Question: Pictured here is what one could call a Baldwinsville community institution. Obviously the main part of the building was called the Corner Pharmacy. The photo shows the very familiar marquee over its entrance that advertised community happenings. Do you know where it was located, what it sold and what happened to it? What other businesses were located there?
Last week’s answer: The Greek revival pictured last week was built by O.B. Herrick in 1845. During the time that he owned the property he was also connected with several other landmarks in the village. At one time he was the proprietor of the first Seneca Hotel that stood on the northwest corner of the Four Corners and later the Traveler’s Home located at the head of Tappan Street.
When the Presbyterians built their present church in 1865, he purchased and moved the old church including the steeple down Oswego Street to No. 50 and turned it into a very popular assembly hall known as Herrick’s Hall.
The farm extended to the village line on both sides of the state road, the main route between Oswego and Onondaga. It had a gas well and a creek that at that time was known as Herrick’s Creek, now Crooked Brook. Herrick planted maple trees all along the road, thus the name Maple Road. The road has since been widened and the entrance to Van Buren Road has changed. Through the years that intersection has been called Herrick’s Corner and Dow’s Corner. The Dow name comes from another longtime owner, Wallace Dow, and subsequent generations. It also has been known for Herrick’s Sieve Factory, but we’ll save that for another History Mystery.
With the addition of Ray Middle School and the entrance to 690 a short distance away and the increasing traffic, many people are privileged to view this magnificent home as they pass.
Contact Editor Sarah Hall at [email protected] or leave a message at 434-8889 ext. 310 with your guess by 5 p.m. Friday (please leave the information in the message; we are not generally able to return calls regarding History Mystery responses). If you are the first person to correctly identify an element in the photo, your name and guess will appear in next week’s Messenger, along with another History Mystery feature. History Mystery is a joint project of the Museum at the Shacksboro Schoolhouse and the Baldwinsville Public Library.
