J. Y. Dykman Flour and Feed Store facts for kids

The J.Y. Dykman Flour and Feed Store is a historic building found on Main Street in Nelsonville, New York. This old brick building now has a small deli and apartments on its upper floors. It's known for being the most decorated business building in the village. Because of its history and unique look, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

What Does It Look Like?

This building is two and a half stories tall and made of brick. It has a fancy roof edge called a cornice with many small blocks, and decorated boards on the front of its pointed roof. The window sills and tops (called lintels) are made of stone. They have cool cross and scroll designs carved into the brickwork. A special window that sticks out, called an oriel window, is on the side of the building.

A Look Back in Time

The J.Y. Dykman Flour and Feed Store has a long history. The earliest map of Nelsonville, from 1867, already shows the store with James Y. Dykman's name on it. This means the building was likely there for some time before that. Mr. Dykman even had his name painted on the building's wall, and it stayed there for many years.

Nelsonville was growing at that time. Many people who worked at the West Point Foundry in nearby Cold Spring, New York lived there. A map from 1912 shows the building was still a busy general store. Later, in the 1950s, the back of the building was made bigger to add more apartments. Other than that, the store looks much like it did when it was first built in the mid-1800s.