Dexter P. Rumsey house c. 1890. Image source: BECHS
Dexter P. Rumsey house c. 1890. Image source: BECHS
The southwest corner of Delaware at Summer has been continuously occupied since 1830s. The first dwelling on the site was a two-room bungalow built for a Captain Allen. The second owners, the Rose brothers, enlarged it to a two and a half story farmhouse. In 1857 Dexter P. Rumsey (1827-1906), son of Aaron Rumsey, purchased the property. He enlarged the house and, in later years, one of his widows further enlarged it. For some information on the interior and living arrangements, look here. |
1957 advertisement. image source: private collection
Dexter P. Rumsey's third wife, Susan Fiske Rumsey (1867), survived him by 35 years and died in 1941. In 1945 the property was sold to the University Post No., 2647, Veterans of Foreign Wars, an organization of 300 members. They sold the property to Texaco in 1953 which demolished the home and constructed a new Buffalo Division headquarters on the site. The design by Architect Duane Lyman (1877-1966) retained the Rumsey's wrought iron fence around the property. The Texas Company began operations in Buffalo in 1916. Led by Hamilton H. Wende and Frank H. Goodyear from 1921 to 1927, the Ellicott Motor Service Company became the principal distributor of Texaco products in the area. In 1927 the company was re-organized as the Goodyear-Wende Oil Corporation and continued as a Texaco distributor until 1933 when it became a Texas Co. subsidiary. The operation became the company's Buffalo Sales Division in 1937. |
2009 View of the corner of Delaware and Summer
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The building is the headquarters of the United Way of Buffalo & Erie County in 2009. The Rumsey fence remains in place. |