1
200
18
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/5ba5ff5b9152c7941b95cdb7def91120.jpg
e7c62aee6cdd44f4646f9cc676ac1c1f
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Martinsville
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/56.jpg" alt="Postcard view looking north up Old Falld Blvd" /><span class="cover-caption">Old Falls Boulevard, looking north from Lockport Ave. to Niagara Falls Blvd. Postcard detail, c.1900.</span> The northeast part of North Tonawanda known as "Martinsville" is named after the father of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther. It is settled by German Lutheran farmers, beginning around 1843. They settled in narrow farms along the west bank of Tonawanda Creek. As the area developed, a "downtown" emerged along William Street, present-day Old Falls Blvd, near Lockport Rd. (pictured above). The village boasted its own post office, stores and places of entertainment. <br /><br />Most of Martinsville was incorporated into the then-booming City of North Tonawanda in 1897. The sections of Martinsville east of present-day Old Falls and Niagara Falls boulevards are considered part of Wheatfield.<br /><br />The real estate transaction that brought many of the settlers to the area, its early growth, and the contentious religious devotion of its people are described in <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/606"><em>History of Niagara County 1821-1878</em></a>:
<blockquote>In 1843 Carl Sack, Erdman Wurl and Fred Grosskopf purchased of William Vandervoote 400 acres, at $15 per acre, on the Tonawanda creek, in the southeast corner of the town, four miles east of Tonawanda village, in what is now known as the village of Martinsville. Lutheran religious antecedents caused the adoption of this name by the disciples of Martin Luther. The original purchase was divided into small lots of three acres and up- ward, as others were able to purchase, to provide for the location of thirty families the first season. They erected ten log houses in the autumn, each of which was occupied by three or four families during the winter and until joint efforts relieved the immigrants by building others. The families remained in Buffalo until the first houses were built, obtaining the best accommodations they could find. Forbidding as the prospect in the beginning must have been, it has been changed to the appearance of prosperity. The church organization is the controlling element in the government of the community, now consisting of one hundred families, connected with the two now existing, the result of divided feeling, but not an abandonment of the Lutheran faith.</blockquote>
Postcard
A pictorial representation of a place or entity, intended to be written upon and mailed.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Villa, 682 Falls Blvd, postcard (1924-08).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1924-08
hotel
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/894b4ac2a11c3d3f161107ef6304e244.jpg
5b7a9a80816b54df50ba2d6c0ba757db
Object
Photos or illustrations of artifacts of an entity.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Wa-Ha-Kie Hotel, matchbook (c1950).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1950
hotel
matchbook
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/6470486ee508bfe96513d476a3059944.jpg
f63fe4099be7f4d9be42967fc3766669
Object
Photos or illustrations of artifacts of an entity.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Sikora's Hotel, 468 Oliver, matchbook (c1940).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1940
hotel
ironton
matchbook
oliver
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/8df3a205022a25e21b670414f5a19fa3.jpg
abb9e9e87bd9077f135107cc7fc17c8c
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory (1893-1903)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/24d.jpg" alt="North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory, 1893 (colorized by webmaster)" /><span class="cover-caption">Nucleus of Wurlitzer: The North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory in 1893. It still stands in 2023.</span>
<p class="intro">The first of its kind in America, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory makes automatic musical instruments to provide music for Allan Herschell's world-famous carousels. Led by the fiery Prussian gentleman-genius Eugene de Kleist, the firm survives an early national Depression to succeed beyond its wildest expectations with the help of a musical family from Ohio named the "Wurlitzers."</p>
<div class="img-caption-container"><img src="http://nthistory.com/files/square_thumbnails/cc9e0bcd6b738bbe4ed82bac5ef50e91.jpg" alt="Image description" />
<div class="caption">De Kleist band organ, c.1900.</div>
</div>
<b>Portable music of another era<br /><br /></b>Before the phonograph and radio, the next best thing to a live orchestra or marching band is a "band organ" or "orchestrion." Essentially giant music boxes with drums, pipe organs, brass horns and more, these devices are popular in Europe for centuries before being produced in the New World in 1893 with the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory. <br /><br />The factory is built in the spring of 1893 by local merry-go-round makers the <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/collections/show/73">Armitage-Herschell Company</a> in the Sawyer's Creek / Martinsville area in the northeast of the recently incorporated City of North Tonawanda. To oversee operations, Armitage-Herschell recruits a German organ maker from London with whom they have been acquainted: the talented <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">Eugene de Kleist</a>. With a small crew of workers culled from England and the surrounding Martinsville farms, the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory also makes organs for churches, offers repairs on existing organs, and makes the pinned barrels that contain the music the organs play. After about a year, Armitage-Herschell sign ownership of the enterprise over to their capable superintendent.<br /><br /><strong>Meet the Wurlitzers</strong><br /><br />Business is middling until 1897, when de Kleist meets a decades-old musical retail concern from Cincinnati that will prove a valuable partner: the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company. The story goes that de Kleist was looking to interest the U. S. Army in buying his bugles, which were made as part of many of his band organs. de Kleist is told that the Wurlitzer company already has that business, so he approaches Wurlitzer, and is able to sell them some of his bugles. He also tries to interest Wurlitzer in his band organs, but they ask if he coud instead produce a coin-operated piano for use in taverns and restaurants. After over a year in development, the first "Tonophones" are ready in 1898, and are an immediate success. (Hear <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/1023">Farny Wurlitzer</a> tell this story himself <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5dXbpPM7T0&t=5m29s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in this remarkable speech from 1964</a>).<br /><br />Similiar instruments, such as the Pianino, follow, and the small factory begins to grow, and over the next few years establishes the northwest corner of the massive Wurlitzer plant still standing in North Tonawanda today.
<p><strong>The de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</strong></p>
In 1903, the Barrel Organ Factory incorporates as the de Kleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company, with investment from banker James Thompson and some new top brass. Wurlitzer's interest in the North Tonawanda plant increases as Eugene de Kleist's seems to wane (<a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/936">see de Kleist's bio</a> for more on this). In 1905 a group of workers leaves to form the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/75">Niagara Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company</a>; within a year another wave of defectors forms the <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/10">North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works</a>. <br /><br />1908 begins auspiciously: in January, de Kleist (now mayor of North Tonawanda) lavishly fetes 700 employees and their families in the new music department building. His superintendent, Paul Von Rohl, delivers a speech in his honor, and they dance and carouse until morning light begins filtering over Sawyer's Creek.<br /><br />The following months will not be as good. de Kleist files a $50,000 infringement lawsuit against the aforementioned Instrument Works, but loses. In March, he leaves the aforementioned Paul Von Rohl in charge of the factory while he is off racing powerboats in Florida. de Kleist returns to suspect there has been rampant theft in his absence, and brings charges of grand larceny against Von Rohl, which are dropped, replaced by petit larceny charges, and then found unproved by a jury. In April, Mayor de Kleist accuses eight employees of stealing valuable machinery and plans from his factory, and of conspiring to start another rival factory. The summer brings more powerboating and politicking.<br /><br />Perhaps fearing for the security of their investment, Wurlitzer buys Eugene de Kleist out. <a href="http://nthistory.com/collections/show/52">The Rudolph Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company</a> is organized in December of 1908 with $1,000,000 capital.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
de Kleist Musical Inst Mfg. Co. office at Hotel Sheldon, photo (HST, 1907).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1907
hotel
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/4926b82a1b132e8b41ee89631fa84ef3.jpg
4c1c1719a82afaf2afa4c2a915abe597
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hotel Sheldon
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/51.jpg" alt="Hotel Sheldon" /> <span class="cover-caption">Postcard, c1890</span>This massive hotel once occupied the southeast corner of Goundry and Main. A general description from <em><a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/608">Lumber City</a></em> (1891):<br />
<blockquote>Nothing is more needed for the general prosperity of a city than a first-class hotel, and in this particular the Lumber City is especially fortunate, as outside of metropolitan places it would be difficult to find a house more complete in all its appointments than the Sheldon. It is fitted in attractive and elegant style throughout and contains all the modern improvements and appurtenances of a first-class hotel. It is an imposing four-story brick, with eighty rooms.</blockquote>
An Internet search rears up <a href="https://www.geni.com/people/William-Truman-Godard/5494628848530068480">this pithy account</a> of one of the hotel's managers:
<blockquote>Hope said that he (William Truman Godard, 1870-1937) earned his living in Altoona, Penn as a Pillsbury flour representative and she wrote that he earned his living in as the manager of the Hotel Sheldon in North Tonawanda, New York where Hope was born in 1905. <br /><br />She said he had very black hair and never seemed to have a well day. He went back East to his people after his wife died.</blockquote>
The hotel is destroyed by fire in 1940.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hotel Sheldon., map detail (Sanborn Map Company, 1910).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910
hotel
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/fb58e13e4fcbcff2ad3b144f2cb2d203.jpeg
4e068af8c50571c24d2f8bb22565bc92
https://nthistory.com/files/original/28a369b2f7f0863745f6998e96ca2e6d.jpeg
3440f666859ceacec594375ad42b95f2
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Trolleys and Trains
Description
An account of the resource
Before everybody in North Tonawanda could afford their very own muffler-less Honda Civic to run up and down Oliver Street, trolleys and trains were an important means of personal transportation. Several lines ran throughout the city, moving people to and from their jobs, churches, or just out for a look around.
Though they may seem romantic to us now, people griped about the trolleys the same way we complain about snow plows today. Apparently their slow speed was sometimes targeted: An item in this set describes a "well-known peddler" in the Gratwick area who is injured by a trolley car. The author drolly observes, "'Twould have been a real miracle if a Gratwick car could have got up enough speed to have killed him" (Tonawanda News, 1908-2-13).
The trolley era did not last long. By the 1920s, the electric streetcar had been passed by the gasoline-powered bus as the most prevalent means of public transportation. Another article in this set from the Tonawanda News, "Carpenter now operates 14 busses in the Tonawandas," outlines the rise of the Carpenter Rapid Transit buses.
Photo
A photographic depiction of a person or place.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
North Tonawanda Street Railroad trolley car outside Hotel Sheldon, photo (c1896).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1896
goundry
hotel
person
trolley
village
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/1d4bf17af2dcc9f612f0d20fac3a4b44.jpg
c2e2b66a7ac824cc722470b3b4fcd57c
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Avondale / Oliver Theater (358 Oliver)
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" alt="Avondale Theatre as it appeared in 1924. Sketch by Dennis Reed Jr." src="http://www.nthistory.com/custom/cover/69.jpg" /><span class="cover-caption">Avondale Theatre as it appeared in 1924 (Dennis Reed Jr) </span> <b>The southwest corner of Robinson and Oliver Streets—now an empty lot—was formerly occupied by a silent film theater in 1910, an evangelical center in the 50s, and a concert hall in the 80s before being demolished.</b><br /><br /><strong>Oliver Theater</strong> (1910-1921)<br /><br />The Oliver Theater opens its doors to the silent film-hungry public on November 3rd, 1910. It is operated by one Henry Klinger of Wheatfield Street (formerly of Buffalo). It boasts a capacity of 500 seats, modern electric lighting and ventilation, and is "sanitarily perfect." It exhibits the latest pictures, three each evening, and a Saturday matinee for a 5 cent admission.<br /><br />In those more religious times, "blue laws" forbid certain kinds of work and the sale of alcohol on Sundays. Klinger battles with local authorities to permit the auditorium to be open to the public on Sundays, pointing out that other cities do. "Why, some of the churches in Lockport are showing pictures on Sundays, so I don't see why they should be considered so immoral in North Tonawanda," <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/2272">he says</a> in a 1913 interview.<br /><br />But Mayor B. L. Rand will not budge. Klinger takes the fight to the courts. In July of 1915 a Lockport judge <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/2273">rules against</a> the mayor, opening the way to Sunday picture shows.<br /><br />At some point Klinger sells "the house to Snyder and Zimmerman of Buffalo" but buys it back from them around July 1921 with a plan to "remodel the theater and increase its seating capacity" (from <a href="http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/28609">cinematreasures.org</a>).<br /><br />A public contest is held to rename the theater. Grocery store owner George Roggow wins the $10 prize with his romantic entry, "Avondale." He claims he <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/3338">read the name</a> from the tag inside his shirt.<br /><br /><strong>The Avondale Theater</strong> (1921-1955)<br /><br />The newly christened theater re-opens on September 1, 1921. L. E. Bargar is manager. At his request, he is appointed as a "special police officer," serving without pay but with the authority to make arrests. In January, 1922, Wurlitzer installs a cutting-edge Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra with a $2.5K price tag. It debuts in February, the same month early silent film actor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Walker">Lillian Walker</a> (aka "Dimples") visits the theater in person, and speaks from the stage at each performance.<br /><br />Apparently some vaudeville is presented at the Avondale among the films. On June 17, 1922 the NEWS reports the Great Abdiz, the Man with the Iron Jaw, and Bryson appear in an Arabian juggling act.<br /><br />In October 1924, L. E. Barger resigns as manager. He is said to have been in the picture business for 22 years. In 1925, manager James. J. Kelly gets Duo-Art Films of Rochester to produce a "civic review" of the Tonawandas in pictures. Kelly becomes manager of the newly opened Riviera Theatre in 1926.<br /><br />Daniel A. North is a longtime owner and operator, with a two-year absence between 1936 and 1938. The Avondale is still showing pictures as late as 1955, but is put up for sale in 1956.<br /><br /><strong>Evangelistic Center of the Tonawandas</strong> (1956-1979)<br /><br />In 1956, the building is purchased by Italian Pentecostals at the Christian Tabernacle who have outgrown their modest church on 195 Schenck Street, and have been renting the Avondale. After extensive remodeling, the old theater is renamed the Assembly of God Evangelistic Center of the Tonawandas. Pastor Cooper's parsonage was at 11 16th Avenue until 1960.<br /><br />The first services are held on November 4, 1956. It appears to have been a lively era, as scores if not hundreds of touring speakers and religious musical acts appear in ads in the News over the following two decades.<br /><br />In 1979, the Abundant Life Assembly of God <a href="https://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=https%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252011%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%25201979%2520%2520Grayscale%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%25201979%2520%2520Grayscale%2520-%25201795.pdf%23xml%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FdtSearch%2Fdtisapi6.dll%3Fcmd%3Dgetpdfhits%26u%3De67711b%26DocId%3D2254257%26Index%3DZ%253a%255cDISK%2520U%26HitCount%3D23%26hits%3D1f%2B71%2B1a6%2B22e%2B2ff%2B335%2B428%2B583%2B58a%2B5cb%2B5d6%2B5dd%2B5e6%2B5e9%2B621%2B62c%2B669%2B715%2B771%2B7e2%2B841%2B846%2B84d%2B%26SearchForm%3D%252fFulton%255fform%252ehtml%26.pdf&uri=https%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252011%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%25201979%2520%2520Grayscale%2FNorth%2520Tonawanda%2520NY%2520Evening%2520News%25201979%2520%2520Grayscale%2520-%25201795.pdf&xml=https%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FdtSearch%2Fdtisapi6.dll%3Fcmd%3Dgetpdfhits%26u%3De67711b%26DocId%3D2254257%26Index%3DZ%253a%255cDISK%2520U%26HitCount%3D23%26hits%3D1f%2B71%2B1a6%2B22e%2B2ff%2B335%2B428%2B583%2B58a%2B5cb%2B5d6%2B5dd%2B5e6%2B5e9%2B621%2B62c%2B669%2B715%2B771%2B7e2%2B841%2B846%2B84d%2B%26SearchForm%3D%252fFulton%255fform%252ehtml%26.pdf&openFirstHlPage=false">sell the building and move to new quarters</a> at 1001 East Robinson in North Tonawanda. They owned the land since 1967, and have tent revivals there. In 2009 <span>Abundant Life <a href="https://buffalonews.com/news/congregation-reaps-what-it-sows-with-its-first-public-services/article_53270053-59e1-59d2-a1c3-47121a1b4863.html">is closed</a> "because of a dwindling congregation."</span><br /><br /><strong>Final years<br /></strong><br />By December 1979 the "Oliver Auction House" <a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/3346">is doing business</a> at that address.<br /><br />The theater enjoys a final act in the mid 1980s as the "Avondale Ballroom," featuring live musical performances. It opens in April 1985, and is run by Dennis Lasky (who also conducted the auction house operation).<br /><br />The theater is razed in the late 1980s.
Advertisement
A graphic or text document produced by an entity for promotional purposes.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Brown's Hotel Ad, Avondale Theatre photo, Tonawanda Scholastica (1924).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1924
cinema
hotel
theater
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/1e0863e57ca7a1332371e570605ac98f.jpg
4ea39671e70cd8df13e788e7fbcf19e2
Advertisement
A graphic or text document produced by an entity for promotional purposes.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Electric Beach park and hotel on Grand Island, ad (Tonawanda News 1910-07-01).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1910-07-01
hotel
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/d38dfb77195c56543bbf842af0706dec.JPG
b00efcde95d9569e5e5c389abada5328
Object
Photos or illustrations of artifacts of an entity.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Ward Road Inn, token.JPG
hotel
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/8b07c9538f2c650f80697fffeb6d2143.jpg
b4f2e228c8b5f1a23da119be4dfa1617
Illustration
An abstracted line drawing or depiction.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Archer Hotel, illustration (1893-08-05 Tonawanda News).jpg
Description
An account of the resource
The Archer Hotel was located at the northeast corner of Oliver and Thompson streets. A December 1913 ad in the Tonawanda News advertises for an Archer Hotel run by E. M. Dindruff.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1893-08-05
hotel
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/1378dafe8a6cdef247fbc1638ac184ae.jpg
d290effe4266de09a3a29fcdd60b0f99
Illustration
An abstracted line drawing or depiction.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Scanlons Hall, illustration (1893-08-05 Tonawanda News).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1893-08-05
hotel
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/c8292410662cc5af592c6ff96a46921e.jpg
ca0b88a84f55174ec724e93b1c21524e
Illustration
An abstracted line drawing or depiction.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Scanlons Hall, detail top, illustration (1893-08-05 Tonawanda News).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1893-08-05
hotel
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/b56937808a92b05d3ef45c4d58bc514a.jpg
29a1fb025963b970ed2f85dd1047a4df
Illustration
An abstracted line drawing or depiction.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Scanlons Hall, detail, illustration (1893-08-05 Tonawanda News).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1893-08-05
hotel
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/99970fe88f0d97a63f83be223ea24fd9.jpg
c2bd76e54ef1282969727409e271d153
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hotel Sheldon
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/51.jpg" alt="Hotel Sheldon" /> <span class="cover-caption">Postcard, c1890</span>This massive hotel once occupied the southeast corner of Goundry and Main. A general description from <em><a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/608">Lumber City</a></em> (1891):<br />
<blockquote>Nothing is more needed for the general prosperity of a city than a first-class hotel, and in this particular the Lumber City is especially fortunate, as outside of metropolitan places it would be difficult to find a house more complete in all its appointments than the Sheldon. It is fitted in attractive and elegant style throughout and contains all the modern improvements and appurtenances of a first-class hotel. It is an imposing four-story brick, with eighty rooms.</blockquote>
An Internet search rears up <a href="https://www.geni.com/people/William-Truman-Godard/5494628848530068480">this pithy account</a> of one of the hotel's managers:
<blockquote>Hope said that he (William Truman Godard, 1870-1937) earned his living in Altoona, Penn as a Pillsbury flour representative and she wrote that he earned his living in as the manager of the Hotel Sheldon in North Tonawanda, New York where Hope was born in 1905. <br /><br />She said he had very black hair and never seemed to have a well day. He went back East to his people after his wife died.</blockquote>
The hotel is destroyed by fire in 1940.
Postcard
A pictorial representation of a place or entity, intended to be written upon and mailed.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hotel Sheldon, postcard (c1890).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1890
Description
An account of the resource
The Hotel Sheldon was located at southeast corner of Main and Goundry.
hotel
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/14716e161c055aecf3a66ed04b3f23f2.jpg
e6beb4e062ccfda024781aaeef2cf677
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hotel Sheldon
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/51.jpg" alt="Hotel Sheldon" /> <span class="cover-caption">Postcard, c1890</span>This massive hotel once occupied the southeast corner of Goundry and Main. A general description from <em><a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/608">Lumber City</a></em> (1891):<br />
<blockquote>Nothing is more needed for the general prosperity of a city than a first-class hotel, and in this particular the Lumber City is especially fortunate, as outside of metropolitan places it would be difficult to find a house more complete in all its appointments than the Sheldon. It is fitted in attractive and elegant style throughout and contains all the modern improvements and appurtenances of a first-class hotel. It is an imposing four-story brick, with eighty rooms.</blockquote>
An Internet search rears up <a href="https://www.geni.com/people/William-Truman-Godard/5494628848530068480">this pithy account</a> of one of the hotel's managers:
<blockquote>Hope said that he (William Truman Godard, 1870-1937) earned his living in Altoona, Penn as a Pillsbury flour representative and she wrote that he earned his living in as the manager of the Hotel Sheldon in North Tonawanda, New York where Hope was born in 1905. <br /><br />She said he had very black hair and never seemed to have a well day. He went back East to his people after his wife died.</blockquote>
The hotel is destroyed by fire in 1940.
Illustration
An abstracted line drawing or depiction.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hotel Sheldon, illustration (1893-08-05 Tonawanda News).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1893-08-05
hotel
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/da28f9da0114961aa47cec67bfdad325.jpg
13951d2e2da8c697917d1fc43434c87f
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hotel Sheldon
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/51.jpg" alt="Hotel Sheldon" /> <span class="cover-caption">Postcard, c1890</span>This massive hotel once occupied the southeast corner of Goundry and Main. A general description from <em><a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/608">Lumber City</a></em> (1891):<br />
<blockquote>Nothing is more needed for the general prosperity of a city than a first-class hotel, and in this particular the Lumber City is especially fortunate, as outside of metropolitan places it would be difficult to find a house more complete in all its appointments than the Sheldon. It is fitted in attractive and elegant style throughout and contains all the modern improvements and appurtenances of a first-class hotel. It is an imposing four-story brick, with eighty rooms.</blockquote>
An Internet search rears up <a href="https://www.geni.com/people/William-Truman-Godard/5494628848530068480">this pithy account</a> of one of the hotel's managers:
<blockquote>Hope said that he (William Truman Godard, 1870-1937) earned his living in Altoona, Penn as a Pillsbury flour representative and she wrote that he earned his living in as the manager of the Hotel Sheldon in North Tonawanda, New York where Hope was born in 1905. <br /><br />She said he had very black hair and never seemed to have a well day. He went back East to his people after his wife died.</blockquote>
The hotel is destroyed by fire in 1940.
Letters and Letterhead
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hotel Sheldon, illustrated letterhead (1891).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1891
hotel
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/cccfeca3b73c3c575859a52e02d57974.jpg
f0d6b736997a521fa375d1b1ea909a9d
https://nthistory.com/files/original/89209f5b75cdaa31fb3aa2abcda032d1.jpg
15d46c7924a785dd598110626b234cd5
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hotel Sheldon
Description
An account of the resource
<img class="cover" src="../../../custom/cover/51.jpg" alt="Hotel Sheldon" /> <span class="cover-caption">Postcard, c1890</span>This massive hotel once occupied the southeast corner of Goundry and Main. A general description from <em><a href="http://www.nthistory.com/items/show/608">Lumber City</a></em> (1891):<br />
<blockquote>Nothing is more needed for the general prosperity of a city than a first-class hotel, and in this particular the Lumber City is especially fortunate, as outside of metropolitan places it would be difficult to find a house more complete in all its appointments than the Sheldon. It is fitted in attractive and elegant style throughout and contains all the modern improvements and appurtenances of a first-class hotel. It is an imposing four-story brick, with eighty rooms.</blockquote>
An Internet search rears up <a href="https://www.geni.com/people/William-Truman-Godard/5494628848530068480">this pithy account</a> of one of the hotel's managers:
<blockquote>Hope said that he (William Truman Godard, 1870-1937) earned his living in Altoona, Penn as a Pillsbury flour representative and she wrote that he earned his living in as the manager of the Hotel Sheldon in North Tonawanda, New York where Hope was born in 1905. <br /><br />She said he had very black hair and never seemed to have a well day. He went back East to his people after his wife died.</blockquote>
The hotel is destroyed by fire in 1940.
Letters and Letterhead
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hotel Sheldon, illustrated envelope (1897).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1897
hotel
-
https://nthistory.com/files/original/0c8264cc4b900dcfe19a61283b581eb8.jpg
a1769e26ffe6e1da9471d1f971e62989
Postcard
A pictorial representation of a place or entity, intended to be written upon and mailed.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Downtowner Motor Inn, postcard (c1960).jpg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1960
hotel