Old Drovers Tavern
Donation protected
The Old Drovers Tavern at Nelson was originally known as The Sickle and Sheath Drover’s Tavern. Located at 3307 US 20, the northeast corner of the Nelson four corners, the building is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places but is in need of restoration and preservation.
Nelson Preservation Associates, Inc, an all-volunteer organization, has purchased the building, and we plan to work with skilled craftsmen, the community, and local experts to bring this building back to a modern form of its origin.
The building's setting and orientation at the four corners of Nelson - a major intersection of the historic Cherry Valley Turnpike - makes it an ideal location to house new businesses and a new tavern setting. Your contribution, no matter how small, will help fund this important project.
More about the structure:
The building was constructed c.1804 and served as a tavern and stopover for cattle drovers on the Cherry Valley Turnpike (US 20) that had opened just a few years earlier. The building has served as a general store, a feed store, the village post office and an antiques store. Most recently , it was owned by Bill Magee as an auction house and antiques store.
The building retains a high degree of architectural integrity to its Federal period of construction. It is a six-bay, side-gabled, clapboard-sided building with multiple windows at different levels on the second story. Some historic double-hung sash remain, while others have been replaced. There are corner boards and a delicate frieze board with cornice returns. The first story includes a full-length canopy and three historic storefronts, two of which have center doors and flanking multi-light windows. This appears to have been constructed after a historic photo of the building was taken around 1920.
Nelson Preservation Associates, Inc will be holding periodic tours of the building to showcase before and after improvements.
Nelson Preservation Associates, Inc, an all-volunteer organization, has purchased the building, and we plan to work with skilled craftsmen, the community, and local experts to bring this building back to a modern form of its origin.
The building's setting and orientation at the four corners of Nelson - a major intersection of the historic Cherry Valley Turnpike - makes it an ideal location to house new businesses and a new tavern setting. Your contribution, no matter how small, will help fund this important project.
More about the structure:
The building was constructed c.1804 and served as a tavern and stopover for cattle drovers on the Cherry Valley Turnpike (US 20) that had opened just a few years earlier. The building has served as a general store, a feed store, the village post office and an antiques store. Most recently , it was owned by Bill Magee as an auction house and antiques store.
The building retains a high degree of architectural integrity to its Federal period of construction. It is a six-bay, side-gabled, clapboard-sided building with multiple windows at different levels on the second story. Some historic double-hung sash remain, while others have been replaced. There are corner boards and a delicate frieze board with cornice returns. The first story includes a full-length canopy and three historic storefronts, two of which have center doors and flanking multi-light windows. This appears to have been constructed after a historic photo of the building was taken around 1920.
Nelson Preservation Associates, Inc will be holding periodic tours of the building to showcase before and after improvements.
Organizer and beneficiary
Nelson Preservation Associates, Inc.
Organizer
Cazenovia, NY
Patricia Groff
Beneficiary