As part of the Town of Bovina’s Bicentennial Celebration, Brooke Alderson enlisted a group of ten local artists to create paintings of Bovina Landmarks. The artists were invited to paint their own interpretations of photographs of different Bovina buildings that are no longer in existence or have been altered. The resulting ten paintings were mounted on easels by Brooke and Scott Hill and were displayed throughout the hamlet during the Celebration at the site where the original structure stood (or still stands).
Over the next few months, I will be doing a series of entries highlighting the buildings and the paintings. The paintings are on display at the Bovina Public Library, where you can order prints of any that catch your fancy for $80, all proceeds going to the library. And stay tuned for an auction of the original works being planned for this fall.
The Library thanks all the artists: Michael Frank Casey, Timothy Ashton Cunningham, Sandra Finkenberg, Lizbeth Fermin, Lori Glavin, Scott Hill, Gary Mayer, Richard Kirk Mills, Antonio Mora, and Cornelis Verlaan for allowing their wonderful paintings to be displayed at the Library, and reproduced both in this booklet and as individual full size prints. Special thanks also goes to Torkil Stavdal for photographing the paintings.
The entries will be presented in geographic order, with one building featured each month through November.
Strangeway’s Store, painted by Antonia Mora
History
A store has stood on the site of what later became Strangeway’s since at least the 1850s. In the 1860s, it was owned by James Elliott and included the post office. On April 10, 1872, the building burned down. There was insurance of about $500 on the building and $2,000 on the goods. Andrew Strangeway reported in his diary that the store “was consumed to ashes in about 1 hour.”
A couple of weeks later, the April 24, 1872 Delaware Gazette called into question how the fire started: "We learn that Mr. Elliott, of Bovina, whose store and goods were consumed by fire on the night of the 9th inst., was in embarrassed circumstances, and has since absconded; and it has come to light that he has been using the names of some friends rather freely. Forgeries to the amount of $3,000 have been discovered. Alexander Kinmonth and Andrew Gladstone are the principal victims. It is now quite clear how the store came to burn. Mr. Elliott is a former Supervisor of Bovina." Interestingly, Alexander Kinmouth was James’ father-in-law. Elliott left the area permanently, settling in Chicago, where he died in 1896.
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| From Munsell's 1880 History of Delaware County |
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| Undated image from late 19th/early 20th century |
A new store was built in 1874 by Andrew T. Strangeway. Born in Bovina in 1839, Strangeway was a businessman early in his adult life. In the 1860s, he was selling Thayers Iron Mower to farmers as the agent for Delaware County. For several years, he partnered with John Hilson in operating what later was Hilson’s store. They dissolved the partnership in 1872 and two years later Strangeway built his store.
The store was barely open when it was burgled, with “about $30 in money and $50 worth of goods, consisting of gloves, boots and shoes, etc taken.” Strangeway had interests in selling a wide range of products over the years. He sold something called “Bradley’s Superphosphate of Lime.” The ad in the Delaware Gazette in May 1875 noted that it was “A Powerful Manure.” As communication technology progress, Strangeway’s store became the home for the telegraph office in Bovina Center and, in 1895, it became the telephone office.
In another business venture, Strangeway built onto the back of his store a hall in 1888. One of his competitors, John Hastings, who had what is now Russell’s Store, built a hall at the same time (though not attached to his store but somewhere behind it). The October 4, 1888 Hobart Independent reported this, noting that “Opposition is the life of business.” Strangeway’s Hall was used for annual town meetings and other public events until the Bovina Community Hall was built in 1930.
Andrew operated the store until his death. In May 1907, he went to Rome, NY to have a growth on his lip removed, but the Andes Recorder noted that he also had heart issues. Though the procedure to remove the growth was successful it put too much of a strain on his body and he died only a few days after returning home. Several auctions took place over the next year to liquidate the store contents.
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| This postcard probably dates from the 1910s. |
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| Clayt Thomas' garage in August 1953 after the flood that hit the town. Photo by Bob Wyer. |
The store had several owners after Strangeway’s death in 1907, including at one point his two competitors – John Hilson and A.T. Doig. The building was sold to Arthur Hillis in late 1923 and was converted into a garage. He sold the business to Kenneth Kaufman in 1927. Clayton Thomas bought the garage business in 1936 and ran it until his retirement in 1970. Wayne Gallant had the garage for a decade, starting in 1974. Heinz Berneke ran Bovina Motor Works from the garage for several years. Current owner Tom Hetterich has put a lot of work into renovating the building, including Strangeway’s Hall.
The Artist
After studying fine art at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, Antonio Mora amassed over twenty-five years’ experience in restaurant kitchens including such well known eateries as Restaurant Daniel in New York and Avenue in Long Branch, New Jersey, earning a two star review from the New York Times and a rave from Gourmet. His education in color relationships, form, line, perspective and theory has given him a solid base on which to build his skills as a cook and chef, and his food is as balanced and beautiful as it is delicious.
In the wake of the disruptive global pandemic, Mora left the city and worked with Sohail Zandi at Brushland Eating House and Russell’s General Store in the western Catskill Mountains of New York. He remains active as an illustrator, creating commercial labels and fine art prints.
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