Historic Main Street Tour

Historic Main Street Tour. . Amiel Samson constructed this building circa 1915 to house his grocery store and the First National Bank. He and his family occupied the second floor, which had large spacious rooms and a hall skylight. The grocery store was located in the right (south) section on the main floor while the First National Bank, later known as Central National Bank, occupied the left side. In 1955, the Sharon Springs Post Office moved into the Samson store space from across the street. Postal clerk George Jackson moved his family upstairs. When the bank and post office constructed their new building on the corner of Main Street and Route 20 in 1989, the Samson Block building was donated to the Rural Preservation Compats. After sitting vacant for almost ten years, the building was sold in 1997 and restored into two shop fronts and three apartments upstairs by partners Chris and Patricia Eaves and Todd and Louise Spofford. This partnership also bought and renovated the adjacent house to the right (south) of the Samson building in 1998. Built circa 1840, the house appears on the 1856 map of the village as owned by Dr. Green and was later operated as a boarding house by the Grosmayer family from 1870-1925. The house was famous for its teas and gardens. The Fuchs family owned it as the Monticelio Cottages in the latter half the 20th century. This Greek Revival style house retains an elliptical Federal Fan motif in the center front gable, which is a commonly found architectural design in this area of New York.