My wife and I recently took an overnight in Allegany County. Three different county residents asked, “why would you do that?”
There is a certain level of sadness in a sparsely-settled county that some ratings name the poorest in the state outside New York City. But sometimes you miss something when you’re too close to it. We had a great visit.
After a fine sunny country drive, on which we passed through Almond and Andover, we started out at Hamilton’s in Wellsville, because we both needed a new pair of New Balance sneakers. Hamilton’s has been in business for about 75 years, and they fit you carefully. If need be, they rebuild the shoe on the spot. Since Joyce has heel spurs… and broke both ankles over an 18-month period… we wanted to make sure her new shoes fit right.
Then we puttered up Main Street to the David Howe Memorial Library. We noticed years ago that when we ordered books on inter-library loan, a high percentage of them came from Wellsville, so we enjoy our rare visits there to scope out the collection in person, and stock up on reading material. I’ve said before that the building looks as though it was airlifted in from Williamsburg, and the interior is especially lovely. There’s even a huge globe, worthy of Nero Wolfe’s office.
After ferrying our stacks of books back to the car we cruised up Route 19, passing through Scio, Belmont, Belvidere and Belfast on our way to Oramel. We didn’t see very much farm country along the way, but the forest offers other opportunities – Allegany, like Steuben, is a big county for hunting and fishing.
We spent the night at the Oramel Inn Motel, which started out in the fifties as a root-beer stand. The structure is period but meticulously maintained and cared for; the rooms are lovely, comfortable, and modern. A little earlier in the season we’d have been able to take better advantage of the friendly garden, not to mention the ice cream.
That night we ate a great meal at the Stillwater Inn – my fish and chips were outstanding, and so was Joyce’s sandwich on a hard roll. The place is clearly popular, packed with a nice friendly family clamor on Friday night. Breakfast was included with our room. Many places make the same offer, which often consists of a box of donut holes and a jug of Sunny D. Breakfast at Oramel Inn takes place in the restaurant/ice cream stand, private in the morning except for guests. You order off the menu, then it’s prepared to order and served at your table. We had French toast.
A short drive took us to Angelica where we strolled the sidewalks of Main Street to the crunching accompaniment of fallen leaves. Along the way we took in some antique shops, notably Delectable Collectables in the old garage, where I bought two old Catholic-school comic books and one on the history of rubber (honest), all of which need to be entered into the Grand Comics Database.
For lunch I had an egg and olive sandwich at the sunny Black-Eyed Susan Cafe, with its old safe still built into the dining room, while Joyce had a three-cheddar grilled cheese with tomato – all great. After that we finally headed home. Despite the surprise expressed by some of our friends, we had a great time.

Here’s some more cool stuff about Allegany County.

*Allegany is home to Houghton College, Alfred University, and Alfred State (SUNY College of Technology). That’s more institutions of higher learning than any of Steuben, Chemung, Schuyler, Yates, or Ontario Counties.
*Angelica’s Park Circle is home to five church buildings and the municipal hall.
*Allegany has 17 libraries… as many as Steuben, which has greater area and more population.
*Cuba Cheese Shop.
*Wilson Beef Farm in Canaseraga.
*Cartwright’s Maple Tree Inn – the same family tapping the trees for 160 years.
*The Finger Lakes Trail, which treks across much of the northern half of the county. I’ve been enjoying myself lately in the Bully Hill State Forest area.
*Oak Duke, outdoor writer and well worth reading.
*Craig Braack, Allegany County Historian… great speaker and unfailingly helpful.
*The late Carroll Burdick, who loved crafting miniature working carousels, many of them still whirling happily throughout our region. Keep your eye peeled… you’ll be glad you did.