Glastonbury Inn revisited…

old glastonbury sales brochure

Today I was surfing some Lewis County research stuff, and found an inquiry about the old Glastonbury Inn, formerly in Houseville, NY.  My family had some ties to that landmark; I had not thought of it in years.  Seems this gentleman’s brother-in-law, who had recently passed away, lived there as a boy, and the family wanted a drawing of the inn.  As it happens, I recently came across, while moving, a newspaper article on the inn, and will scan and send it to him.

The Glastonbury was built in 1808 by Eleazer House, whom I believe was the founder of Houseville, and was famous as an inn, tavern, and stagecoach stop on the Utica-Lowville run.  No, I wasn’t around then-I’m not that old.  Over the years, it boasted a bowling alley, dance hall, 14 rooms, and was used as a resort, grocery store, farmhouse, and vacation spot.

The Inn was vacant when my brother Jim bought it in the 1970’s, dreaming of using it as a camp, snowmobile hotel, the possibilities were near endless.  Snowmobiling was just getting popular, and the Snow Ridge ski center is just down the road a bit.  He remodeled, insulated, rewired, patched and tore apart; there was a lot to be done.  My dad did a beautiful job rebuilding the kitchen.  There was a beautiful enormous old fireplace with mirrors and brick and mahogany mantle, and hardwood floors.  There must have been some good times around that fireplace.  I can remember working there on wintry days; one could almost hear the voices and laughter of the stagecoach travelers from bygone days.  Of course, some said it was haunted.  Jim recalls having something playfully moving his tools around when he was working there, but he felt it was a friendly something.  My Pa, usually known as a sensible and sober sort, quit working there alone at night, after someone tapped him on the shoulder one winter eve.  He thought it was Jim fooling with him, but when he turned around-no one there…  Maybe just ol’ Eleazer giving him a “well done”.

Jim finally decided that the renovation he wanted would be too costly, so he rented it out as a residence for a few years, while trying to sell it.  It finally burned to the ground one winter night when the wood stove could no longer keep up with the 40 below Tug Hill wind chill.  Luckily the family was all sleeping in the living room near the stove, and all got out safely. Another legend gone.  Great old building though.

A lot of the outbuildings were gone by then.