The Greenpoint Hotel |
This is a picture of the Greenpoint Hotel as it appeared in 1912. The
original hotel, operated by Thomas Leahy, was damaged by a fire early in
the morning of November 27, 1893. This replacement structure was erected
soon after the fire, and Leahy was once again running a roadhouse in
1896. |
Introduction
The Greenpoint
Hotel was at the intersection of Buckley Road and 7th North
Street. It was not on old Liverpool Road. In this area of the town of
Salina there is no road that bears the name of Greenpoint Road. Over the
years, as found in various newspaper reports, the old Liverpool Road
(formerly the Liverpool Plank Road), Buckley Road and 7th
North Street have all, at one time or another, been described as the “Greenpoint
Road.” Crandell Melvin, a member of a family that has long lived on
Buckley Road, had his address in a legal notice given as Greenpoint
Road. Therefore a road possessing this name can be either a road in
Greenpoint itself or a road that will take one to Greenpoint.
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1898 USGS map of the Town of
Salina. The information for this map had been surveyed in 1893. The roads
shown are Buckley Road, running SW to NE and 7th North St,
running SE to NW. The old Greenpoint Hotel was located at the
intersection of those two roads. On November 27, 1893 it was
reported that Tom Leahy’s roadhouse burned to the ground. Another
roadhouse was constructed at the same intersection and it was
occasionally referred to as Tom Leahy’s old place. Therefore it must
have been rebuilt on the old location and Tom Leahy must have been
associated with the roadhouse for a while to get his name associated
with the new structure. Thomas Leahy's land was in the eastern quadrant
of the intersection that included Bear Trap Creek.
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Overview
The table below was developed to determine the existence
of a roadhouse / hotel in the area of the intersection of Buckley Road
and 7th North Street. As a result, some of the news items are less than
interesting although they do provide important evidence of an
association between the place and a particular individual at a point in
time. The more interesting items will be developed in more detail. |
Date |
Description |
Comment |
1880 Census
|
Thomas Leahy was a
farmer. |
Leahy was the first person associated with
a roadhouse at this location so he was traced back in time a
short ways. |
1889-05-08 |
Thomas Leahey was
described as a hop grower.
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1892 Census |
Thomas Leahy was a
Hop Grower.
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1893-03-16 |
Thomas Leahy’s
property on Buckley Road was foreclosed.
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|
1893-11-27 |
Tom Leahy’s
Roadhouse Burns [1893-11-27]
Location: "directly across the road from Moyer's
stock farm..."
The insurance covered most of the loss and based
on subsequent reports Leahy rebuilt the roadhouse. |
First item found
linking Tom Leahy to a roadhouse, hotel or saloon. He and
his wife only had two children, not five as mentioned in the
story.
|
1896-01-25 |
In an article about his mother’s funeral
Thomas Leahey was described as “a hotel keeper at
Greenpoint.”
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The place must have been rebuilt because Leahy is
described as a hotel keeper a little over two years after the
fire.
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1896-07-28 |
“Thomas Leahy of Salina, a farmer, was
arraigned charged by Special Officer Carey with cruelty to
animals…”
|
Six months after his mother’s funeral Leahy was
described as a farmer. |
1897 |
William J. White,
Greenpoint, Salina. Liquor license issued. |
In 1894-02 a liquor license was issued to
William J. White of 1722 N. Salina St.
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1900 Census |
William White listed
his occupation as “Hotel keeper.” White was living next to
Thomas Leahy who had formerly run the Greenpoint Hotel but
was also a hop farmer. Leahy’s son William was a
bartender, perhaps at White’s hotel.
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1904-12-27
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Mary A. Leahy died
at St. Joseph’s hospital on December 26, 1904.
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1906-06-09 |
Opening – Green Point Hotel – Snyder &
Fadt, Proprietors
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1906-06-22 |
“Miss May Leahy, daughter of the late
Thomas Leahy, who for years conducted a
hotel at Greenpoint, one mile north of the city line...”
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The “late” descriptor was in error. Thomas
Leahy and May were living with his son William at the Orton
Hotel in 1910. Thomas Leahy died on March 19, 1934.
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1907-03-11 |
Help Wanted at Green Point Hotel – Otto
Schafer Prop.
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1908-02-11 |
Convention at Green Point Hotel, formerly
Leahy’s place, postponed. Thomas G. Child is the
proprietor.
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This was Tom Leahy’s replacement place
since his original roadhouse burned to the ground in
November 1893.
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1909-06-01 |
Albert Jarvis Prop
of Green Point Hotel – Dance & ice cream social.
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1909-11-29 |
The Greenpoint Hotel is for sale. Located
One mile North of Wolf St.
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1910-01-11 |
J. Wheeler is the
NEW proprietor of the Greenpoint Hotel. Will open the
dance hall to the public free.
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Is this the same guy who was at the Rural Inn? |
1912-01-20 |
Greenpoint Hotel
available to rent
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1912-06-19 |
There were several articles about the fight
between the Heinz brothers
and the Merrell brothers that took place at the
Greenpoint Hotel and the subsequent events.
The Merrell brothers had taken George Shipman's
(the Proprietor of the Greenpoint hotel) horse and wagon for a
ride, without his permission, and then returned it. Afterward,
William "Buck" Merrell remained in the barroom in hotel and was
drinking. An argument developed between Buck and Shipman, early
in the afternoon, over the earlier wagon incident and Shipman
told Merrell to leave, which he didn't. While Shipman was out of
the room Merrell was less than polite to Mrs. Shipman, who also
told him to leave. According to one witness, at this point Fritz
Heinze, who had also been drinking in the barroom, worked his
way into the situation and the fight between Merrell and Heinze
was on. Other witnesses say Shipman and Merrell started fighting
in the barroom and then the three Heinze brothers, who had been
outside the bar, came into the barroom and joined in the fight.
A man named Bert Mara helped free Merrell from his assailants
and Merrell left the bar and went to find his younger brother
Fred and together they planned their revenge.
The Merrell brothers returned to the Greenpoint
Hotel, later that day, and in short order the Heinze brothers,
the Merrell brothers and Shipman were in a brawl on the barroom
floor. Mrs. Shipman, armed with a fireplace poker, chased some
of the fighters out of the barroom and the fight continued on
the front yard of the hotel. A Merrell brother-in-law, Dave
Ranger (identified as David Chetwin in earlier reports), helped
support his relatives. The Heinzes were getting the worst of it
and so retreated to the rear of the hotel where they found a
wood pile and saw fit to arm themselves with clubs selected from
the wood pile.
Their choice of weapon turned the tide of the
battle and the Merrells and Ranger retreated after the Merrells
had received near lethal beatings. They made their way down 7th
North Street with the Heinze brothers close behind. The Merrells
and Ranger were taken by Mrs. Ed Chetwin (see picture above) who
then threw her body against the gate in the fence surrounding
her house. This and probably a little battle fatigue caused the
Heinze brothers to pull back and walk off down the road, headed
for the city. The Merrells recovered and in the end the three
Heinze brothers only received $10 fines each and six month
suspended sentences.
“Assistant District Attorney Chapman has received so
many complaints of lawless actions in the vicinity of Green
Point that he is determined to clean up the section.”
[1912-06-19a], [1912-06-19b], [1912-06-20a],
[1912-06-20b], [1912-06-21], [1912-06-26], [1912-06-28a],
[1912-06-28b].
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1912-11-05 |
George Shipman is
the keeper of a hotel near Greenpoint. He
pleaded not guilty to charges of allowing his place to become
disorderly.
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|
1912-11-27 |
“George Shipman, proprietor of a hotel at
Green Point, was arraigned before Judge Ross on Tuesday
and fined $100 or 100 days for selling liquor on Sunday. It was
near his hotel that the Merrell-Heinz feud took place last
spring.”
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1916-02-01 |
Road House For Sale – Green Point Hotel
– 14 rooms rent $25, House $187 year.
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1920-10-19 |
UPPER 4-ROOM FLAT - And one lower 5-room flat to
rent, on the corner of Seventh North and Buckley rd.;
upper flat $15. lower flat $20. Phone James 11-F-13. A. J.
Melvin.
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The old Greenpoint Hotel was being rented out a
residential flats. |
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After almost 10 years of inactivity the old Greenpoint Hotel rose again,
reincarnated as Smith's German Restaurant.
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This is a 1926
aerial picture of the Four Corners. North is up and Buckley Road is
running SW to NE and 7th North Street is running SE to NW. In the
northeast corner of this intersection is the most likely location for
the Greenpoint Hotel. This was the corner of the intersection where
Thomas Leahy owned land. The hotel related activities disappeared
from the newspaper after 1916 and an ad appeared in 1920 renting out the
old hotel as upper and lower flats. In 1925 Ward Smith opened the old
hotel as a restaurant. It was during Prohibition so liquor couldn't be
served legally.
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Brewery Found At Smith's Restaurant
"1,000-gallon wildcat brewery, 24 barrels of beer and a large amount of
bottling and racking equipment rewarded the search of federal
prohibition agents yesterday afternoon in the cellar of what is known as
'Smith's hotel,' at the corner of Seventh North st. and Buckley rd. Led
by Assistant Deputy Administrator Duncan F. Craig, the federal agents
knocked at the door of the building and asked the man who answered if he
had any objections to their going through the cellar. He let them in and
in a walled-off portion of the basement they discovered the wildcat
brewery." [1931-01-28]
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Liquor License
was issued to Ward B. Smith, in 1933, for an operation at the
intersection of Buckley Road and 7th North Street.
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Even World War II couldn't stop the good times from rolling on at
Smith's Restaurant.
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1951 Aerial photo
of the Buckley Road and Seventh North Street intersection. Orientation:
North is up.
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The Last Ad
for Smith's Restaurant - Late December 1959
After a 34
year run that included the Prohibition era, the Great Depression and
World War II Smith's Restaurant finally closed its doors in 1960. None
of the other "roadhouses" could match that longevity.
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Trivet House – Northeast Corner of Buckley Road & 7th
North Street
Date |
Description |
1962-07-09 |
Opening of the
Trivet House Restaurant.
|
1963-04-18 |
Cuban worker in the Trivet House kitchen
dies.
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1963-04-26 |
Herb Marsden was the
owner of the Trivet House.
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1964-10-09 |
Trivet House
undergoing repairs
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1964-11-30 |
Fire destroys the first floor of the
Trivet House.
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1989-12-20 |
The Trivet House name was changed in late 1988. The new name
was the Four Corners.
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1990-05-03 |
Help Wanted Ad – A cook
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1991-May |
The Four Corners was gone and construction
was starting on the new and larger Chase Lincoln Bank
office.
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1966 –
Aerial view of the Four Corners area. Up is North and 7th
North Street is running NW to SE, while Buckley Road is running SW to
NE. On the right, at the northeast corner of the intersection of
Buckley Road and 7th North Street, is the newly opened (1962)
Trivet House. Whether the older structure that was the former Greenpoint
Hotel and later Smith's Restaurant was used, remodeled or replaced when
it became the Trivet House is unknown, but the location was the same.
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June 2011 -
The current occupant of the NE corner of Buckley Road and 7th North
Street.
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NOTES:
[1893-11-27]
- "Tom Leahey's Road House Burns at Midnight While His Family Sleep,"
The Daily Standard, Syracuse, NY, November 27, 1893.
[1912-06-19a] - "One Dying After Bloody
Battle On City's Outskirts,"-Part 1,The Syracuse Herald, Syracuse, NY,
Wednesday, June 19, 1912.
[1912-06-19b] - "One Dying After Bloody
Battle On City's Outskirts,"-Part 2,The Syracuse Herald, Syracuse, NY,
Wednesday, June 19, 1912.
[1912-06-20a] - "Mr. Merrell Interested," The Post Standard,
Syracuse, NY, Thursday, June 20, 1912.
[1912-06-20b] - "Fresh Outbreak Feared In Feud," The Syracuse
Herald, Syracuse, NY, Thursday, June 20, 1912.
[1912-06-21] - "'Buck' Merrell Is Too Dazed To Tell A Coherent
Story," The Syracuse Herald, Syracuse, NY, Friday, June 21, 1912.
[1912-06-26] - "Hines Brothers Lodged In Jail," The Syracuse
Herald, Syracuse, NY, Wednesday, June 26, 1912.
[1912-06-28a]
- "Heinz Brothers Sentenced," The Post Standard, Syracuse, NY, Friday,
June 28, 1912.
[1912-06-28b] - "Hines Brothers Fined $10 Each," The Syracuse
Herald, Syracuse, NY, Friday, June 28, 1912.
[1931-01-28] "Raid Wildcat Brewery," The Syracuse Journal, Syracuse, NY,
Wednesday, January 28, 1931.
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