1824 Prattsville Commercial
Building. Built by Colonel Pratt c. 1824
The Zadock Pratt Museum Board of Trustees dedication
services for our Zadock Pratt Commercial Building was held on November 3, 2007
at 2:00 PM.
The building
will be open for display in the 2008 season and will be a source of Visitor Information for the local area.
Dedication Services were held at the Reformed Dutch Church, Main Street,
Prattsville.
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The building, a simple utilitarian structure of early American
industry, can be found on A.H. Jackson’s “Map of Prattsville”, dated 1833,
and Samuel’s Geil’s “Map of Greene County, NY, dated 1856. It can also be
seen on an early painting of Prattsville, the “Prattsville Primitive”, dated
1828. This building was a gift from museum trustee Andrew Dresser. According to a 1982 “ Greene County Historic Inventory”, which was conducted by the Green County Planning Board, with funds from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, this building is an “intact survivor and vernacular structure built with a sense of function, tradition and local adaptation rather than exact design.” The planning board report further describes it as an “essential element of the tanning industry.” The building is the first one to be built by Pratt, of the hundred houses and buildings built by Pratt, when he founded Prattsville. Located on Route 23, Main Street, very close to where Pratt’s tannery once stood. The flood of 1996 caused considerable damage to the “Prattsville Commercial Building.” Situated on the banks of the Schoharie Creek, the building was literally lifted from its stone foundation by raging floodwaters and was set back down again at a precarious angle when the water receded. With the help of FEMA and Preservation Specialist John Bonafide of the State OPRHP we were able to save the “Prattsville Commercial Building” by placing it on a new foundation and with the planting of appropriate plants along the banks of the Schoharie Creek, the building is once again safe. Prattsville is
the most western town in Greene County and borders both Delaware and
Schoharie Counties. The Town’s strategic location on the boundary of
three counties makes it uniquely situated to act as a welcome/visitor’s
center for individuals traveling east and west along Route 23, to and from
urban area’s such as Oneonta, Binghamton, Albany and others. Prattsville is a
small rural farming community with no major commercial or private
corporations to help fund the many programs that the Museum offers to the
local residents, second homeowners, school children and tourists. Last year
we attracted approximately 800 new visitors to Prattville, many who shopped
in our shops and dined in our restaurants. The preservation of the Commercial
Building and the creation of another tourist attraction can only help
economically strengthen the local economy.
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