Cobblestone Museum honors 6 for preservation efforts
LYNDONVILLE – Efforts to save and preserve six historic buildings in Orleans County were celebrated Friday night at the third annual Historic Preservation Awards dinner at White Birch Golf Course.
Sponsored by the Cobblestone Society and Museum, awards were presented for restoration of the Gaines Basin District #2 Schoolhouse, the Butterfield cobblestone home of Erin Anheier and Russ Bosch, Gar and Virginia Trusselle’s William V.N. Barlow home in Albion, the Isaac Bennett home of Delbert Young, the Murray-Holley Historical Society/Railroad Depot and Holley Gardens, the former Holley High School.
Cobblestone Museum director Doug Farley welcomed guests and introduced emcee Brenda Tremblay and Bill Lattin, former Cobblestone director and Orleans County historian, who talked about the reprint of his book, Architecture Destroyed. The book was originally published in 1984 and republished this year through a grant from Go Art!, with the addition of a dozen destroyed structures.
Every guest at the banquet received a free copy of the book, which is also for sale at the Cobblestone Museum Gift Shop.
Lattin also thanked Farley for his work in creating a power point of structures in the book, showing the original structure and what is at that site today.
Tremblay, an Albion native, is a classical morning host and producer on WXXI-FM in Rochester. She reminisced about being born in Arnold Gregory Memorial Hospital and working at Fisher-Price in Medina, which have both closed in Orleans County.
The evening’s keynote speaker was Wayne Goodman, executive director of the Landmark Society of Western New York.
Goodman came to Rochester in 2011 from the Indiana Landmark Society in Indianapolis. He explained a landmark society advocates for buildings that need a voice. The Landmark Society of Western New York was established in 1937 and is one of the oldest in the country. With 1,800 members, it is also one of the largest, serving a nine-county area, he said.
Goodman led the effort to create the Landmark Society’s Five to Revive, which has draws attention to sites in need of investment. Several locations have been on the list in Orleans County, and that designation helped secure funding and attention.
The Landmark Society sponsors local and regional tours, as well as national and international tours. They recently completed a window restoration project and sponsored a house and garden tour. The restoration of the former Holley High School into Holley Gardens is one of their success stories, and one of their “Five to Revive,” Goodman said.
Goodman explained historic restoration is about progress, innovation and authenticity. He said you can tell where you are by the historic buildings, such as the Old Faithful Inn in Wyoming; or the balconied buildings which line the street in New Orleans.
“When you see a cobblestone house, you know you’re in Western New York,” Goodman said. “When we know where we are and where we come from, we can better understand who we are.”
Six structures were recognized during the Historic Preservation ceremony, in which Farley presented plaques to Chris Capurso, trustee, and Tina Inzana, treasurer, both with the Orleans County Historical Association, for restoration of the Gaines Basin District #2 Schoolhouse on Gaines Basin Road; Erin Anheier and Russ Bosch for their Butterfield cobblestone home on Bennetts Corners Road, Holley; Gar and Virginia Trusselle for restoration of the William V.N Barlow house on South Clinton Street in Albion; Delbert Young, who owns the Isaac Bennet home on State Street, the oldest cobblestone house in Medina, built in the late 1820s; Danny Mawn, president of the Murray-Holley Historical Society/Railroad Depot; and to Krystal Goodwin on behalf of Home Leasing’s restoration of Holley High School into an upscale Holley Gardens.
Matt Holland, president of the Cobblestone Society, said they do so much to preserve old structures, but they also are committed to educating the community. They are doing more school tours, and reached more than 3,000 visitors.
“It’s not just about history, it’s also science and art,” Holland said. “It’s something special for the community to partake in. When you restore a building, you have to do it again. It is ongoing.”
He praised the Cobblestone Society’s volunteers and staff for the “wonderful job they do.” He also thanked the Rochester Area Community Foundation and Landmark Society of Western New York for their support.
The program concluded with an appeal for donations to enable the Cobblestone Society to continue their work preserving local history.