “subway” is some 60 years old.

27) Where and when was Penn Yan’s first grade crossing elimination?

Before 1883 Hamilton street entered Jacob street, now called East Elm, just east of what is now the Pennsylvania apartments and Market Basket store run by Harold Seager. The crossing over the railroad, built in 1851, was eliminated after some 22 years of use by swinging Hamilton street a bit east, starting at the junction of Chestnut street and making the intersection with Jacob just east of the tracks, as at present. The remaining small section of Hamilton street on the west side of the tracks and station is therefore known as Hamilton place.

28) What was the first street to be paved and when?

Jacob street, now East Elm, was the first street paved with brick in Penn Yan, the work being done in 1906.

The old picture of Jacob street … was taken shortly after the paving was completed. A circus announcement on the Central house porch dates the showing as June 13. Merrill Beach transformed the Central house into the present Universal building about 1920. That forced Henry Ross to give up the open-air peanut, fruit, and candy stand which he had been operating for some 30 years. Frank Wheeler’s tire shop is at present using as an approach the location of this stand, which Mr. Ross took over years earlier from James Lord.

Immediately beyond the fruit stand was Abe Masten’s book store, now the American Legion building and the location being taken over by Deckerman brothers. Careful study of the picture shows that Dr. Frank Sampson had not yet erected the Sampson theatre, now Jewett’s garage, and that the Masonic temple, built in 1914, was still a dream only.

Conspicuous, of course, is the “Toonerville.” Tracks for the Penn Yan, Keuka Park and Branchport Electric Railway were laid on Jacob street in the spring of 1897 and torn up in the fall on 1936.

29) What early Penn Yan school was once located in the business section?

In the Chronicle-Express window is a seat, owned by Henry Carey and used in the Maiden Lane school. The old school is now but a memory. Once, however, it was the mecca of young Penn Yan at this time of year. The seat was found in the cupola when the building, long used as a hitching barn, was razed to make room for the present parking station.

When Thomas H. Lock, a bookbinder, came from New York city to live in Penn Yan, he named the short thoroughfare connected Main and Liberty streets, after the famous Maiden lane of New York. In 1842 the school was erected on the south side, serving to educate many of the early residents during the next half century. In 1893 it was abandoned as the present Liberty Street school was erected.

The late Owen Hoban converted it into a hitching stable, which in later years was run by Ed McConnell. … E.G. Hopkins then bought the barn and razed it to make the Maiden Lane Parking station. The big elm recently cut down was the last of the trees that furnished shade on the school playground.

30) What variety of apple was started and named in Penn Yan?

“Believe it or not” the Wagener apple was developed in an orchard planted by Abraham Wagener, “founder of Penn Yan.” When he built his “palatial” residence, known as the “Mansion House,” at the foot of Main street – the orchard spread from the rear of the home, now the Knapp Hotel, to Elm street. Erected in 1816 as a home, the “Mansion House” later became an inn and was rebuilt into the present structure in 1897 by Oliver C. Knapp.

The State Department of Agriculture in its report, “The Apples of New York,” says concerning the Wagener apple: “in the spring of 1791 George Wheeler brought with him from Dover, Dutchess county, N.Y., to Penn Yan, Yates county, a quantity of apple seeds which he sowed that spring in the nursery upon his farm which he was then reclaiming from the wilderness.

“In 1796, Abraham Wagener, from whom the name of the apple is derived, brought this seedling nursery and planted trees from it upon his place in what is now the Village of Penn Yan. In 1848 it was remarked that the old tree was producing an annual and abundant yield of beautiful and delicious fruit. It continued to bear full crops till about the year 1865. After it was brought to the notice of the State Agricultural society, the Wagener soon began to be propagated quite extensively, and it was since become widely disseminated throughout the country.

“In 1892 Wagener was being offered quite generally by nurserymen throughout the country except in the Northern Mississippi valley, the Rocky Mountain region and the plains from Nebraska to Texas. It is generally known throughout New York but is not planted extensively in any section of the state.”