Andrew F. Oliver's lot: 1819
hen Andrew Oliver decided to move his practice from Kinney's Corners to Penn Yan about a year or so after his arrival, he bought land in the village to build his house on. He purchased an acre of land on the west side of Main Street in 1819, and, it must be presumed, his house soon afterward. The building stood where 204 Main Street does today, and that large house appears to be on the same footprint as Oliver's house; it may be the same structure, altered very much in outward appearance but the same size and general shape.
South of the house Oliver built a much smaller building, a two-room office. These little separate offices were said later in the 19th century to be "unique to Penn Yan." They contained a tiny reception area in front and the actual office in rear, and were used by doctors and lawyers particularly to house their professional practices. This one was a frame building in Greek Revival style (like almost all the others, if not actually all of them) and stood on its site (about where 202 Main Street stands today) until 1872, when it was moved around the corner onto Chapel Street by Dr. Oliver's son Dr. William Oliver. It was subsequently moved twice more and was actually used for some time as a dwelling on Commercial Avenue (albeit a very small one) until some time about the middle of the 20th century.
After Dr. Andrew's death the house was occupied by his daughter and son-in-law John L. and Jane Lewis. The lot to the south (where #202 is) became part of Dr. William Oliver's property at 200 Main Street. It was a vacant lot in 1903. A photograph of the house at 202 was taken at its present site in 1908. Whether it was built there or moved there is at present unknown. The lot was part of the Oliver property until 1941, when Carrie Oliver sold it to Elizabeth Lynch, who had already lived there for some time, and would have acquired it by bequest in 1942 in any case.
The area in yellow shows the approximate extent of Dr. Andrew F. Oliver's purchase in 1819. It was 8 rods wide in front and rear, and went all the way back to where Liberty Street was put in.
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Dr. Andrew F. Oliver came to this area from Otsego County in 1818, a year
before his twin brother William M. Oliver. He bought an acre of land west
of Main Street in 1819, and lived there until his death.
