The Niver-Strumpf House & The Jericho Drive In

Last year, the Bethlehem Historical Association highlighted all of Bethlehem's individual National Register listings.  There are 12 of them, hop over to their website for the full list.  

https://bethlehemhistorical.org/bethlehem-properties-on-the-national-register

This post highlights two sites that were recently deemed eligible for listing on the National Register. This means that while their owners have not gone through the process of actually listing them, SHPO has evaluated them and determined that they are qualified to be listed.  (SHPO is the State Historic Preservation Office)

The first is 977 US 9W, locally known as the Niver-Strumpf House. It is recognized under item C in the Criteria for Inclusion on the National Register, which says that the house: 

Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction; or represents the work of a master; or possesses high artistic values; or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction.

In layman's terms, the house has great architecture.

Here's how the Resource Evaluation describes it:

The House at 977 Route 9W is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C in the area of Architecture as an example of late-19th century transitional domestic architecture characterized by a cross-gabled form and side entrance, and blending the earlier Picturesque mantra of architects such as Downing with newer design themes characteristic of the Late Victorian period, highlighted by the Queen Anne style. The house and its associated carriage house outbuilding incorporate vernacular designs elements of the Carpenter Gothic and Stick-Eastlake styles.  The house retains the squared/chamfered porch posts of the Italianate style despite lathe-turned posts and spindle friezes becoming increasingly popular at the time of its circa 1880 construction.

For those of us who like to keep it simple, I'd say it is a  great old Queen Anne Victorian.

I know this house as the Niver-Strumpf house. I've mentioned the Niver family here before, especially brothers Conrad and Garret.  Eugene Niver is their brother who, with his wife Castella, had this house built about 1887.  Members of the Niver family lived here until it was sold by Allan Niver, son of Castella & Eugene, to Edna and Herbert Strumpf in 1952.  It is still owned by the Strumpf family.

And a side note about Edna and Herbert Strumpf, I met them years ago as they were active with the Bethlehem Historical Association.  Both were nurses during World War II.  Pop over to FindAGrave for their excellent obituaries:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/167911455/herbert-strumpf

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/167911574/edna-e-strumpf

The Niver-Strumpf house about 1945

Judy Sutherland and her grandparents Castella and Eugene Niver about 1945. 

The second property deemed eligible is the Jericho Drive In.  This one comes in under Criterion A: Associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns in our history.

This is a screen shot of their website home page.
https://www.jerichodrive-in.com/

Here's the first paragraph of the description from the Resource Evaluation form:  

The Jericho Drive-In is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A in the area of recreation as as surviving example of a mid-twentieth century drive in movie theatre - an increasingly rare resource type.  Character defining features of the Jericho Drive-In that remain extant include neon letterboard sign, flat roof concrete concessions stand and projector booth, speaker posts (though speakers are no longer extant) and large screen tower.  Additional research would likely provide further information in support of the Criterion A argument including date of construction, specific dates of alteration, and possible information such as opening showing and related dates. 

(The second paragraph is a long one about the general history of drive-ins)

Here's a clip from the June 14, 1957 Ravena News Herald about the grand opening of the Jericho Drive-In

Here's a fun ad from the May 8, 1959 News Herald showing three drive-ins in a row along Route 9W: Jericho (9W, four miles south of Albany), Albano's (9W Ravena) and Hi-Way (9W Coxsackie).

And finally, if we are being honest here, the news that the Jericho Drive-In is now eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places thrilled the historian in me. But what I am really excited about is the news that the Twist Ice Cream Shoppe is now open.  Love me some soft serve, even if it is February!

Local History connections in Syracuse

 

I had a nice local history moment during a recent visit to the Great Law of Peace Center in Syracuse.  What is this place you ask?  Let me just quote from their website https://www.skanonhcenter.org/:

The Skä•noñh – Great Law of Peace Center is a Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Heritage Center focused on telling the story of the native peoples of central New York. The history is told through the lens of the Onondaga Nation and covers topics such as Creation, European Contact, The Great Law of Peace, and more. The Onondagas, or People of the Hills, are the keepers of the Central Fire and are the spiritual and political center of the Haudenosaunee.

Skä•noñh, is an Onondaga welcoming greeting meaning “Peace and Wellness.”

While the Husband and I enjoyed all of the exhibits, the item that caught my eye was in the European Contact section.  The Two Rows Wampum.  Let me just put in a picture of the text instead of trying to paraphrase - hope you can read it,

Did you catch where the agreement between the Mohawk and the Dutch traders was signed? South of present day Albany.  You know where that is?  Bethlehem.  Specifically, this meeting is said to have happened on the banks of the river we know as the Normans Kill.  Other names for the creek are Petanock,  Secktanock and Tawasentha. 

So, while learning history from a distinctly Native perspective, I had a little Bethlehem history moment. Nice.

Also at the Center is the impactful, and perhaps not so nice, exhibit "Tonto Revisited: Native American Stereotypes."  It is a room packed full of "Indian Kitch" and wow is it something. Appalling is the word that comes to mind.   As the description on the website says, "On their own, these items can seem harmless, however, when put together, the destructive nature of the imagery is apparent." And I would add the word powerful.  I'll never again look at this bag of corn meal the same. 

On a lighter note, of course our visit to Syracuse  included a stop at the Erie Canal museum, which was pretty cool. Literally, it was freezing outside that day. I think I got excited because the car thermometer indicated it got to 5 degrees! Anyway, inside the museum,  I enjoyed learning more about the Erie Canal, especially going through an actual canal boat and reading about passenger experiences in their actual journals.  Upstairs were some fun installations that recreated historic Syracuse places including a general store, limestone quarry and, the Husband's favorite, a local bar.  

If you travel to Syracuse, we had a lovely brunch/lunch at Oh My Darling, and a fun time that evening with family at Coleman's Irish Pub.