A Brief History of 3 Utica Street

The Colgate Bookstore is located in a historic three-story building in the heart of Hamilton, NY. In the following photos and stories that chronicle its rich history, we invite you to learn about this building’s long and fascinating evolution to its modern day use as the largest independent bookstore in Central NY.

The village of Hamilton, named after Alexander Hamilton, was incorporated on April 12, 1816. Nearly all of the village’s early records were destroyed in the great fire of 1895. The fire started in the Rowlands & Beal furniture store on Lebanon Street on February 19, 1895. Raging on for two days, the fire caused no injuries but resulted in an estimated loss of property of $300,000 – $400,000. Although the town’s records were kept in a fireproof safe and survived the fire, immediately following the fire the safe fell into a large cistern of water, which irreparably damaged the documents.

From a county welfare office to a grocery store to the home of a thriving newspaper, the building continually changed and evolved throughout the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. A Hamilton directory published in 1931 listed the building as separated into apartments and small businesses, including R.G. Armstrong, musical instruments, Charles Edkins, barber, AJ Newton, grocery, and Valvurg Kimball, restaurant. The apartments at that time housed Miss Mildred and Miss Frances Brothers, Mr. and Mrs. Lyman and Laura Ross, Mr. and Mrs. Archibald and Katherine Ross, Mr. Frank Mooney and Miss Maye Mooney, Mr. and Mrs. Carl and Melva Bates with their son Mark, Mr. and Mrs. William and Ada Clark with their son Leo, and Mr. John Carroll.

In the 1980s, the building, although still partly used for apartments, became the home of Edward Vantine Studios, the first collegiate composite photography company servicing fraternities and sororities. Vantine Imaging, as it is now called, is a third generation family business that is still active in Hamilton.

By the late 1990’s, downtown Hamilton had fallen into disarray. Once active shops and stores were boarded up and empty. Neil Grabois, president of Colgate University at the time, met with leaders of the village and together they developed a collaborative approach to community development. In May of 1999, a non-profit community development corporation was incorporated as the Partnership for Community Development (PCD). The PCD played a great role in stabilizing community development efforts and inspired the creation of the Hamilton Initiative.

The Hamilton Initiative devised a plan to buy and restore decaying buildings in downtown Hamilton and restore them to their historic and original beauty. Intending to only purchase one, they made offers on three buildings. All three offers were accepted and the Initiative became the new owner of three commercial properties. After two years of intensive renovations, the buildings were done, and the Colgate Bookstore moved from its campus location to 3 Utica Street in August of 2002.

The building is now Central NY’s largest independent bookstore, carrying the latest fiction and non-fiction books and bestsellers, a large children’s book section, and a specialty toy store called Imagination Station. The gift wing, which once was separated into several individual small store fronts, now hosts a wide variety of unique gifts, jewelry, and apparel. The second floor contains Colgate clothing, gifts, and computers, while the third floor, once all apartments, is now office space and the location of the Class of 2003 Events Room.

Special thanks to Roger Bauman and Jim Leach for sharing information and photos relevant to this project.