Fayette Park's Other Firefighter: The Philip Eckel Monument

 

Syracuse, NY. Philip Eckel Monument in original location at North Salina, State and Butternut Street intersection. From Views of Syracuse, N.Y. (Portland, Maine: Lyman H. Nelson Co. n.d.)

 

Syracuse, NY. Philip Eckel Monument Fayette Firefighters' Memorial Park. photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2008.

 

Syracuse, NY. Philip Eckel Monument Fayette Firefighters' Memorial Park. photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2008. For a portrait of photo portrait of Eckel click here.

 

Syracuse, NY. Philip Eckel Monument Fayette Firefighters' Memorial Park. photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2008.

Fayette Park's Other Firefighter: The Philip Eckel Monument
by Samuel D. Gruber

Continuing the theme of Syracuse Firefighters, begun with the recent posts about Engine House Number 10 and the Hamilton White Monument, it is time to give some consideration to the Philip Eckel Monument, also now situated in Fayette Firefighters Memorial Park, but once proudly displayed at an important intersection on the city's Northside, in the heart of what was once a strong German immigrant neighborhood, where it was dedicated in 1900.  

The history of the Eckel monument is a good lesson on the history of local fame, immigrant pride, city traffic, and public taste.  What was one of the most visible public monuments in Syracuse is now hidden away among the foliage of Fayette Park.  

Philip Eckel (1827-1886) was one of the Syracuse German communities most prominent members, and at the time of his death he was the city's second full time fire commissioner.  He had distinguished himself in the Civil War as First Lieutenant under fellow immigrant Captain Nicholas Grumbach in the Syracuse German Company B, of 149th New York Infantry Regiment. Following the war Eckel was Captain of the No. 2 volunteer fire company of Syracuse (like his army company, comprised mostly of German-Americans).  

Eckel then served as the city's fire chief until his untimely death on June 1, 1886, when he was "thrown from a horse-drawn vehicle while on his way to fight a blaze."  The Philip Eckel Monument was dedicated fourteen years later, on August 22, 1900. In the monument, dressed in his firefighter's great coast and clasping his fire trumpet, he maintains a military posture.
  

Eckel once again stood proud in his old neighborhood, overseeing the comings and goings on State, North Salina and Butternut Streets, one of the city's busiest intersections, presiding over Northside traffic - or at least watching the trolley cars pass by.  This was a common placement for public monuments at the turn of the 20th century, helping to give form and focus to urban space before automobile traffic became overwhelming. I have written about other examples such as the Civil War monument in Brandon,Vermont and the equestrian statue of George Washington in Paris.

As the German population left the Northside for new city neighborhoods, and then for more outlying areas, and the new Oswego highway (now part of I-81) was built, Eckel was moved, too. Today, the monument is well maintained, but largely forgotten, standing in a (sometimes full) pool of water, a stolid granite wader in a sculpture park. The basin is a remainder of an earlier water feature of the park.  

The statue was first moved to a nearby triangular plot at the intersection of North Salina and Pearly Streets, renamed Eckel Park,in the early 1960s to accommodate the Oswego Highway, which mostly follows the route of the old Oswego Canal.  There it was soon obscured by trees and vandalized, leading to its removal in the 1979 to Fayette Park, at which time the park was renamed Fayette Firefighters memorial Park. The triangular part still exists (almost opposite Columbus Bakery), though it is somewhat scruffy space, it offers a bit of greenery and shade in an otherwise asphalt and concrete cityscape.
 
For a biography of Eckel click here.

For more photos click here

In an early 20th-century postcard view one sees Eckel standing erect, almost an equal to the spires of two German churches behind on Butternut Street.  There were actually three Lutheran churches at the intersection of Butternut and Prospects Streets.  The spire on the right is the former Zion Lutheran Church.  Like Eckel,and most of the German presence of the neighborhood, these churches are gone, too.  The monument was first moved to the intersection of North Salina and Pearl Streets. Construction of Interstate 81 forced its final move downtown.  

Eckel's remembered exhortation "Come On Boys" is writ large beneath his feet.  A masonic sign  wit ha big "G" (for German?) is on the side of the monument.  Very notable are the four stone fire hydrants that adorn the four corners of the monument base. 

 

Syracuse, NY. Philip Eckel Monument Fayette Firefighters' Memorial Park. photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2008.

 

Syracuse, NY. Philip Eckel Monument Fayette Firefighters' Memorial Park. photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2008.

The sober granite monument was designed by Carrick Brothers, the St. Johnsbury, Vermont based company that was known for its many Civil War monuments.  Carrick opened a Syracuse office in the 1890's.  The monument, which has striking similarities to contemporary civil War memorials,  was paid for by subscription the city's firefighters and policemen.

Syracuse, NY. Philip Eckel Monument in original location at North Salina, State and Butternut Street intersection. From postcard.

Sources:

Case, Richard G. 1977. “Old Philip faces new shake-up,” Syracuse Herald American (Aug. 21, 1977)

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mstone/eckel-p-obit.html

 

Gail Sherman Corbett's Hamilton S. White Monument at Fayette Park

Syracuse, NY. Fayette (or Firefighter's) Park. Hamilton S. White Monument, Gail Sherman Corbett, sculptor. Postcard.

Syracuse, NY. Fayette (or Firefighter's) Park. Hamilton S. White Monument, Gail Sherman Corbett, sculptor.. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (2008)

Gail Sherman Corbett's Hamilton S. White Monument at Fayette Park
by Samuel D. Gruber

When I started this blog, one of my intentions was to report on the most important, interesting and beautiful (yes, I still use that term occasionally) public monuments in Central New York. A few years ago (!) I wrote about the restoration of the Kirkpatrick Monument at Washington Square, and mentioned the earlier monument to Hamilton Salisbury White created by the same artistic team - Gail Sherman and Harvey Wiley Corbett, (who married in 1905) and restored by the same women, Sharon BuMann.  The monument is situated on the west side of Fayette Park (now Fayette Firefighters Memorial Park) and provides a well-designed architectural and yet intimate introduction to the park from Downtown. 

Syracuse, NY. Fayette (or Firefighter's) Park. Hamilton S. White Monument, dlt. Gail Sherman Corbett, sculptor.. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (2008).

Because my most recent post was about a turn-of-the-20^th century Engine House Number 10, I'd like to now write more about the Hamilton S. White Monument since it received a lot of attention when it was made, and it celebrates one of Syracuse's most colorful characters, and the founder and patron saint of our Fire Department. 

"The monument was erected by popular subscription as an evidence of respect to the memory of Hamilton Salisbury White, a wealthy and prominent citizen of Syracuse who took a keen interest in the improvement of the fire department, devoting much time and money to the discovery and utilization of the latest and best methods of fighting fire, and who met his death a little over six years ago while personally helping to extinguish a serious fire that threatened the business part of the city.” [from full article in The Craftsman, quoted at length below]

Syracuse, NY. Fayette (or Firefighter's) Park. Hamilton S. White Monument, dlt. Gail Sherman Corbett, sculptor.. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (2008).

It is also one of the very best monuments and pieces of public art in Central New York.

A third reason to write now is that the monument was written about in great detail, probably by Irene Sargent, and published by fellow Syracusan Gustav Stickley in The Craftsman Magazine in 1905.  Stickley is now the subject of a new exhibition at the Everson Museum, and efforts are really getting going on restoring his house on Columbus Avenue. Stickley's familiarity with Gail Sherman points out an important fact about Syracuse's art world in the early 1900s; the important role played by women.  Women were not just as patrons of the arts, such as Helen Everson, but as artists (such as Gail Corbett and renowned ceramicist Adelaide Alsop Robineau), and writers and teachers such as Sargent, without whom Stickley probably would not have gotten The Craftsman up and running.  The Corbetts themselves, when they left Syracuse the same year they completed the White Monument, continued to involve themselves in the education and promotion of women artists. In 1908, Harvey Corbett designed the for Ellen Dunlap Hopkins New York School of Applied Arts for Women a remarkable building (at 30th and Lexington in New York), where he also taught.

There is little that I can add to the following detailed account of the Hamilton White monument, and the sketch of the life of Mr. White, himself found in The Craftsman (August 1905, pp. 651-[657]:  
 
   CITIZENS OF SYRACUSE TO THE MEMORY OF HAMILTON SALISBURY WHITE
 

Syracuse, NY. Fayette (or Firefighter's) Park. Hamilton S. White Monument, dlt. Gail Sherman Corbett, sculptor.. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (2008)

NOTEWORTHY incident in the advance of civic art in Syracuse, N. Y., was the unveiling, on June 27th, of the bronze and granite monument which has been over six years in the making and is known as the White Memorial. This monument, which is in the form of an exedra, with a central pedestal and bust and symbolic figures in bronze on either side, is the work of a hitherto unknown sculptor, Miss Gail Sherman of Syracuse, a pupil of Augustus St. Gaudens. It is a remarkably virile piece of work for a woman and possesses much merit, especially in the two symbolic figures, which, in the breadth and freedom of treatment and the superb modeling, might well have come from the master hand of St. Gaudens himself. The monument was erected by popular subscription as an evidence of respect to the memory of Hamilton Salisbury White, a wealthy and prominent citizen of Syracuse who took a keen interest in the improvement of the fire department, devoting much time and money to the discovery and utilization of the latest and best methods of fighting fire, and who met his death a little over six years ago while personally helping to extinguish a serious fire that threatened the business part of the city. Therefore, the symbolism of the composition naturally deals with this ruling interest of Mr. White's life. The tall central pedestal upholds a portrait bust of the man himself. This is in bronze, heroic size, and should be the dominant point of the whole structure. As a portrait it is good. The modeling is skillful and the surfaces well-handled, but in strength the bust falls far below the two subsidiary figures, which now center the attention instead of leading it upward to the apex, as should be the case in a pyramidal composition where all the parts are harmoniously correlated. So marked is this defect that the bust seems not only comparatively weak, but detached from the rest of the composition. Neither in line nor in the subtler suggestion of attitude do the two figures below imply a climax of interest above, and the commanding quality is lacking in both the bust itself and the proportions of its supporting pedestal.

Syracuse, NY. Fayette (or Firefighter's) Park. Hamilton S. White Monument, dlt. Gail Sherman Corbett, sculptor.. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (2008).

The two heroic figures in bronze, seated on either side of the central pedestal, are wonderfully poetic in conception and sculptural in execution. They are handled with masterly breadth and simplicity, and with a fine restraint that carries the elimination of unnecessary details almost to the realm of the classic. The figure of the young fireman typifies all the qualities that make for power to combat against overwhelming odds for the protection of life and property. It is that of a man, young, lithe, sinewy, resting for a moment before renewing the battle, which he is watching with alert concentration expressed in every line of the face and of the tense, vigorous form. The poise of the head upon the broad shoulders, the modeling of the bared throat and arm, the strong, vital swing of the whole body, is typical of magnificent manhood in its full strength, every atom of which is put forth to guard peaceful lives and homes against the element that lays waste the work of human hands. The fireman's hat is held lightly on one knee, and the heavy coat, flung loosely about the shoulders, falls in broad, sculptural folds that afford just the right support for the figure.

Syracuse, NY. Fayette (or Firefighter's) Park. Hamilton S. White Monument, dlt. Gail Sherman Corbett, sculptor.. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (2008).

The group of the mother and child, on the other side, is a symbol of the peace and repose of home. The mother, brooding with down- bent head over the child she holds in her lap, typifies all womanhood and motherhood. The lines of figure and drapery are tender and flowing, the pose gracious with the restfulness of a completed life and happiness. The child, a sturdy little fellow who seems about to spring away again to his play, has in his arms a toy fire-engine. The curly head, pushed back against the mother's arm, is a triumph of delicacy and mobility in its modeling, and very subtle is the suggestion of future strength in the baby beauty of the whole rounded little body.

Hamilton S. White, portrait from The Craftsman (August 1905)

The broad, curving seat that sweeps outward on either side of the pedestal is simple and massive in form. The low granite platform upon which it rests is approached by two wide, shallow steps, slightly curved outward. The proportions of this granite base of the monument are admirable, the only blemish being in the short square pillars at the ends, which interrupt the inviting graciousness of the curve and give an effect almost of a rebuff. The square tops, also, have an unfinished look, as if intended to support something that is not there. The idea of making the monument in the form of an exedra is a good one, for the subtle suggestion of utility is conveyed by the seat, and its situation in a small, wooded park at the conjunction of three of the busy streets of the city, has the effect of an invitation to the wayfarer to come and rest awhile.

ASIDE from the broader acceptation of the symbolism of the two bronze figures, they also typify the life of Mr. White. When a child, his most treasured toys were small fire-engines, and his favorite games were fierce battles with imaginary fires. As he grew older, he went to every fire, driving to the scene in his little basket phaeton, with a fire-extinguisher strapped at the back. After graduating from Cornell University, he returned to his native city, where he resumed his favorite pursuit, going into active service as a volunteer fireman. Possessed of an ample income, he could well afford to indulge his hobby of adding all the latest improvements to the fire-fighting equipment of the city. On New Year's day, 1878, he opened his own fire station, opposite his home, and fitted it up luxuriously, installing the first chemical engine in Syracuse. Just five years later, he made a New Year's gift to the city of the whole establishment, house, engine and all, and at the same time asked to be appointed a hoseman in the department, but was made an Assistant Chief instead. In 1879 he had been made a Fire Commissioner, and he served as such, with the exception of one term, until his death. Officially and unofficially, his connection with the department extended through twenty-eight years, during all of which time he served without salary. When he traveled, either in this country or abroad, it was chiefly with a view to studying the latest and best methods of fighting fires, that he might add them to the home equipment. His interest in the personnel of the department was equally great. He knew every fireman in the city,—knew his name, his work, and all about him, and was a friend to whom any poor fellow "down on his luck" might turn in time of need. The wealth and prominence of family which surrounded his birth and bringing up neither enervated nor made him arrogant, he was absolutely democratic.

The firehouse and chemical engine presented by Hamilton S. White to the City of Syracuse. From The Craftsman (August 1905).

After giving up his fire house and engine, Mr. White arranged his own home so that it afforded almost the facilities of an engine house to an ardent volunteer fireman. In his own room was a set of gongs that sounded a fire alarm at the same instant that the regular signal aroused the fire department. Near his bed stood boots and trousers fastened together in customary fireman style. At the head of the stairs hung his coat, and his helmet was on the newel post at the foot. The front door opened out like the doors of an engine house, and the same electrical apparatus that sounded the gong swung open the door, so that in less than a minute after the first stroke of the alarm, Mr. White, clad from boots to helmet, stood upon the porch, to find awaiting him his horse and trap, harnessed with the lightning rapidity born of long practice and ready for the race. The driver had standing orders to call him from any social function which he might be attending, and at the first sound of the alarm the horse was put at full speed in the direction of the house where Mr. White was to be found. More often than not he met the trap half-way, having rushed out hatless and with a nice disregard of evening clothes in his eagerness .to get to the scene of the conflagration. It was characteristic of the man that he met his death clad in evening clothes under his fireman's helmet and rubber coat.

On March I3th, 1899, Mr. White was called from a concert by an alarm of fire. The blaze was in a drug store, and the combination of smoke and poisonous gases asphyxiated the fearless volunteer. On the day of his funeral Syracuse went into public mourning as for a dead President. Every house of business was closed, the city was draped in mourning, and thousands lined the route of the funeral pageant, standing with bared heads in the chill of a bleak winter afternoon. Immediately, as an expression of the grief of a whole community, it was determined to erect a suitable memorial by popular subscription. Money poured in, rich and poor, high and low, alike contributed. As the Mayor of Syracuse said, in accepting the monument for the city:

"It is not the gift of any one rich man or of any small number of rich men. It is the offering by hundreds of the people of this city to a man loved by them for those qualities of mind and heart which make for good citizenship. It is the dimes and quarters and half dollars and dollars of the men, women and children in every walk in life who knew Hamilton White, who appreciated his cheerful greeting, the kind words of encouragement and advice which it was his wont to bestow, and it stands and will stand for years to come as a city's tribute to a good man, a man who was the average man's ideal of a good citizen."

Syracuse, NY. Fayette (or Firefighter's) Park. Hamilton S. White Monument, dlt. Gail Sherman Corbett, sculptor.. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (2008).

Syracuse, NY. Oakwood Cemetery.  Grave of Hamilton Salisbury White.  The monogram is of the letters I H S, the name of Jesus, and can also stand for "in hoc signo," from "in hoc signo vnces" (not, as is sometimes recounted, a US dollar sign).  Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (2009).

Engine House Number 10 - Today's Westcott Community Center

Syracuse, NY.  Engine House Number 10, Westcott Street and Euclid Ave., present appearance.  1902-03. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2012.

Syracuse, NY.  Engine House Number 10, Westcott Street and Euclid Ave., 1902-03.  Historic Photo.

Engine House Number 10 - Today's Westcott Community Center
First public neighborhood event took place there in December 1903!
by Samuel D. Gruber

At the heart of the Westcott neighborhood is the Westcott Community Center, opened at the corner of Westcott Street and Euclid Avenue in 1903 as Engine House Number 10.  The building served as a firehouse until the 1970s when a new station was built on East Genesee Street at Cambridge. 

There was some political wrangling when the Engine House was built.  It was the first public building erected in the rapidly expanding east side of the city, and the mayor refused to announce its location and approve its construction until Euclid Avenue was fully paved between the University and Westcott Street.  The area was on the verge of rapid development.  The new Engine House stood on the edge of the recently developed Westminster Tract and across the street from the soon to be opened (1904) Westcott Heights development. 

The brick building is typical of local Engine House architecture. That is, it is distinctive and immediately recognizable as a building type. Its Flemish-inspired style, however, is unique.   The connection to Flemish architecture was more obvious before the steeped gables were simplified (see the original stepped decoration in the the old photo). 

 Amsterdam. Holland. House with stepped gable. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (2006).

The tall chimney-like tower was used to dry fire hoses – it is both a functional and iconic element. The tower serves as a public secular beacon to complement the towers of some already built Queen Anne Style houses nearby, such as the Loomis house on the corner of Westcott and Lancaster, and also of the church towers so familiar throughout the city.  Soon the new Erwin Methodist Church, with its impressive tower (not the one seen today) would be erected across Westcott Street from the Engine house. 

Syracuse, NY.  Engine House Number 10, Westcott Street and Euclid Ave., present appearance.  Note tower and stairway windows.   1902-03. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2012.

Syracuse, NY. The Loomis House (623 Euclid Ave.) at Euclid and Lancaster Ave.was one of the existing nearby houses when Engine House 10 opened in 1903. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber

The building may have been designed by local architect Gordon Wright who designed many houses in the area and public buildings throughout the city.  Wright was born in Massena, NY. and graduated from the Department of Architecture, Syracuse University.  In 1892 he set up his architectural office in Syracuse and (according to his obituary) he served as head of the S.U. Architectural Department from 1891-92 and taught at the school from 1893-94. From 1931 to 1938, Charles R. Ellis was his partner. His daughter Marjorie, who also studied architecture at Syracuse University, was associated with the firm from 1919 until her death in 1949. 

An article in The Evening Herald (Dec. 15, 1903) described the opening of the Engine house with a ball attended by 200 people, the first social event held in what in recent years has been the Westcott Community Center. 

“The residents of the upper end of the Seventeenth ward made merry last night at their new fire engine house No. 10 at Westcott street and Euclid avenue, which, despite shortage of men in the department, will be put in service to-morrow with a new steamer and hose wagon for the protection of the heights in the south-eastern part of the city. Westminster lodge No. 788, I.O.O.F. Had charge of the celebration and gave a ball on the spacious apparatus room floor , which was attended by some two hundred people.”

The story went on to report on the fire company:

Chief John F. Quigley was to have been one of the guests of honor at the ball, but just as he was about to start an alarm of fire came in and effectually prevented this feature of the affair.

The new engine has been tried out be Company 9 in Oak street, -which covers another hilly locality, in the meantime engine No. 9 has been repainted. Chief Quigley expects to put the new company in commission to-morrow, not withstanding the fact that there are no new men available for assignment to it. Capt, Patrick Gallagher of Engine Company No. 9 will probably be assigned temporarily to No. 10, and until a new captain is appointed by Commissioner. Listman, the lieutenant of No. 9 will be in charge of that company. There are no extra captains.

The new company. No. 10. will have to start with only about six men who will be taken, one from each of six other companies. Chief Quigley said this morning that he did not consider it wise to take any more.

"I haven't enough men available and do not know when they will be appointed," he said this morning. "But I am anxious to put this company in commission at once, because house and engine are all ready and should there be a serious fire in that locality we would be open to criticism for having the equipment available but not being prepared."

Company No. 10 will respond to alarms from all parts of the Seventeenth Ward and part of the Sixteenth on first calls. A new district card has been arranged to include it.. The company assignments will be made tomorrow.

Today, the old engine house is a the hub a neighborhood activity.  The tradition of that 1903 ball continues.  Every day (and most nights) at the Westcott Community Center there are  classes, lectures, workshops, training sessions, exhibitions, concerts and many more events for community members of all ages.  And now, in season, there is a farmer's market every Wednesday afternoon.  See the calendar here.  (In a sense, even this blog has its origins at the WCC - since a decade ago I spoke in the still continuing and much acclaimed university Neighbors Lecture Series and presented an early version of my "Walk Around the Block" project).

Information in this text was collected in conjunction with walking tours I developed and conducted as part of Westcott Sundays: Architectural and History Tours, sponsored by the Westcott East Neighborhood Association (WENA) with financial support for this project came from UNSAAC. 
Texts for the first four of these tours can be found online at:  http://www.wenanation.org/ 

Cast Block Houses: Some Examples in the Westcott Area

 

Syracuse, NY. Cast block houses at 887 Lancaster Ave. (above) and 433 Roosevelt Ave. (below).  Photos: Samuel D. Gruber 2013.

Cast Block Houses: Some Examples in the Westcott Area 
by Samuel D. Gruber

Exploring the Westcott neighborhood for the past year while prepping my neighborhood walking tours, I've encountered a lot of  building details that I had previously overlooked.  There all sorts of houses types, building materials, architectural details, and site arrangements that we often take for granted but whose origin and purpose deserve some attention - if only because how curious they at first appear.  In a neighborhood of mostly wood frame houses, brick and stone houses stand out; and hose of cast block - discussed here - even more so.

The most important development in home construction in the19th and early 20th-centuries was the continuing invention, refinement and production of per-fabricated and standardized building materials. Best known of these, of course, are the standardized lumber pieces that could be cut in the millions by power-driven sawmills, shipped by railroad, and stocked and sold by lumber yards strategically located in growing neighborhoods close to actual building sites.  This is the lumber that built the millions of wooden balloon frame houses across America between the 1870s and 1930s.  These are the houses of our "Streetcar Suburbs,' like the most of the neighborhoods in the University-Westcott area that make up so much of our urban housing stock today.  

Not surprisingly, it was the lumber companies that got into the house-kit business and sold many more pre-cut house parts than the big retail companies like Sears and Montgomery Ward - even though those houses are more often mentioned in the historical literature.   Other pre-fab parts were as simple as standard nails and screws, and more intricate metal hardware for hinges, knobs, and grates; as well as standard windows and doors.  The architectural magazines of the period are full of ads that indicate the national nature of the building trades after about 1900.

One standardized building part that has received relatively little attention is the cast block - sometimes referred to as cement block, cinder block, or cast stone block.  This standardized building material first appears in the late 19th century and becomes more and more common in house construction - especially for foundations and garages - through the 1920s.  

 Syracuse, NY. Maryland Ave. Typical cast block house foundation. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2012

Syracuse, NY. Clarendon St., cast block garage. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2012.

In addition to foundations, some builders enjoyed using cast stone for upper walls and in the Westcott neighborhood there are several houses mostly or entirely build up of these blocks.  The walls would be mostly fire-proof and easy to build.  They are strong and can carry considerable weight.  The air in the hollow blocks also can serve as insulation. 

Syracuse, NY. 887 Lancaster Ave. Cast block in upper walls. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber

Unlike the common gray cinder block that most people are familiar with (and which often contain few or no cinders) the early cast stones actually tried to look like stone - and their outer faces were formed to imitate roughly cut or faceted stone, similar to earlier field stone or cut limestone blocks.  The effect in some houses, like that at 887 Lancaster (and others nearby such as 945 Euclid and 433 Roosevelt Ave.) is a rusticated look.
 

Syracuse, NY. 433 Roosevelt Ave. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2013.

In the end, the uniformity of the cast stones gives them away, but even this was combated by having a variety of cast stone sizes which could mixed and matched, or in some case single large cast blocks with the facing sides scored in ways that they appeared to made up of several smaller irregular-sized stones.  This is the case at  701 Ackerman, built by Robert Floyd in 1912-13) and at 732 Lancaster, built around 1911. Unless you are actively looking for cast stone it is easy to be fooled when quickly passing by.

 

Syracuse, NY. William L. Huber house,  732 Lancaster Ave., c. 1911.   Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2013. 

Syracuse, NY. William L. Huber house, 732 Lancaster Ave., dtl.  c. 1911. The house is especially notable for the use of cast block for the entire first floor. Each cast a stone block appears to be made of multiple cut stones.  Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2013.  

 Syracuse, NY. Robert Floyd house, 701 Ackerman Ave.,1912-13.  Garage on left is later addition.  Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2013.

Syracuse, NY. Robert Floyd house, 701 Ackerman Ave., dtl., 1912-13.  Each cast a stone block appears to be made of multiple cut stones.  Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2013.

Cast stone, like most masonry products, was produced locally.  The cost of transport - even by train - was just too much to make long distance hauling of concrete stone worthwhile.  Almost any locality had the raw ingredients for cast block.

In addition to foundations, some builders enjoyed using cast stone for upper walls and in the Westcott neighborhood there are several houses mostly or entirely build up of these blocks.  The walls would be mostly fire-proof and easy to build.  They are strong and can carry considerable weight.  The air in the hollow blocks also can serve as insulation.

Sears Catalog, 1910 (Dover reprint).  Pages advertising machines for cast block production

Sears Catalog, 1910 (Dover reprint).  Pages advertising machines for cast block production

The Sears Catalog of 1910 offers eight pages of products related to cast block production. Do-it-yourself machines for creating blocks of different sizes and shapes were available for only $42.50 for the hand-operated “Wizard Face Down Concrete Block Machine.”

The Aladdin "Built in a Day" Catalog of 1917 stated that:

"Of course, all excavation and masonry work must be done on the ground.  No money would be saved by including stone or brick or concrete  [in pre-ordered and shipped house kits], but every section of the country produces this material and prices vary but little.  we furnish you with the foundation plan and will give you figures on the amount of material  required for whatever kind of foundation material you decide to use - concrete, stone or brick...."

In Bennett's small House catalog of 1920 most of the houses are shown with cast block foundations.

A number of block houses can be seen in Buffalo.

Syracuse, NY. 433 Roosevelt Ave. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2013.

See: J. Randall Cotton, "Ornamental Concrete Block Houses," Old House Journal, XII:8 (Oct. 1984) 165, 180-183

Westcott's England Walking Tour Saturday June 1st at 1 pm

Westcott's England Walking Tour Saturday June 1st at 1 pm

Westcott Sundays on a Saturday! 

Join me Saturday June 1 from 1 om to 3 pm for the last of this spring's Westcott neighborhood history and architecture walking tours as we tackle Westcott's England: those streets south of Euclid that sound like they came from the War of the Roses: Westminster, Buckingham, Kensington, Lancaster. 

There is one big hill - so wear good walking shoes. 

We start from the Westcott Community Center at Westcott and Euclid.

The tour is free, sponsored by thew Westcott Neighbor hood Association with support form UNSAAC. 

Rain date is 6/2, 1 pm

 

Ward Wellington Ward on Walnut Avenue

Syracuse, NY.  The Herbert Walker House at 519 Walnut Ave. Ward Wellington Ward, architect, 1911.  Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (March 2013)

Syracuse, NY.  The Herbert Walker House at 519 Walnut Ave. Ward Wellington Ward, architect, 1911. Photo: [Ward Wellington Ward]: Some recent work (n.d., ca. 1920)

Syracuse, NY. The Sherbrooke Apartments.  Ward Wellington Ward, arch. (1914).  View from the south, showing additional floor of apartments added on the west side.  Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (May 2012)

Ward Wellington Ward on Walnut Avenue

One of my near-daily walks or bike rides crosses the Eastside intersection of Walnut Avenue and Madison Street, where one of the slowest lights in the city allows me good time to look at three surviving examples of Arts & Crafts architect Ward Wellington Ward's work on University Hill.  Ward (1875-1932), of course, was Central New York's most prolific and popular Arts & Crafts architect.

On the southeast corner is the large and dominant Sherbrooke Apartments, built in 1914 for George Wilson, an officer in the Wilson Bros. Lumber Company, and later president of the Wilson and Greene Lumber Company.  This is perhaps the largest Arts & Crafts style building in Syracuse - or at least it houses the most people.  According to architect Allen Kosoff, his father, Samuel Kosoff, was the contractor for the building construction.   The building has served as an apartment building for most of its life - though it owned and operated by Syracuse University as a women's dormitory between 1955 and 1976.  

Syracuse, NY. The Sherbrooke Apartments.  Ward Wellington Ward, arch. (1914).  View from the northeast. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (March 2013)

Syracuse, NY. The Sherbrooke Apartments.  Ward Wellington Ward, arch. (1914).  Madison St. facade. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (March 2013).

The Sherbrooke is kept in good condition.  Last year there was roof repair and one can frequently see owner-sponsored maintenance on the structure.  Most of the original features, including many in the interior, are intact. The biggest change can be seen on the west, facing the parking lot and 1960 school addition to Temple Concord, where one can see changes to the upper floors.  But the Arts & Crafts style fenestration with varied sizes and substantial wooden framing of the windows is intact on the Walnut and Madison facades.  So too, are the deep eaves and variegated roof line.  The building was listed as a local protected site in 1980 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997 (see Carlson, Richard (August 15, 1996). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Sherbrook Apartments").

Syracuse, NY. The Sherbrooke Apartments.  Ward Wellington Ward, arch. (1914).  Northwest corner. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (March 2013)

Syracuse, NY. The Sherbrooke Apartments.  Ward Wellington Ward, arch. (1914).  West facade. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (June 2009)

Catercorner to the Sherbrooke is the Herbert Walker house, built in 1911 and still mostly intact, although a new wing was added replacing a porch and terrace on the Madison Street facade. The house is now apartments.  It is not listed as a local protected site but is designated as National Register eligible, but the nomination has not been written or submitted. 

Syracuse, NY. Walnut Ave. Looking north towards Madison Street one sees Ward Wellington Ward building dominating each corner. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (March 2013)

Syracuse, NY.  The Herbert Walker House at 519 Walnut Ave. Ward Wellington Ward, architect, 1911. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (March 2013).

Syracuse, NY.  The Herbert Walker House at 519 Walnut Ave. Ward Wellington Ward, architect, 1911. The hosue is well-designed for the site, for optimum visual effect. The off-center project bowed bay creates a double facade to be seen by those heading south, toward Walnut park and the University.  Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (March 2013).

 

 Syracuse, NY.  The Herbert Walker House at 519 Walnut Ave. Ward Wellington Ward, architect, 1911. The south end was originally a porch with upper terrace.  This was later converted for interior (apartment?) space, but the architectural style was maintained.  Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (March 2033).

Syracuse, NY.  The Herbert Walker House at 519 Walnut Ave. Ward Wellington Ward, architect, 1911.  The original and still the main entrance. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (March 2013). 

Just down the street at 502 Walnut is another houses, determined in the city's Ward Wellington Ward Cultural Resources Survey of the 1990s as being deigned by Ward.  Built for Samuel Cook in 1910, it is apparently much altered since.

Syracuse, NY.  502 Walnut Street.  said to be the Samuel Cook House, designed by Ward Wellington Ward in 1910.  It is now a medical office. photo: Samuel D. Gruber (March 2013).

Standing in the street in front of 502 and looking south one sees the Ward building dominating the approach north to Walnut Park.  I don't known when Walnut was turned one-way going north, but one sees what is missed by changing the traffic patterns.  Buildings were designed to be seen from certain views - and many of these have been subverted or destroyed by latter traffics patterns.

On nearby University Avenue, now re-established as two-way, it is too late for most of the grand houses.  They've been torn down.  But it is nice that at the Northern end of the street both Temple Concord and Grace Episcopal Church can be viewed by (driving and biking) passers-by from different angles. 

I'll be posting more throughout the spring about familiar - but overlooked Eastside buildings.