NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - North Salem’s historic Delancey Hall, aka Town Hall, should be back in action in time for the country’s 250th birthday bash in July, predicts Supervisor Warren Lucas.
The 18th-century Georgian-style building, which had once been facing the wrecking ball, has undergone several major renovations and repairs over the years.
The latest project started out last year as a routine exterior paint job, but as that moved along, structural problems such as a rotting beam and crumbling siding and windowsills were unearthed.
Town offices were forced to retreat to Lobdell House and to a mobile trailer parked at the Titicus Road campus. Since last summer, Delancey Hall’s been covered with scaffolding and safety mesh.
Residents have been super curious about what’s happening, so Lucas thought he’d bring them up to date.
He outlined its history in a recent Facebook post on NorthSalemNYinfo.
Built around 1760, it was at the time an eastern outpost of Van Cortlandt Manor. Its owner, Stephen Delancey, a Tory, fled back to England during the Revolution.
It was there when French Gen. Rochambeau and thousands of his troops camped on property nearby on their way to help George Washington in Yorktown, Va., Lucas wrote.
In 1787, it was occupied by the North Salem Academy. The town took over ownership in 1885.
Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it’s been renovated many times.
In 1953, the upper interior walls were removed and the roof trussed to allow exterior walls to support it, according to Lucas.
The upstairs was converted into one open floor where the town library was operated and court and board meetings held.
(Lucas’ grandmother, Kathryn Bloomer, was a member of the 1953 Delancey Hall Committee.)
The library moved out in the early 1980s and built its own building on town property.
(The Ruth Keeler Memorial Library itself is closed due to undergoing renovations. It is currently serving patrons through virtual services and programs.)
In 1990, the town building inspector condemned Delancey Hall and town offices had to move out.
Generous resident Ronald Stanton came to the rescue a couple years later, spending $625,000 of his own money for crucial repairs. He eventually returned the building to the town.
Local carpenter Tim Taylor and his crew did the work, Lucas wrote.
In 2023, the town contracted to paint Town Hall’s and The Annex’s exteriors. Work was to start in 2024. The previous paint job dated back to 2007.
Part of that agreement included replacing the former’s siding.
When the siding was removed, the town found that oak sills and a chestnut post had deteriorated.
It brought in a preservation architect. Siding on three sides of Delancey Hall was removed to look for other damage.
The sills and post were repaired.
Then there was the issue of leaky windows. The town’s Historic Preservation Commission was against brand-new windows and asked that the existing windows be rebuilt and reinstalled.
Those were removed last fall and sent to a restoration company in Connecticut.
It took four and a half months to get them back, Lucas wrote. They were put back in this past April.
As of late May, the siding was going up and gypsum wallboard that had to be removed in order to fix other structural issues was being replaced.
What's Next?
According to Lucas, next up is the repainting of the interior and the refinishing of pine floors in the hallways.
The town is also in the process of installing energy efficient heat pumps.
“Once the work is complete, on or about our country's 250th anniversary, what we will have is an historic structure that will last many, many more generations,” Lucas wrote.
“The building is a special piece of history and one of the few locations along Rochambeau’s route that looks like it did in 1782 after fighting in Yorktown, Va.,” he added, urging history buffs to stop by for a peek at the National Park Service panels that explain the site’s importance.
(The outdoor exhibit is located in the grassy area between Delancey Hall and Lobdell House.)
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