Hotz off the Press: A Peach of a Bank Note from Fultonville, New York
A quiet Erie Canal village reveals a rich history—from canal commerce and steamboat magnate John H. Starin to the rare national bank notes issued by the Fultonville National Bank.
I certainly hope that by the time this article reaches you, the winter weather has abated across most of the country. At the time of writing, we in the Baltimore metro area are in the midst of a cold snap, with 7 inches of snow still on the ground and daily temperatures that barely break 20 degrees. Apropos to that, this month we will travel to normally cold Upstate New York and look at the quaint Erie Canal river town of Fultonville. I hope you enjoy it.
Fultonville is a town (village in Upstate New York parlance) in Montgomery County, New York, situated on the south bank of the Mohawk River opposite the town of Fonda, and 13 miles west of Amsterdam. It is easily reached via Interstate 90 (the New York State Thruway), which bisects the town, at State Routes 30A and 5S. The current population is just under 750.
In 1750, John Evart Van Epps purchased 900 acres of marshland in the area that became known as Van Epps’ Swamp, and by around 1810, John Starin opened one of the first taverns. However, the construction of the Erie Canal catapulted the community’s growth. By the time the waterway began operations in 1825, area officials had laid out streets, and a variety of businesses had opened. The canal’s enlargement in the 1830s brought more businesses to this prospering community. On August 9, 1848, the community, now known as Fultonville in honor of steamboat inventor Robert Fulton, incorporated as a village.
Son of the above tavern keeper, John Henry Starin, made a name for himself in New York City as a shipping magnate with both railroad and steamboat lines. Formerly a postmaster and druggist in Fultonville, Starin is credited with establishing the Staten Island Ferry and a steamboat line to New Haven, Connecticut. His diverse career bridged the worlds of logistics, government, and mass entertainment. After establishing a successful freight and transportation empire that flourished during the Civil War, Starin expanded his influence into the political sphere, serving two terms as a Republican U.S. Representative for New York from 1877 to 1881.
Upon his return to Fultonville in 1874, he purchased 600 acres at the easterly end of the village for his palatial estate, high on a hill overlooking the Mohawk River. Starin generously bestowed his wealth upon his native village in many ways. Among them was establishing a silk mill, the Fultonville National Bank, a library, a sewing school, and a dance/banquet hall on the upper floor of the Donaldson Block.
His most enduring cultural legacy, however, was the 1881 opening of Glen Island Resort in New Rochelle; often cited as America’s first theme park, the resort featured elaborate international-themed “islands”—such as a German castle and beer garden—alongside a zoo and a natural history museum. Starin leveraged his own fleet of steamboats to transport hundreds of thousands of New York City residents to this “pleasure ground,” aiming to provide a refined, orderly escape from urban life that forever changed the landscape of American recreation.
Two newspapers were published in Fultonville–The Montgomery County Republican, which began in 1840 as the Montgomery County Whig, and The Mohawk Valley American, which began in 1856 and operated in Fultonville until it was consolidated with The Fonda Sentinel to become The Mohawk Valley Democrat, published in Fonda.
After traffic on the Erie Canal dwindled, so did some of Fultonville’s businesses; however, the construction of the New York State Thruway through the heart of the village’s business section had a tremendous impact on growth. Close to 40 structures were moved or demolished in the early 1950s, in preparation for the state’s “superhighway,” drastically altering the community’s landscape.
The Fultonville National Bank was organized in 1883 under charter #2869, with John H. Starin as president and Lorenzo Peek as cashier. These officers were replaced circa 1909 by Alfred DeGraff, president, and Oscar F. Conable, cashier. The bank was a small affair, issuing $337,000 in currency over 56 years of operations, a very small amount, no surprise given its annual circulation of just $12,500. Its issue consisted of a series of 1882 brown backs, a series of 1902 red and blue seal notes, and a series of 1929 small-size notes of both types. It is a quite rare bank, with just 4 large and 5 small notes reported, and very few public offerings. The bank survived the end of the National Currency era and remained in operation until 1989, when it was absorbed by NBT Bank.
Last year, Lyn Knight Currency Auctions offered the Dean Oakes Currency Collection, including many desirable national bank notes. Among them was the only known brown back note from the Fultonville National Bank, and it was, as Lyn described it, a “peach,” an Extremely Fine $5 note with a great layout and superb signatures. As most of you know, I am an aficionado of $5 brown backs with attractive layouts, so I was pleased to add this note to my collection. The only brown back among the four large notes known from Fultonville, it bears the beautiful pen signatures of Oscar Conable, cashier, and Alfred DeGraff, vice president. I have included a photograph of it along with photographs of a Series of 1902 date back and a small-sized note.
Fultonville today is a rather sleepy town bisected by the overpass of the New York Thruway (I-90). Several old buildings line Main Street, including the old Fultonville National Bank on the corner of Broad and Main. This building was built circa 1909 and replaced the original bank building, a grand structure which stood on the same location. I have included photographs of the original bank, circa 1890; the current bank, circa 1939; and a view of the building as it appears today.
The town features many fine Victorian-style homes, as well as the now-derelict Donaldson Block and the adjacent Starin House Hotel. I have included both vintage and current photographs of these once grand commercial edifices. Although currently vacant, plans are to restore and revitalize these buildings.
John H. Starin constructed the Starin Mausoleum in Fultonville Cemetery in the early 1880s. The building was approximately 50 feet tall, 33 feet across, and 24 feet deep. When John Starin died in 1909, he was interred there. In the 1970s, the mausoleum began to fall into disrepair. Sometime around this time, it was also vandalized on Halloween by a group of teenagers who destroyed most of the caskets and bodies. In the summer of 1975, the mausoleum was taken down, the remains left in it were reinterred in front of where it once stood, and markers were placed on the graves. Remnants of the foundation of the mausoleum can still be found.
Starin Place, the Second Empire-style mansion that was home to John Starin, still stands outside of Fultonville on a hill overlooking the Mohawk River. I have included a vintage postcard view and a shot of the building as it appears today.
Fultonville is a convenient stop for anyone travelling the New York Thruway from Buffalo to New York City. It is well worth a stop-off, as Fultonville and adjacent Fonda are old towns with many historic structures.
Readers may address questions or comments about this article or national bank notes in general to Mark Hotz at markbhotz@gmail.com.
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