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13 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:10AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, February 20, 2024-Sunny, with a high near 35. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 15. East wind 3 to 6 mph. Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 42. Buy the way, look in The Daily Gazette this weekend for the story about "The Rose Hill Folly Company"
This Friday, February 23, 2024-Episode 511-The Bob conversation with Photojournalist Richard Frishman and essayist and professor Dr. B. Brian Foster are authors of Ghosts of Segregation, a photojournalism collection depicting a visual history of segregation through buildings and landscapes where racism has left its mark.
A story for a cold Tuesday in February
Little Hollywood in Amsterdam
By Bob Cudmore
Paul Russo, who now lives in Johnstown, grew up in Hollywood, sometimes called Little Hollywood. That was the name for a residential neighborhood in Amsterdam apparently built primarily for middle managers employed at Bigelow Sanford Carpets.
Little Hollywood is off Locust Avenue and connected to Forest Avenue by Second Avenue, which bridges the North Chuctanunda Creek.
Russo wrote, Many of my neighbors were employees of Bigelow Sanford; however that was probably true of any neighborhood in Amsterdam.
The streets are not named for movie stars but for American presidents: McKinley, Harrison, Garfield, Taft, Roosevelt and Hayes. Interestingly, there is a Hollywood Road in the vicinity but not in Little Hollywood. Hollywood Road is near Amsterdam High School off Miami Avenue in the town of Amsterdam.
John C. Gilston, a descendant of the family that owned the John J. Turner & Sons construction company, said that the Turner firm built Hollywood. From 50 to 75 houses were constructed on land that once was part of the old Vedder farm.
Gilston said the project is mentioned in journals kept by one of John J. Turner's sons, Richard E. Turner. John J. Turner died in 1924. Richard took over the construction business following the death of his older brother John P. Turner in 1927 and kept a detailed journal for many years.
Richard E. Turner, who was deaf, headed the firm until his death in 1940 at age 56. He was owner of the Amsterdam Rugmakers baseball team and an accomplished photographer. Richard and his brother Thomas A. Turner are credited with building Wilbur H. Lynch school, the Century Club and other Amsterdam landmarks plus the Gideon Putnam Hotel in Saratoga Springs.
In earlier years, skilled workers from the Turner firm spent four years renovating the mansion owned by the carpet-making John Sanford family on Church Street, now Amsterdam City Hall. Turner construction crews also built Bigelow Sanford's Clock Building, the trolley car power station in Tribes Hill and a number of buildings for General Electric in Schenectady and Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
STONE QUARRY
Russo said, I'd also like to find out a bit of the history of the abandoned stone quarry (where I played as a kid) off of what is now Second Avenue Extension. That area was just a cinder path when I was young. I remember being quite upset with my mother when I found out that she had signed a petition requesting that the path be paved to provide access to Forest Avenue.
CHRISTMAS EVE
Christmas Eve is an important occasion for many of Amsterdam's ethnic groups. The grandchildren of community leader Michael J. Wytrwal remember Christmas Eves when the needy always found a seat at the family table.
Wytrwal and his wife Josephine lived in a two-family home at 26 Cornell Street near St. Stanislaus Church. Wytrwal was a founder of the Polish National Alliance in Amsterdam and fostered creation of businesses on Reid Hill including a coal and oil company, a bank, drugstore and furniture store.
One grandchild said Wytrwal, eloquent in both Polish and English, was a broker between the Polish-speaking community and the English-speaking power structure.
He was a role model for granddaughter Mary Anne Krupsak, whose parents operated the family's pharmacy. Krupsak, who went on to be Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1974, ate lunch at her grandparent's home every day when she attended St. Stanislaus School. Krupsak saw a constant parade of people seeking assistance from her grandfather.
Josephine Wytrwal died in 1956. When Michael Wytrwal died in 1970, the Recorder editorialized that he was likeable, friendly, considerate, a progressive in the finest sense of the word.
Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/
View all episodes
By Bob Cudmore13 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:10AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, February 20, 2024-Sunny, with a high near 35. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 15. East wind 3 to 6 mph. Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 42. Buy the way, look in The Daily Gazette this weekend for the story about "The Rose Hill Folly Company"
This Friday, February 23, 2024-Episode 511-The Bob conversation with Photojournalist Richard Frishman and essayist and professor Dr. B. Brian Foster are authors of Ghosts of Segregation, a photojournalism collection depicting a visual history of segregation through buildings and landscapes where racism has left its mark.
A story for a cold Tuesday in February
Little Hollywood in Amsterdam
By Bob Cudmore
Paul Russo, who now lives in Johnstown, grew up in Hollywood, sometimes called Little Hollywood. That was the name for a residential neighborhood in Amsterdam apparently built primarily for middle managers employed at Bigelow Sanford Carpets.
Little Hollywood is off Locust Avenue and connected to Forest Avenue by Second Avenue, which bridges the North Chuctanunda Creek.
Russo wrote, Many of my neighbors were employees of Bigelow Sanford; however that was probably true of any neighborhood in Amsterdam.
The streets are not named for movie stars but for American presidents: McKinley, Harrison, Garfield, Taft, Roosevelt and Hayes. Interestingly, there is a Hollywood Road in the vicinity but not in Little Hollywood. Hollywood Road is near Amsterdam High School off Miami Avenue in the town of Amsterdam.
John C. Gilston, a descendant of the family that owned the John J. Turner & Sons construction company, said that the Turner firm built Hollywood. From 50 to 75 houses were constructed on land that once was part of the old Vedder farm.
Gilston said the project is mentioned in journals kept by one of John J. Turner's sons, Richard E. Turner. John J. Turner died in 1924. Richard took over the construction business following the death of his older brother John P. Turner in 1927 and kept a detailed journal for many years.
Richard E. Turner, who was deaf, headed the firm until his death in 1940 at age 56. He was owner of the Amsterdam Rugmakers baseball team and an accomplished photographer. Richard and his brother Thomas A. Turner are credited with building Wilbur H. Lynch school, the Century Club and other Amsterdam landmarks plus the Gideon Putnam Hotel in Saratoga Springs.
In earlier years, skilled workers from the Turner firm spent four years renovating the mansion owned by the carpet-making John Sanford family on Church Street, now Amsterdam City Hall. Turner construction crews also built Bigelow Sanford's Clock Building, the trolley car power station in Tribes Hill and a number of buildings for General Electric in Schenectady and Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
STONE QUARRY
Russo said, I'd also like to find out a bit of the history of the abandoned stone quarry (where I played as a kid) off of what is now Second Avenue Extension. That area was just a cinder path when I was young. I remember being quite upset with my mother when I found out that she had signed a petition requesting that the path be paved to provide access to Forest Avenue.
CHRISTMAS EVE
Christmas Eve is an important occasion for many of Amsterdam's ethnic groups. The grandchildren of community leader Michael J. Wytrwal remember Christmas Eves when the needy always found a seat at the family table.
Wytrwal and his wife Josephine lived in a two-family home at 26 Cornell Street near St. Stanislaus Church. Wytrwal was a founder of the Polish National Alliance in Amsterdam and fostered creation of businesses on Reid Hill including a coal and oil company, a bank, drugstore and furniture store.
One grandchild said Wytrwal, eloquent in both Polish and English, was a broker between the Polish-speaking community and the English-speaking power structure.
He was a role model for granddaughter Mary Anne Krupsak, whose parents operated the family's pharmacy. Krupsak, who went on to be Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1974, ate lunch at her grandparent's home every day when she attended St. Stanislaus School. Krupsak saw a constant parade of people seeking assistance from her grandfather.
Josephine Wytrwal died in 1956. When Michael Wytrwal died in 1970, the Recorder editorialized that he was likeable, friendly, considerate, a progressive in the finest sense of the word.
Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/