Built around 1808 by Samuel F. Hooker, the Hooker House is one of the few buildings remaining in Sackets Harbor from the pre-"War of 1812" era. Hooker was an early and prosperous merchant in Sackets Harbor, from a prominent New England family. The Hooker family played a key role in the settlement of the Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut colonies as well as Jefferson County. Hooker came to Sackets Harbor in 1808 with $20,000 in goods which he sold within two months. He became a permanent resident of the Village two years later and continued to prosper as a merchant during and after the War of 1812. He married Martha Smith Brewster, a descendant of William Brewster of the original Pilgrim colony and had six children. In addition to his mercantile business, Hooker had his own ships on the Great Lakes.
The Hooker House is a fine example of the Federal style buildings which were once common in the Village. The House features a blind elliptical arcade across it's ground floor. This feature was derived from the designs of the renowned architect, Andrea Palladio, and was used by Federal-era architects to lend a note of urban elegance to even the simplest buildings. Flush boards were used to simulate costly masonry construction. This arcaded facade is one of only several in northern New York. Originally, the House had small-paned windows and perhaps a lunette window in the pediment. The House is in the Village's Historic District listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
In 1997, the Sackets Harbor Historical Society launched an effort to prevent the proposed destruction of the Samuel F. Hooker House. The House had been unoccupied and unused for approximately twenty years and was rapidly deteriorating. The Historical Society purchased the House and adjoining lot in the spring of 1998, and immediately began to seek funding and an appropriate use for the building. With extreme fortune in both searches, the Arts Association of Northern New York (AANNY) agreed to become partners in renovating the House for use as their Gallery, classrooms, and studio. Also received were two Environmental Protection Act grants totaling $117,000 through the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation to acquire and stabilize the building. Now the assembling of the necessary fifty percent match for the grants is under way. In addition, the two groups have formed joint committees for the project. To date volunteers have performed over 150 hours of work cleaning the building and lot.
The Hooker House Project is an ideal example of how the ultimate potential of historic preservation can be realized with a wide range of benefits. Not only will a historic building be saved, an eyesore on the Main Street business district will be rehabilitated into another attraction. Perhaps most significantly, the addition of AANNY to Sackets Harbor will immeasurably enrich this community both culturally and economically.
Despite our progress, the Project has only just begun. We have to structure the match for the grants, develop plans for the building and adjoining lot, recruit volunteers, hire contractors, etc. |
