Did You Know?</b>

History - Newark

Did You Know?
By Bob Hoeltzel,
Arcadia Town Historian

Part I

That the small building behind the residence at 116 East Maple Avenue was once a cigar factory?

That Rolland Hoffman, only son of Mrs. Sarah Hoffman who ran a boarding house 211 West Miller Street, while a student at the University of Pennsylvania, was a medal winner at the first modern Olympics in Athens, Greece in 1896. When I knew Mr. Hoffman in the late 1920's and early 1930's, he was still a bachelor and lived with his cousin, Mrs. Adella Pauley, his housekeeper. Mrs. Pauley was from Seneca Falls, where she attended the Congressional Church with her friend Elizabeth Cady Stanton. That church was where the first Feminine Rights Convention was held in 1848. Never living up to his potential, Mr. Hoffman was listed as a 'trimmer' in the 1911 Newark Directory. Later was a mechanic at the old Arcadia Trailer Company on Murray Street.

The only Tiffany stained-glass window in Newark is at the north door of Redeemer Lutheran Church, taken there from the old church on East Miller Street, where it was installed by the Universalist Church.

The first parsonage of the First United Methodist Church was the house at 314 East Avenue; the first manse of the Presbyterian Church was the nucleus of what is now the Change of Seasons Adult Care Home; the first rectory of St. Mark's Episcopal Church is the house at 124 Franklin Street; the first parsonage of the Arcadia Reformed Church is at 203 and 207 Vienna Street.

The double residence at 809-811 Church Street was built in 1836 for a Baptist church.

The brick residence (with wood frame second story added) was the East Newark school house.

The residence at 1140 North Main Street was the first North Ward school house.

The bricks from the old 'Dutch Church' (the site of Myrtle Bloom's residence, Vienna Street at Godfrey,) were used to build the newer Arcadia Reformed Church on East Avenue (now the Masonic Building).

Bricks for the former Christian Church, now the Knights of Columbus building, came from the non-denominational church in Marbletown.

The residence of Tom and Barb Chappell on Miller Road was once a non-denominational chapel.

The three identical side-by-side two-story family houses on West Sherman Avenue were made from bricks from the old Newark Hotel, which was razed when the Barge/Erie Canal was built.

Newark once had an airplane factory in the early 1930's. The Taylor Airplane Co. built the stucco building on East Union St., between the Granite Theater and Scofield's (later Marvin's) Garage. The company moved to Rochester and soon went out of business during the Great Depression.

The cinder-block building at the entrance to the Newark hospital grounds was built by Stuart Hallagan and Karl Herman, Newark's first aviation enthusiasts, to house their airplanes.

The Church of God on Plain Street was a stable built by Ralph Perkins, brother of Charles H. Perkins, nephew of the original Charles Perkins, to house his riding horses.

Driving Park Circle was once the Jackson & Perkins delphinium chrysanthemum beds.

The house at 427 West Miller originally stood where Waterman Funeral Home parking lot is. S.K. Williams, prominent attorney and State Senator, and his wife, set up housekeeping there in the 1840's.

The house which stood where Paul Murphy & Sons Funeral home is located, was moved to Colton Avenue (719-721) where three generations of the Sergisson family have resided.

When Dr. Coventry, prominent Newark physician, wanted to build what is now the Schulz-Pusateri Funeral Home, he moved the two-story white frame building, which became Newark's first kindergarten, which I attended 1924-25. It stood where the lawn of the Community Center is.

A house which once stood across from the West Shore Railroad passenger station, was moved to what's now 220 Blackmar Street. This was necessitated by the widening of the old Erie Canal around 1912.

The house on Madison Street, at the end of Washington, was moved by the village to provide an eastern entrance to Perkins Park. It is 326 Washington Street.

What is Perkins Park was once a willow swamp, before it was drained to become Jackson & Perkins' first nursery.

The residence of Andrew Bryant, grandson of the pioneer Simeon Bryant, now 335-337 West Miller St., was moved to make way for the house (now a professional building at 203 W. Miller). It was built for Mary Flynn Miller. She is no relation to Joseph Miller, Newark's founder, after whom Miller Street is named.

Wealthy Newarkite O.H. Allerton moved the two-family house at 215 Colton Ave. and the house at 312 Church Street, so he could build his wonderful Victorian three-story mansion (with nine marble fireplaces, all of a different marble and design). This building was Newark's second Elks Lodge and was demolished later for the present Elks building, on South Main.

Fletcher Williams, founder and president of the old First National Bank, occupied the house which stood where Dr. Zugibe's house stands. The original carriage house is still standing behind the present home. The family's tennis courts ands gardens are now the area occupied by the fine houses (built by Stephen Keener) on the south side of Grant Street, from the middle of the block to East Avenue.

The first telephone line in Newark was from the home of Mrs. Phoebe Vary, who lived in the house where Pearl (Mrs. Douglas) Rook now lives. It was remodeled by George Richmond. It was cross-lots to Mrs. Vary's physician, who lived in one of Newark's oldest and finest homes, built prior to 1827. This house was demolished in 1912 to provide space for the Newark Post Office.

Newark Post Office is the only building in town placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designed by an architect hired by the U.S. Postal Dept. He designed many of America's finest buildings for the department, prior to World War II.

Elon St. John, farmer and builder in the Fairville area, built the Fairville church, where he was a member. He also built the Methodist Church and former Village Hall in Palmyra, the County Jail and Sheriff's residence on Butternut Street in Lyons, and the present county jail in the 1850's.

Before law-breakers were sent to the county jail, they were kept overnight in a one-cell jail in Newark's Old City Hall.

S.K. Williams conducted a non-denominational Sunday school, organized by the Newark Presbyterian Church, which was held every Sunday afternoon in the old Hydesville Schoolhouse. Attendance was between 50 and 75.

Stephen Keener, whose lumberyard and planing mill was sold to Joel Caves, built not only the brick school at Hydesville, but the one at Melvin Hill and Westfall Road in the Town of Phelps. Keener also designed and built the vault in Newark Cemetery, a house on West Miller St. and one on East Ave. at West Myrtle (now occupied by attorneys). The last home he built, for himself, was one of the beautiful homes torn down in 1939 to make way for the Junior-Senior High School, which opened in 1940.

The red barn on West Pearl St. (north side) was once a cooper (barrel-maker) shop run by Elmer Cunningham and his father. Elmer was the long-time popular principal of Lincoln School.

The house at 119 Stuerwald Avenue, formerly the home of Parke Pulver and family was moved from North Main St. to provide room for the expansion of the Lincoln School.

The old Lutheran Church on East Miller St., housed the old Universalist congregation (no longer existing), the new Redeemer Lutheran Church, the Universalist Church (called 'Universalist Church of the Redeemer') and the new Christian Scientist Church, before they bought and converted a residence. This residence is now the Arcadia Historical Society Museum.

Did You Know?
(Part II)

Harriet Van Horne, a graduate of Newark High School, class of 1936, became society editor for the New York Times. Her coverage of marriages of people in business, finance, and entertainment was repeated by other newspapers across the country. Her father, Victor Van Horne, was an executive with the New York Telephone Company. He was responsible for building the Educational Center on Grace Avenue and lived at 214 Grace Avenue, now the home of Chuck and Ruth Gifford.

The first church bell was installed in the First Methodist Church around 1834; the Presbyterian Church bell was installed in the original meeting house in 1834, and the bell at St. Mark's Episcopal came from the old church on West Miller St. where it was installed in 1863. The Newest bell in town is at St. Michael's Catholic Church, given by a DeJohn family.

The Presbyterian church bell strikes the hour electronically from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. St. Michael's bell is rung every hour. The bell from the old Arcadia Reformed Church on East Ave. is on the front lawn of the present Arcadia Church on Woodlane. The steeple is not designed to hold a bell. All these bells were made in the Meneely Bell Foundry, located in Troy. (St. Michael's bell may be an exception). Other Meneely bells are at the Newark Fire Hall (removed from the old house on E. Union St.); The Fairville Fire House (from Fairville Methodist Church); Phelps Public Library (formerly St. John's Episcopal church). A descendant of Robert Meneely was until recently a teacher in the Sodus High School.

The home of David Fox, older brother of the famous Fox Sisters, is the residence of Dan and Sue Tierson at 2537 Parker Road.

The house at 435 West Miller Street once faced West Union, before West Miller Street was extended west. Before the 1870's, W. Miller Street went at an angle at Military Brook, to join West Union in the same fashion as East Miller joins East Union.

The residence at 101 Highland, also owned as a farm house by O.H. Allerton, was moved to 401 East Maple Ave.

The State Emergency Management Office, a 20 ft. by 25 ft. flat-roofed brick building, is located between Smith Metal Works and the NYS Transportation headquarters. Beneath it is an immense, subterranean cave, two stories high and large enough to house 20 to 30 people, completely apart from the rest of the world, for six to eight weeks. The facilities include two dormitory rooms, 17 by 20 feet each, for both men and women, complete with showers, a well-stocked infirmary with a physician on call, food for 70 people, all separated by a 'secret' tunnel (always kept locked, with the key on the director's person at all times). This tunnel is 900 feet long. It was built during the Cold War, when attack by Russians was a real threat. Today it is run by the Division of Military and Naval Affairs, which has charge of emergency services for 15 western New York counties.

The houses at 201 and 203 Hoffman Street were moved to where they are now to make a place for the East Ward (old Roosevelt) school.

The home occupied by Lauren Valkenburgh and her children, 810 East Avenue, once stood on Church Street where part of the HSBC Bank is. This home had a previous move. Mrs. Luella Thatcher had the house made from the carriage house, when her husband Dr. E.P. Thatcher died. The Thatchers lived at 214 South Main St. By the time of this move, overhead wires necessitated the house be moved in two sections. The roof has been changed completely.

James E. Briggs and S. K. Williams founded the Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Company in what became Newark's first Elks Lodge. This was the site of the present World Building and former Gilbert's Jewelry store. Later the company moved to Rochester and rescued the Mercury statue from a warehouse in Charlotte. The firm is the largest printer of law books in America. Briggs is buried in the Newark Cemetery. His grandson Theodore Briggs recently retired as C.E.O. of the publishing company.

When the old Briggs house was removed to make way for the house built for Charles Perkins, nephew and successor as president of Jackson and Perkins, part of the house was moved to Elmwood Avenue and part to Peirson Ave.

John Fox, father of the famous Fox sisters, is buried in an unmarked grave in Newark Cemetery. David Fox, the older brother, his wife and child are in marked graves. Mrs. Fox, Maggie and Kate, together with Leigh, are buried in the Underhill plot in Brooklyn. Leigh married a wealthy Manhattan insurance executive, Daniel Underhill.

Rev. Cheryl Miner of Ontario, a graduate ordained Spiritualist minister has moved her Spiritualist congregation to the Masonic Building, where services are held every other Sunday at noon. Cheryl is a granddaughter of the late Dorothy Facer, a good friend of mine, life-long Lutheran, one-time Wayne County Historian.

The house at 735 South Main, moved by Frans Monje, once stood where the Save-A-Lot Supermarket is. The spot on South Main was available because it was the former R.S.&E. trolley entrance to Main Street.

The shortest public railroad in the world was the old Newark & Marion Railroad. It ran from Marion to Newark, then for a time down the center of North Main to Harrison Street. But the NY Central management 'pulled rank' and the route ended at the east end of East Pearl St. It was the only known railroad to stop for a red light, at Main and Pearl. It stopped for cattle crossing and often didn't have enough steam built up to make the rise at the end of West Pearl. They said this RR had one thing over the New York Central Railroad - the iron bridge near the Arcadia-Palmyra Town Line. It was operated by Beebe syndicate. It was later bought by S.E.C. to haul produce from Marion to the New York Central in Newark.

Newark was the headquarters of the R.S.&E. (Rochester, Syracuse, and Eastern) electric railway. Headquarters is now the Newark Grange Hall. The first car barns, though made of iron, burned. The second set of car barns is now the Village Barns/Garage. Superintendent Paul E. Emerson lived on Mason Street.

Did You Know?
Part III

Lincoln Road was not named for President Lincoln, but for the Lincoln family, whose homestead was on the NW corner of Rt. 88S and Lincoln Road?

Wilson Street was not named for President Wilson, but for Dr. Jacob Wilson, who was Editor of the old Newark Courier?

Grant Street was not named for President Grant, but for Elib T. Grant, who was cashier for the old First National Bank?

The Buffalo Farm of the late Douglas A. Kraai was the homestead of the Cronise family, developed from the wilderness by the first Henry Cronise in 1807?

That the first nickelodeon in Newark was a barge, tied up on the east side of the Main Street bridge?

The hamlet of Zurich was so named by Stephen Culver, prominent Newarkite who was a financial backer and trustee of the old Sodus Point and Southern, the SPS or 'Slow Pay and Seldom.' During the Depression it was locally owned and later taken over by the Penn Railroad system. The 'Toonerville' passenger car brought many Sodus Point and Sodus Center kids to Newark High School. Mr. Culver looked around at the hilly area where he wanted to build a passenger station and said to a companion, 'This place looks like Zurich.' He had never been to Switzerland, but the name stuck.

The Red Path Chautauqua was held regularly in the Bailey Tract, east of East Avenue and south of Bailey Lane. The tent burned down when the two weeks of performance had just begun, so the remainder of the programs were transferred to the Presbyterian Church. One featured famous Chautauqua guest was Helen Keller, who spoke thanks to the training of Anne Sullivan.

The Wayne Drug Store founded by Nate Friedman and Lester Stepner originated on East Union Street, later moved to Newark Plaza, now to South Main Street, with warehouse on Lake Street? It expanded with stores in Fulton and Oswego, and now has 12 stores grossing tens of millions of dollars annually.

The prime financial backer of the old Sodus Point and Southern R.R. which passes through the town of Arcadia before it was purchased by the Pennsylvania R. R. system was the nationally known financier E.H. Harriman (1848-1909), founder and C.E.O. of the Union Pacific R.R. Mr. Harriman's son, W. Averill Harriman (1891-1986) was internationally known as a statesman, administrator of the Marshall Plan after World War II, governor of New York from 1953-58, Secretary of State for Political Affairs and United States Ambassador-at-Large.

The small home of Marco and Sarah (Werts) Fantauzzi on West Avenue was originally a convenience store behind the house at 372 West Union Street? Charles Bremer, an Arcadia farmer retired to the home in the village and started the store to supplement his income. When he died, Charles Espenmiller, Sarah's great-grandfather, had the building moved to its present position, with his son Allen running it for several years.

Dr. Christian 'Chris' Hartnagle, born on the family homestead on Hartnagle Road east of Marbletown, was Professor of Geology, Dean of the School of Geology at Columbia University, and later New York State geologist? He became a nationally recognized authority on dinosaurs, and especially mastodons.

Blue Bells, described in the World Book (2000) as a bell-shaped flower that blooms in the spring with bright blue flowers, and is rare in this region, have been growing in the woods behind an Arcadia farm house. It's the Reeves family home, since pioneer Paul Reeves established the homestead in 1792? In my early childhood, the 1920s, dozens of people visited the woods to see the dainty flowers which are now on the list of endangered species, with stiff fines for picking or transplanting.

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