By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
On Dec. 28, a Town of Cazenovia snowplow accidentally knocked down the historic Lincklaen House sign at the corner of Albany and Lincklaen streets.
According to Highway Superintendent Dean Slocum, the plow was turning around at the intersection when the back of the wing caught the pole; in the process, the sign fell off.
Slocum noted that the piece that fastened the sign to the pole broke, but that neither the sign itself nor the pole was damaged.
“That’s the problem with plowing, these trucks are so large and these spaces are so tight with cars and everything,” Slocum said. “[The cars] just do not give the plow trucks enough room, and it makes it very difficult to navigate around those intersections . . . When someone does see a plow truck on the road, [we ask that they] give them plenty of room, because they are huge and there is a lot going on.”
The distinctive roadside hotel/tavern sign was first erected in 1835 when The Lincklaen House was built.
According to a 2017 article in the Cazenovia Republican, the sign was taken down around 1870 when the hotel temporarily closed down, but it was replaced upon the reopening.
General repairs and small changes were made to the post and sign throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
In the early 1980s, the Village of Cazenovia took responsibility for the sign.
It was knocked down by a town snowplow in 2010 and then reinstalled.
In 2017, it was restored and brought back to its original historic look by a team of local artisans.
The project was a community-sponsored effort spearheaded by Ted Bartlett, a local preservation consultant, who recognized the sign’s significance.
“There were at least three other signs in Caz of similar scale and design,” Bartlett said. “These signs were found all along the Cherry Valley Turnpike (and other turnpikes) from the early 19th century. In our research for its restoration, [we learned that] the New York State Historic Preservation Office knew of no other signs that have been in place since the 1830s. So the sign is incredibly significant not only for its design and history, but also for the fact that it may be the only one to survive on the Cherry Valley Turnpike — or possibly in the state — in front of the original hotel that it was designed for. Historically it is an incredibly significant and rare survivor from an 1830 byway and commercial Main Street. It is a gem.”
The village and Lincklaen House Owner Dan Kuper joined into a cooperative agreement to restore the sign and maintain it in perpetuity.
A four-person committee, including Bartlett, Mayor Kurt Wheeler, Deputy Mayor Amy Mann and Public Works Administrator Bill Carr, directed the project, decided how to restore the sign, and found funding to complete the work.
Numerous individuals, organizations and municipal entities contributed to the project, including the Village and Town of Cazenovia, The Lincklaen House, Bartlett, the Cazenovia Preservation Foundation using a Common Grounds Challenge grant, Johnson Lumber, Cazenovia Lumber Company, D.R. Cornue Woodworks, Mike Walker of Expert Building Service, artist Paul Parpard, and a number of anonymous donors.
“A lot of effort went into the restoration of the sign, [so it was] quite a sad event,” Bartlett said following the Dec. 28 snowplow incident.
On Dec. 30, Wheeler reported that the town was cooperating with the village to get the sign repaired and reinstalled.
