Remaining remnant of a mural which has lasted several decades in Chapel St, Windsor when the building was occupied by a whitegoods store. Sadly, no idea who the artist might be… #jfn_graf #streetart #chapelstreet #windsor #chapelstreetprecinct (at Windsor, Victoria, Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoMHB1Gp1-a/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Old home days at the Underwood Museum

By Jonathan Monfiletto

There is the old saying that begins, “If these walls could talk...” and is then filled in by whoever is saying it with whatever memories and secrets they think the walls of a house or building or similar structure – wherever people have resided or occupied throughout the years, decades, and centuries – might divulge if, indeed, the walls could talk. At the L. Caroline Underwood Museum, however, the walls don't have to talk in order to express the history of this place – at least, they didn't have to for one day earlier this year.

Back in July, one of those hot and dry days like many of the days we had this summer, St. Mark's Terrace – located right across Chapel Street from the Underwood Museum – hosted a belated 50th anniversary celebration for its senior citizen apartment complex. St. Mark's opened to the Penn Yan community in 1971, making 2021 the actual golden anniversary year, but like all good stories these days that seem to start with “but COVID...” the celebration was pushed back a year. Unbeknownst to us at the time, as we gazed across the street at the tent, signs, and balloons evoking a festive atmosphere, that day also turned out to be old home day at the Underwood Museum. Coincidentally, at that point, I had recently wrapped up some research and the draft of an article on Chapel Street in general and the 107 Chapel St. home in particular. And, yes, all three of these things are related to this story.

Now, picture a Thursday afternoon on an unusually quiet summer day in which we had seen no visitors for tours and even the phone had remained uncharacteristically mute. Then it is 3:15 p.m., and I am looking forward to wrapping up my work and closing up the museum for the day. At that precise moment, though, a group of nine people enters the front of the Underwood Museum. My first thought was, “Oh no...” not because I don't like giving tours (I absolutely love giving tours, especially when I can geek out about some of the research I've done for this blog into the backstories of our exhibits and buildings) but because a full tour of our three museums can take an hour or so depending on how much you read from the exhibit panels and displays. That late in the day, a full tour would be tight.

After my first thought, though, came my second thought, “Huh?” Someone in the group had called out either, “Our grandparents used to live here!” or, “We used to live here!” Well, it turns out that someone was two someones or a few someones: The visitors were sisters Debbie Kirkpatrick McMenamin and Kristie Kirkpatrick Chapman, their daughters, and some family friends. Debbie and Kristie are two of three daughters of the Rev. Bill and Mary Anne Kirkpatrick and lived at 107 Chapel St. when the home was the rectory for St. Mark's Episcopal Church and Father Bill was the pastor there.

Which means, in a nutshell: Debbie and Kristie gave the tour instead of me. I learned the gallery (where our Underground Railroad exhibit currently lives) once had a wall dividing the space into two rooms, the living room on the street side and the dining room behind it. For the Kirkpatricks, our research room was their family room and Father Bill's office. The kitchen and half bathroom were pretty much the same. Upstairs, where our L. Caroline Underwood exhibit and archives storage are situated, there were the parents' and daughters' bedrooms, with a porch room and a family bathroom on either end of the hallway. The Kirkpatricks lived here from 1965 until 1971, when Father Bill joined the staff of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester; it was so much fun for me to here Debbie and Kristie (mostly Debbie, as Kristie was 2 years old when the family moved) reminisce about their life in the home.

As I shared with them what I had learned about the home and office Dr. Barbara Strait (and, for a short time, her husband, Dr. Bernard Strait) had made here, the sisters shared they were in town to join the 50th anniversary celebration of St. Mark's Terrace, which their father had been instrumental in advocating for and establishing in the community. Naturally, that got me interested in extending my research into 107 Chapel St. and looking into the history of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, St. Mark's Terrace, and the Kirkpatrick family and, of course, writing an article about what I found out. So, after nearly 800 words of my background spiel, here comes today's article.

The Sunday, April 19, 1964 edition of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle announced that day's installation service – a ceremony called the office of institution – for the Rev. William F. Kirkpatrick, of Pittsford, then the curate of Christ Episcopal Church in that community in a post he had held since July 1962. A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and 29 years old at the time, Kirkpatrick graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1959 and Episcopal Theological School in 1962 and was ordained a deacon on June 16, 1962 and a priest on December 21, 1962. He and Anne Marie had just one daughter, Elizabeth, at the time.

Interestingly, it isn't until 1965 that real estate transfer listings in the newspapers show Dr. Barbara Strait essentially donating (selling for $1) her Chapel Street home to St. Mark's Episcopal Church. Another 1965 newspaper announcement lists an open house at St. Mark's new rectory on September 19, so it isn't clear where the Kirkpatrick family lived when they first came to town.

Then, on August 19, 1971 – less than two months before the formal dedication of St. Mark's Terrace – The Chronicle-Express announced Father Bill, as parishioners and people around the community affectionately called him, had been appointed to be the administrative executive officer – the bishop's assistant – for the Diocese of Rochester. Father Bill would begin his new duties on November 1 of that year. That article credits Father Bill for initiating “the action in fulfilling the housing needs of the elderly by establishing St. Mark's Terrace, a 7 story, 110 unit high rise apartment building for senior citizens.” And as president of St. Mark's Terrace, he “pursued every avenue to cut the red tape of the Federal Government in establishing this much needed facility.” This included, according to the article, leading the community in raising $158,000 in cash in six weeks to meet the challenge of establishing a much-needed nursing home, this being Penn Yan Manor, which was to admit its first patient that September.

Kirkpatrick was succeeded in May 1972 by the Rev. Geoffrey Robbins, of Westfield, Massachusetts, a native of Mamaroneck and graduate of Colby College in Maine in 1965 and Berkeley Divinity School in Connecticut in 1968. He was ordained a deacon in June 1968 and a priest that December. Robbins had been assistant rector of the Church of the Atonement before coming to Penn Yan with his wife, Louise, and 17-month-old son, Geoffrey. He was officially installed on June 28, 1972 and expressed the desire to work closely the young people of Penn Yan and address any drug issues in the community.

My previous article referenced a Robbins family that apparently lived at 107 Chapel St., as a Mrs. Geoffrey Robbins hosted meetings of La Leche League in the home. Now, the picture is a little clearer with this information from our subject files. Also, a search of our digitized newspapers shows Robbins was the pastor of St. Mark's until 1978, though it is unclear if the Robbins family lived in the home that whole time.

It was during Kirkpatrick's tenure as the pastor of St. Mark's that the Penn Yan community gave birth to the idea that became the structure of St. Mark's Terrace. The lead of a September 1966 newspaper article reads, “A preliminary survey has confirmed the need and desire for a modern housing project for senior citizens in Penn Yan,” and quotes Father Bill saying, “We have about 70 persons signed up for apartments, just from the parish newsletter and news stories about the project.” The church announced plans to sponsor such a project if current informational surveys showed the need, which indeed they did, and a waiting list for apartments was established without obligation.

A year and a half later, in January 1968, St. Mark's church had formed St. Mark's Terrace Inc. to oversee the senior citizens housing project, and a board made up of Kirkpatrick and members of the church and community had been elected. The building was to be located on the south of Chapel Street, running from the First United Methodist Church of Penn Yan to Liberty Street, and options had been obtained on nine properties – six on Chapel and three on Liberty. The proposed design called for a brick, colonial garden-type structure with 27 one-bedroom units and 57 efficiency and studio apartments; original plans for a high-rise building had been scrapped because of the excessive rents that would entail.

By May 1971, St. Mark's Terrace was indeed a high rise – at least by Yates County standards, with seven stories and 110 units – and ready to open for occupancy on July 1. The building had 80 deluxe efficiency apartments with a living-dining room combination, sleeping alcove, kitchen with stove and refrigerator, bathroom, and closet space. There were 30 one-bedroom apartments featuring the same amenities plus an additional bedroom. At the time, Kirkpatrick reiterated the board's philosophy that “decent housing and a suitable living environment are of primary importance in the achievement of health, happiness and security.” The dedication ceremony for St. Mark's Terrace took place on October 17, 1971 and included much fanfare with choirs from community churches, local, county, and federal officials, construction company officials, and veterans groups and a community procession from St. Mark's church to the Terrace. Rt. Rev. Robert H. Spears Jr., the Episcopal bishop with whom Kirkpatrick later worked, blessed the building, while the Rev. Stanley Robinson, of the First United Methodist Church, offered the benediction. A newspaper article from the time mentioned the building project had received federal approval in January 1969 with a loan of nearly $1.5 million – the first such loan in the nation for a rural community.

Indeed, another newspaper article called the building “a living memorial to the senior citizens of the community.” U.S. Rep. John H. Terry, the Congressman for the area at the time, applauded the community's cooperative effort that went into the building, noting, “The importance of St. Mark's Terrace is that a need was seen at the local level and a decision was made to do something about it.”

Colorful abstract wall off #chapelstreet #streetart #Melbourne https://www.instagram.com/p/CexS0f0PTJs/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

So drove 2 hours to get to our food styling workshop only to find out they forgot to let us know that there was a date change. So we had brunch in chapel street then all the way home again . Hope you’re all keeping safe and having a beautiful day today ♥️♥️ #cafefood #brunch #prahran #chapelstreet #melbourne #glutenfree #dairyfree #grainfreeandhappykitchen #weekend #sundaybrunch https://www.instagram.com/p/CdSI_X8PmMj/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Chaplestreet : une église confrontée aux problèmes de consommation d'alcool de son pasteur principal Le pasteur principal Jeff Frazier de l'église Chapelstreet dans l'Illinois a été mis en congé en raison de sa consommation d'alcool dans les locaux de l'église et de sa dissimulation de cet acte. Le conseil exécutif de l'église a pris cette décision pour résoudre les problèmes entravant la performance de Frazier. Brian Coffey a été nommé pasteur principal par intérim. L'église Chapelstreet fonctionne selon un modèle de gouvernance impliquant les pasteurs et la congrégation. Coffey a exprimé son choc et sa douleur face à la nouvelle et a appelé la congrégation à soutenir Frazier pendant son parcours de guérison. L'église Chapelstreet fait partie de Converge Worldwide, une dénomination évangélique historique.Auteur: Source de l'information Suivez-nous sur Facebook Pasteur Jeff Frazier,Église de Chapelstreet,Illinois,Évangélique,Méga-église,Chicago,Alcool Autres liens: Une enquête de la BBC met en lumière des actes odieux #gospel #music #worship #praise #news #musique #évangélique #actualités #bgospelmagazine #bgospel

Bieszczady 💙

#Repost @chapelprecinct • • • • • • 😷Remember when you go out of your home for the four permitted reasons (like in an Uber, shopping, visiting the GP) please wear a mask! 😷 It’s not compulsory but is for our own (and others) safety when it’s hard to not physically distance <—-1.5——> on #chapelstreet 🐶They don’t provide perfect protection but data shows they can reduce #covid19 infection numbers by two thirds 🙊 https://www.instagram.com/p/CCnYw--pYVH/?igshid=1psez8vffrbrw

Quick doodle while we enjoyed our favourite Vietnamese dish at @kinvietnameserestaurant on #chapelstreet (at Chapel street) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwXngxSghKN/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1uwzhj7zdfaeh

Here's a cute #SundayCarPic I spotted this cute little Nissan Figaro on Chapel Street, just down from the Embassy of Ireland. The car is cute and I love the evening light creeping in. #ChapelStreet #Figaro #Nissan #londonstreets #londonist #londonsbest #london4all #ldn4all #londoner #londonpop #londoncollective #loves_united_kingdom #london_ #londonenthusiast #urbanromantix #pink #nissanfigaro #carpic #carphoto #pinkcar #londonr #londoner #thisislondon #visitlondon #toplondonphoto #streetphotography #thelondonlife (at Belgravia) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bny9sRcH2f5/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=8063w7ygcjzx

Final chances to grab your tickets for The Tequila & Mezcal Experience. We’ll explore the heart and soul of Mexico in a bottle. . . . . #tequila #mezcal #melbourne #bars #chapelstreet #inspo #melbfoodie #melbournestreetart #melbourne_insta #melbfoodblogger #foodie #blogger #melbournebrunch #melbournecafes #tasting #event #whatson #melbwhatson #daily #instapic (at Jalisco Mexican) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpWFM69g-HQ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=19g83o4yes8wz

Shoes anyone ? #shoes #windsor #fun #cool @hotel_windsor @windsor #chapelstreet @chapelstreetguide https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnm_Ppeh9Ll/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=jigi3ljwe2hk

Clown town, well, Prahran. #latergram #whatsonstonnington #courtjesterhotel #chapelstreet #prahran (at Court Jester) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce-5aSJpZTE/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Penn Yan’s two-block brick yard

By Jonathan Monfiletto

Sometimes, when I am researching a specific topic, I go into the project expecting to find a certain thing and come out learning that thing, maybe, and also something totally different. I find that to be quite delightful, actually; it’s like getting that Christmas gift you didn’t expect or even ask for but finding out that something is actually pretty cool.

Here’s a recent case in point: I wanted to learn about the history of 107 Chapel St., which is currently the L. Caroline Underwood Museum – one of the three buildings on the Yates County History Center property – but was a private home long before that. Whenever I begin a tour of the museum, I start out by noting the museum is named after L. Caroline Underwood, who intended to bequeath her home and her belongings as a museum, but this building itself is not Ms. Underwood’s home. And without getting too much into the weeds of my tour talk, I generally have to stop there because, until now, I did not know much of anything about the history of 107 Chapel St.

But, in the process of researching the history of 107 Chapel St., I learned Chapel Street – all two blocks of it in the village of Penn Yan – was the last street in the village to be paved with bricks. In June 1988, according to several newspaper items in our subject files, Chapel Street was torn up and paved with asphalt for the first time. During the project, the existing curb was dug up and village crews installed storm sewers under the street. It is unclear if re-bricking the street was ever considered, but it was noted re-bricking would have been too expensive.

Chapel Street may have been late to the paving game originally anyway. A March 21, 1929 newspaper article detailing a recent village board meeting stated Chapel Street property owners petitioned the board to pave Chapel Street from Main Street to Keuka Street – the entire two blocks of the street – during that year. At the time, the petition was tabled for future consideration, but a newspaper article from the following year puts paving two blocks of Chapel Street on a list of village improvement projects to take place during the summer of 1930. Even then, bricks were to be used to pave Chapel and Court streets – two blocks of Chapel and four blocks of Court.

A typewritten paragraph in our subject files states Chapel Street was surveyed in 1824 – just one year after Yates County was formally established and nine years before Penn Yan was incorporated as a village – and Court Street surveyed the same year. The following year, the site of the Methodist Church – currently on the corner of Main and Chapel streets, across from the Oliver House, but then further down on Main Street – was bought for $5 and a church built on the site in 1826.

Amid my research, I learned the house at 107 Chapel St. has much more in common with the Oliver House, officially located at 200 Main St. in Penn Yan and colloquially just across the stone parking lot from the Underwood Museum, than merely both buildings being part of the YCHC property. Much like the home that was built by the Oliver family and occupied by three generations of Drs. Oliver who lived there and practiced medicine there, the home at 107 Chapel St. was also built for a family of doctors who lived and practiced there.

According to a typewritten item in our subject files, the home was built in 1926 by the father of Dr. Barbara Kuntz Strait, who married Dr. Bernard Strait in 1917. A photocopy of an item from the April 13, 1923 Rushville Chronicle and Gorham New Age states: “Dr. B.S. Strait has purchased the two lots on Chapel street known as the Oliver lots, of the Misses Carrie and Jennie Oliver, and will be a handsome modern home there soon. Dr. Strait’s father, who, before his retirement from active business, was an architect, will draw up the plans.” So, one of the doctor’s fathers designed and built this home.

The Straits’ connection to Penn Yan is unclear; Barbara came from Williamsport, Pennsylvania while Bernard grew up in Rathbone, Steuben County. Bernard practiced medicine in Penn Yan for 50 years with an office on Main Street and as the director of Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hospital. Barbara hosted her practice right in the home, in fact in what is now the research room.

If you have ever visited our research room, then you can picture the scene as a doctor’s office. The doctor’s desk was located where my desk is located. The pharmacy was located within the area that holds the bookshelves of the research room; the exam room was located in the area of the subject files and family files. The entrance and waiting room were located in the area of the table, computer, and genealogy and vital records materials.

The Straits divorced around 1930 or 1931; the 1930 Census records both Bernard and Barbara residing together at 107 Chapel St., while Bernard married Florence Owens on December 28, 1931. Bernard appears to have married at least four times, while Barbara seems to have married just the one time and to never have had children (Bernard did have children and stepchildren with his subsequent wives). Upon the Straits’ divorce, Barbara continued to live and practice at the Chapel Street home while Bernard resided and worked elsewhere. Barbara retired in 1965 – apparently at the age of about 85 – and died in 1972 at age 91, while Bernard had practiced medicine for 50 years by the time he died in 1965 at age 75. He is described as a surgeon in some newspaper articles; otherwise, the Straits’ medical specialty is not listed.

The Straits were both quite active in the Penn Yan community through various social and charitable organizations; Barbara was a founding member of the Zonta Club, while Bernard was a charter member of the Kiwanis Club. Serving as New York District Governor in 1946, Bernard was also a member pf several other organizations. Barbara appears to have been heavily involved with the local Girl Scouts and the Keuka Delphians as well as a few other groups.

Barbara graduated from South Williamsport High School and Muncy Normal School; Bernard graduated from Addison High School. Both attended University of Buffalo Medical College – possibly where they met and, ironically, where Dr. William A. Oliver (the third Dr. Oliver) also received his medical education. Bernard completed advanced study in New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago and also served as a captain with the Army Medical Corps during World War I.

Following Barbara’s retirement, she essentially donated the 107 Chapel St. home (selling it for $1, according to property transfer records) to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. St. Mark’s used the home for the parish rectory for a period of time, from 1965 until 1971. The Rev. Bill Kirkpatrick, the pastor of the church at the time, lived in the home with his wife, Anne-Marie, and their three daughters. In fact, our archival collection includes an undated Christmas card from the Kirkpatrick family with a sketch of the home on the front.

Two of the Kirkpatrick daughters - Debbie and Kristie - actually visited the home a couple of months ago with their children and some family friends. The group was in town for the 50th anniversary celebration of St. Mark’s Terrace, across the street from the Underwood Museum and one of their childhood homes. While I typically give tours to visitors, in this case Debbie and Kristie led the tour; they pointed out where their living room and dining room were in what is now the gallery, where their family room and father’s office were in what is now the research room, and where the bedrooms and bathroom were upstairs. It was so wonderful to hear their memories of the home, see their excitement at walking through it again, and learn more about the home’s history.

The Kirkpatrick family moved to the Rochester area in 1971, and the church decided it no longer needed a rectory. According to newspaper items, by 1974 107 Chapel St. was occupied by Mrs. Geoffrey Robbins, who hosted meetings in her home of La Leche League to raise awareness of breastfeeding. By 1980, it was the home of Norman and Susan Lindenmuth; Norman was also a doctor and the medical director at Soldiers and Sailors, while Susan was a lawyer and the Yates County District Attorney.

YCHC acquired 107 Chapel St. – because it happened to be on the market at the time and right next door to the existing Oliver House – with funds from the L. Caroline Underwood Historical Museum Trust. The Underwood Museum officially opened in 2004.

Now that you and I both know a little more about Chapel Street as a whole and 107 Chapel St. in particular, I will leave you with a quote about Penn Yan from then-Mayor T.W. Windnagle from the aforementioned 1930 newspaper article on improvement projects, for no apparent reason than I just found the words intriguing and perhaps inspiring. Of Penn Yan at the time, Windnagle said: “It’s now a snappy little place with everyone hustling around to make an honest dollar.”

Stylish gentlemen with a range of facial hair. #streetart #Melbourne #chapelstreet https://www.instagram.com/p/Cein4BQvIC3/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Vintage stores and Op shops are open again! @chapelstreetbazaar #chapelstreet with @mayfs (at Chapel Street Bazaar) https://www.instagram.com/p/CWVkxxEPgQS/?utm_medium=tumblr

Out of lockdown 🏃 Join our fun, inspired team Time for change? Flexible work environment with future growth Contact [email protected] Or drop resume into salon . #modernsalon #blondehair #hair #bestofhair ##blondebaylage #maneaddicts #bestofhair . #luxurysalon #chapelstreet #heavensalon #melbourne #melbournecbd a#chapelstprecinct #fashionblogger#chapelstreetprecinct #melbournecity #melbournelife #melbourrnehair #melbournehairdresser #melbournehairextensions #melbournefashion #melbournestyle #fashionblogger #melbournemodel #models #melbournehairblogger #hairblogger (at Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVM02qHvPwC/?utm_medium=tumblr