Question: This service based Baldwinsville business did not depend upon visibility from the street for its success. The name Rowell and Sons is seen on one of the doors. Do you know what the enterprise was or where it was located?
Last week’s answer: As we travel through the past we will see that one thing is for sure — many changes have taken place in our village through the years. We need no more proof than the recent demolition of the former Burger King at the intersection of East Genesee, Mechanic and Salina streets.
That is not the first time that a demolition has taken place on that site. The photo from last week shows the demolition of the Moose Club in 1973. They took over the ownership of the former Allen Hotel in 1937.
An 1860 map of the village shows the site occupied by two buildings owned by H. Cox. Some years later Peter Quackenbush ran a store in a building located there. The erection of a small hotel followed. After that, at an unknown date, Wells A. Allen, built a larger hotel.
In the 1885 village directory, it was listed as the Rugg Hotel. Its final name as a hotel was the Allen House.
By the way, at that time the intersection included Canal, Gaston, Salina and Mechanic streets. Canal (named for the Baldwin Canal) ran from the Methodist Church to Mechanic. East Genesee from that point to the east was known as Gaston Street.
Did you notice another change? In the background on the left, the name on the store was not Ace Hardware but A & P Market! Not too many years ago there were grocery stores on the north side of the river. Those of us that live on the Lysander side would love to see that change take place.
The Messenger received several correct answers this week, but the first came from Audrey Jones.
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 before the deadline, 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.
