Discover Delmar - February 2019

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February 20, 2019 | SPOTLIGHT NEWSPAPERS 7

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Delmar

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A Spotlight on Delmar

By SPOTLIGHT STAFF news@spotlightnews.com

T

he seat of Bethlehem’s local government sits — literally — in the old Delmar Elementary School, making this hamlet the center of town.

Bethlehem’s largest hamlet earns the center of our attention for this edition of our monthly Discover series. Inside, find articles detailing some of the stories that have helped shape this suburban neighborhood into the community that it is today.

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Children line the side of Kenwood Avenue as a procession meanders through Delmar during the town’s annual Memorial Day parade.

Michael Hallisey / Spotlight News

8 THE SPOTLIGHT | February 20, 2019

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Hopelessly defining Delmar and its boundaries

According to the U.S. Census, the Delmar zip code has the largest population (8,292) as it relates to neighboring Slingerlands (7,646),

By MICHAEL HALLISEY Selkirk (6,775) and halliseym@spotlightnews.com Glenmont (6,481).

However, each of those f your zip code is corners of town has its 12054, you may live own characteristics that in Delmar. distinguish it from its Excuse me if Jeff neighbors: Slingerland’s Foxworthy’s voice crept into Greek Revival homes, your head while reading Glenmont’s growing center that. The truth is, people of commerce and Selkirk’s around here are quick to say nostalgic touch of a more they live in Delmar when, rural past. in fact, they may not.

Somewhere lost in there For many residents, is Elsmere. True, there it’s the go-to answer are other hamlets within for when they’re asked, the town that seldom get “where do you live?” mentioned in conversation.

Geographically, Delmar is Say you live in Cedar the center of Bethlehem.

Hill, for example. You’ll Demographically, it’s the find yourself using Henry largest hamlet with a zip Hudson Park or the Red code.

School House as references.

Therein lies the rub.

Out of frustration, you may

I

settle for Glenmont. We’ve done that, too.

The crux to this identity crisis involves two factors; zip codes and elementary schools. We either associate ourselves with our mailing addresses or the schools in which our children attend.

Slingerlands has both a zip code and an elementary school, as does Glenmont.

Selkirk doesn’t share its name with an elementary school, but it does with Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk School District. Delmar carries the distinction of owning a zip code, but no school. Conversely, Elsmere has an elementary school which stands prominently in the center of town on Delaware Avenue.

However, it has no zip code.

See what I did there?

Residents of “Old Bethlehem,” a term reserved for those whose

A 1930 insurance map lends a different perspective on where the line is drawn between Delmar and Elsmere, and it’s not Elsmere Avenue.

Sanborn Map Company families trace back generations before the turn of the 19th century, can and will correct you on the boundaries of this town’s many hamlets. It’s a trait Bethlehem Town Historian Susan Leath detailed in the prologue of her first book.

The rule of thumb; when measuring out where one hamlet begins and another ends, don’t depend on the U.S. Postal Service. She remembers when Haswell

Farms was developed off of Feura Bush Road, developers wanted it to fall under the Delmar zip code.

Leath said the lines that separate these pockets of town are less defined than those stitched onto your blue jeans. They are ambiguous, except to those who wish to find them.

Her Elm Estates home has a Selkirk address, though she’s more than a ten-minute drive away.

Physically, she said, she’s closer to Delmar. She shrugs her shoulders and smiles.

Delmar

Longtime residents will agree that the eastern border that separates Delmar from Elsmere is defined by Elsmere Avenue, though this may conflict with the Elsmere Fire

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10 SPOTLIGHT NEWSPAPERS | February 20, 2019

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Delmar ‘Dull’mar no more

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The sleepy little hamlet has developed a nightlife of its own

By DIEGO CAGARA cagarad@spotlightnews.com

DELMAR — The rise of a few key pubs, restaurants and bars around the Four Corners in Delmar within the past four years has helped to contribute to the town’s nightlife scene, a sentiment shared across each establishment’s owners.

The surrounding Four Corners area, located at the intersection of Kenwood and Delaware avenues, witnessed the openings of Twisted Vine Wine & Tap, Delmar’s sidewalks used to roll up after 5 p.m., but that’s the Real McCoy Beer Co., no longer the case with several new venues often providing and O’Slattery’s in 2015. live music (and spirits) as entertainment each week.

These businesses, among Diego Cagara / Spotlight News others like Swifty’s, have

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attracted customers both from within and out of town, with the help of their central locations and being near the Albany County Rail Trail.

However, when asked if Delmar has a flourishing nightlife scene, responses varied slightly.

“I think Delmar does have a great nightlife scene because there are a lot of activities going on around town,” said Liam Slattery, who co-owns O’Slattery’s with his wife, Jackie. He said that O’Slattery’s, an Irish pub and restaurant on 318 Delaware Ave., offers multiple events and activities to attract customers throughout the week, like Paint and Sip on Monday nights, Trivia Night on Tuesdays, and live music from Wednesdays through Saturdays.

“Our side of it is about entertainment and activity around the nighttime and I think people in Delmar feel done by midnight which is fine too,” he said.

“If you’re busy from 5 o’clock til midnight, it’s just as good as being busy from 9 at night to 4 in the morning.”

Alex Scher, co-owner of the Real McCoy Beer Co., a brewery located on 20 Hallwood Road, said he believed that the Delmar nightlife scene is “still growing because the places around here are relatively new like O’Slattery’s and Twisted Vine.” He added that the brewery’s space expanded in 2018 by annexing the building next door which previously belonged to a woodworker, “We took over and connected the two buildings, so now we’re a

bit bigger. So that’s helped with accommodating much larger crowds.”

Co-owner Mike Bellini said another way it has attracted customers was the creation of the Mug Club, similar to a loyalty program where members who join receive larger beers, which he believed has created a sense of community there.

Brendan McCann, co-owner of Twisted Vine Wine & Tap on 384 Kenwood Ave., believed that Delmar has a “communityoriented nightlife. The establishments here share a lot of the same customers.

The nightlife scene — or dinner scene or restaurant scene, or whatever you wanna call it — has probably prospered because of having three or four

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restaurants located close together. When you walk into O’Slattery’s, you’ll probably recognize some people and if you walk to another place in town, it’s probably the same deal.” He added that when looking at nearby nightlife bars or restaurants, he does not view them as competition but rather as “an asset to each other’s business and we’ve said that community is our philosophy.”

Co-owner Daniel Casey brought up how one way Twisted Vine has contributed to Delmar’s nightlife is having special events like “A Night in Italy” back on Saturday, Feb. 16, which includes a five-course meal with Italian food and wine, with presentations on each food and wine type, and desserts from Perfect Blend Cafe & Bakery — McCann and Casey co-own this establishment too next door. McCann also said they change the

establishment’s menu “probably four or five times a year to keep it fresh” and showcase live music at least once a week whenever the weather warms up.

The three establishments also take part in celebrating certain major annual events like St. Patrick’s Day and Oktoberfest. Slattery said that O’Slattery will observe Parade Day and St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday, Mar. 16 and Sunday, Mar. 17 respectively, “and on both days, we have live music and entertainment, as we also will do our traditional Irish food.”

McCann noted that Twisted Vine has their annual SpringFest and FallFest which he said are a lot to put on and stem from both his own and Casey’s personal love for music. “It’s been getting bigger every year and just the support we’ve been getting is a lot of fun,” McCann said.

When planning for annual or special events, Scher said that the Real McCoy Beer Co. has continued to try communicating with other local businesses to coordinate events on similar days and to also not clash on other certain days.

“Oktoberfest is probably one of our biggest times here and we changed our normal sales procedure by selling beer tickets so that when people finally came to the bar, it’ll be an easy transition because if you had a ticket, you’d pick up a beer,” he recalled from last year. “And it was really nice weather, we had all the doors open and tables out. We had some food vendors like Cider Belly Doughnuts too.”

As more customers frequent their establishments, safety was another general topic brought up.

While Bellini said that customers find the

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The Real McCoy Beer Company has helped define a lively nightlife in Delmar since it first opened in 2015.

Diego Cagara / Spotlight News Real McCoy Beer Co. as a “very relaxed and supportive atmosphere,” Slattery said he believed the Delmar nightlife scene is “safe 100 percent, and I’ve spent 17 years in New York City so Delmar is a very good community where everybody knows everybody.” Both McCann and Casey also believed Delmar is “pretty” safe and walkable at night, and they confirmed that their employees were trained

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seasons; Slattery said he felt blessed to be in the Delmar area and expressed gratitude to his establishment’s regulars.

“It’s really a community and while we’d like to pull people from other towns and cities to come visit of course, we can’t thank the local people enough because they’re the ones who keep the lights on at the end of the day,” Casey concluded.

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When asked if they each had any messages they’d like to say to the public, positivity exuded across the table.

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12 SPOTLIGHT NEWSPAPERS | February 20, 2019

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Delmar Legacy in a catalog

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Sears Moden Homes shaped towns a century ago, and draw todays’ homeseekers

By MICHAEL HALLISEY halliseym@spotlightnews.com DELMAR — Judi Gabler looks over the website of a modular home manufacturer, admiring the modern fixtures featured in the picture.

“It’s crazy,” she said.

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Sears, Roebuck and Company bankruptcy protection last October. Riddled with debt and pension obligations, the retail giant appeared to be heading in the same direction as other iconic storefronts that have closed over the years, most notably Montgomery Wards in 2001.

Like Wards, Sears was founded at the dawn of America’s consumer age of the late 19th century.

The Chicago-based retailer The Sears name was developed a connection once synonymous with with people through its quality when it possessed catalog, which included a stronghold on consumer everything from sewing confidence with household machines to automobiles. goods. But, as more agile At more than 500 pages, companies embraced the catalog ironically e-commerce practices, Sears provided Americans a became less visible and less broad selection of items profitable. at a discount, challenging Last year, Sears earned local store shops of the day. headlines when it filed for In 1908, the store included sections, then shipped off and assembled.

The principal concept of ordering a house from a catalog and having it delivered from miles away is not new. Sears, Roebuck and Company started something similar more than a century ago.

“It’s very much like a Sears Home,” said Gabler.

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ready-to-assemble kit houses.

throughout the United States, predominantly in the Northeast.

Coincidentally, Sears offered a five-bedroom, Sears offered kit houses one-bathroom two-story in its popular catalog in model in 1924 named “The 1908 to address suffering Delmar.” sales in its building “I know I have talked to materials department. So, folks who have said, ‘oh, yes. instead of selling parts by I have a Sears House.’” said themselves, the retailer Susan Leath, Bethlehem’s offered a kit: all the pieces town historian. “They’re you would need to build proud of it. It’s the concept a house. In that first year, of your house arriving [by 44 different models were train]. The whole thing, that features, with a price range you go in a catalog and fill between $360 and $2,890 out a form. I don’t know if a (or $9,849.60 to $79,070.40 salesman came in, but I find in 2019 U.S. dollars). Four the whole thing intriguing.” years later, Sears started Several houses across offering mortgages.

Olde Delmar have been Pieces for each home If a listed home is known to be a Sears Modern Home, one local realtor said she states that identified as Sears Modern would be delivered in Homes. A “Concord” model in its description. “They had a history. [...] I think it’s nostalgic,” she said. boxcars. Depending on Gabler Realty resides on Adams Place. A the model, there would be “New Haven” model, with Rosemary Thornton, author in about 90 days.” million of defaulted loans its distinguished front door 10,000 to 30,000 pieces of “The Houses That Sears in 1934. By 1940, kit homes archway, can be found on that addressed everything Sales of Sears Modern Hawthorne Avenue.

Built,” Sears promised that, Homes peaked before the no longer appeared in the but the kitchen sink. with the aid of a 75-page Sears catalog.

In all, more Indoor plumbing, heating Great Depression. Sears However, Thornton instruction manual, “a man jumped out of the mortgage than 370 different models and electricity could be states on her website that of average abilities could purchased at an additional business once it was forced were offered, and more than many people who claim cost. According to assemble a Sears kit home to liquidate more than $11 70,000 homes were built they own a Sears Modern

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Sears was not the only retailer to offer catalog ordered homes. Ward was just one of several other competitors who offered similar homes. There are a few features that distinguish a Sears Modern Home from others. You can look for unique column arrangements on the front porch or stamped numbers or shipping labels adhered to lumber. Grantor records at the local courthouse may reveal a Sears mortgage.

If a Sears Modern Home is listed for sale, Gabler said she will state it as such in the home’s description.

“I think it’s charming,” she said. “People tend to know that Sears-built houses were good quality.

They had a history. It’s fun to be able to see the floor plan as it was ordered and the features they had selected. I think it’s nostalgic.”

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14 SPOTLIGHT NEWSPAPERS | February 20, 2019

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Delmar Best kept secrets

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A ballroom under the former Bank of Bethlehem holds secrets of its own

By KAITLIN LEMBO lembok@spotlightnews.com DELMAR — Under a set of stairs quietly tucked away in a corner of a bank lobby, a hidden room has a story to tell.

Looking at the old Bank of Bethlehem, located at 343 Delaware Ave., it looks like a normal bank building. Having housed at least four banks since the building was assembled, the lobby boasts a bunch of counters, an empty, open bank vault and a place for Underneath this vacant bank’s drive-thru is the unlikely location of an expansive ballroom. waiting. Across the room Katie Lembo / Spotlight News from the counters, longvacant offices sit silently.

The building is dark, dingy and abandoned.

As Berkshire Hathaway continues to market the Exclusive Agent land, the doors remain The Ianniello Agency Inc locked.

However, I had the opportunity of getting into the building. The secret lies 24-hour at the bottom of the hidden Customer Service stairs to the left of the lobby, to the left, and down a cement hallway. Down a Allstate Insurance Company few more stairs, the realtor 257 Delaware Avenue, Delmar turned his phone flashlight Office 518.478.9100 • Cell 518.221.3567 • Fax 518.439.0407 on and looked at me. “This is it,” he said. “This is where jianniello@allstate.com • www.allstate.com/jianniello the ballroom was.”

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underneath where the drive-thru now is.

The secret room gives no hints as to what it once was, however, it tells the story well; things happened here. This was a room that was used. This was a room that entertained people.

History doesn’t lend itself too well. Records were not kept of this room.

Most locals don’t even know the room is there, and those who do are unsure what it was used for. We do know about the beginning.

The building began as the Bank of Bethlehem, opening in 1928 at the height of the Prohibition era, according to Bethlehem Town Historian Susan Leath’s book, “Historic Tales of Bethlehem, New York.”

Plans for the building were created by Galen H. Nichols, and construction was done by the C.V. Soule Company of Delmar in about five months. D.A. Bennett owned the land and was a director of the bank when it opened.

Bennett and a business partner started the bank because there were no local banks at the time; all banking was located in Albany and was about a day’s journey. “Historic Tales” cites the bank as a source of charming, historic ads for a local newspaper.

In 1937, the bank was acquired by the National Commercial Bank and Trust, according to “Historic Tales.” NCB&T traces its history back to 1825 when it was chartered

by Gov. Dewitt Clinton as the Commercial Bank of Albany. The bank adopted the KeyBank name in 1979.

The ballroom was possibly used as early as 1928 by a fraternal organization called the Improved Order of the Red Men. The Redmen, as they were commonly called, often put on dances at a hall once located at 10 Hallwood Road, right behind the bank building.

The dances date back to 1890, Thomas Drake, the grandson of D.A. Bennett, said.

“The Redmen would use the dance hall on Hallwood for functions,” Drake said.

“We’re unsure if they ever used the room under the bank.”

Along with the dances, the organization would perform new member ceremonies, minstrel shows and banquets. While The Redmen did not have a Delmar chapter, there were several active ones in Albany at the time, David Lintz, Director of the Red Men Museum and Library, said.

“The use of the ballroom under the bank would depend on what it had that the other locations did not,” Lintz explained. “It was very common for the group to hold private parties in rooms like these.”

What these private parties consisted of is unclear. The Redmen, still in existence today, “are a non-profit organization devoted to inspiring a greater love for the United States of America and the principles of American liberty,” according to the official website. “Along with our women’s auxiliary, the Degree of Pocahontas, we support various charitable, youth, and educational programs.”

Dances and functions for the organization were well documented at the time in question, and a search will yield several events located in the area.

None that we could find mentioned the room.

It’s impossible to say if alcohol was involved in any of the functions during Prohibition; however, it would not be uncommon for this to happen in the area. The Home Lawn Hotel, once located in Slingerlands, was a known location for imbibing. The hotel was closed in 1922 after a local was killed by a drunk driver who drank at the hotel. After the death, residents called the hotel

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a “public nuisance” and called for its closure, according to “Historic Tales.” The judge agreed and ultimately ordered the proprieter, Albert Kientz, to shut the doors.

Former Assemblyman Jack McEneny called Delmar a “straight-laced, Protestant town” at the time, but did not know of the room. Albany historian and author William Kennedy did not know of the ballroom at all. Of the 15-plus sources we talked to, nobody could even venture an educated guess on what else the room could have been used for during the unaccounted-for years.

As the bank evolved, whispers of a “meeting room” float around, used by the bank for parties and meetings. Unfortunately, no concrete records of any functions at 343 Delaware have been found in the week of research done.

Drake said he found the

blueprints for the bank, dated 1955, which show the room.

Many years later — the exact date is unclear — the room was used as a temporary home for a local church, Meyers Funeral Home owner Ben Meyers said. Meyers recalled the church used to call him for floral arrangements as needed.

He also was a teller at the bank while it was under the KeyBank umbrella, the third bank to inhabit the space.

“It was a church for about a year,” Meyers said.

“There were mirrors on the walls and I remember a mural that used to be there. I believe that Glenmont Community Church rented the space until they got into their new building.”

Drake recalls something similar to a church using the room but does not remember what church it was or for how

long it was there.

Meyers added those who attended the services had to come in the back door, which leads right into the ballroom. Anyone who used the room could not use the staircase located in the bank lobby, he continued.

After the church moved out, the room seems to have been incorporated as storage.

While Leath and other Bethlehem officials refer to it as a “ballroom,” it’s unclear how many, if any, balls were ever held there.

Spotlight News’ Kaitlin Lembo would love to write a follow-up story with more about the secret ballroom and about the history of other rooms such as this in the area. If you know anything about the underground ballroom, or other spots like this in Bethlehem, please call her at 518-439-4949 or email her at lembok@spotlightnews. com.

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From page 9 ...

Border disputes District, which stretches across the street. A 1930 insurance map, however, sheds light on another facet of our story. Sanborn Map Company defines a border that splits down the middle of present day Delsmere Avenue.

The former railroad helps define a portion of Delmar’s Northern border as it cross over Delaware Avenue. Motorists driving to and from the Four Corners now see road signs before the old Delaware and Hudson rail bridge that depict which hamlet they are entering. From this intersection, Delmar’s eastern boarder extends due north to the Normanskill where Bethlehem’s town line meets Albany’s city limit.

Delmar’s western border is another point

the opening of the Delmar Bypass in 1963. When the highway was installed, it created a divide. Residents along Feura Bush Road of contention. Sanborn, continue to own a Delmar dependent upon the fire zip code. The Delmar Fire districts between Delmar Department maintains a and Slingerlands, dissects station near the intersection Kenwood Avenue just east of Elm Avenue and Feura of Homestead Avenue. The Bush Road. Online, Google line runs southwest from Maps uses the bypass as the Normanskill to just Delmar’s southern border beyond Cherry Avenue. as it extends from Elm The border splits Cherry Avenue back to Elsmere Avenue nearly halfway Avenue. between where it intersects Leath doesn’t agree with with Orchard and Delaware some of the borders, but avenues. she’s not quick to correct it A look on Google Maps, however, indicates a either.

“It’s really how people more defined line between use the name, modernly,” Slingerlands and Delmar. said Leath. “Modernly, From the Normanskill, those people would say, McCormack Road North ‘oh, no. I live in Delmar. separates the two hamlets Even though our kids go to until it intersects with Cherry Avenue. Delmar’s Glenmont [Elementary].’ western border then follows It’s always vague. It doesn’t the length of both Cherry matter. I don’t think it does. and Elm avenues.

The matter, the boundary of the town of Bethlehem, I Another border was established shortly after think that matters.”

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