This sounds suspiciously like The Log Cabin which was on the north side of
Route 5, just before you got to Palatine Bridge, heading west.

It was in an advanced state of decrepidtude and sometime after 1990 it fell
down or was razed. I have a photo of it taken during its last years and it
looks like an oversized abandoned Alaska hermit's cabin.

It has a place in history, kind of, because the great soprano saxophonist,
Sidney Bechet (who got much attention -- but not enouigh --on Ken Burns's
recent TV jazz series) and his New Orleans Feetwarmers played there. That
was in 1940-41. Sidney immortalized the place with "Log Cabin Blues" which
you can still find on French CDs. He also recorded "Fonda Blues, " referring
to the village down route 5 to the east.

If you're really into jazz, you'll be interested to know that Pete Brown,
the great alto saxist, succeeded Sidney there.

. .


-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel H. Weiskotten <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, March 14, 2001 2:36 PM
Subject: Mohawk Valley (NY State) Taverns


>I am trying to recall where a particularly wonderful old tavern was located
>in the Mohawk Valley but have drawn an absolute blank.  It was in the
>beginning stages of being fixed up when I last saw it a about 1990 and I am
>wondering what ever happened to it (I also need a reference for some
>research I am doing).
>
>It was on the north side, along NY 5, and perhaps not as far west as Little
>Falls.  The most remarkable thing about it, besides being incredibly old,
>was that you could see the internal construction of short chunks of logs
>laid up between the widely-spaced studs or framing members and then mud
>packing to seal it all tight.  It was a big beast of a building, and
>wonderfully put together, with a wonderful seeries of changes visible in
>the material and form.
>
>Any one have any clues???
>
>I know Phil Lord has been studying the transportation routes, canals, and
>many of the old taverns, and I was also wondering if there was any good
>comprehensive modern history of the taverns and tavern keepers of the
>valley (or elsewhere in NY State for that matter)?  I have done a lot of
>work on local taverns but find primarily research on individual buildings
>rather than a study of accomodations in a particular area or larger region.
> Taverns of Central and Western NY would be grand!
>
>        Dan W.
>        http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyccazen/
>        http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyccazen/Shorts/Taverns.html
>        http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyccazen/Shorts/Johnson.html
>        http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyccazen/Shorts/MadCoHotel.html
>