"The Nook"
In March 1831, Ezra married Mary Ann Wood (1811-1891). Soon after, while he was working for mill owner Jeremiah Beebe, Ezra acquired land near Fall Creek and built a small house that came to be called "The Nook." All of his children were born here, and four of them died while the family owned the residence. They were buried on the hill nearby, and the grave location later became the site of the Cornell Mausoleum in Lake View Cemetery.The house was torn down in the early 1960s and replaced with the current apartment complex on the property.Cornell University's online exhibit, "'I Would Found an Institution': The Ezra Cornell Bicentennial," contains two additional view of The Nook.LISTEN HERE
Jeremiah Beebe Mill (demolished)
There were mills at Ithaca Falls on Fall Creek as early as 1813. Jeremiah Beebe bought a flour mill there in 1827 from Phineas Bennett. Beebe ran it until 1830, when he had it overhauled and hired Ezra Cornell to take over the operations.LISTEN HERE
Ezra's Tunnel
In 1830, when Ezra Cornell was 24, he worked at Jeremiah Beebe's flour mill on Fall Creek. At Beebe's request, Cornell constructed a 200-foot-long tunnel to divert water from Fall Creek to power the mill. It took six months to blast through the rock to build the tunnel. Ezra also built a dam to feed the tunnel, and a plank walk was added from one end of the tunnel to the other. By the year 1835, the flour mill was able to grind 40,000 bushels of wheat per year.The Ithaca Common Council recently voted to close off access to "Ezra's Tunnel" because of safety concerns.LISTEN HERE
Elijah Cornell Pottery
On the southwest corner of Lincoln and Lake Streets (423 Lincoln St.), across from the current Fall Creek House, Ezra and his brother, Elijah, built a pottery for their father, also Elijah (1771-1862). "In the summer of 1842 in his 71st year, Father Elijah burned his first kiln of Ithaca ware," noted Ezra Cornell's biographer, Philip Dorf. Glazed redware pottery and then stoneware pottery was made there under various owners from 1842 until 1890.After changing ownership several times over the decades, the property had fallen into disrepair by the 1970s. In 1975, preservationist Carol U. Sisler purchased and rehabilitated the former pottery works. She initiated an archaeological project conducted by a Cornell student to excavate the site, and redware and stoneware with maker's marks were uncovered and preserved.The building has been designated an individual local landmark and is on the New York State and National Register of Historic Places. It is now utilized as apartments, an example of successful adaptive resuse of a historically significant structure.LISTEN HERE
David Woodcock House (demolished)
Built by former U.S. Congressman and Ithaca President David Woodcock, the stately residence once on this site was home to Ezra Cornell from 1869 until his death on December 9, 1874. In a letter to brother-in-law Elijah Cornell the day before, Mary Ann Cornell described Ezra's condition: "He was very comfortable when we came home but in going into the office where the university held their meeting for their settlement of their business and sitting there he took cold and was taken with pain in his right lung which the doctor pronounced inflammation of the pleura which causes such a fever that it has reduced his strength very much indeed."The Ithaca Savings Bank, of which Ezra Cornell had been first president, moved into the building in 1878. It was torn down to build a new bank structure designed by noted Ithaca architect William H. Miller. That building burned in 1921, and the current building was constructed in 1924.LISTEN HERE
Cornell Library (demolished)
Ezra Cornell spent about $100,000 to construct Tompkins County's first public library building in 1863 on the southeast corner of Seneca and Tioga streets. It was completed in 1866. Some of the people who lectured there were Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Mark Twain. Cornell University's first commencement took place in the hall of the library in 1869. The building stood until 1960 when it was demolished.LISTEN HERE
First Unitarian Church
The First Unitarian Church Society of Ithaca was founded by Ezra Cornell and Ben Morse and others in 1865. The first building of the church was erected at that time at Buffalo Street and Terrace Place but burned down in 1893. William H. Miller designed the current church building on the corner of Buffalo and Aurora streets, although the spire has since been redesigned.LISTEN HERE
Forest Park (demolished)
Previously the DeWitt farm, Ezra bought this property and renamed it Forest Park. He turned it into a model farm. This 200 acres of land eventually became Cornell University. Later, the house became Ezra and Mary Ann's son Franklin C. Cornell's home. In 1929, Forest Park was sold to the university to become the residential facility for the graduating class in architecture. In the early 1960s, it was demolished and the Tau Delta Tau fraternity was built.LISTEN HERE
Llenroc
Built between 1867 and 1875 for Ezra Cornell and his family, Llenroc ("Cornell" spelled backwards) was originally known as "The Villa" or "Villa Cornell." It was constructed with local limestone in the Gothic Revival style. Unfortunately, Ezra died in 1874 just as construction was near completion. His wife, Mary Ann Wood Cornell (1811-1891), and family lived there for 32 years. The words "True and Firm" are engraved over the entrance, as suggested by Cornell University co-founder Andrew Dickson White. The home was sold in 1911 to the Delta Phi fraternity.Noting that The Nook and Forest Park and so many of the buildings associated with Ezra Cornell's life had been torn down, local historian Carol U. Sisler pointed out that "only the house in which he never slept has been saved." "Cornell, the man," she argued, "lacked an advocate. In people's minds, was the man absorbed into the educational institution which bears his name? Did it stand as his living monument, thereby giving no urgency to the orderly preservation of his life's record? It is at least one hypothesis." Llenroc is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.LISTEN HERE
Sage Chapel
Originally buried at Lake View Cemetery, Ezra Cornell's remains were moved to Sage Chapel and sealed in an ornate sarcophagus in the Memorial Antechapel, or "Founder's Chapel," built in 1883. The Cornell effigy was designed by American sculptor William Wetmore Story (1819-1895). Mary Ann Wood Cornell is interred there as well.LISTEN HERE
