By Carolann Fisher-Linn
A small number of the prominent buildings in Ellicottville have seen two centuries and successfully survived until today. And last this writer checked, no local we have talked to was around when they were built. Sometimes, chasing history is challenging, even with the help of local historians. At worse, you go down a dozen rabbit holes to find one nugget of pure “fact.” Such is the case of the grand building that houses the Ellicottville Chamber of Commerce.
Now, those of you who follow some of these history stories know that the oldest frame house in Ellicottville – the Baker Leonard house was built in 1817 at the behest of the Holland Land Company for an inn and way station for travelers. It was rejected by TPTB (the powers that be) at HLC because of cost overages due to the high cost of planed lumber having to be hauled from a sawmill in Killbuck eleven miles away. Hauled on a trail, that is, not on a road. According to The Historic Path of Cattaraugus County, “The trail was marked by blazed trees. There were no bridges, and the way was obstructed with fallen trees, swamp land and rough road.” Think about trying to build a building in a wild, undeveloped region, surrounded by lush forests, yet having to jump through hoops to get the milled wood materials to the building site. We tend to forget the challenges our tough and gritty forebears endured to endow us with what we take for granted today as we walk or drive past our historic buildings in the village.
Looking back further, it’s difficult to imagine that the land we occupy was once under the sea (not like the fantasy world The Little Mermaid, Ariel lived in … “Ariel, listen to me, the human world, it’s a mess. Life under the sea is better than anything they got up there.” (Lyrics from “Under the Sea”). Who knows, on your walks through our incredible hills or along our streams, you may find evidence of that long-ago, never-thought-of life when you turn over a curious looking rock and find fossilized impressions of that very sea life that took place exactly where you are standing. Imagine! Or you might unearth an arrowhead – evidence of long forgotten lives lived on that spot. Now, I’m not talking the 1800’s when the area was settled. I’m talking even 13,000 or more years ago. See this according to Science.org – “Two new papers add DNA from 64 ancient individuals to the sparse genetic record of the Americas. They show that people related to the Anzick child, part of the Clovis culture, quickly spread across both North and South America about 13,000 years ago.” Their charts point one extension into the Great Lakes area. Who knew? We might even find evidence on the grounds of The Baker Leonard House, the Courthouse, the Chamber Building, or the Ellicottville Inn where it is known that the Natives who came to Ellicottville to trade camped on those grounds before they headed back to their lands in Killbuck/Salamanca.
Back to 1822, without an office or home for their new agent, Staley Nichols Clark, arrived from the Batavia land offices to run the office in Ellicottville. An office was built across the street, likely on Park Square. Over time, Clark and his family lived in the home on 9 Washington Street that is presently owned by Ellicottville Development Corporation. He remained there and died in Ellicottville in 1860. The building changed hands many times serving as residence or office suites for businesses and medical professionals. These massive buildings on the square must have stood out like beacons in this rough, mostly unsettled environment.
Today the building remains a hive of activity. The Ellicottville Chamber of Commerce has found a notable and imposing building in which to headquarter. Officially, here in Ellicottville, The Chamber of Commerce is recognized to have appeared on the scene in 1947. Executive Director, Brian McFadden, had served as a volunteer and member of the Board of Directors for thirty years, becoming Executive Director in 1998. Membership has grown exponentially in the 24 years McFadden has served in this position. Ellicottville has gained a tourist destination status beyond our wildest dreams. Every business, large and small, played a role in this growth. You can have the greatest shops and restaurants and the most unique retail shops, but without smart, creative marketing and advertising, local community members will be your only customers, and in Ellicottville, those numbers are not large enough to sustain our many businesses. However, in 2000, the Chamber received generous donations from our local ski resorts, businesses, and St. Bonaventure University for the explicit purpose of researching how other tourist towns kept busy all year long. Ellicottville had to find its own Golden Ticket that would bring people here twelve months of the year. McFadden knew the psychology of the visiting skiers since he was once a Canadian skier himself, who visited on weekends until he, like many others became a permanent resident and built a home. It was during this research they came up with the saying “Doesn’t This Place Feel Great.” Brian hired a market research company and one of their tasks included focus groups in Ontario, NY PA and OH. One of the constants that came out of those groups was a feeling that overtook returning visitors as they came over the bridge at Bemus or over the Cattaraugus Gorge just south of Springville, they would issue a sigh of relief that they were almost here, hence the saying.
The rest is History Part 2. Many thanks to Dawn Westfall for helping to unearth facts about this building.