Moving the 1795 Law Office - Part 2
“On Thursday, Nov. 6th, Rustin Wilson of Empire Fence pulled in next door with a very long flatbed and Jeff brought the essential skid steer. The intact sides were cut apart at the middle, maneuvered uphill for loading, and eventually the truck pulled out; Jeff followed, hauling the Bobcat. Karin Wikoff, Sean Lacey, and his friend Jerry would meet them at the other end.”
Moving the Dismantled Walter Wood Law Office into Temporary Storage
By 2025 the historic Walter Wood Law Office (1795), which functioned as the first post office in New York west of Canojoharie, was in extremely bad condition and facing demolition. Working together with the Inns of Aurora and the Village of Aurora, the Aurora Ledyard Historical Society arranged to have the building carefully dismantled and moved to temporary storage, where it could await reconstruction on Village property. The dismantling was carried out by Jeff Koehn of Yesteryears Restoration, who was also in charge of the move. The move was chronicled by Village Historian Linda Schwab on the Aurora end and ALHS board member Karin Wikoff on the unloading and storage end. Their texts and photos follow. The link at the bottom of a page leads to the next page in the sequence.
Linda Schwab in Aurora: “Taking apart an eighteenth-century building, especially one in as deteriorated state as the Walter Wood Law Office/Post Office (WWLO-PO, for short), is a succession of puzzles to be solved. Fortunately, contractor extraordinaire Jeff Koehn seems to enjoy the challenge and is certainly expert at finding solutions.
By Monday, Nov. 3rd, the building was down, collected in two very large bundles of timbers and - surprise - the east and west walls lying open like a book, intact. This is accepted practice when it can be done, though it created interesting difficulties later on. (Those are the sides, with Annetta Koehn’s dog Jasper on lookout.) Annetta and Linda Schwab started on the long task of artifact removal and recovery as Jeff continued clearing the site and preparing the building for transport. Local experts were called in briefly to evaluate automotive and mechanical pieces (Theon Parseghian) and lamps (Margaret Flowers).”