Stop me if you've heard this one before. Oneonta's downtown parking conditions are congested. City officials are working to alleviate the problem.
Is this an early 21st century problem at certain times of the year? Or was this a problem facing the business district in 1938?
If you answered yes to both, you'd be correct.
"Oneonta may join the list of elites planning to install the metered parking system as a means of alleviating the congested parking conditions now prevailing," reported The Oneonta Herald on April 14, 1938.
It was that month that several Oneontans took a road trip to Watertown to see how that city's system worked. The inspection trip was made by Mayor Daniel Franklin, Police Chief Frank Horton, City Judge Sterling Harrington, Alderman Homer Harlow, Police Commissioner Dr. E. J. Parish, and Bert Bresee, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce traffic committee.
"Watertown likes its parking meters, according to the opinion formed by the delegation who found that, 10 months after the meters were installed, despite threats of an injunction to prohibit their use, that even those who voiced the strongest objection to the plan, admit today that the system had been a success."
Watertown had a lot of delegations coming to check out the meters that year, including Syracuse, Utica, Geneva and Auburn. They too had parking and traffic congestion problems. All too often a motorist would park in front of a place for an entire day. Merchants in the downtown area didn't like this, because their customers complained of not being able to park close by. While meters weren't designed to solve the congestion problem, they could help alleviate it.
Oneonta's delegation reported back to Common Council the next week and members said they wanted to go around our community to get feedback on the proposal for parking meters.
The Merchants Division of the Oneonta Chamber of Commerce approved the idea, and there was very little negative feedback from local residents. Common Council on April 25 authorized the execution of a contract with a Houston company to install parking meters in certain areas of the business district for a six-month trial.
It was Aug. 5, 1938, that the meters went into effect. One could park in certain areas for a few minutes by feeding some pennies into the meter, or a nickel for a full hour.
"Because the Oneonta installation of parking meters is one of the first in this part of the state, it is recognized that there are some who may be unfamiliar with them and so during the first week or 10 days police officers and representatives of the parking meter company will make a special effort to instruct Oneonta visitors on their use," The Herald reported.
The Herald on Aug. 26 showed a picture of George, an elderly horse belonging to A.C. Akyls of Flax Island Road in Otego, parked with a buggy behind him on Dietz Street in front of Huntington Park, where new meters were installed.
Akyls was unaware of the meters, in town for some shopping. George Pattengill was manager of the parking space in that area, and he didn't mind having George parked there for free. Pattengill had problems with too much grass growing on the curbside, so for the free parking, George could have a free meal, thereby solving the grass problem.
The six-month trial passed, and eventually more meters were installed, and time allotments for some areas increased. At a Common Council meeting in March 1939, about 50 people voiced their arguments for and against the meters. As one can tell today, the meters remained.
This weekend: A tuberculosis sanitarium opened 90 years ago in Mt. Vision.
City Historian Mark Simonson's column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or e-mail him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com.
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