Sideboard Restaurant
Details
- Name
- Sideboard Restaurant
- Address
- 108 N Tioga St Ithaca (as of 1899)
10 N Tioga St Ithaca (as of 1898) - Year Built
- 1898 (ca.)
- Demolished
- 1941
- Building Type
- Commercial
- Construction
- 1 story Wood structure
- Block Number
- 46
Annotations
1910 Sanborn Fire Insurance Atlas of Ithaca
Lunch
1919 Sanborn Fire Insurance Atlas of Ithaca
Lunch
Description
Previously at this location, [Cornelia] Ackley's New Emporium.
From about 1898 through the 1930s this location housed cafes and restaurants. The most well-known and longest running was the Sideboard Restaurant. The Sideboard was established in 1900 by Frank “Beau” Benton, a graduate of Cornell Law School who operated it for about seven years. In the 1920s the Sideboard was open 24-hours and the place to go after bowling or catching a late movie at the Happy Hour cinema across the street in the Cornell Public library building. In 1933 was remodeled and opened under new management as the New Side Board. The building was demolished in 1941. In 1952 Tompkins County Trust Company expanded into the former County Clerk's Building at 106 N Tioga St, building a new entrance across this location connecting both buildings. Today all three buildings function as Tompkins Center for History and Culture.
From about 1898 through the 1930s this location housed cafes and restaurants. The most well-known and longest running was the Sideboard Restaurant. The Sideboard was established in 1900 by Frank “Beau” Benton, a graduate of Cornell Law School who operated it for about seven years. In the 1920s the Sideboard was open 24-hours and the place to go after bowling or catching a late movie at the Happy Hour cinema across the street in the Cornell Public library building. In 1933 was remodeled and opened under new management as the New Side Board. The building was demolished in 1941. In 1952 Tompkins County Trust Company expanded into the former County Clerk's Building at 106 N Tioga St, building a new entrance across this location connecting both buildings. Today all three buildings function as Tompkins Center for History and Culture.
Media (Photos, Videos, Audio Recordings)
The New Side Board (1935-1941).
Add Source/NarrativeSources & Narratives
Thomas F. Knickerbocker, Night Cafe, 12 N Tioga (County Clerk's building listed as 10 N Tioga) also listed as Columbia Cafe
Frank R. Benton, Cafe
"Frank Benton, the popular Tioga street lunch house man, has completed extensive improvements to his lunch house. These improvements were necessitated by his increasing business."
"City Chat," Ithaca Daily Journal, September 13, 1902, 3.
Ray E Tompkins, Lunch Room, Restaurant
Norton Printing Co, Ithaca, NY
Multi-Family Construction: ;
Roof of Main Structure: Non-combustible;
Additional Sections: Section 1, back (W), 1 story, non-combustible roof;
Porches: ;
Outbuildings: ;
Other: Sanborn 1910: "Lunch";
Not listed
Norton Printing Co, Ithaca, NY
"In the Roaring '20s George [Solomon] was short order cook at the Sideboard Restaurant in the 100 block of N. Tioga St. It functioned the clock around .... The Sideboard caught all the late hour theater and bowling crowds.... Some would even get across the street from the Happy Hour cinema..."
Kenny VanSickle, “Sportower,” Ithaca Journal, January 12, 1967, 19.
Side Board Restaurant (Anthony Deloule and William M. Joseph)
H. A. Manning Co, Schenectady, NY
New Side Board Restaurant, Theodore R Beam Proprietor
H. A. Manning Co, Schenectady, NY
"This replica of a monument, placed on the site of the old Sideboard Restaurant next to the Tompkins County Trust Company building some time Wednesday night, attracted considerable attention on Thursday and today.....
The 'monument,' constructed of heavy cardboard and shaped to perfection, read:
'In Memory of the Old Sideboard, 1841-1941,' with this epitaph:
Here lies the ghost of old Bow [Beau] Benton
Who started all the argumentin
That always made the Sideboard jolly
Those were the good old days by golly.'"
The 'monument,' constructed of heavy cardboard and shaped to perfection, read:
'In Memory of the Old Sideboard, 1841-1941,' with this epitaph:
Here lies the ghost of old Bow [Beau] Benton
Who started all the argumentin
That always made the Sideboard jolly
Those were the good old days by golly.'"
"A Monumental Matter," Ithaca Journal, November 21, 1941, 3.