By Melanie Lekocevic
Capital Region Independent Media
OAK HILL — For a small community, Oak Hill is chock full of history.
That history was celebrated during Oak Hill Day, a time to celebrate all things Oak Hill.
“This is our 19th Oak Hill Day,” said Mary Lou Nahas, historian for the town of Durham and treasurer of the Oak Hill Preservation Association. “It’s meant to celebrate the character of Oak Hill and the people who live here.”
Nahas also writes the Oak Hill & Vicinity column for the Greenville Pioneer.
The day started out with yard sales and also offered fundraisers and other events, including a tour of historic old barns and a fundraiser by The Pizza Box, which sold its comestibles outside the Methodist Church and donated all the proceeds to the church.
Oak Hill Day was created by and continues to be organized by the Oak Hill Preservation Association.
“It’s meant to celebrate the history and up to the current day of Oak Hill and vicinity, and its people,” Nahas said.
Honoring the history of the community is apt as the small community is overflowing with historic structures, including the Mattice Law Office, built in 1826; the Mrs. Osborn House, built in 1850; Ford’s Store, built in 1870; the W.F. DeWitte Hotel, built in 1865; St. Paul’s Church, built in 1834; and the Tremain House, built in 1854, among others.
“We have so many historic buildings,” Nahas said. “The center of Oak Hill is a National Historic District, which is the culmination of nearly 20 years of work with the State and National Registers. They make it a historic district only if they feel there are enough historic properties, so to have a district is pretty significant.”
Oak Hill first got its start as a manufacturing area, benefiting from the proximity of the Catskill Creek.
“When the early settlers came here, they would have used the Catskill Creek for waterpower,” Nahas said. “They had foundries here. So Oak Hill, in the beginning, was a center of manufacturing in the town of Durham, whereas Cornwallville was more farming. Oak Hill’s [manufacturers] shipped their goods all over the world. When that stopped being profitable, it froze in time.”
Nahas has a personal interest in the area’s historical character — she owns the historic IU Tripp Store, which was built in the spring of 1888. She still runs a store out of the building, and its history dates even further back than the late 19th century.
“The room in the back was the original Tripp Store, which dates back to 1830,” Nahas said. “The Tripp family lived in the brick house next door. The brick house was built by two brothers from Greenville.”
Like the Tripp Store, many of the historic buildings in town have been lovingly restored and maintained.
“My husband and I bought the Tripp homestead 30 years ago because of its history. After the Tripp family stopped running the store in the 1950s, fortunately the Tripp homestead was owned by people interested in preservation,” she said.
Over the years, the building has had multiple owners, most of them devoted to retaining its historical nature.
“Everybody that owned it liked it for its historical significance,” Nahas said.
The Tripp store is one of many structures in the town that date back well over a century.
For instance, The Yellow Deli, also on Route 81, used to be a lodge hall and opera house, hosting community concerts and square dances. But over the years, it had become run down and in need of a little TLC.
“It had gone to rack and ruin like these old buildings do, and Sam Stickler, who was associated with Broadway, and some partners bought it and turned it into the Oak Hill Kitchen, probably about 40 years ago,” Nahas said. “When he died, his sister took over some of the properties they owned in town. I think we have a nice mix here of people from the outside and the inside coming together.”
The town’s history is what drew Nahas and her husband to Oak Hill in the first place.
“It was the history that brought my husband and me here and for me, the history is important,” Nahas said. “It’s a small town, but it still has room for growth and there are still some houses for sale.”
Over the years, there have been changes in Oak Hill, though it has retained much of its original flavor.
“In the 30 years that we have been here, Oak Hill has changed, I think for the good,” Nahas said. “When we first came here, people had not invested significant amounts of money in the houses and you could buy quite a nice place for not a lot of money. You might have to put a lot of money into it, but every building that has been fixed up will last a long time.”
