New tavern in Syracuse

Syracuse Gazette, May 14, 1928

Take the Stage for Ithaca

From Syracuse Gazette, June 11, 1828

From Homer to New York for $4.00

The Whig, Homer, N.Y.

December 27, 1849

               FARE REDUCED!

              From Homer and Cortland

                To the City of

                 NEW YORK

                        ____

    The Mail Coach leaves Homer every morning, Sundays excepted, at 7 o'clock, for Binghamton, where passengers can take the evening train of Cars and reach New York at an early hour the next Morning - making the trip through in less than 24 hours.

   FARE.- From Homer and Cortlandville to New York, $4. 

                           F.A. MORGAN & CO., Binghamton

                           WM P. RANDALL, Cortlandville,

June, 1849

Stagecoach days in Angelica, N.Y.

(Excerpt from The Angelica Advocate, May 11, 1944 - From a letter to the editor by Harry C. Gardiner)

    I also distinctly remember the huge stagecoach with its four horses driven by Mr. Martin that used to pass our house daily to and fro on its trips from Belvidere Station. Martin found the big coach too cumbersome and expensive for the 5-mile up hill and down  trips twice each day; so the old coach was replaced by a covered wagon which many Angelicans will remember ran until the railroad came. 

  Mr. Martin died shortly after the change was made and beloved old Ed Blanchard took over the mail, express and passenger transportation between Angelica and Belvidere. There are, according to information I now have, only four people now living in Angelica who might remember the school fire and the old four-horse coach. Mighty progress has taken place since the time when Angelica had no telegraph, no railroad and a large proportion of the people used tallow candles for illumination; also many of them talked just like David Harum and Aunt Polly of radio fame. The railroad locomotives burned wood in those days. I wonder how many people remember the huge woodsheds at many of the stations, the one at Belvidere, I believe, about one-eighth of a mile in length.

Old Stagecoach Inn in Cuba, N.Y.

Hotel Rates Published

Madison Observer, Morrisville, N.Y.,
Thursday, March 5, 1863
    At the meeting of the Innkeepers of the county, held in this village last week, the following tariff of prices was unanimously adopted:
    Meals, at regular hours,      each  $0.35
        do.     extra,       "              "          40
Lodgings,                                             25
1 Horse to Hay over night,                   25
2    do.        "              "                         50
Oats, per bushel,                                1.00
1 Meal, Horse in Barn, and 4 qts. Oats  60
1  do     2 do    "             "    8  "     do.  90
Oyster Stews.                                        35
   do.    raw,                                           20
Whiskey, Beer and Cider,          each      5
Other Drinks,                                "      10
Cigars,                                           "      5 to 10
                       

Old Tavern Burns

Oswego Palladium

Monday, Aug. 22, 1881

                         An Old Land Mark Gone.

    Sterling, Aug. 22 - The Churchill tavern on the "telegraph road" in the town of Sterling, 8 miles west of Oswego, burned between 10 and 12 o'clock last night. It was owned by Mr. Joseph Tremain of Oswego and occupied by William Alton. Mr. Alton does not know how the fire occurred. he was awakened by the neighbors, and his family barely escape alive, losing all their household goods and clothing. The property was insured for $800. Loss $1,000 or upwards. Mr. Alton had $250 insurance on the furniture. The Churchill tavern was one of the landmarks on the old stage road from Oswego west.

Hanover & Manchester Stagecoach

 

Although this is not an early scene in New York State it typifies they type of public transportation that continued to exist for decades in regions untouched by railroads. Since this is a Daguerreotype the image is reversed. The lettering along the roof line says "Hanover and Manchester." Note the unusual three-horse hitch. Image courtesy of Josh Heller.

'Tally-ho' for the day

 

After railroads were completed across New York State in the 1840s, there was a surplus of stagecoaches. Proprietors were only too glad to "rent out" a coach and driver for the day
to a group of people wishing to go sightseeing around the countryside, particularly during the summer. This rare Daguerreotype is felt by some hisgtorians to have been taken in Canandaigua.
Image courtesy of Josh Heller.

Ontario House at Port Ontario

One of the most popular summer resorts in the Pulaski area for many years was the Ontario House, or Wood's Hotel at Port Ontario.  It was located on the south side of the Salmon River, near the intersection of Routes 3 and 13, and was originally a stagecoach inn. It burned to the ground on July 1, 1917. At the time it was operated by Charles Mosher. The fire started in the kitchen. The total loss was $6,000, half of which was covered by insurance. This hotel was very popular with fishermen. Photo taken about 1908.

Fancher House in Central Square

On the site of the fire house on Main Street in Central Square  once stood a hotel called the Fancher House, built in 1826. Like all local hotels, it frequently changed ownership and management over the years. The last owner was H.P. Goettel who remodeled it into eight apartments, called the "Beehive." In 1926 it was sold to Standard Oil Co. and it was demolished to make way for a new gas station.  Route 11 in those days was nothing but a muddy trail much of the time before the days of improved paved highways.

Dixon House in Central Square

One of the last remnants of stagecoach days between Syracuse and Watertown was the Dixon House, built in 1836. It was destroyed by fire on June 1, 1916. A large hall in the rear of the hotel was totally destroyed in  the fire, along with its contents. A nearby livery stable and garage were also consumed in the flames. C.A. Williams was the last owner.