CAMP Guards the Memorial
By Mark H. Dunkelman
Fifty years after they fought in Virginia and Georgia, proud Civil War veterans stand in front of the Cattaraugus County Memorial and Historical Building on its dedication day, September 7, 1914.Credit- Cattaraugus County Museum
On March 22, 2023, the Cattaraugus County Legislature voted to award $10,000 to a non-profit historic preservation group called Citizens Advocating Memorial Preservation (CAMP). Its purpose was to assist with securing a listing on the National Register of Historic Places for the Cattaraugus County Memorial and Historical Building located in Little Valley. In awarding the grant, the legislature argued that “. . .the Memorial and Historical Building has tremendous historical significance as Cattaraugus County’s most prominent and significant Civil War Memorial.” A decade before, however, in October 2013, the legislature had voted to use $125,000 in casino funds to demolish the Memorial and Historical Building, along with an attached 1950s era structure that had housed the county Board of Elections (BOE).
I began visiting the Cattaraugus County Historical Museum, which was then housed in the memorial, in 1973, to research the county’s most representative Civil War regiment, the 154th New York Volunteer Infantry. That summer marked the first of what became annual visits to Western New York to hunt for regimental source materials. The memorial was a stately place, with a mosaic tile floor and high ceilings. Display cases filled with artifacts occupied the octagonal main room, with racks of muskets on the walls. To the right was a room devoted to Native American life, with a large collection of relics, charming folk-art paintings and immense wooden statues of two mound builders. The archives library was to the left, through glass-paned doors, where people gathered to work. In the basement was stored a vast array of stuff for which there was no room upstairs.
The building abounded with Civil War history. Display cases were filled with uniforms, muskets, flags, drums, canteens and bayonets. In the archives were soldiers’ records, letters and photographs—the very legacy I was seeking. When I first stepped into it a half-century ago, the Cattaraugus County Historical Museum embodied the sentiment declared in the dedicatory plaque above its front doors: “To the memory of its soldiers and sailors in the War of the Rebellion, this building is erected by Cattaraugus County.”
A Unique Veterans Memorial
In August 1908, the county celebrated the centennial of its founding with a history-themed festival that drew thousands to Salamanca. Inspired, some prominent local men formed the Cattaraugus County Historical Society with plans to erect a suitable building as a Civil War memorial and repository for the county’s historical legacy. Four hundred dollars left over from the celebration provided seed money. Other funds came from the county board of supervisors (precursor of today’s legislature) and private donations from citizens, including school children. In 1911, building plans were publicized in the local press and that September saw a large crowd of veterans and citizens gathered in Little Valley at the corner of Court and present-day Seventh Street to witness the laying of the building’s cornerstone. The memorial’s architects were Freeburg & Fidler of Jamestown and the construction contractor was E. N. Unruh of Bradford, PA.
The dedication on September 7, 1914, saw more than 200 veterans in attendance, including representatives of numerous infantry, cavalry and artillery regiments, plus several ex-sailors. A photographer arranged them in a long line in front of the bunting-bedecked building and captured them in a panoramic photograph. After the crowd was seated in the county park behind the memorial, James S. Whipple, son of a Salamanca soldier who had died in the horrific prisoner of war camp at Andersonville, GA, delivered the main address. “We dedicate this structure with our hearts full of loyalty for our country,” he stated, “and wish it ever to stand, signifying the deathless patriotism of American soldiers and sailors and their loyalty to the Stars and Stripes.” Morton Fitch Trippe, a veteran of the 9th New York Heavy Artillery, replied on behalf of the old soldiers. He predicted, “Surely here our children and our children’s children can come and with reverent vision read the story of the Great Conflict.” Whipple, Trippe and everyone present envisioned the memorial standing forever as a revered shrine to the county’s history. Sadly, it served its intended function for less than a century before falling into serious trouble.
Whipple described the memorial as “a modest building in a quiet, modest place.” But with its stately pillars, pediment and an impressive glass dome, the structure had a handsome, classical dignity that made it stand out in its prominent location in the county’s civic center. Virtually nothing is known of the memorial’s operation during its early years. When the Cattaraugus County Historical Society disbanded in the early 1920s, the building became the county’s concern. A few years after Little Valley established a village library in 1923, it moved into the memorial where it occupied a room until 1962. Meanwhile, troubles brewed for the building as the dome began to leak and moisture penetrated the basement, damaging some artifacts. The place closed for a period in 1956 while the pediment and dome were removed.
When talk arose of replacing the memorial with a new county center in the early 1960s, Cattaraugus County Historian Julia G. Pierce advocated for the museum while individuals and organizations petitioned the board of supervisors to save the building. The board went on to approve a resolution: When the new county center was built, the memorial would not be harmed. This center was built directly across the street and the museum stayed where it belonged. But despite the staffers’ dedication, the memorial’s condition continued to deteriorate over the years. A new roof was installed in 1970, which was, in turn, replaced in 1988, water infiltration damaged the interior walls and artifacts moldered in the basement. It seemed things would only worsen because of the county’s neglect. Kenneth Kysor, who became Cattaraugus County Historian in 1984, and Lorna Spencer, the museum curator since the late 1970s, invited members of the legislature to cross the street and examine it—but no one showed up.
Then, in 2004, news came that Cattaraugus County was moving the museum out of the memorial. The county spent $1 million restoring the former county poor house in Machias to house the museum. When the contents of the museum were shipped from Little Valley to their new home, there was talk that the now-abandoned memorial would be demolished. I sent a letter to the county legislators, protesting any such plan, and urged the hundreds of 154th New York descendants, with whom I had connected, to do so as well. The legislature never acted, so the building sat vacant and deteriorated for nine years.
(Left) This view looks from the octagonal central room into the office-archives-library, ca. 2003. A year later the Memorial sat vacant as the museum’s collections were moved to its new home in the rehabilitated county poor house in Machias (right). Credit- Courtesy Rick Miller and Cattaraugus County Museum
Drumming Up Support
I learned of the plans to demolish the memorial the day following the county legislature’s October 2013 vote, through Kyle Stetz, director of education and visitor engagement at James Madison’s Montpelier. An Allegany native and descendant of August Bickmeyer of the 10th New York Cavalry, Stetz is a passionate student of the Civil War with a special interest in Cattaraugus County’s soldiers. He planned to email legislators in protest, and I followed suit, sending letters to the legislators, county administrator and newspapers, while also sharing the news with 154th New York descendants. A mass email campaign followed, and soon the legislators were bombarded with messages from descendants of Civil War soldiers protesting the demolition plan. One legislator said that in his ten years of service, he had never received so much mail about a single issue. Nancy Bargar, a former Chautauqua County legislator and great grandniece of a 154th New York soldier, did an interview with WGRZ Channel 2 on a November evening in Little Valley. “I think we can’t be cavalier about a memorial to veterans of the past,” she stated, “because that sends a message to the veterans of today that I think is unacceptable.”
Flooded with protests, the legislators put their plans on hold. Still insisting that the memorial must be razed, they made some face-saving proposals to move “elements” of the memorial to the Stone House in Machias or to incorporate them in a new memorial on the site. In response, however, I asked if any new memorial they concocted would have the substance, dignity and historical significance of the existing one, while Bargar appeared at a meeting of the legislature and asked “for your open mindedness, and to sit on this decision to bring down the building.”
I wrote to the Rochester-based Landmark Society of Western New York (LSWNY) about the situation. After Bargar accompanied society staffers on a November tour of the memorial, they sent a memo to the county administrator stating that the building’s condition was not cause for demolition and that it could be economically rehabbed and adapted to a new use. LSWNY staff met with county administrators and legislators in March 2014 to plead their case again. But despite their professional advice and the massive protest by descendants, the legislature took no action to reverse course. A stalemate ensued.
In September 2014, the centennial of the Memorial’s dedication, a letter from Bargar, Stetz and myself was published in the Olean Times Herald, arguing that the memorial “. . .is not merely a building—it is the county’s most significant and distinguished Civil War monument.” Within days, the legislature named a special subcommittee to decide what parts to salvage when it was torn down. The idea was to use them to create a new memorial arch above the entrance to a parking lot, which would replace the memorial proper. This parking lot scheme seemed to be the county’s ultimate dismissive gesture.
CAMP is Created
Despite their dedication, the collection of aspiring historic preservationists faced a geographical problem, as many were scattered in areas outside New York State. We needed a grassroots organization centered in Cattaraugus County. A giant step in that direction was made in late 2014, when Cattaraugus County Legislator Carl Edwards was persuaded by the avalanche of protest to stand with the preservationists. On November 18, 2014, Edwards met with Bargar and Kyle’s father, retired New York State highway construction inspector Thomas W. Stetz. The ad hoc committee chose the elder Stetz as its chair and resolved to work with the legislature to preserve the memorial. Recalling his grade school field trip to the memorial, Tom observes, “I never forgot that trip. I always thought the memorial would be open to view the Civil War-related items and never thought it had a chance of being demolished.” When he read the news of the county’s plan to do exactly that, Tom decided, “I would do whatever I could to help save the memorial.”
A week after the initial meeting, more volunteers met in Salamanca and the fledgling group took a name: Citizens Advocating Memorial Preservation—CAMP for short. Among them was Cynthia Whited of Spencerport, a retired clinical microbiologist and a great-granddaughter of Sgt. Allen Williams of the 154th New York, the regimental color bearer. “I knew about my great-grandfather as a part of family lore,” Cyndy relates. “He trudged for hundreds of miles and endured the suffering of war to keep our country intact. In learning of this unique memorial to the Civil War veterans of this area, I now have a direct connection to the man’s courage. He stood proudly in front of this octagonal building at the dedication ceremony.”
Tom Stetz presented CAMP’s case at a December meeting of the county legislature’s public works committee and requested a one-year demolition delay. When the legislature adjourned at the end of the year without taking any action on bids it had received for asbestos abatement, which would have been the first step in demolition, it was a minor victory for the preservationists. But the stalemate continued.
CAMP began 2015 with a flurry of activity. The group received a $2,500 grant from the Landmark Society that partially funded a comprehensive historic preservation plan by Clinton Brown Company Architecture of Buffalo, specialists in the field. The LSWNY also named the memorial one of its “Five to Revive” properties in need of investment. CAMP was endorsed by the Civil War Trust (now the American Battlefield Trust), the Cattaraugus County American Legion and the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. The group was incorporated as a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization, affiliated with the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation, and began the tradition of holding annual ceremonies at the site on Memorial and Veterans days. It developed a website with links to social media, gathered hundreds of petition signatures and thousands of dollars in donations, while broadcasting its objectives in newspapers, blog postings and on the radio. CAMPers—as they had taken to calling themselves—also continued to make appearances at county legislative meetings. Despite all their efforts, however, the county still planned on demolishing the memorial.
In March 2016, CAMP members accompanied county legislators on a tour of the memorial. Curiously, most of them had never been inside, since visits ceased when New York State condemned the building. In late July, the county legislature recommended selling the memorial—a ray of hope for the preservationists. The year ended with CAMPers awaiting a decision by the Cattaraugus County Supreme Court concerning the original 1866 deed to the property, which would determine whether or not the county could sell it.
The court’s decision was issued on January 10, 2017, declaring conditions in the original deed as discharged and unenforceable, clearing the way for the county to sell the memorial and board of elections property. That summer, CAMP placed the sole bid of $1,079 and the sale became official in October. A month later, the Little Valley code enforcement officer toured the memorial with Tom Stetz and pinpointed issues of concern: a leaky roof, mold, radon, asbestos and lead paint. Winter revealed another troubling concern—a decrepit boiler prone to malfunctions.
As CAMP took care of maintenance issues on its new property in 2018, members worked tirelessly to seek support from village, county and state officials. Payment from those entities was largely in lip service, but CAMP received individual donations and grants from the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation and the Onan Family Foundation of Minnesota, which had an ancestral connection to a Cattaraugus County Civil War officer. Early the following year, CAMP hired Clinton Brown Company Architecture to collaborate on a strategic business plan. This plan estimated a rehabilitation budget of $1.75 million, which was largely covered by the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation and Onan Family Foundation grants. Strategic planning and fundraising surveys were issued to measure public interest and opinions, while Kyle Stetz produced the first issue of “The CAMP Chronicle,” the group’s official newsletter, that fall. By the end of 2019, a new informational sign was installed in front of the memorial. But despite this steady activity by a core group of CAMPers, local volunteers and support were hard to come by.
An Uncertain Future
In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic largely shut down regular life. CAMP received a much-needed boost in morale that summer, however, when a local Amish contractor installed a new spray foam roof on both the memorial and BOE buildings, mitigating water infiltration. Though the pandemic spread, for the memorial there were issues that still needed addressed. The lawn still needed mowed in the summer, the boiler continued to cause problems in the winter and communication with Little Valley’s code enforcement suffered as three different people held the position within a few years. Meetings were held over Zoom and a committee developed a new strategic plan to focus the group’s efforts, but the doldrums dragged on into 2021.
Problems continued early in 2022 when Tom Stetz got a call from CAMP’s alarm company, saying the temperature had dropped in the memorial. Throughout winter and spring, Tom commuted from Allegany to Little Valley to work with a local plumber to fix the stubborn heating system. Another new Little Valley code enforcement officer took over and outlined the few steps CAMP had to take to obtain a certificate of occupancy for the BOE, which was slated for renovation and rental as office space. Clinton Brown Company Architecture prepared plans for the BOE rehabilitation and an assessment of exterior needs, with an estimated cost of $680,000—almost ten times the amount in CAMP’s treasury.
Today CAMP finds itself at a crossroads. The group has saved Cattaraugus County’s unique Civil War memorial from destruction and has carefully developed professional plans to rehabilitate it. However, more volunteers, more local support and—most importantly—more money are all still needed. Critical to obtaining funding for a successful rehabilitation is a listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, with the Cattaraugus County grant to fund the effort, obtaining such a listing would seem to be a sure thing, but that is far from the case.
In October 2015, at the request of the LSWNY for a National Register eligibility evaluation, the New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) opined that the memorial does not meet National Register criteria. The report specifically cited the missing dome and other architectural details, which CAMP plans on replicating. Eight years after its initial decision, can SHPO be convinced to change its verdict? Stay tuned, Western New York history lovers. One thing seems certain; the dedicated amateur preservationists calling themselves CAMPers will keep striving because they see the memorial as more than a building—they see the legacy of the Boys in Blue of 1861 to 1865, the citizen soldiers who prevented the country from splitting asunder and who helped to eradicate slavery from the land.
To CAMPers, the dedicatory plaque above the main entrance is reason enough to save and reinvigorate the memorial—it is a Civil War monument.Credit- Courtesy of Tom Stetz
Author's Bio
Mark H. Dunkelman is an artist, musician and historian in Providence, RI, who has written and lectured extensively about the history of the 154th New York. He is currently serving as CAMP’s secretary.
