Springville Series: North Buffalo Street, Then & Now
North Buffalo Street as seen from the middle of Main Street in Springville around
1900. The building at left, constructed
in 1883, began life as the Leland Bank and, by this photo, had become the Citizens
Bank. The building at right is the
American Hotel. The church spire rising at left is from the First Presbyterian
Church; the third building on the
right side above is the Universalist Church.
The same scene in 2005. The Citizens Bank was demolished and replaced with
a new bank built by the Marine Midland Bank.
In 1968, the bank moved into a new facility 3 doors from its old building
and donated the building at the corner of Main and
North Buffalo to the Village of Springville. It is now on the National Register
of Historic Places.
The American Hotel has been replaced with a gas station/mini mart. The First
Presbyterian Church is visible on left, having been
rebuilt in 1922 after a fire the year before. The brick and green structure
with the steep roof visible on the right side above, formerly
the Universalist Church, was donated in 1928 to the village for use as a library.
In the 1990's, after the new Hulbert library opened, the
building was transferred to the Town of Concord Historical Society for use
as its library. It was named the Lucy Bensley Center
in memory of the head librarian of the local library who served the community
for nearly 60 years.
Special thanks for assistance with this series go to Town of Concord Historian
Margaret Mayerat and Lee Luss.