SHINGLEHOUSE – A town with a name as unique as “Shinglehouse”
begs an obvious question.
The small borough in northwestern Potter County traces its
moniker to a unique structure that lives on in name only. Its story
is a bit murky and, 200 years later, there’s little chance of
further clarity.
An early settler from France, evidently named M. Generet, built
a home in 1806 on the south bank of Oswayo Creek. He sided his log
structure with dozens of “shingles” more customarily used for
roofing.
The wooden panels were rounded to a half-circle. Because nails
were scarce at the time, the shingles were attached by wooden pins
to the squared pine timber used to build the house.
Not only did the structure have a unique appearance, it also
created an interesting sound when the shingles were rattled by the
wind. It became known as the “Shingle House.”
Some accounts referred to the Frenchman as Jaundrie or Jander –
thus the tributary Jander Run near Ceres, near the Potter/McKean
County border.
Other erroneous reports have traced the town’s origins to a
larger building, also shingled, built on the south bank of Oswayo
Creek opposite the mouth of Horse Run Creek and used as a boarding
house for lumbermen and river travelers.
Generet’s log cabin was long gone by the time the modern-day
community of Shinglehouse (changed from two words to one by the
U.S. Postal Service in 1906) was incorporated in March 1901.
The original white pine forests of the Oswayo and Honeoye
valleys brought lumbermen to settle the region. Within 30 years of
Generet’s arrival, the area had at least six active sawmills. Other
settlers took advantage of the region’s fertile soil for
farming.
Shingle House appeared destined to be a borough of roughly 500
people before townspeople banded together to lure the Palmer Window
Glass Co., to locate a plant at the junction of Honeoye and Oswayo
creeks. Cheap natural gas, an inexhaustible supply of glass sand
and ample water resources were strong inducements.
On 1902, the Palmer plant opened with four bright red buildings,
occupying roughly nine acres. A New York and Pennsylvania Railroad
line was extended to link the town to Olean, N.Y. Within a year,
the population swelled to 1,500 people.
Logging, natural gas production, farming and scattered
industries combined with the window factory to provide economic
stability during the first quarter of the 20th century –
Shinglehouse’s “glory days.”
However, major fires struck the business district in 1903, 1909,
1910 and 1926. Another glass plant, the former Elk Flint Bottle
Co., closed up shop in 1919. Three years later, the window glass
factory – rescued from bankruptcy by Empire Glass Company in 1911 –
was idled.
A silk mill offered steady employment for several years, as did
a handful of other enterprises that came and went.
Shinglehouse’s population, which peaked just shy of 1,600 in
1910, has held fairly steady during the past 75 years. It’s
currently at about 1,250.
Many Shinglehouse residents commute to jobs in Olean. The two
school buildings of the Oswayo Valley Area School District are
active community hubs. Volunteers, many of them affiliated with
civic, church and emergency service organizations, are committed to
keeping the town vibrant.
The Oswayo Valley Historical Society displays many interesting
mementos from days gone by, including the fascinating “whimsies,”
or novelty items made by glass blowers for fun.
Visitors to Shinglehouse are often fascinated by the cage-like
“Shinglehouse Jail” on Oswayo Street. That was once a holding cell
in the basement of the school on Academy Street. It’s now a novelty
for tourists, positioned alongside a miniature replica of the
Shingle House.
Although Shinglehouse is celebrating its “bicentennial” this
weekend, from a technical standpoint, the borough is just over a
century old. Still, town leaders can legitimately trace their
history back to 1806 – when the real Shingle House was built – so
why not celebrate?
It all kicks off tonight with opening ceremonies and concludes
with a bang (fireworks) on Saturday night after dusk. Here’s the
schedule:
ðToday
* 6 p.m., opening ceremonies;
* 6:15 p.m., Community Choir performance;
* 7:15 p.m., time capsule ceremony; and
* 7:30 p.m., Bicentennial band performance; ice cream social;
historical presentations
ðFriday
* 6 p.m., community picnic and photo booth;
* 6:30 p.m., barbershop quartet performance;
*ð7 p.m., children’s games;
* 8 p.m., judging of beard and swishes contest; and
* 8:45 p.m. (approximately), movie; free admission
Saturday
*ð7 a.m., pancake breakfast at Senior Center;
* 11 a.m., car show; water fights; food and vendor booths
open;
* 11:15 a.m., live music begins;
*ðNoon, firemen’s chicken barbecue serving starts;
*ð1 p.m. (approximately), horseshoe pitching tournament;
*ð4: p.m., bicentennial parade; and
* 9 p.m. (approximately), fireworks display
