Transcribed from the Wellsville Daily Reporter by Crist Middaugh.
Passing through…Yorks Corners
By Kathryn Ross
Staff Writer
Yorks Corners - A thoroughfare, a store, and one of the best swimmin’ holes on the river.
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York’s Corners is known for all of the above, and at the heart of this small cluster of houses between Stannards and Shongo on County Road 19, in the southern section of Allegany County, is the more than 100-year-old colonial structure that was first known as the Yorks Corners Store.
Up until 1977 the building, which was originally built in 1833, was owned by the descendants of Ichabod Hiram York, the man who built the middle part of the building and who was one of the first settlers in the area. As the years went by, wings were added to the middle structure and two stories were added, according to the Polsenburg family, who now own it.
Although the age of the house can be traced to the last century, it is ineligible for the state historic registry because two chimneys have been removed, altering the original structure. However, the two people high and wide field and lime stone fireplace is still standing.
Yorks Corners was a crossroads when the only road to Wellsville was dirt, and down its pathways people have found their way to Shinglehouse, Pa., Genesee, Pa., Whitesville and north to the larger population centers.
Because of this prime location it was natural for the York family homestead to become a store and gathering place, but it has also served as a stage coach stop, a post office, and when motorized vehicles replaced four-footed power, the store became a gas station. At one time there was a school for as many as 93 students in the community, according to Willing town historian Evelyn Foster.
For 50 years the Yorks Corners store operated by Milton Losing, a descendant of the family.
Attesting to the popularity of the store, a state sign on the premises notes that in 1852, the building was the location of the first town meeting for the town of Willing. Today, highway barns for the town and county, along with a grange hall, and church are located in the crossroads community.
Within sight of the crossroads, the Genesee River is crossed by County Road 29, and is also known as York’ Corners. That deep spot in the river, in the shade of the trees, has spanned decades serving as a swimming hole for generations of kids.