Hotchkiss Building Matters
Wednesday, May 28 2008
Hotchkiss Building Matters
To the Editor:
In the early 1800s, world peppermint oil distillation was centered in England with Hamburg Germany being the primary distribution center. Peppermint oil used in the United States on a large commercial scale was imported. It was believed that no native oil was pure enough for anything but home use. About 1837, the Hotchkiss brothers, Hiram and Leman, broke into the international market by sending some of their peppermint oil to dealers in Hamburg, Germany. The dealers there tested the oil and found it to be very pure. They offered to buy all of the product available.
As the business grew, peppermint oil production became central to the economy of Wayne County. The Erie Canal helped to provide easier access to world markets. In 1846, Wayne County produced 40,000 pounds of peppermint oil; by 1869 production had increased to 80,000 pounds and by 1897, 200,000 pounds of peppermint oil were produced in the County.
Between 1851 and 1900, the H.G. Hotchkiss Essential Oil Company won seventeen first prize medals at international competitions. The Company was run by a succession of family members, the most recent being Anne Hotchkiss who ran the Company until 1982.
The company had conducted operations at the site since the 1840s. The building burnt in 1884 but was rebuilt the following year using the original beams and foundation.
The H.G. Hotchkiss Essential Oil Company Building is a rare surviving example of a small, nineteenth-century Erie Canal warehouse and business. The Building is representative of the modestly scaled industrial facilities that lined the Erie Canal in villages in the 1800s. It is a rare reminder of a once important industry that is no longer present in Upstate New York.
Help save this wonderful story for us and our future generations by investing the grant anc restoring this building can only bring high rewards.
— Pat Alena, Lyons
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