Cornerstone of Penn Yan marks 65/25

Sixty-five years ago, the Pinckney Family purchased the hardware store that had already been a fixture in the village since 1823. Twenty-five years ago that legacy came very near to a tragic and fiery end.

In celebration of the anniversary of their start in business, as well as their phoenix-like rebirth from the flames that consumed their original building, Pinckney Hardware is hosting a series of events and promotions to thank all their loyal customers and to welcome new ones.

• Business After Hours - On Wednesday, March 10, beginning at 5 p.m., Jack Payne, Mike Clancy and their team will be hosting the Chamber of Commerce members for a celebration.

• $65 for 65 Years! Every month this year, there will be a drawing for a $65 gift card. Enter as often as you like. No purchase necessary.

• FIRE SALE! ACE Hardware’s “Scratch & Save” promotion will be extended, offering as much as 30% off your entire purchase of ACE products.

• 65th Anniversary Party - planned to coincide with the annual Penn Yan Sidewalk Sale in July.

The elder residents of Penn Yan will remember the large, four-story building on the corner of Main and Elm Streets that Edward Pinckney Sr. and his three sons, Donald, Robert, and Edward Jr. purchased from Hollowell and Wise in 1945.

Its size and distinctive architecture made it one of the most recognizable structures in downtown.
Its curved corner once sported a Victorian pointed cap roof (removed in the mid 20th century for structural reasons), but the ornate cream and dark red brickwork still made a strong impression.
Pinckney’s has always been at the heart of Penn Yan, both literally and figuratively. Always quick to support charities, the schools, the arts, and their fellow merchants, Mr. Pinckney, the Pinckney brothers, and their sons were both well known and well loved.

Their genial manners and sense of humor made every trip to their store as much a social call as a matter of business. How many of us can remember Ed as the Maytag Repairman, or performing on stage with PYTCo. every year?

It was because of that high regard for all the family that the fire of March 20, 1985 sparked such sadness, and such hopes. Beginning in the early morning hours, by dawn the entire building was engulfed. In the west wind, the flames threatened to cross Main Street. One hundred fifty valiant firefighters responded from all over the county to battle the blaze. Their efforts contained the violent fire within hours.

Had the wind been more northerly, and had a recently installed rubber membrane roof not been there, the entire downtown business district south of Elm Street could have become as much a smoking ruin as the doomed store itself.

Even before the smoke had cleared, plans were underway to reopen.
Sadly, the historical structure was ruled unsalvageable, and razed to the ground. But the

Pinckneys chose to rebuild, and made a contribution to the character of Main Street by calling upon some of the original architectural vocabulary in their plans. The same curved corner, the cream and red colored bricks, the arch-topped windows and cornice work would grace their modern, yet more modest store on the same site. These details added greatly to the new building’s appearance, as well as its cost.

Lesser minds would have simply rebuilt as cheaply as possible or relocated to a larger site, but Pinckneys doesn’t separate its responsibilities from its opportunities.

They know they are an anchor of Main Street, both Penn Yan’s and America’s. It is the small businessmen like the Pinckneys, like Jack Payne and Mike Clancy now standing at the helm, who never give up, and who keep towns like Penn Yan alive.

Standing behind the counter like a tangible metaphor, the giant steel safe, which had crashed to the sidewalk from an upper floor during the fire, blackened and smoking, was otherwise undamaged. Cleaned, repainted, and still in perfect working order, it is now a central feature in the new store as a reminder of their long history. Pinckneys, like the safe at its heart, has and will survive any setback; and Penn Yan, like the store at its heart, will do the same.