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New Hall of Fame shines light on great buildings made from local sandstone

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 December 2013 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers – Representatives from the first class of the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame pose for a photo on Thursday after the induction ceremony. The group includes, front row: Dina Zinone, property manager for Housing Management Resources which owns the former Saint Bernard’s Seminary in Rochester; Barbara Filipiak, a trustee with St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Medina; and Martha neri, historian at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Buffalo. Second row: Clint Brown, board member of the Richardson Center Corporation in Buffalo that owns the Richardson Olmsted Complex; Monica Pellegrino Faix, director of the Richardson Olmsted Complex; Lee Richards, pastor of the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church in Albion; Jeff Winters, director of the Orleans County YMCA at the former Medina Armory; and the Rev. Donald Huber, cathedral canon vicar at St. Paul’s in Buffalo.

MEDINA – They can be easy to overlook or to not fully appreciate because we have so many in Orleans County and in Western New York. But some of the great Medina sandstone structures are now getting their due.

The Medina Sandstone Society unveiled the first inductees in the new Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame on Thursday. The debut class includes three churches, a seminary turned into senior apartments, a massive former psychiatric center and an armory that is now home to the Orleans County YMCA.

The Sandstone Society wants to celebrate Orleans County’s role in providing the stone, skill and brawn for building some of the most iconic and treasured sites in the county, region, state and beyond.

The first class of Hall of Fame inductees includes three in Orleans, two in Buffalo and one in Rochester. A Hall of Fame Committee narrowed a list of 21 nominees to the six selections. The honorees are enshrined inside the main meeting room in Medina City Hall, a sandstone building that was built in 1908.

The committee – society members Jim Hancock, Dave Miller and John Slack – went hunting for great buildings made from Medina sandstone. They didn’t need to look to far to find great examples of architecture and craftsmanship. Orleans County Historian Bill Lattin noted that the many local and regional sites wow visitors, but often aren’t greeted with much fanfare locally.

“Don’t miss the extraordinary ordinary we have in Medina sandstone buildings here locally and spread throughout New York State,” Lattin said during the Hall of Fame induction.

Lattin was part of a contingent from the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church in Albion, one of the six inaugural members. That church was built in 1894 primarily with funds from George Pullman, an Albion native who made a fortune selling sleeping cars to the railroads.

He built the church as a memorial to his parents. He didn’t spare any expense in the building, which includes more than 40 Tiffany stained-glass windows, Miller noted.

“It is a flawless pink sandstone in the old English Gothic style,” Miller said.

Medina Y director Jeff Winters addresses the group after the Medina Armory was inducted in the Hall of Fame. He is joined in front by Scott Taylor, Y CEO for the GLOW region; and Dean Bellack, president of the Orleans County Y board of directors.

There are bigger sandstone churches in Albion than the Pullman site, but Miller said the Pullman church is an exceptional example of precision stone work. The long low profile of the church is also very unique, he said.

Lee Richards, the church pastor, said the congregation takes great pride in the architecture of the building and all of the stained glass. Church buildings like Pullman were designed “to uplift souls,” Richards said.

Other inductees include:

St. Mary’s Catholic Church, completed in 1904 in Medina, is an immense structure with two tall towers. The building was constructed during Medina’s glory days at the turn of the century. It has been lovingly cared for by the congregation for more than a century.

The congregation paid $75,000 to build the church that uses brown Medina sandstone. One of the towers reaches up 170 feet high. The original Vermont slate remains on the roof.

The Medina Armory opened in 1901, a few blocks from St. Mary’s. New York State paid $55,000 to build the structure that includes octagonal towers. It was closed by the state in 1977 but then the 90,000-square-foot site found new life as a YMCA.

“We’ve tried to be good stewards of the building,” said Y director Jeff Winters.

The YMCA is currently working on a $400,000 upgrade of the site, improving accessibility and amenities.

In Rochester, the Hall of Fame Committee picked Saint Bernard’s Seminary, a collection of four buildings that were constructed between 1891 and 1908. The seminary has been converted into apartments for senior citizens.

The Medina sandstone was quarried from the Genesee River gorge. It is an unusual type of red sandstone with white inclusions. It has well-done decorative brick trim.

“It’s the most unique looking sandstone,” Miller said.

Perhaps the most prominent Medina sandstone building – the Richardson Olmsted Complex in Buffalo – is in the midst of a major transformation from a long dormant former psychiatric hospital into a boutique hotel, center for architecture and high-tech conference rooms.

The twin towers of the Richardson Olmsted Complex in Buffalo make the site one of the most iconic Medina sandstone structures ever built.

The twin copper-roofed towers of Medina sandstone rise 185 feet above Forest Avenue in Buffalo, making the complex a prominent landmark since 1872. The site was designed by famed architect H.H. Richardson, who also chose Medina sandstone for the steps in the state capitol in Albany as part of the Million-Dollar Staircase.

The complex took about 20 years to complete and includes a park designed by the country’s most respected landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted. It was built to be an Eden to help patients recover from mental illness.

Clint Brown, a historic preservation architect, is a member of the board of director for the Richardson Olmsted Complex. He said the board would accept the honor in memory of the patients at the site, and “the quarrymen who mined the stone and the masons who dressed it.”

Brown and the site’s director Monica Pellegrino Faix would like to include a display about Medina sandstone and the quarrymen as part of the site’s center for architecture.

The oldest inductee in the Hall of Fame was built from 1849 to 1851. St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Buffalo used sandstone from a Hulberton quarry.

Medina Sandstone Society President Bob Waters, left, is pictured with Hall of Fame Committee members David Miller, Jim Hancock and John Slack.

The church was designed in the Gothic Revival style by Richard Upjohn, the leading church architect of the day. The U.S. government declared the church a National Historic Landmark in 1987, the only church in Western New York with such a designation.

A fire at the church in 1888 destroyed the interior of St. Paul’s. But the sandstone shell remained and the church rebuilt and reopened. That fire bolstered the reputation for Medina sandstone, Hall of Fame Committee member John Slack said.

The brown sandstone was used for the pulpit and columns in addition to the exterior structure. The Rev. Don Huber, the cathedral canon vicar, said the brown stone has a calming effect.

“The sandstone feels mothering,” he said. “It’s not cold and hard. The sandstone gives St. Paul’s warmth.”

The Hall of Fame Committee plans to induct new members every year. The committee is led by Jim Hancock.

“It was really hard to narrow it down to six,” he said. “There are so many beautiful and unique structures.”

Takeform Architectural Graphics in Medina created the plaques and display for the Hall of Fame. The company made a second set of plaques so each honoree could have one to display.

City Hall has been used as a visitor center during the summer. Hancock said the Hall of Fame should make the building a bigger destination.

Medina hospital braces for changes

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 December 2013 at 12:00 am

‘The hospital is moving in the right direction,’ hospital CEO tells Legislature

ALBION – Medina Memorial Hospital and its parent organization, Orleans Community Health, are making a series of changes in the coming months that will make the hospital stronger and more viable for the future, the hospital’s CEO told Orleans County legislators on Wednesday.

The community can expect a shift to more outpatient care, although the emergency room and inpatient beds will remain.

“Things are looking good,” Dolores Horvath, the hospital CEO and president, told the Legislature. “The hospital is moving in the right direction.”

The hospital is well positioned to serve the county, Horvath said, with health care sites in Medina and a new facility in Albion at the corner of Butts Road and Route 31. The Albion site is increasing services and expects to meet the “urgent care” standard in early 2014. Radiology equipment will arrive this month so that service can be offered in Albion, Horvath said.

The hospital sold the Orchard Manor nursing home earlier this year and is closing a seven-bed psychiatric unit that hospital officials say operates at a $300,000-plus annual deficit.

“We could no longer sustain that,” Horvath said.

Small hospitals are challenged, Horvath said, and some have been unable to survive. Lakeside Memorial Hospital in Brockport closed in April. Lake Shore Health Care Center in Irving, Chautauqua County, is closing next month.

“I’ve been in healthcare for 30 years and I’ve never seen such challenging times as I do today,” Horvath said.

The hospital has a staff focused in getting Orleans Community Health paid for its services through Medicaid, Medicare and the insurance companies.

Horvath said other health care providers are stepping up their efforts to attract Orleans County patients.

The University of Rochester Medical Center bought the former Lakeside hospital and renamed it “Strong West.” The organization has been advertising in Orleans.

United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia also plans to leave the Medina hospital as a tenant and open an expanded women’s health center on Maple Ridge Road.

Medina will lose UMMC as a tenant and could see some of its patients align with the Batavia organization, which would weaken Orleans Community Health.

Horvath asked the Legislature to be strong backers of Orleans Community Health, an organization with a mission to provide healthcare in Orleans County.

“We want you to be viable and strong organization that contributes of the overall viability and strength of the county,” Legislature Chairman David Callard said.

Fire consumed roof of Medina house

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 December 2013 at 12:00 am

MEDINA – Firefighters were dispatched to a call at 4:10 a.m. today after smoke was observed from a house at 206 Prospect St.

There was heavy fire in the attic and the blaze consumed the roof at the house. By about 5:30 a.m., the fire was under control, said Mike Maak, a captain with the Medina Fire Department.

The fire is under investigation. The department is also trying to determine the owner of the site.

Medina was assisted at the scene by firefighters from Lyndonville, Ridgeway and Shelby. Middleport and East Shelby firefighters were on standby at the Medina fire hall.

Orleans will continue bed tax

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 December 2013 at 12:00 am

The tax on lodging generates about $35K for tourism

Photo by Tom Rivers – Dollinger’s Motel in Albion is among the lodging businesses in Orleans County that collect a 4 percent tax, in addition to the sales tax, from their customers.

ALBION – Orleans County legislators voted today to continue a 4 percent tax on lodging businesses, a tax that generates about $35,000 annually for the county’s tourism budget.

The county first imposed the tax in the year 2004. It has been extended every two years since then.

Motels, bed and breakfasts and other lodging providers collect the 4 percent tax from their customers, which is on top of the sales tax. The bed tax in 2012 raised $35,859, County Treasurer Susan Heard said.

The county doesn’t designate how the funds be used by tourism, but it helps pay for easements for fishing access, advertising and other outreach, said Legislator Ken Rush, R-Carlton.

He said most of the tourism funds are targeted towards getting more fishermen to the county. They, in turn as visitors, pay 90 to 95 percent of the bed tax, Rush said.

Legislators were asked to cease with the tax.

“There are better ways (to raise money for tourism) than by punishing businesses,” said Paul Lauricella, Conservative Party vice chairman.

None of the lodging operators in the county attended today’s public hearing, but in the past they have asked the county not to impose the tax. They have said not having a bed tax could give the lodging operators an advantage over other options outside the county.

Rush said he doesn’t know of a county that doesn’t have a bed tax.

“It doesn’t matter where you travel, you pay a bed tax,” Rush said in response to Lauricella. “If we don’t charge it we’d be the only one without a bed tax.”

The tax doesn’t generate much money for Orleans compared to counties with chain hotels. In neighboring Genesee County, which has more than 1,000 hotel rooms, the bed tax generates more than $400,000 a year. That money is used to promote Genesee businesses and attractions.

D & C highlights Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 December 2013 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers – The Democrat & Chronicle today highlights the Medina Sandstone Society and its efforts to create a Hall of Fame. The newspaper includes a photo of the former Medina Armory, which is now the Orleans County YMCA.

MEDINA – The Medina Sandstone Society will induct its first class of honorees in the Sandstone Hall of Fame on Thursday. Already, the venture is getting some publicity locally and beyond.

Today, the Democrat and Chronicle features the Hall of Fame initiative and includes a photo of the former Medina Armory and the Sandstone Society President Bob Waters.

“Medina sandstone had it all,” D & C columnist Jim Memmott writes today. “Impressively fireproof, famously durable, pleasing to the eye, it was a go-to building material in most of the 19th century and the first part of the 20th.”

Orleans Hub, the Medina Journal-Register and The Daily News of Batavia all have published several stories about the Hall of Fame.

The publicity for the community was one of the goals for the initiative. The Sandstone Society wants to annually highlight some of the great structures locally, in the region and elsewhere that used the Medina stone.

The society hopes newspapers from the communities with the honorees will publish articles when sites are inducted in the Hall of Fame.

Waters, in an interview with Jim Memmott, said there is strong interest in the community’s sandstone heritage.

“All of a sudden, Medina has got a flair for rediscovering its history,” Waters told Memmott. “And it’s not just me; it’s the young folks who are all gung-ho.”

Thursday’s Hall of Fame ceremony will be from 4 to 6 p.m. at City Hall. The event is invitation only.

State approves very little in economic development for Orleans

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 December 2013 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers – Bent’s Opera House is eyed as a performing arts center with a restaurant and retail/office space. The state denied the project any funding in the latest round of economic development grants.

New York State won’t be playing Santa Claus for Orleans County. A breakdown of the state economic development grants, announced today, shows very little for Orleans County despite the county’s high unemployment and clear need for these funds.

The state approved $58.9 million for 94 projects in the nine-county Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council. This is the third year the state has awarded the funds through regional councils.

Bent’s Operas House in Medina was recommended by the council for state funding for a roof repair and renovations. Orleans Renaissance Group, owner of the building, sought $500,000 in state funding, but the organization was denied even a cent from the state.

The state approved $65,776 to the village of Holley for a canal park improvement project. Holley will use the funding to improve its existing gazebo, pavilions and stone paths.

New elements of the park will include tree planting, installation of grills and picnic tables, fire pits, and the purchase of new equipment to maintain the park.

The improved amenities should make the canal park a bigger attraction for Holley, drawing more bicyclists and boaters, state officials said.

Another grant allocates $46,680 for Community Action of Orleans & Genesee to provide employment support services for residents in the two counties. Community Action will offer job skills instruction and training, job placement assistance, computer skills and financial literacy.

These are the only grants that are targeted to a project in Orleans County. That’s barely $100,000 out of $715 million approved across the state. It’s woeful for a county burdened with poverty and high unemployment.

There is grumbling from rural county leaders that the new system hurts the small counties because the state tends to pick projects with an emphasis on job creation and capitol investment. The state also wants a local match for many of the projects.

Those criteria are steering more projects to the bigger communities that have deeper pockets and staffs to put together the applications.

I’ll have more on this in the coming days. But this is bad news for Orleans County.

Orleans is listed as recipient of some other multi-county initiatives including $62,050 through the Arts Council of Wyoming County to add culinary traditions to farmers markets and other agrarian, horticultural and rustic events. The initiative will expose market and festival goers to traditional foods and local chefs, according to state officials.

Orleans is listed as one of nine counties that would benefit form a $250,000 grant to High Tech Rochester Inc. The funding will help create a partnership between High Tech Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester to leverage each partner’s strengths to improve the breadth of services to all entrepreneurial activities in the Finger Lakes Region.

A grant that covers eight counties, including Orleans, will fund a regional watershed management plan through the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper. The $507,830 focuses on a watershed management plan for the Niagara River and Lake Erie.

Attic fire damages house in Medina this morning

Staff Reports Posted 11 December 2013 at 12:00 am

Photo by Gary Hill

MEDINA – Firefighters responded this morning to an attic fire at a vacant house on Prospect Street in Medina. Firefighters from Medina, Lyndonville, Ridgeway and Shelby responded to the call. No injuries were reported.

Middleport and East Shelby fire companies filled in at the Medina fire hall.

Albion village elections may go independent

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 December 2013 at 12:00 am

ALBION – The days of voting for Republican and Democratic candidates in village of Albion elections may be over.

The Albion Republican Committee wants to see the elections in the future limited to candidates on independent party lines. The Republican Committee last week officially voted to have candidates run on independent-only party lines.

“We think if it is nonpartisan you would get a wider range of candidates to step forward,” said Dawn Allen, the Albion GOP chairwoman.

The resolution will need the support of the Albion Democratic Committee to take effect. The next election is in March and includes the mayor and at least two trustee positions.

Democratic Party leaders have discussed the issue the past year but haven’t reached a conclusion, said Sandra Walter, the Democratic Party leader in Albion. She expects the group will meet again soon to talk about whether to support the move to independent elections.

The other villages in Orleans – Holley, Lyndonville and Medina – all have independent-only candidates, who tend to run on party lines such as “The Village Party,” “The Taxpayer Party,”“The Family Party,” as well as others.

Rather than securing the support of the Republican or Democratic Party leaders, independent candidates would pass petitions signed by a small percentage of village residents in order to be on the ballot.

Allen thinks the move would give more power to the candidates and residents. Right now both Republican and Democratic committees include some members who don’t live in the village. That means people from outside the village are currently helping to pick who runs for the village offices.

Arnold Gregory Hospital welcomes new hospital bed

Posted 11 December 2013 at 12:00 am

By Bill Lattin, Orleans County Historian

ALBION – Staff and board members of the Arnold Gregory Memorial Hospital in Albion look over a new bed around 1960.

Pictured, from left: Dr. John Ellis, board member Sidney Eddy, hospital administrator Helen Yerger, board president Edward Archbald, board member Robert Babbitt and nurse Mrs. Douglas Hayes.

Albion FFA attends leadership retreat in Adirondacks

Posted 10 December 2013 at 12:00 am

Photo by Adam Krenning, Albion FFA advisor – Albion FFA members pose for a photo at their leadership retreat this past weekend. The group includes, from left: Sara Millspaugh, Kellie O’Hearn, Megan Rosato, Logan London, Kyle Smith, Dominic DiCureia, Brian Bentley, Brianna Caldwell, Mackenzie Luft, Vivian Rivers, Abigail Maines, Mikayla Yaskulski, Riley Kelly, Kelsee Soule and Jayne Bannister.

By Logan London and Vivian Rivers, Albion FFA members

This weekend 15 members of the Albion FFA earned the privilege to attend a Leadership Retreat at Oswegatchie Educational Center in Croghan, NY.

These dedicated students spent 48 hours working and living together in the middle of the snowy Adirondacks Mountains. With this experience they learned to trust each other, communicate with one another, and to step outside of each of their individual comfort zones.

From frustrating challenges (being lost and blind folded) to the more enjoyable games (having everyone write with one marker attached to 15 strings) this brought the group of kids together as a team. To challenge themselves, every student climbed 30 feet up a pine tree and zip lined across a pond on the camp’s property.

While avoiding the cold in the lodge, the members worked on a FFA informational project to bring home to present to the chapter. Overall, this experience allowed FFA members to spark new friendships, bring the kids together, and broaden their leadership skills.

Kendall’s Marisa Hanlon wins Legion Oratorical Contest

Contributed Story Posted 10 December 2013 at 12:00 am

Provided photo

ALBION – A junior at Kendall won this year’s American Legion Oratorical Contest. Marisa Hanlon competed Saturday against winners from all five school districts in Orleans County.

Students needed to deliver an 8- to 10-minute speech without notes about the Constitution. Hanlon and second-place winner Zach Shaffer of Albion advance to a regional competition on Jan. 12.

Participants are pictured after the event on Saturday at the Albion Middle School. The group includes, from left: Mikaela Cherry of Medina, Jacon Wachob of Lyndonville, Emily Radford of Holley, Jonathan Price of Kendall, Marisa Hanlon of Kendall, Zach Shaffer of Albion, and Paul Fulcomer, commander of the American Legion in Orleans County.

Mother who sold drugs could face 4 years in prison

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 December 2013 at 12:00 am

Theresa Nichols

ALBION – An Albion woman pleaded guilty in Orleans County Court on Monday to selling hydrocodone and other prescription narcotics.

Theresa S. Nichols, 51, of 209 North Main St. could face up to four years in state prison after she pleaded guilty to attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree.

As part of the plea, Nichols’ maximum prison sentence will be reduced from 5 ½ years to four. She was charged on Oct. 1 with two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, two counts of conspiracy in the fourth degree, one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, one count of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, and one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree.

Nichols has a prior criminal history. She admitted in court to selling hydrocodone to an undercover police officer.

Nichols was on social services and disability. She was selling prescription narcotics to supplement her income, her attorney Michael O’Keefe told County Court Judge James Punch.

She also faces a charge of felony welfare fraud in the third degree.

She remains in county jail on $25,000 bail. Judge Punch set a Feb. 24 sentencing for Nichols.

Her two sons also face numerous counts of criminal possession and sale of a controlled substance. The sons, along with their mother, were allegedly selling hydrocodone and tramadol pills, which were prescribed to the mother.

Joshua Nichols, 26, of 209 North Main St. appeared in county court on Monday. He was initially assigned a public defender, but Punch said Nichols earns too much money to qualify. He gave Nichols until Monday to hire an attorney.

In other cases in county court on Monday:

A Rochester woman was sentenced to four months of weekends in jail for selling cocaine.

Raquel T. Torrez, 34, of 256 Ave. D, Rochester was arrested on June 19 and charged with four counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree. She pleaded guilty to fifth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.

Torrez is a cancer survivor who cares for five children, including a son with disabilities.

“I know you’re not the kingpin behind a drug operation, but you were fully involved,” Punch said during sentencing.

The judge was going to revoke her driver’s license, but issued a hardship waiver so she can drive to and from jail and take her son to physical therapy.

A Rochester woman was sentenced to a year in the county jail for felony driving while intoxicated.

Julie M. Makowski, 50, took a breath test two hours after being arrested on March 31 and registered a 0.15 blood alcohol content, nearly double the legal limit for driving drunk.

Punch said she also must install an interlock ignition device, which checks her BAC, on any vehicle she drives in the future. Her license to drive was revoked for a year.

An Appleton woman appeared in court on charges of third-degree grand larceny.

Dawn Papazian allegedly stole a horse trailer from Lynn-Ette and Sons farm in Kent. Judge Punch set $1,000 bail for Papazian, who is to reappear in court on Dec. 23 at 2:30 p.m.

Hoag keeps up tasty treat tradition

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 December 2013 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Susie Gaylord, an administrative assistant at Hoag Library, helps serve hors d’oeuvres and entrees prepared by the Crooked Door during last Thursday’s Tasty Treats at the library.

Debbie Martillotta, co-owner of the Crooked Door with her husband Joe, is pictured at right.

The event is organized by the Friends of the Library and attracted about 60 people.

Tasty Treats started seven years ago and has become a popular tradition at the library, a way for the organization to express its thanks to the community, said organizer Grace Kent.

This year’s event included a silent auction for an oak chair from Swan Library that was painted by artist Cheryl Watson of Lyndonville. The winner will be announced on Dec. 23.

Joe Martillotta, center, talks to the group about some of the entrees at the Crooked Door. Mary Anne Braunbach, Friends president, is pictured at right by the podium.

Yates library displays pottery made by Lyndonville eighth-graders

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 December 2013 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

LYNDONVILLE – This year’s holiday open house at the Yates Community Library will feature student musicians, festive treats and a holiday reading by Orleans County Legislator Lynne Johnson.

The event this Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. also will showcase 30 pieces of pottery created by Lyndonville eighth-graders. They worked with Waterport potter Deborah Wilson and Lyndonville art teacher Doug Michalak to create the jars and bowls.< The pottery has been displayed in the library since Nov. 25. The pieces will be there until Dec. 16. “Everyone has remarked about them,” said Emily Cebula, library director. “We feel it is important to show what our kids can do.”

The pottery pieces were inspired by jars made by Woodland Indians and excavated from archaeological sites near Waterport and Oakfield. The project was made possible through an Artists in the Schools grant distributed by the New York State Council on the Arts and administered by the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council.

The most distinctive feature of the historic pots is that they have highly decorated “collars” or necks. Each student had the chance to make their own personalized stamping tool for decorating the collars on their own pieces.

This was the first chance that many of the eighth-graders had to work with clay, as the Art Department has not been able to offer pottery in the past few years. The Artists in the Schools funding allowed the school to get the kiln out of mothballs and paid Wilson to come in the share her knowledge of pottery with the group.

“It’s been a wonderful program,” Cebula said. “The kids are very proud of these.”

A view from the Oak Orchard lighthouse in 1888

Posted 10 December 2013 at 12:00 am

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

CARLTON – Our photo posted here, which has recently come to light, was taken in 1888 from the top of the lighthouse at the Oak Orchard Harbor.

The building to the left was known as The Orleans House. The white building behind the trees is now the Black North Inn. Next to it is a mobile photographer’s wagon which advertises on its side, “Photography Car.”

This was a studio on wheels that would have been pulled around by a team of horses. The other buildings near it were part of the Selheimer & Beckwith lumber and coal business.

To the right we see the west pier where the lighthouse was located. A raised walkway for people leads to the lighthouse. It is perhaps John Kelley, the lighthouse keeper who is standing on the pier.

Note the number of iron cleats for boats to tie up. To the very far right in the distance is the lighthouse keeper’s house. This later became the Archbald residence.

The U.S. government gave up maintaining the lighthouse in 1904. The lighthouse was toppled in a wind storm in 1916.