Delaney Hotel

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Coordinates: 42°55′42″N 73°20′33″W / 42.92833°N 73.34250°W / 42.92833; -73.34250
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Delaney Hotel
A three-story white building with a full-length second-story balcony, blue trim and a black roof
South elevation and east profile, 2008
Delaney Hotel is located in New York
Delaney Hotel
Delaney Hotel is located in the United States
Delaney Hotel
LocationHoosick, New York, US
Nearest cityBennington, Vermont
Coordinates42°55′42″N 73°20′33″W / 42.92833°N 73.34250°W / 42.92833; -73.34250
Area1.5 acres (0.61 ha)
Builtca. 1850[1]
ArchitectNairn Burgess
Architectural styleGreek Revival, Victorian
NRHP reference No.96000684
Added to NRHP1996

The Delaney Hotel, also the North Hoosick Hotel and Hathaway Hotel, is located at the junction of

hamlet of Hoosick, New York, United States. It is a large Greek Revival-style building dating to the middle of the 19th century with some later Italianate decoration. Few alterations have been made, and it is a well-preserved example of vernacular
interpretations of those styles in a rural building.

It was a stagecoach and railroad stop in its peak years. Later owners continued to operate it as a hotel, despite declining business, into the middle of the 20th century. After a period of vacancy and decline, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. In the 1980s it was nearly demolished.[citation needed] Recently[when?] a new set of owners has proposed to turn it into a bed and breakfast.[2]

Building

The hotel sits on a 1.5-acre (0.61 ha) atop a small rise facing the three-way intersection where NY 67 comes in from

facade as it approaches. The two highways run concurrently to the west of the intersection to eventually turn north into Washington County, where they separate again.[1]

The building itself is a three-and-a-half-story, eight-by-two-

decorative brackets.[1]

Dominating the front facade is the full-length two-story porch, recessed under the third story. Both stories feature

Stick Style diagonal braces. The second story has sawcut balusters. The third story windows have bracketed crowns.[1]

A central double wooden door on the first story serves as the main entrance, with a secondary one on the east facade. Both have wooden surrounds. A similar window to those on the front facade is situated in the east gable apex. There is a two-story addition on the rear giving the hotel a rough "T" shape. Two outbuildings in the rear, once the hotel's

chicken coop, are so badly deteriorated as to no longer be contributing to the property's historic character.[1]

The interior has been extensively altered. The first floor is now entirely open, with its original hardwood floor. The bars in the tavern room, including the intricately

banister is on the stairs to the second floor, where the walls have old posters of vaudeville performers from the late 19th century. The third floor's ballroom remains.[1]

History

Delaney Hotel from the East

Benajah Burgess, a local farmer, originally owned the land. When he died in 1831, it was divided between his three sons. Three years later, two of them gave their portions to Nairn, the third.[1]

The area was slowly beginning to

migrants whose families lived elsewhere. It was also a stagecoach stop. A large barn, since demolished, sheltered horses and buggies.[1]

Burgess sold the hotel in 1871. After some very rapid transfers of ownership, it became Daniel Randall's property. He in turn sold it six years later, in 1877. It became known as the Eldred House after its new owner, Perry Eldred. In 1894 it was inherited by his young daughter Frances, who had still not attained the age of 21 when the

executors of her father's estate sold it to Chase Hathaway, a major landowner in early 20th-century Hoosick. The building became known as the Hathaway Hotel.[1]

Two years later, Hathaway sold it to Ida Delaney, a former manager. Her family would own it for over half a century. The area's industrial base declined, and in 1930 the hotel's ballroom could no longer be used as a venue for traveling vaudeville acts because it lacked a fire escape. The local economy rebounded slightly, along with the hotel, during World War II when the old factories were used for weapons manufacture.[1]

After the war things slowed down again. The hotel was now operated by Ida Delaney's sons-in-law. Another of her daughters, Anna, had married a wealthy judge and spent most of the summer at the hotel with several servants. Her attempts to bail out the hotel financially led to friction with her in-laws. She inherited the hotel when her sister died in 1964, and eventually sold it, leading to a period of many different owners, none of whom could successfully operate the hotel.[1]

It began to decline. In 1974 it was used for some scenes in The Catamount Killing [fr] (1974), starring Horst Buchholz, Ann Wedgeworth and Polly Holliday. Most were exteriors, and the few interiors used were dim, perhaps to conceal the building's decline.[1]

It was in such serious disrepair that by the 1980s Stewart's Shops was considering buying it and demolishing it to build one of their convenience stores on the property. A petition drive led by a local resident, Dianne Bingham, led the company to reconsider and instead build across the intersection.[3] A Long Island architect bought the property instead, intending to renovate it, but did nothing for several years.[4]

Several years later, Larry Stevens, who met and married Bingham during the petition drive, decided to buy the hotel. The couple spent weekends repairing it. They repainted it, reinforced the walls, put in a new

Bennington Battlefield. During those renovations, they found late 19th-century posters for vaudeville acts on the second floor, and have kept them there.[1][3]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Delany Hotel, North Hoosick.
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m DiSanto, Victor. "National Register of Historic Places nomination, Delaney Hotel". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Archived from the original on December 10, 2011. Retrieved October 27, 2009.
  2. ^ Peterson, Bea (September 2009). "New Business Flourishing In Hoosick & A Taste Of Hoosick". Eastwick Press. Retrieved October 27, 2009.
  3. ^
    Hearst Corporation. Retrieved October 29, 2009.[permanent dead link
    ]
  4. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved October 29, 2009.[permanent dead link
    ]
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