"PLACES TO STAY AT IN ANDOVER, N.Y."
Hotels, A Motel, Inns, The Cabins & B&Bs
Written and Submitted by William A. Greene 2009
Sources of Information:
History of Allegany Co. N.Y. 1879
Allegany and It’s People 1896
Andover Newspaper articles
The very first hotel to be built was by Luther Strong in around 1820. We have no maps that go back that far, so we have no idea as to where it would have been.
According to the 1860 Allegany County Census, Andover had three “Inn Keepers”. They were George J, Osborn, Levi H. Mason and Edward Woodworth. Again I have no idea as to where they were located.
The next hotel that we know about is the house on the corner of N.Y. State Rt. 417 and County Rt. 12 in Elm Valley, which now belongs to Ron Nichols. According to the Town of Andover 1869 map, this was a hotel. I don’t know when it was built or when it ceased to be a hotel. That is all of the information that I have.
The Swink Hotel
Peter Swink was born in Andover in 1824. In 1848 he opened a store on the corners of West Greenwood St. and Main St. This is shown on an 1854 Village of Andover map. This store burnt in October of 1860. He then built a saloon on that spot in 1861 and on May 23, 1866, it burnt to the ground along with twelve other buildings. Peter then built the “Swink’s Hotel”. He ran this until his death at the age of 51, on October 14, 1874. We had no newspapers for 14 years and I don’t find any thing on the Swink Hotel until November 14, 1888 which then shows a Jesse Swink running the hotel. Sometime around 1915 Ardean and Mattie Wilcox took over the hotel and called it the “Wilcox House”. I have no exact dates on this. In November of 1921, a Peter Huyck took over the reins of the Swink Hotel. The hotel stayed open until the mid 1920’s. In December of 1927, a Leroy E. Jordan purchased the Swink Hotel and remodeled and then rented it to the Larkin Company of Wellsville, N.Y., which sold groceries and made it one of their chain of stores. Mr. Jordan also purchased the Trainor buildings and connected them to the Swink Hotel making a suite of rooms over the new store. Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Lewis were the managers of the store. Then in May of 1928, Mrs. Robert Brundage bought and remodeled the building and renamed it the “Brundage Tavern”. The interior was all redone and the exterior was finished similar to the Hotel Joyce, with double deck veranda and stucco placed over the wooden siding. Sometime between 1928 and 1932 the building was turned in to a grocery store again. It was run by George Sackett under the A&P name. Then in 1946 George opened his own store there and kept it until his death in 1988 and then son Edward took over. He kept the store going until 1991 and then closed the business. Ed rented the store part of the building for a number of years, and then in the spring of 2009, Ed sold the building to Dale Gaylord. Today Dale is remodeling and getting the building ready to put a new business in, called “The Artist Knot.”
The American House – Joyce Hotel
In 1861 the American Hotel was built on the west side of Main St. The first proprietor was a L.F. Hallett. Then in 1869 a Stillman Davis took over and again in 1869 a Brad B. Miller assumed the duties of proprietor. On March 7, 1871 an L.D.Crandall took over the reins until July 27, 1871 when William Bines took over. He had the hotel painted and papered. On January of 1873, L.D. Crandall is running the hotel again.
Then on April 24, 1873, Henry Joyce took over the hotel. He is still at the helm in 1875. What ever happened to him and when I don’t know. As for William Bines, I have nothing else written about him. There were newspapers from November 19, 1874 thru September 7, 1887. Sometime after 1875 William Bines wife Catherine Bines takes over as owner and proprietor of the American House. She runs it until she can no longer handle it and then turns the hotel over to her daughter Roseanne Bines Joyce.
Then in 1926 it became known as the “Joyce Hotel”. The inside was completely remodeled and the old wooden siding had stucco placed over it. Rosanna ran it for over 50 years. The only three story building in Andover stood directly in the center of the Village on Main St. This beautiful hotel also had the nickname “Honeymoon Hotel” because of all of the newlyweds that spent the night there on their way to Niagara Falls. Rosanna died on May 12, 1933, in the hotel that she had lived all of her life in. Her daughter Katherine Joyce Jordan took over ownership and operated the hotel when her mother retired. Katherine ran the hotel until March 30, 1942, when she died. Like her mother, she died in the hotel she had grown up in. Then I find this: after several years of being closed, the Joyce Hotel opened again on June 17, 1946, with Mr. & Mrs. Chester Berdysiak as proprietors. Sometime in 1947, a M.A. Jones of Wayland took over the hotel. Then in 1953 Mr. & Mrs. Ernest Burdick of Wellsville purchase the Joyce Hotel. On December 15, 1954, Mr. & Mrs. Donald McGillivray of Honeye Falls purchased the Joyce Hotel. I don’t know when Harry Joyce took over ownership of the hotel, but in July of 1963 Mr. & Mrs. Ossie Osgood purchased the hotel from Harry Joyce. Then in 1968 the Osgoods sold the grand old hotel to Lois Martin and Donald Logan from Hornell. On a cold night on April 27, 1973 the Joyce Hotel closed her doors forever as a major fire took place and the damage couldn’t be fixed. The grand old building that had stood for over 110 years had met her match. Finally in 1975, heavy equipment was brought in and what was left of the old hotel was taken down and hauled away to make room for new medical center to benefit all of Andover and surrounding communities.
(Note: The above photo relates to former location of two hotels only; Sackett's Market, although now closed, is much remembered by many. L-R, Sackett's, Office of Harry Joyce, Vars Pharmacy, Yannie's Shoe Repair, and Joyce Hotel....from Webmaster's memory ca 1960s.)
The Imperial Hotel
The next hotel to be built was done so in 1869 and stood on the corners of Main St. and East Greenwood St., where Karcanes Sugar Bowl and then the UniMart stood. It was first known as the Miller House after its first proprietor, Brad D. Miller. Then in November of 1873, the name was changed to the Globe House, and a gentleman by the name of Edmond E. Bond was proprietor of the establishment. I don’t know when the name was changed to the Imperial Hotel. Emerson O. Wescott was the last proprietor of this hotel. In June of 1908 the old hotel was moved to the corner of Maple and Second Streets, so the new opera house could be built on that site. I don’t know what happened to the pool hall that was attached to the old hotel. They left the horse barn there to store supplies in for the new “Opera House.” After the move, the old hotel was used as a tenant house and it is still standing. If you look at it just right you can still read the Imperial Hotel on it.
It should be noted here, that in these hotels, other businesses were run. Eye doctors, dentists, medical doctors, barber shops, newsstands and tobacco shops, just to name a few, were found in these buildings. Sample rooms and salons were also a part of these buildings.
Three hotels that I know of and have no information on are the Cottage Hotel on Center St. across from the Erie Depot which a G. A. Young was proprietor; The Erie Hotel which was located on Railroad Ave. (It was owned and operated by James Cannon.) Could this be the 17 room house that burnt on December 15, 1970, that was said to have been a boarding house in years gone by? And the last hotel was Hunt’s Hotel which was located on the corners of Dyke St and Main St. and operated by a Chink Hunt. I have no clue if the buildings were torn down or are still standing. But I would almost think that the Hunt’s Hotel would have to have been torn down in 1894 when the two houses that now stand on that corner were built.
OTHER PLACES TO STAY
THE CABINS
At one time, where the Andover Hardware now stands going east on 417 toward Greenwood, were a series of cabins that were rented out to people. As to when they were built and by whom is now a mystery, as there is no one alive that remembers them being built. I didn’t find anything in the Andover Newspapers either. But as a young boy, I do remember them. In May of 1966 the cabins then owned by a Grace Fisher were closed and several were purchased and moved from the locality. A couple ended on the Dale Green farm on the Clark Road here in Andover and I think they have gone into kindling for bonfires.
THE PINE TREE MOTEL
Sometime during 1953, James E. Burgett son of Ralph O. and Hazel Burgett built the Pine Tree Motel located on the corner of Chestnut & Second St. It wasn’t a very big motel, but was just right for Andover. He remodeled it in 1955. He and his wife ran the business till April 1st 1965, and then sold it to Richard and Doris Baker. Dick and Doris ran the business until sometime in 1974. Richard Lynch purchased the business and owned it until 1980 and the sold it to his sisters, Margaret and Rose Lynch. They ran the business until 1983, and then sold it to John and Sally Lynch. John and Sally ran the place until sometime in the early to mid 2000 ‘s. I don’t have an exact date or to whom they sold it too. I don’t think the new people ran it as a motel. Those people sold it to a Pat Ford. Pat and her husband live in Florida and are planning to open the motel again, as soon as the economy picks back up. I can say this; each owner has always kept the place looking very nice.
BED AND BREAKFASTS
Dr. Scott’s Place
In 1988 a Richard White and Ada Cushman purchased the Dr. and Mrs. Samuel Scott’s house at 7, East Center St. in Andover. For over 40 years Dr. and Mrs. Scott had made it their home and place of business. Some time during the 1990’s Richard and Ada turned the home into a Bed and Breakfast, called “Dr. Scott’s Place”. There is no written record as to the exact dates of its opening and closing. I’ve left messages on Ada’s phone but received no answer as to any of this information. The sign has been removed from the front of the house. So I am led to believe that it is no longer being used for that purpose.
Mustard Seed Inn, Bed & Breakfast
In 2003 a couple by the name of Anthony and Mary Lipnicki moved to Andover from New Jersey. They purchased former home of Kenneth and Marie Alvord at 13 East Center Street. This old brick home was built in the 1870’s for a Peter and Susan VanSickle. The bricks being made from the old brick factory located in the vicinity of where the overhead bridge now stands. After their passing it became the home of their daughter and husband, Dr. Norman and Sarah Brainard. Again after their passing their daughter Edith and James D. Chessman, made it their home. After their deaths, their nephew Kenneth and Marie Alvord made the old brick home their home. Sometime around 1913 an addition was built onto the east side of the house. This was to accommodate the office of Dr. N.P. Brainard during his final years as a doctor here in Andover. As you can see there is a lot of history to this grand old house. Tony and Mary decided to make use of this addition after they had lived here a couple of years and decided to make it into a Bed & Breakfast. They did a little remodeling and redecorating and in April of 2006, they opened the “Mustard Seed Inn”. They have done a great job in preserving the history of Andover, in days gone by. They have named certain rooms after the VanSickle, Brainard and Cheesman families. Andover is proud as to what the “Mustard Seed Inn” brought to our community.
Well, looking back as to what I have found, the “Joyce Hotel” was by far the biggest of the places to stay. It was the only three story building ever built in Andover. It was opened in 1861 and closed in 1973 due to a fire. The longest standing structure is the “Swink Hotel” was built around 1866 or 1867 and is still standing. It has been a hotel, bar, dinner, a couple of grocery stores, and a reality office and is now an artist supply store and studio.
Just think of all of the different people that have stayed in these places: business people from all walks of life, actors and actresses that stopped and put on plays at the Auditorium and Prest Opera House, railroad people, an Indian Chief from Oklahoma, the French people that were here when the building of the Silk Mill was going on, the merchants that were here to look at and purchase produce, horses, hay and lumber just to name a few. Those old hotels were a very important part of Andover’s history. If they weren’t here, Andover wouldn’t have been here.
I’ve probably left out many names of people that have owned or operated these grand old businesses and I apologize for that. It was not intentional by any means. There were years without newspapers and the newspapers didn’t always write everything down.
If anyone has any thing to add or change that can be proven, let me know and I’ll do my best to add or make corrections.