West Hill Community Cabin

by Andrea Renshaw, Volunteer

Anyone driving up West Hill might notice the empty space next to the fire department where the West Hill Community Cabin once stood.  The cabin was torn down recently in a state of bad repair.  But for over 80 years the Community Cabin served the residents of West Hill and the surrounding community.  During its time it served as a dance hall, meeting place, theater, and all-around event venue.

The cabin was built by The West Hill Community Council, who decided to rectify the structure based on the necessity of a permanent meeting place.  The West Hill Community had previously hosted their events at the Carr’s Corner School or private homes.  In 1932, it was decided their new clubhouse would be a simple log cabin.  It’s said the Community Cabin was inspired by a log cabin built by Ralph Crain on Halderman Hollow Road.  With books loaned to them by attorney Richard Heller, the council began to design.  A single story 30’ by 60’ design was decided on.  When finished the cabin would provide a kitchen and dining room in the walkout basement, and a large open meeting room on the main floor.  The stage was added later in 1953 to main floor to accommodate school plays.

Supplies and labor were donated by local farmers.  Logs for the structure were donated by several farmers, rough cut wood was supplied by Fred Storch’s mill, and Ernest Stowe donated the land at a mere one dollar for a ninety nine year lease.  Electricity during construction was supplied via extension from William Storch’s farm approximately 300 yards down the road, until Willis Bennett installed permanent wiring.  For items that could not be donated, the ladies of West Hill hosted fundraising suppers at the German Church in Elmira.  The basement was dug by teams of horses with scrapers, where they also dug the first well near the kitchen.  Logs were prepared with axes, saws and drawknives.  Work progressed through the winter of 1932-1933, until its official opening on July 4, 1933.  The official opening of the Community Cabin was marked by an Independence Day picnic and square dance, complete with a patriotic fireworks display.

Card table used by the West Home Bureau, listing many local businesses

Expense journal showing family expenses including cabin fees of West Hill family

In the earlier years, dances were one of the biggest attractions.  Live music from the Green Mountain Boys and Woodhull’s Olde Tyme Masters was popular for many years.  Later the DJ, Ronnie Ruckles, was a weekly hit with dance-goers.  Regular dances brought crowds every Friday night from 9pm-1am.  Many of these dances were hosted by local groups for fundraising efforts.  Funds went to their own reserves, as well as worthy causes such as the Red Cross and relief societies.

Community organizations such as the Grange, Carr’s Corner 4-H, the Home Bureau Federation, Elmira Dairyman’s League, and other agriculture based clubs enjoyed the cabin as a meeting place central to the farming community.  Speakers were invited to lecture on subjects such as how to improve agricultural sales profits.  The Home Bureau hosted lessons on domestic skills for local women such as caning chairs, breakfast breads, and organizing kitchens. Carr’s Corner and Thomas Edison students produced their school plays on their specially built stage.  The Cabin Council also supported many of the events, such as a yearly Harvest Supper, and regular picnics and suppers.  Private rentals made it a popular location for reunions, anniversaries, and receptions.   The community cabin was a convenient place to host parties, with facilities for cooking, dining and dancing.  

Dale Storch and Fred Buck in dining room

After a fire claimed Doug Dalrymples’ horse barn in 1960, the citizens of West Hill decided they needed a local fire district to protect their homes and property.  By 1961, the West Hill Volunteer Fire Department had been established, and the firehouse was to share the same piece of land with the Community Cabin.  The original twenty-two volunteers, and president Ray DeLamarter happened to be many of the same group that were involved in the West Hill Community Council.  The fire department is also a thing of the past now, unfortunately having closed its doors in 2008.

View of former Fire Department

 

Unfortunately, as the years have passed the clubs and community that had supported the need for a clubhouse dissolved.  It is sad to lose what was such an important hub of a community, but hopefully we can preserve its memory.  In my research for this article I found that our Historical Society has no information about the Community Cabin.  Please feel free to share any of your memories or additional information in the comments below.

Original members of the West Hill Community Council: Albert & Myrtle Storch, Ralph & Goldie Crain, Ernest & Alice Stowe, William G. & Elizabeth Storch, Carl & Maude Steffen, Thomas & Irene Rhodes, Charles &Eva Mansfield, Welling & Grace Storch, Ralph & Carol Reynolds, Willis & Ruth Bennett, Erie & Marie Vaughn, Fritz & Lucy Storch, Byron & Ina Vanderhoff, Milton & Virginia Vanderhoff, Henry & Lena Hartman, Harry & Louise Ketchum, Raymond & Pricilla Fish, Charles & Grace Rutty, Raymond & Muriel Rhinebold, Murray & Waitie Watts, Raymond & Lillian DeLamarter, Grant & Emma Tolbert, Charles & Bessie Smejkal, Harry & Emily Stowe, Francis & Stella Brittenbaker, Joseph Hartman, and Mrs. Grace VanValkner.

I would like to thank, Dianne Storch, David Storch, Melissa Rozengota for helping to recall some of this information.
(A special note from CCHS staff to Andrea and her family, who recently lost their grandfather Dale Storch mentioned in this blog. A little of his history is preserved here.)

That Time the Town of Baldwin Almost Dissolved

by Erin Doane, Curator

As I was researching the Town of Baldwin for its upcoming exhibit (on display August 1, 2019-January 31, 2020), the town historian showed me an article written in 1959 about how the town almost dissolved in 1923. In the early 1920s, the town began paving many of the roads within its limits to make them more suitable for increasing automobile traffic. I can see the logic that improved roads might bring more people and businesses into the town, but the municipality was already unstable financially. The budget was unbalanced, there were no reserve funds, and the taxes were high. Adding the cost of paving on top of the general cost of maintaining 63 miles of roads and numerous bridges pushed Baldwin deeper into debt. There were no major industries, stores, utilities, or even a railroad line in the town, so the tax burden fell heavily onto farmers.

Aerial view of the village of North Chemung in the Town of Baldwin, c. 1950s

The first mention of the possible dissolution of Baldwin was in a Star-Gazette article on May 14, 1923. In order to help relieve the town residents of their high taxes, the Chemung County Board of Supervisors discussed the idea of combining the towns of Elmira, Ashland, Chemung, and Baldwin as one unit. By the end of the meeting, nothing had been decided.

One week later, on May 22, another article in the Star-Gazette reported that a petition was presented to the county Board of Supervisors. The petition read as follows:

The undersigned, residents and freeholders of the Town of Baldwin, your county, respectfully petition that your Board take such action as will bring about the annexation of the said Town of Baldwin to the Town of Chemung, in your county, or that the said Town of Baldwin be so partitioned that a part thereof may be set off to each of the Towns of Erin, Van Etten and Chemung in your county, and that your board will take such action as will accomplish this result.

The article then listed 100+ names of Baldwin residents who supported the petition.

Star-Gazette headline, May 22, 1923

These two new propositions – either combining Baldwin and Chemung into one town, or dividing the land of Baldwin up among the three towns of Erin, Van Etten, and Chemung – were left in the hands of the supervisors of the towns of Baldwin, Erin, Chemung, and Elmira. They were to research options and report back to the board of Supervisors at their next meeting.

An editorial appearing in the newspaper on the same day explained how the petition was unlikely to succeed. “Changing long established town boundaries or discontinuing towns entirely and incorporating them with other towns is an extremely hard thing to do,” it stated. Beyond the legal and logistical issues of such a drastic change, Baldwin had the highest taxes in the county (higher even than the city of Elmira). No other town would willingly take on that burden. As a result, the petition quietly died in committee.

This effort by the Town of Baldwin was not for nothing, however. By presenting such a sweeping demand before the Board of Supervisors, the town pushed the county into honestly considering the tax problems it was facing. For years, Elmira had been helping Baldwin cover its tax shortfalls as no other solutions had been implemented. After the petition for dissolution was presented, the board approved a county-wide tax levy that provided $2,000 (around $30,000 today) to Baldwin to help ease its residents’ suffering. 

Map of Chemung County, 1989