ALLEGANY, N.Y. — One way to keep history alive and well is to chronicle it, talk about it and share it.
Char Sendlakowski, vice president of the Allegany Area Historical Association, is doing her part to share the history of Allegany by presenting a talk on the early businesses in Allegany at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Heritage Center at 25 N. Second St.
The event is free and open to the public, and snacks and beverages will be provided.
Donations will also be accepted to help with the overhead and expenses of the non-profit organization.
Francie Potter, president of the historical association, said the presentation will wrap up Sendlakowski’s series on early businesses in the village along Main Street. Potter said the talk will cover East Main Street from Fifth Street to the village line, and West Main Street from Second Street to Five Mile Creek.
“Char’s series about Main Street has been very interesting, and brought back memories for a lot of people of Allegany in ‘the good old days,’” Potter said. “She put a lot of work into the series.”
In particular, Sendlakowski will focus on the Burton Hotel restaurant on East Main Street, the fire of 1887 and the blacksmith shops located in the village at the time.
A historic figure Sendlakowski will speak about is John McCall, the first president of the incorporated village of Allegany. She said McCall had also owned a livery stable on East Main Street across from Sixth Street.
“The vote to incorporate the village was in 1905 and that was when (McCall) was elected,” she said. “He was also elected again in 1915 although other (presidents) were in between.
“Evidently, they didn’t call (the village leader) mayor for a number of years after,” Sendlakowski stated. “At first they were the president of the village, which I think was kind of cool … I find all of this cool stuff along the way and get side tracked very easily.”
During the presentation, Sendlakowski will also discuss the fire of 1887 which demolished five businesses on East Main Street.
“In fact, it was East Main Street at Fifth Street where the Burton Hotel is at that corner,” she explained. “The buildings that were there originally were all frame buildings and they all went up in smoke. They were all rebuilt.”
She noted the Burton Hotel wasn’t called by its current name until 1939.
Another interesting tidbit to be discussed will the the six funeral homes that were on the East Main Street end of town during a period of time through the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th.
“The other end of the town (West Main Street) had the noisy stuff with the blacksmith shop, the mill and the harness and wagon shops,” she added.
Sendlakowski said she will entertain questions and discussions with the audience during the event, which will include old photos.
Sendlakowski, whose husband’s German ancestors arrived in Allegany in the 1850s, said she enjoys digging into the history of the community as she believes it is important to save.
“It’s something we do need to keep,” she said.
