Major's Inn and Gilbert Block
Encyclopedia
Major's Inn and Gilbert Block is a historic inn
and tavern
and commercial building located at Gilbertsville
in Otsego County, New York
. The Gilbert Block consists of three 2-story attached brick commercial structures varying slightly in height in the Neo-Tudor Style. It was built between 1893 and 1895, and hosts shops and artist
’s studios. It was designed by Boston architect Henry Forbes Bigelow
. Major's Inn was started in 1896 and finished in 1917 on the site of the original 1822 Gilbert homestead which burned in 1895. It is a -story structure with a gable roof covered in slate
, interrupted by a number of chimneys, dormers, and conical roofs on towers. It has a rambling effect accented by the use of a variety of projecting balconies and bays, towers, and several porches. The medieval English Tudor and Gothic building was commissioned by Major James L. Gilbert using Augustus Nicholas Allen to construct it. Decorative elements on both buildings incorporate the quatrefoil
. The Inn went through a series of owners during the 1950s to 1970s and, beginning in 1980, a group founded by Alan Cleinman which became the Major's Inn Foundation, Inc. began to raise funds for the purchase of the property. Today, under the ownership of the Foundation, the Major's Inn has been significantly restored and serves as a cultural center.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1973.
INN
InterNetNews is a Usenet news server package, originally released by Rich Salz in 1991, and presented at the Summer 1992 USENIX conference in San Antonio, Texas...
and tavern
Tavern
A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in some cases, where travelers receive lodging....
and commercial building located at Gilbertsville
Gilbertsville, New York
Gilbertsville is a village in Otsego County, New York, United States. The population was 375 at the 2000 census. The village is named after its founder, and early landowner Abijah Gilbert of Nuneaton, England, father of the eponymous United States Senator from Florida.The Village of Gilbertsville...
in Otsego County, New York
Otsego County, New York
Otsego County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. The 2010 population was 62,259. The county seat is Cooperstown. The name Otsego is from a Mohawk word meaning "place of the rock."-History:...
. The Gilbert Block consists of three 2-story attached brick commercial structures varying slightly in height in the Neo-Tudor Style. It was built between 1893 and 1895, and hosts shops and artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
’s studios. It was designed by Boston architect Henry Forbes Bigelow
Henry Forbes Bigelow
Henry Forbes Bigelow was a Boston, Massachusetts architect in the firm Bigelow and Wadsworth. He became a partner in the firm in 1898.-Biography:...
. Major's Inn was started in 1896 and finished in 1917 on the site of the original 1822 Gilbert homestead which burned in 1895. It is a -story structure with a gable roof covered in slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
, interrupted by a number of chimneys, dormers, and conical roofs on towers. It has a rambling effect accented by the use of a variety of projecting balconies and bays, towers, and several porches. The medieval English Tudor and Gothic building was commissioned by Major James L. Gilbert using Augustus Nicholas Allen to construct it. Decorative elements on both buildings incorporate the quatrefoil
Quatrefoil
The word quatrefoil etymologically means "four leaves", and applies to general four-lobed shapes in various contexts.-In heraldry:In heraldic terminology, a quatrefoil is a representation of a flower with four petals, or a leaf with four leaflets . It is sometimes shown "slipped", i.e. with an...
. The Inn went through a series of owners during the 1950s to 1970s and, beginning in 1980, a group founded by Alan Cleinman which became the Major's Inn Foundation, Inc. began to raise funds for the purchase of the property. Today, under the ownership of the Foundation, the Major's Inn has been significantly restored and serves as a cultural center.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1973.