Dry Agents Nab Albany Hotel Man

When I first became town historian, about 6 years ago, I heard a story about the Abbey Hotel from an acquaintance of mine.  It seems his uncle (or was it cousin) was a saxophone player at the old Abbey Hotel during the Prohibition era, and one time the place was raided and he had to jump out the window to escape the law. 

 

So what might I find when searching for newspaper articles related to the Abbey? Beside references to it as a well known place and  lots of notes about clambakes and dances and Republican meetings, there was this hit with the promising headline noted above - Dry Agents Nab Albany Hotel Man.

 

And what do I get regarding the Abbey - FAKE dry crusaders shaking down the proprietor for money so they would not tear up his place in their search for booze.  Good grief.  Not what I was expecting.

 

So, the hunt goes on.  One of these days, I will look up the acquaintance and get the Abbey story again.  Is it just family legend? What is the kernel of truth?

 

 



 

If you are curious, here are the two web sites I use when looking for old newspapers. 

http://historicnewspapers.guilpl.org/   (This one is for the Altamont Enterprise)

http://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html    (This is a strange site that is kind of hard to search - but oh the riches to find.)

The Abbey Hotel was located on River Road in Glenmont, just north of where Glenmont Road comes in.  It began in the late 1700s and burned down about 1960.