Gilbertsville Showcased for Historic Advocacy, Activism

By TERESA WINCHESTER
GILBERTSVILLE

Dr. Cindy Falk, assistant dean of graduate studies at SUNY Oneonta and professor of material culture at the university’s Cooperstown Graduate Program, led a walking tour of Gilbertsville on Sunday, August 4. The tour, attended by about two dozen people, was part of Otsego 2000’s Historic Preservation Walking Tour Series. Attendees were not only from the Gilbertsville area, but also from Oneonta, Cooperstown, Unadilla, Bainbridge and Springfield, all in Otsego County. Participants also hailed from the Broome County municipalities of Conklin and Binghamton.

Otsego 2000 Executive Director Ellen Pope spoke briefly about tax credits for homes in historic districts and for historic barn rehabilitation. Information on these credits is available at otsego2000.org.

In regard to historic preservation in Gilbertsville, Falk had high praise for Leigh Eckmair, longtime historian for the Town of Butternuts and the Village of Gilbertsville, and archivist for the Gilbertsville Free Library.

“Leigh Eckmair is one of those historians who has done such amazing work to bring local history to the forefront. She is one of those forces every community wishes it had,” Falk said.

In 2015, Otsego 2000 presented Eckmair with the Preservation Advocate Award for her leadership and dedication to preserving and celebrating the history of the Town of Butternuts and the Village of Gilbertsville.

But for the Gilbertsville area’s strong resistance to a long-standing Army Corps of Engineers plan to dam up the area, the tour would not have taken place at all, as, like the sad fate of some Catskill Mountain towns, Gilbertsville and other nearby towns and villages would today be under water. Resistance to and ultimate deauthorization of this plan was one of the factors determining the tour’s theme: “Advocacy and Activism.” Two students in Falk’s historic preservation class at CGP—Emily Boozel and Peg Engasser—developed the theme, having convinced Falk of its validity.

A prime example of Gilbertsville’s “advocacy and activism” was Gilbertsville’s early designation as a historic district. A large segment of the Village was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, distinguishing it as the first municipality in Otsego County to be so designated. Bolstered by an extension of its boundaries in 1982, this designation served as an effective tactic in stopping the dam project. Eckmair assumed a leadership role in this effort.

Visionary advocacy for Gilbertsville occurred early on from a member of one of Gilbertsville’s founding families—Joseph T. Gilbert, who was determined to make Gilbertsville the most attractive village in Central New York, Falk stated. To do so, he hired Boston architect Warren Manning, who designed and supervised the building of Overlook Park, ultimately completed in 1907.

Falk called attention to the Gilbertsville Academy and Collegiate Institute, commonly referred to as “The Academy.” It is a handsome stone structure built in Greek revival style in 1829 and located on an incline overlooking the village. It was relatively well-known, Falk said, attracting mostly male students, many of whom pursued higher studies at places such as Yale College (as it was then known) and becoming doctors, teachers, businessmen or other professional sorts. The academy was a place of teacher training, lectures, and plays, and was also a meeting place for abolitionists and temperance advocates. The private academy was transferred to the public school system in 1910, and continued operating until 1935, when Gilbertsville Central School, on Grove Street, was established.

“Fire is an important part of the Gilbertsville story,” Falk said, noting that fires in 1856, 1874 and 1893 destroyed large sections of the village. The Gilbert Block, on Gilbertsville’s Commercial Street, although appearing to be one unit, was actually built in 1894 as three separate buildings for reasons of fire prevention. The Gilbert Block’s neo-Tudor style, with its faux timbering, small-paned windows and stucco exterior, somewhat ironically creates an architectural impression that pre-dates the actual establishment of Gilbertsville, Falk said.

The same is true of the library. Redesigned in 1889 by St. Louis architects William Eames and Thomas Young, it features small windows, stone work—some of which was taken from a Gilbert family home destroyed by fire—and a massive wooden door.

The building that now houses the Butternut Valley Grange is a white frame structure, built in 1832, which combines both Gothic and Greek revival architectural styles. Originally built as a Presbyterian Church, it served as a town hall before becoming headquarters for the grange in 1954. Granges themselves, established just after the Civil War, were progressive in nature, Falk said. They welcomed both men and women as members and sought to unite farmers in the North and South in common interests in an effort to assuage bitter divisions from the war.

Falk pointed out two buildings for their adaptive re-use: Badgerface Beauty Supply and the Dunderberg Gallery, both on Marion Avenue. Both Badgerface, whose products promote female empowerment, and the Dunderberg which, besides functioning as an art gallery also holds concerts and sometimes hosts meetings of a political nature, are present-day examples of the progressive spirit which has historically characterized Gilbertsville.

Participants also visited the site of the now defunct Gilbertsville Central School, notable for its art-deco façade. Now privately owned and surrounded by chain link fencing, the building has fallen into extreme disrepair.

The next stop was the Gilbertsville Expressive Movement’s “Sculpture Park,” which features massive works of art. Before leaving, tour participants briefly visited the Major’s Inn—another neo-Tudor-style building built between 1897 and 1901 by James Gilbert, with the original intent of replacing “The Homestead,” his family home, which was destroyed by fire. However, Gilbert soon saw that lodging was much needed for visitors to Gilbertsville and decided to operate the 55-room structure as inn. It is owned and maintained today by the Major’s Inn Foundation.

Participants appeared to enjoy the tour, asking a number of questions and soldiering on despite a brief rain shower. Local residents sometimes had additional information to offer. Chris Sadlocha, longtime Gilbertsville resident, recounted that as a parent volunteer for a production of “Our Town” at Gilbertsville-Mount Upton Central School, he got permission to enter the old school to secure lockers to be used as props for the play.

“It was an eerie setting, as if people had just gotten up and walked away. Pencils were still on the desks, an assignment was written on the board, and a mimeographed attendance list was pinned to the door,” he said.

Previous Otsego 2000-sponsored walking tours have taken place in Unadilla and Fly Creek. The theme for Unadilla was transportation and for Fly Creek, entrepreneurship. Future tours include the Old Hartwick Cemetery on September 8 and the Village of Worcester on October 6. Information on these tours may be found at otsego2000.org.