Taken from Old Troy Gazette Register papers The grand opening of the new Van Dyne Civic Building was held on Thursday, May 24, 1917. A parade of school children and civic officials wound through the streets. Ceremonies began at 1:30 p.m. on the lawn in front of the building. There were a number of speakers, including Prof. W. R. Croman, who presented a flag purchased with money contributed by the children. |
The spacious public rest room had been designed to serve as a meeting room for the Red Cross, the Civic League, which had planted trees by the building and assisted in the landscaping, and other organizations, and to serve as a jury room when needed. The gymnasium would serve as court room, with new court furniture provided for the purpose. The stage had 23 changes of scenery available for all types of entertainments and official school functions. A second ceremony was held that evening with speeches, reception and refreshments and was attended by state and local dignitaries, local and county people and visitors from afar, including Harry Haskell, the architect. Hon. William D. B. Ainey, who delivered the principal address, said that there was nothing like it in the Commonwealth in a town the size of Troy. That summer the very first issue of “The Trojan,” first yearbook of Troy High School, was dedicated to Mr. VanDyne who helped the school district greatly. Henry Case, “Bud” Pomeroy, and “Pat” Ballard were among the 17 graduating from the new auditorium in the Civic Building which had also seen its first play presented by the Senior Class. |
War had been declared by the United States against Germany and her allies on April 2, 1917 and an increasing stream of Troy boys were joining up. More and more school and community activities were war-related, and the Red Cross grew rapidly to a comprehensive and highly-efficient organization.
E. Everitt VanDyne of Troy was elected permanent chairman of the Bradford County Red Cross. At that time he was also president of the Grange National Bank, which had been built in 1907 on the site of the old Opera House, and president of the family tanning business.
The Troy Chapter, with VanDyne at the head and later H. C. Carpenter, did its full share along with its 19 auxiliaries. Money was raised by many entertainments in the Civic Building with music often supplied free by the Boiler-Makers Jazz Band, managed by Henry VanDyne, E. E.’s son. The Red Cross room in the building was supplied with chairs, eight work tables, five sewing machines and other useful equipment.
On January 14, 1918, Henry Davison came home to a tumultuous welcome in Troy and made notable speeches on the work of the Red Cross. Meetings were held in the Civic Building and the Presbyterian Church.
At the Civic Building a life-sized portrait of Mr. Davison was placed, above the Red Cross emblem. This portrait, was found in the loft of the building 61 years later when Citizens & Northern was preparing to restore the old Court House. It has been restored and now hangs in the new C & N offices.
January 6, 1922, the fire alarm rang out over Troy. The school was on fire. The fire boys were prompt and the hose connected when, after the first few feet were filled with water, the connection blew out and there wasn’t enough hose to reach the next nearest hydrant. The school was a total loss.
Children who had expected an extended holiday were disappointed as classes were held Monday as usual. Every church was put at the disposal of the authorities, as was the Troy Creamery, the Grange Hall, the Masonic club room and others. The Civic Building held most of the classes with a large dinner bell used to call students to assembly in the auditorium.
The Van Dyne Civic Building was to be the main “school-house” in the Troy District for almost two and a half years.
Henry Davison had also given Troy a home for the school principal, with W. R. Croman as the first occupant, Davison Green and the Davison apartments, income from which would maintain the home and the green. He gave a captured German cannon which sat on the V. D. C. R. lawn between wars and was sold for scrap during World War II. One of his last acts was to order fully-grown trees to be transplanted from nearby woods to the grounds around the Civic Building.
E. E. VanDyne was honored soon after his death when a portrait of him, in a bronze frame made by the Tiffany Studios in New York, was unveiled and hung in his Civic Building. Restored, it now hangs in the new C & N Troy offices.
The “schooldays” of the Van Dyne Civic Building came to an end on March 18, 1924 when an excited and singing crowd of students marched from their temporary home through the town and up to their grand new school.
Soon after the new school opened the Senior Class presented “The Fortune Hunter” in the Civic Building auditorium, with Robert McKean and Eleanor Pomeroy (Mrs. John Byrem) as the romantic leads. Trojans turned out in force for “their” play which was written in 1909 about Troy and Troy people, thinly veiled. Its author, Winchell Smith, had married Grace Spencer, a Troy girl, and had won great success on Broadway.
There was still plenty of activity at the Civic Building although Court was no longer held. It had been abolished in April, 1923, by an Act of the State Legislature. The legal notice in the Troy paper passed almost unnoticed as Court had not been held for a year or more. The building continued to be the scene of club meetings, graduations, plays, lectures and movies. The gymnasium was remodeled for the Troy Post Office in the late 1920’s as students now had their own gym.
Generations of young people had taken advantage of the opportunity to watch the due process of law. It was a popular pastime to drop in on Court days after classes were over.
When the school built its own auditorium in the mid-1950’s, activity in the Civic Building began to lessen, and television began to take the place of imported entertainment.
There was a ceremony on November 18, 1955 when the new housing for the old fire bell was dedicated on the lawn. Henry Van Dyne had raised the money for the structure, built by Marshall Case, for the bell which had come to Troy in 1874.
The day came when the only activity at the old building was carried out in the library and the post office. Nothing stirred upstairs except dust motes and the silent voices of hundreds of backstage graffiti speaking of past glories.
There still are walls with the "stars" of plays and musicals signed their names and the date when the plays or musicals took place.
By now the Borough of Troy owned the building which had been turned over to it when the school district re-organized in 1966. There was talk about the future of the post office as early as 1969 when the Post Office Department considered building a new building on the site. The Troy Council considered ways to raise money to demolish the old Court House and to save the Town Clock, but it didn’t happen. However, throughout most of the 1970’s there was much agitation about the future of the post office. Troy agreed to remodel the building to post office specifications, the department appeared to agree. Then it announced it planned to move out. For the first time in many years the auditorium was thrown open for a public meeting designed to keep the post office. Several P. O. Department officials showed interest, but soon announced that a new post office would be built at the corner of Canton and Willow Streets.
The Borough Council was faced with the upkeep of an expensive building with no paying tenant. The library had always been rent free.
The old Court House-Civic Building was empty. It was a prestigious building. In 1974 it became a National Historic Landmark. It is largely due to the almost single-handed efforts of Florence Mitchell, editor of the Troy Gazette-Register, that the old Court House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Rumors were rampant for months about the fate of the Troy landmark. Various vague buyers were going to turn it into a teen center, a restaurant, and various other projects. Finally a real buyer came to the rescue when it was announced that the Board of Directors of Citizens & Northern Bank had voted unanimously to purchase the building, restore the exterior and remodel the interior as its Troy office. Trojans rejoiced.
The sale was closed October 11, 1978. The architectural firm of Joseph Kesnow & Associates, Towanda, would draw up the plans; F. P. Case & Sons, Troy, would carry them out.
Citizens & Northern Bank also has a distinguished history. It came into being on October 1, 1971 with the consolidation of the Northern National Bank of Wellsboro and Citizens National Bank of Towanda.
Citizens & Northern merged with the First National Bank of Ralston.
In March, 1980, the red brick building at “Court House Square” in Troy started a new life as C & N’s Troy office. The bank has lovingly restored the exterior, cleaning and pointing the bricks for the first time in 86 years.
The character of Western Bradford County’s only National Historic Landmark is unchanged, only heightened with fresh landscaping and walks, with town clock, fire bell, plaques, and other Troy memorabilia preserved outside and in a small museum in the lobby.
The people of Troy are proud of their landmark and its history. Citizens & Northern Bank is happy to maintain it as a continuing focal point of the community.
As they recently contacted the Troy Historical Society and asked is they would be interested in owning the auditorium seats which were up in the top floor of the bank.
Needless to say they asked "YES", since the state had recently told them they could not use the seating in the barn.