Two well-known local features are enjoying their centennials this year.
The old Erwin Town Building (on East Water Street in Painted Post) was dedicated in 1922, but construction began in ’21, and “1921” is carved in stone (or at least concrete) above the doorway. In its early days the fire department garaged two trucks on the ground floor, although one of them had to be driven out before the second one could exit. The police department was here too, in addition to other offices and meeting space. This building survived the floods of 1935, 1946, and 1972, but has recently been replaced by new construction in the Gang Mills area. We understand that the old building is now in private hands.
Over in Wayland, the Bennett Brothers erected in a new building in 1921, moved their existing auto business in, and there operated for almost a hundred years, famously maintaining the world’s oldest Buick dealership. When the family closed the business recently, they sold what’s now the Bennett Brothers Memorial Building (7 South Lackawanna Street) as a new home for Springwater-Wayland EMS.
It was also a hundred years ago that the Corning Elks lodge (which was actually in Erwin) burned down. The newly-incorporated Village of South Hornell elected its first “president,” George DeWolfe, while the Board of Regents chartered Corning Public Library. The Episcopal bishop consecrated Church of the Good Shepherd in Savona, but safeblowers in Campbell made off with $12,000.
In Bath, W. Sterling Cole walked across the stage to receive his diploma at Haverling High School. He would serve 11 terms as our representative in Congress, then become the first Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
For GOLDEN anniversary – in Bath, the Champagne Whirl-a-Ways got started in 1971, and they’ve been square dancing ever since.
The Town of Caton is having a big year for SESQUIcentennials (150 years). In 1871 Caton folks erected a memorial to their fellow townsmen who had perished in the “War of the Rebellion.” That obelisk, still standing at Elmwood Cemetery, was the first Civil War monument in Steuben County.
And on May 4 of 1871, “Deacon” White of Caton strode to the plate for the first at-bat in the first half of the first inning of the first game in the first all-professional baseball league… arguably starting Major League Baseball. The Deacon hit a double, but his Forest City team still lost to Fort Wayne.
This year marks the bicentennial for the death of Revolutionary War veteran Captain Joel Pratt, an early landowner for whom one of our Steuben County towns was named. He was also instrumental in founding what’s now the Prattsburgh Presbyterian Church.
In the bigger world of 1921, bad things were happening. The horrendous two-day Tulsa Race Riot massacred at least a hundred people. Franklin D. Roosevelt came down with polio. Adolf Hitler took full control of the young Nazi party, and Mussolini founded the Fascist Party in Italy.
In the other hand, radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh made the first religious broadcast, and the first broadcast of the World Series. The first White Castle restaurant (progenitor of hundreds of thousands of chain restaurants) opened in Wichita. Researchers in Toronto extracted insulin, and used it to treat diabetes. So, 1921 (and 1821, 1871, 1971, and 2021) were just like every other year – some good, some bad. We can always find SOMETHING to celebrate!