Olean is the largest city in this county, and I booked a slightly more expensive motel from Not-My-Usual-Chain because it was right downtown. Normally, I'm not in favor of giving tax credit or free land to big corporations, but the motel was just about perfect, and more importantly, I spent a lot of time in the heart of the city, and spent (for me) a lot of cash. I'm not sure this motel was an urban renewal project, but I would bet it was.
My guide was Paul. I met him, his father and his seven-year-old daughter Friday night. The father, whose name I have already forgotten, lives on a side street just off of downtown in a Victorian house listed on the National Register. It was the last of ten places on that list that i photographed. I stopped in front of the house while the three of them were eating fried chicken on the porch and Dad asked me why I stopped. I told them, and the three came down and explained that the house was from 1878 or 1888, and was owned by a sugar magnate in town. Paul explained about downtown. This was collaborated by Alexis, the clerk at the hotel, and by what I saw. I didn't actually go anywhere with these people, but Paul told me some of the history and where to eat dinner.
North Union Street, the Main Street of the town (although there is also a "Main Street," which isn't really) was four lanes with diagonal parking. It was redone with roundabouts at intersections instead of lights, made one lane in each direction, with a median, a bike lane, and wider sidewalks. People were annoyed with the roundabouts at first, but now they like them.
The town looks like a bigger, New York State version of an Appalachian city, all dollar stores and fast food places. You can see the renewal attempts over the years: a mall next to the railroad tracks (possibly a former industrial park), a community college campus across the tracks (ditto), taller early twentieth century office buildings, looking unoccupied.
The original post office and library are near the corner of State Street, the east-west street heading west to the Wal-Mart and busier stores. A beautiful church and synagogue are a block away. The synagogue has a Facebook page, not updated since May. As I was in town Friday evening, I sent a message asking if there was a service planned. Paul told me the synagogue closed five years ago (indeed, he pointed out that the city's population generally was in steep decline). He said it had been taken over by "black-hat" Jews and expressed some bizarre ideas about what Jews believe. I didn't see anyone identifiably Jewish in town, and the answer I got on Facebook, "No services tonight. Sorry." was sent to me at 7:40, after shabbat had started. A "black hat" Jew would not be on Facebook at that time.
I did photograph the ten places on the National Register in Olean Thursday and Friday night. I visited the mall, which is dying, walked around the Jamestown Community College Olean Branch, ate at a Subway and a Tim Horton's, and Brother's Bistro, a local restaurant recommended by Paul, which was great.
I typically don't go to good restaurants alone. It makes me uncomfortable. I'm better about it than I used to be, because instead of just looking awkward, I can check out social media on my phone while awaiting my food. When I came in, about 8:00 Friday night, the restaurant was crowded with a table of fifteen clean-cut kids, college probably, but maybe high school, of many ethnicities, unusual in this overwhelmingly mono-ethnic county. The greeter offered to seat me at the bar, where I would have been alone, so I asked for the one table for two that was open. Then, other people came in and they sat at the bar, joking with the bartender, while I was alone at my table. Awkward. The food was great though. I noticed here, and at a bar down the street that was open on the street (the weather was warm) that people all seemed to know each other and exchanged friendly greetings. I was the outsider.
Here are the pics from Olean, taken early evening Thursday and Friday
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| View from Oak Hill Park, Olean, Oak Hill Park Historic District |
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| Olean School No. 10, now owned by a church, 1909 |
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| Olean Library, 1909, now an event center |
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| Post Office, Olean, 1910-1912 |
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| Monument to the Grand Army of he Republic, 1910, Olean |
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| St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Olean, 1890 |
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| Temple B'nai Israel, Olean, 1929 |
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| Jamestown Community College, Olean Branch |
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| Union Street, Olean |
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| Olean Armory, 1919 |
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| Beardsley-Oliver House, where I met Paul, his father and his daughter, Olean, about 1890 |
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| Conklin-Mountain House, Olean, 1886. The Conklins made wagons |
There were twenty-four historic places in other towns and rural areas in the county, and I spent much of Friday chasing them down. Portville, southeast of Olean, has four historic places, and Elicottville, near the center of the county, and the former county seat, has five. Portville is a rural small town, Ellicottville, much larger and at the foot of some hills, is a winter ski resort, with a pretty California-style downtown, full of day spas and expensive chocolate shops. Socially, if not financially, i probably belong with the Ellicottville types, and I can pass for that if I dress up, but I don't want to be there. My father didn't like to hang out with wealthy people, and I grew up in a modest suburban neighborhood. I'm more comfortable where I don't feel like I'm in a competition. I also visited Rock City, a privately run park and souvenir shop south of Olean. It's somewhat like our local Rock City in Coopers Rock State Forest, only more so. When I told people I was from out of town, Rock City was the place they told me to visit.
The last place I visited before heading back to my motel Friday afternoon was Little Valley, the present-day county seat, and a village, in New York's classifications, a small place without much happening. It was thirty miles back to Olean from there.
Of the places I visited in Cattaraugus County, I liked Olean the best. It's pretty, and the city has worked to make improvements like the motel, the streetscape on Union Avenue, the community college campus. There was a site being cleared with signs indicating it was being cleaned up as a "brownfield" zone. I liked the closeness of the people I saw out on the street, and the older buildings from a more prosperous time.
The weather was warmer and sunnier than one would expect from Western New York. The leaves were changing color, not yet at their peak.
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| Portville Library, originally a house from 1847, expanded and remodeled |
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| Wheeler House, Portville, 1880 |
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| Bedford Corners Schoolhouse, near Portville, c.1864 |
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| Pfeiffer-Wheeler Cabin, 1941, made of chestnut, at Pfeiffer Nature Center, near Portville |
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| The view from Pfeiffer-Wheeler Cabin |
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| Selfie at Rock City |
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| North Lyndon Schoolhouse, 1844, Lyndon |
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| Salem Welsh Church, 1855, Freedom |
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| Robbins House, 1895, Franklinville |
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| Park Square Historic District, Frankinville |
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| Ellicottville Historic District |
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| Ellicottville Town Hall, 1829, originally the Cattaraugus County Court House |
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| Victorian House in Little Valley |
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| U.S. Post Office, Little Valley, 1940 |
There were pro-Trump signs in the outer reaches of the county, such as "Thank you, Jesus, for President Trump," and "Trump-imprison the usurper Obama," but in the larger cities, people seemed more rational and friendly. This is an area that experienced a downturn in population and economic stagnation, but is struggling to come back, and the people who stayed seem to be dedicated to making it work. It was a beautiful place to visit, with leaves starting to turn and a varied topography. It reminded me a bit of the north coast of California, with levees along the Allegany River, Native reservations, and deep ferny forests.
