Village Diner
Encyclopedia
The Village Diner, sometimes called the Halfway Diner or the Historic Village Diner, is located at 39 North Broadway (US 9) a block north of NY 199
in Red Hook
, New York
, United States
. It is a vintage 1920s diner
that has been in two other area locations during its history.
Its design reflects the era when diners were modeled closely after railroad dining car
s, with chrome exteriors and curved walls. In 1988 it became the first diner in New York, and the fourth in the nation, to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. Frommer's
called it "one of the best ... midcentury American diners".
in downtown Red Hook. To the south is a Queen Anne Style
house, to the north a small store and, across Cherry Street, the Elmendorph Inn
. Across North Broadway are many 19th century residences. The front and rear of the lot are used as parking.
The restaurant building itself is on a cement block foundation
. Its exterior is stainless steel
, curved at the corners fluted
and painted with horizontal bands on a steel frame
structural system. Windows are rectangular and retractable, high up the wall. A screen door on the south side is centrally located. All these features mimic those of a rail dining car.
Atop the roof is a red neon sign
reading "DINER". The main entrance is off-center, towards the south, as a result of a later expansion. A rear wing, added later, is sided
in vinyl
.
The interior further emulates its rail model, with tables in booths along the east and west walls with a single aisle between them. The ceiling is also vaulted. The rear is mostly given over to counter and cooking space; it has no windows as a result, a deviation from the model. A later rear addition expands the kitchen facilities to the east.
Much of the interior trim is original, such as tiled floor and wainscoting in turquoise and black, cream enameled
walls, a laminate
d counter with 16 stools and a back wall with ribbed metal covering for all the kitchen functions. These treatments are more utilitarian, more typical of a lunch counter
than a lushly-furnished rail diner of the era. The rear wing has some open dining space with freestanding tables and chairs, plus restrooms with their original doors.
. The increasing use of the automobile during the 1920s for intercity travel brought them into the countryside. Manufacturers offered prefabricated models with lessons in management, giving entrepreneurs the chance to get into the restaurant business with less capital
than it usually took.
In 1925, Lou Dubois of Kingston
, across the Hudson River
from Red Hook, bought a popular Silk City Diner from the Paterson
Vehicle Company, one of the leading diner manufacturers. He chose to install it first in an area along recently-designated Route 9, the Albany Post Road
, just north of nearby Rhinebeck
called Astor Flats. They called it the Halfway Diner because he thought it was about halfway along Route 9 between New York City
and Albany
. Dubois's wife managed the diner while her husband continued to drive trucks for a beer distributor.
Three years later he died, and his family sold the diner to Bert Coons. He moved it to its current location and continued to make a profit. When the Taconic State Parkway
was completed through northern Dutchess County
after World War II
, he moved the diner east, to where Route 199 intersected with the new road, to take advantage of changed transportation patterns. It is not clear whether he changed the name at the same time.
In 1957, with the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge
having restored some of the lost through traffic to Red Hook, Coons moved the diner back to its present location. He rented it to others and then finally sold it in the 1960s, after adding on to it to make it more of a traditional restaurant. A new roadside sign announced its new name to travelers — the Village Restaurant. The current owners refer to it as the Historic Village Diner. It has become a local institution.
New York State Route 199
New York State Route 199 is a state highway located in the Hudson Valley of New York in the United States. It extends for from an interchange with U.S. Route 9W and US 209 north of Kingston to an intersection with US 44 and NY 22 southwest of Millerton...
in Red Hook
Red Hook (village), New York
Red Hook is a village in Dutchess County, New York, USA. The population was 1,961 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is a vintage 1920s diner
Diner
A diner, also spelled dinor in western Pennsylvania is a prefabricated restaurant building characteristic of North America, especially in the Midwest, in New York City, in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey, and in other areas of the Northeastern United States, although examples can be found throughout...
that has been in two other area locations during its history.
Its design reflects the era when diners were modeled closely after railroad dining car
Dining car
A dining car or restaurant carriage , also diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant....
s, with chrome exteriors and curved walls. In 1988 it became the first diner in New York, and the fourth in the nation, to be 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...
. Frommer's
Frommer's
Frommer's is a travel guidebook series and one of the bestselling travel guides in America. The series began in 1957 with the publication of Arthur Frommer's book, Europe on $5 a Day. Frommer's has expanded to include over 350 guidebooks across 14 series, as well as other media including the award...
called it "one of the best ... midcentury American diners".
Building
The diner is in the center of a 75 by lotLot (real estate)
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner. A lot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries...
in downtown Red Hook. To the south is a Queen Anne Style
Queen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
house, to the north a small store and, across Cherry Street, the Elmendorph Inn
Elmendorph Inn
The Elmendorph Inn, often spelled Elmendorf Inn, is the oldest building in the village of Red Hook, New York, United States. It is located at the north corner of North Broadway and Cherry Street, a block north of the junction of Route 9 and NY 199....
. Across North Broadway are many 19th century residences. The front and rear of the lot are used as parking.
The restaurant building itself is on a cement block foundation
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
. Its exterior is stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
, curved at the corners fluted
Fluting (architecture)
Fluting in architecture refers to the shallow grooves running vertically along a surface.It typically refers to the grooves running on a column shaft or a pilaster, but need not necessarily be restricted to those two applications...
and painted with horizontal bands on a steel frame
Steel frame
Steel frame usually refers to a building technique with a "skeleton frame" of vertical steel columns and horizontal -beams, constructed in a rectangular grid to support the floors, roof and walls of a building which are all attached to the frame...
structural system. Windows are rectangular and retractable, high up the wall. A screen door on the south side is centrally located. All these features mimic those of a rail dining car.
Atop the roof is a red neon sign
Neon sign
Neon signs are made using electrified, luminous tube lights that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in December, 1910 by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show. While they are used worldwide, neon signs...
reading "DINER". The main entrance is off-center, towards the south, as a result of a later expansion. A rear wing, added later, is sided
Siding
Siding is the outer covering or cladding of a house meant to shed water and protect from the effects of weather. On a building that uses siding, it may act as a key element in the aesthetic beauty of the structure and directly influence its property value....
in vinyl
Vinyl siding
Vinyl siding is plastic exterior cladding for a house, used for decoration and weatherproofing, as an alternative to traditional wood siding or other materials such as aluminum or fiber cement siding. It is an engineered product, manufactured primarily from polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, resin, giving...
.
The interior further emulates its rail model, with tables in booths along the east and west walls with a single aisle between them. The ceiling is also vaulted. The rear is mostly given over to counter and cooking space; it has no windows as a result, a deviation from the model. A later rear addition expands the kitchen facilities to the east.
Much of the interior trim is original, such as tiled floor and wainscoting in turquoise and black, cream enameled
Enamel paint
Enamel paint is paint that air dries to a hard, usually glossy, finish, used for coating surfaces that are outdoors or otherwise subject to hard wear or variations in temperature; it should not be confused with decorated objects in "painted enamel", where vitreous enamel is applied with brushes and...
walls, a laminate
Laminate
A laminate is a material that can be constructed by uniting two or more layers of material together. The process of creating a laminate is lamination, which in common parlance refers to the placing of something between layers of plastic and gluing them with heat and/or pressure, usually with an...
d counter with 16 stools and a back wall with ribbed metal covering for all the kitchen functions. These treatments are more utilitarian, more typical of a lunch counter
Lunch counter
A lunch counter is a small restaurant, much like a diner, where the patron sits on a stool on one side of the counter and the server or person preparing the food serves from the other side of the counter, where the kitchen or limited food preparation area is. As the name suggests, they were most...
than a lushly-furnished rail diner of the era. The rear wing has some open dining space with freestanding tables and chairs, plus restrooms with their original doors.
History
From their origins as horse-drawn hot lunch carts, diners had evolved during the early 20th century into stationary, yet movable, fixtures of the developed urban landscape of the urban NortheastNortheastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
. The increasing use of the automobile during the 1920s for intercity travel brought them into the countryside. Manufacturers offered prefabricated models with lessons in management, giving entrepreneurs the chance to get into the restaurant business with less capital
Financial capital
Financial capital can refer to money used by entrepreneurs and businesses to buy what they need to make their products or provide their services or to that sector of the economy based on its operation, i.e. retail, corporate, investment banking, etc....
than it usually took.
In 1925, Lou Dubois of Kingston
Kingston, New York
Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, USA. It is north of New York City and south of Albany. It became New York's first capital in 1777, and was burned by the British Oct. 16, 1777, after the Battles of Saratoga...
, across the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
from Red Hook, bought a popular Silk City Diner from the Paterson
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...
Vehicle Company, one of the leading diner manufacturers. He chose to install it first in an area along recently-designated Route 9, the Albany Post Road
Albany Post Road
The Albany Post Road was a post road - a road used for mail delivery - in the U.S. state of New York. It connected the cities of New York and Albany along the east side of the Hudson River, a service now performed by US 9.The rough route was as follows:...
, just north of nearby Rhinebeck
Rhinebeck (village), New York
Rhinebeck is a village located in the Town of Rhinebeck in Dutchess County, New York, USA. The population was 2,657 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport,...
called Astor Flats. They called it the Halfway Diner because he thought it was about halfway along Route 9 between New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
. Dubois's wife managed the diner while her husband continued to drive trucks for a beer distributor.
Three years later he died, and his family sold the diner to Bert Coons. He moved it to its current location and continued to make a profit. When the Taconic State Parkway
Taconic State Parkway
The Taconic State Parkway , is a divided highway between Kensico Dam and Chatham, the longest parkway in the U.S. state of New York. It follows a generally northward route midway between the Hudson River and the Connecticut and Massachusetts state lines...
was completed through northern Dutchess County
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...
after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he moved the diner east, to where Route 199 intersected with the new road, to take advantage of changed transportation patterns. It is not clear whether he changed the name at the same time.
In 1957, with the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge
Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge
The Kingston–Rhinecliff Bridge is a continuous under-deck truss bridge that carries NY 199 across the Hudson River in New York State north of the City of Kingston and the hamlet of Rhinecliff. It was opened to traffic on February 2, 1957 as a two-lane bridge, although it was not actually...
having restored some of the lost through traffic to Red Hook, Coons moved the diner back to its present location. He rented it to others and then finally sold it in the 1960s, after adding on to it to make it more of a traditional restaurant. A new roadside sign announced its new name to travelers — the Village Restaurant. The current owners refer to it as the Historic Village Diner. It has become a local institution.
See also
For other historic diners in the same architectural style see:- Mickey's DinerMickey's DinerMickey's Diner is a 50' x 10' classic Art Deco diner car restaurant in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was prefabricated in New Jersey by the Jerry O'Mahony Diner Company of Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1937 serial # 1067, shipped to Saint Paul by rail, and installed downtown just before World War II...
in St. Paul, Minnesota - Road Island DinerRoad Island DinerThe Road Island Diner is a rare classic Streamline Moderne 60' x 16' Art Deco diner car restaurant located in the remote mountain city of Oakley, Utah in the United States. It was prefabricated as diner # 1107 in 1939 at the Elizabeth, New Jersey factory of the Jerry O'Mahony Diner Company.After...
in Oakley, UtahOakley, UtahOakley is a city in Summit County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 948 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Oakley is located at ....
(previously sited in Middletown, Rhode IslandMiddletown, Rhode IslandMiddletown is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 16,150 at the 2010 census. It lies to the south of Portsmouth and to the north of Newport on Aquidneck Island, hence the name "Middletown."-Geography:...
and transported to Utah in 2007) - Miss Albany DinerMiss Albany DinerMiss Albany Diner is a historic diner in Albany, New York built in 1941 and located at 893 Broadway, one of the oldest streets in Albany. Used as a set for the 1987 film Ironweed starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, it was added to the U.S...
in Albany, New YorkAlbany, New YorkAlbany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...