From 1932 to 1946, I lived with my parents in a house and store at the
northwest corner of North Middletown Road and old Route 59 (the old
Nyack Turnpike) in Nanuet in Rockland County, New York . It was then
known as "Cardinal's Luncheonette" and  was what remained of the Hanover
Hotel,  part of which burned in a fire about 1902. Old timers in the
40's still spoke of the fire. I have a picture postcard with writing
dated in 1901, showing the hotel at that time with a horse and buggy in
front. I also have a scanned copy of a photo taken in  1922 showing an
old fire ring at the southeast corner of that intersection. The original
is in the possession of a resident of Nanuet, who has a number of old
pictures of the town as it was 70 and 80 years ago.

The hotel was owned in 1901 by one Gustav Arwe. I was told many years
ago that the hotel was built before the Civil War and was a stop on the
stage from Nyack to Suffern and beyond. The site is now buried under the
southbound lanes of the much widened North Middletown Road and the
adjacent mall (not the Nanuet Mall, which is across Route 59 to the
southwest).

Does anyone have any information about the Hanover hotel, such as when
it was built and when the fire took place that nearly destroyed it? In
addition, does anyone have any information as to the stage routes, if
any, on the old Nyack Turnpike and when the Turnpike was built?

I now live in Henderson, Nevada and do not have ready access to research
material about New York State or Rockland County.

Thank you for your help. Some may remember me as the Town Historian of
Scarsdale, New York from 1970 to 1974 who published articles in The
Westchester Historian in the early 70's on matters relating to
Westchester County history, including the series on the hangings in
White Plains entitled "Eight Who Were Hanged" and "The County Seat is
Moved"