Angelica, NY (1/4/2023)

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

Not again! A year ago we tried to visit the Alfred Ceramic Art Museum at Alfred State College, but it was closed due to weather. This time they were closed to install a new exhibition.

Alfred Ceramic Art Museum (2014, by Kallmann,
McKinnell and Wood of Boston) and the sculpture
Wave (2019, by Eva Hild of Sweden)

The only eatery in Alfred that opened at 11:00 was
Duke's Main Street Pizza: this "medium" calzone covered
half a 14" pizza pan; how large is the extra-large calzone?!

Center for Solitude (1992, a Roman Catholic nonprofit
organization in Belmont, NY whose mission is to provide a place
of solitude; to provide a place for retreats and spiritual guidance)

A cabin with a view of a pond

A view of the partially frozen pond at the Center for Solitude

Thus we ended up in Angelica, NY, which was settled in 1802 by Philip Schuyler Church and named for his mother, Angelica Schuyler Church. She was the daughter of General Philip Schuyler, an American general in the Revolutionary War and the first United States Senator from New York. Angelica's sister, Eizabeth, was married to Alexander Hamilton.

For those who have seen the musical, Hamilton, they will be familiar with the duels between Alexander Hamilton's son, Philip, and George Eacker, and between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. The pistols used in both duels belonged to John Baker Church, the father of Philip Schuyler Church. The pistols were passed down through the Church family, and eventually were purchased in 1930 by the Bank of The Manhattan Company, now JP Morgan Chase & Co.

Van Wickle House at 30 E Main Street (1802, for the Church
family's land agent) is the oldest structure in Angelica

St Paul's Episcopal Church (1847-1848,
in English Gothic style)

Burr House at 25 White Street (1826, In Gothic Revival style;
reportedly for the family of Aaron Burr)

Angelica First Baptist Church at 10 Park Circle

Veterans' Monument in Park Circle

Veterans' Monument (KSS)

Hartshorn House at 2 W Main Street (1850)

Hartshorn House wrought-iron fence (KSS)

Cooley House at 16 W Main Street;
now the American Legion Hall

American Legion Monument (1985)
with a tiny eagle sculpture (KSS)

US Army anti-tank gun (KSS)

Town Clock at 32 W Main Street

Angelica Country Store at 50 W Main Street was closed,
otherwise we would have purchased Angelica Salt-rising Bread

Smith House at 64 W Main Street
(1886, in Queen Anne Shingle style)

Arnold House at 75 W Main Street
(1883) is built with stone quarried from Joncy Gorge 

Angelica Free Library at 55 W Main Street (1900)

Lloyd House at 47 W Main Street (1834) is also
built with stone quarried from Joncy Gorge

A fence constructed from window shutters (KSS)

Iron-and-wood bench (KSS)

A shopping cart with vintage bricks (KSS)

The Little Building at 35 W Main Street

WRAQ 92.7 FM is a community
radio station based at 19 W Main Street

Not real estate, rather a land quest

Angelica Post Office at 1 West Main Street
(1885 as a bakery and grocery, 1908 became the PO)

Inside the post office

Sacred Heart Mission at 1 Park Circle
(1851) is the oldest church in town

Angelica First Methodist Church
at 15 Park Circle (1873)

Park Circle has a roque court for the American
version of croquet, played on a hard-packed
surface with low boundary walls

The wickets appear larger and are spaced farther apart (KSS)

A roller to groom the roque court surface (KSS)

Former Allegany County Courthouse at 49 Park Circle
(1819) is now the Angelica Town Hall

Former Presbyterian Church (c 1812?)

2 E Main Street (1884)

A look back across Park Circle

Heading west out of Angelica, the Joncy Bridge/
Alton A Sylor Memorial Bridge (2003, to replace a
1930s steel girder truss structure) is the longest (274')
clear-span timber arch bridge in the country

With melting snow and warmer temperatures, this trip has been through dense fog, much of it rising from the ground or the surface of ponds and rivers. Plus rain...