The Square in Malone
An area on four sides, with houses on each side, sometimes, a solid block of houses; also, sometimes, an open place or area formed by the meeting or intersection of two or more streets. — Webster, 1882
The monument occupies a corner of the beautiful park at the intersection of Elm and Main streets, in the business center of the village, and hereafter the place should be known as Memorial Park. The site is commanding, making the monument the most conspicuous object in an view of the street, from east, west, or north. To passengers going through the town on the O.&L.C. R.R. it will stand out a distinctive feature, creating an impression not otherwise to be made. – Malone Palladium, June 1, 1893.
In Farmer Boy (see Chapter 16, “Independence Day”), what was called “the Square” in Malone, New York, wasn’t really square; it was said to be a triangle because the railroad cut across a corner. The twin-towered passenger depot (part of it is still standing) was built in 1865-1866; there was a separate freight depot several blocks to the west, with roundhouse, engine house, and car works between Railroad Street and Front Street. When passenger rail service to Malone ended in 1957, Malone’s eighty-plus years as a thriving railroad hub was over. The last remaining sections of railroad tracks through town were removed in the 1980s.
The railroad tracks ran east-west at the north “point” of the three-cornered “Square,” and it was Elm Street that made the Square three cornered. During the Farmer Boy year and while the Wilders were living in nearby Burke Township, the Square was bounded by Elm Street from southwest to northeast along one side of the triangle, Main Street on the south, and Park Place on the east. It’s proximity to the depot, hotels, boarding houses, and major business blocks in the early years naturally made the park – or public square as it was usually called – a popular gathering spot.
In the earliest known photo of the Square (above, taken in 1870) is a man kneeling next to a dog in front of the fountain. Is it a real dog? No, it’s a statue of a dog, and the statue of “Coach Dog” shows up in many early postcard views of the Square (look for it in the postcard composite below), sometimes positioned to face Main Street, sometimes facing Park Place to the east, the street that used to run between the public square and the Franklin Hotel or later Ferguson House (both of which burned down).
A statue of a Civil War soldier at parade rest was added in 1893, after which the Square became known as Memorial Park. The statue was donated by John W. Pangborn of Brooklyn, New York; the G.A.R. chapter in Malone was named for him, even though he wasn’t a veteran. Have you noticed that google street view camera blurs the face of the statue in the Main Street drive-by images?
Fountains, fences, pathways, street lights, memorial signs, flags, trees, and stairs have come and gone on the Square through the years. It was unlit until 1899, when three arc lamps were added: two paid for by the electric company and one by the city. Newspapers do a good job of reporting when there were changes made on the square, but I couldn’t find anything about the dog statue: when it was installed, why it was moved, and when it was moved out of the park permanently (and if it still exists somewhere). Does anybody know? I don’t even know what the dog was made out of. The only thing I could find in the newspapers pertaining to it was that in 1904, the coach dog statue was stolen, but it later reappeared and had been painted yellow.
Coach dogs (meaning a live dog, not a statue of one) were working dogs whose job was to protect from robbers, having been trained to “spring at the throat” of an assailant if approached. At the very least, they would alert the driver to danger. The rest of the time, a coach dog’s place was on the road, running under the horses’ very feet or beneath the carriage itself. A coach dog wasn’t to be confused with a carriage dog, one that sometimes rode on the seat beside the driver. By this definition, Jack the bulldog was the Ingallses’ coach dog.
A collection of Malone postcards is below; can you spot Coach Dog in the 1910 postcard?
the Square (FB 16)