Upstater

Walton Armory

We felt we would be remiss if we didn’t include the old Walton Armory in this week’s Destinations, even if just for the “Wow! Look at that cool building!” factor. Built in 1897, the Armory is next door to the Walton Grange and, during the 1960s, was the White Castle department store.

In fact, there are some great historic buildings in Walton, and the Delaware County Historical site is an excellent clearinghouse of old photos and history, if you’re interested in learning a bit more about the village. Here’s the GMAP of the armory’s location. Officially, its address is 57 Stockton Avenue, but we discovered it by Google mapping a store called A Quilt of Many Colors, which is located in the grange hall right next door.

Walton Theatre

The Walton Theatre is another historical building in the village. It burned to the ground in 1912 but rose from the ashes in 1914 to become one of the most popular theaters in the Delaware County area. In fact, it was so popular that there was even a dedicated train that ran from Delhi, just for those attending performances. In 1986, massive restoration efforts began, and much of the work was completed in 2004. We think it’s safe to say they were quite successful, based on the photo below, but restoration continues. The theater is still in the process of raising funds to replace seats, restore the ceiling, and finish the floors.

The Walton Theatre isn’t just a playhouse: It’s a movie theater, performance center, coffeehouse, and music venue all rolled into one snazzy-looking package. They’ve got events galore planned for this spring, including movie screenings, and you can find out what’s going on and purchase tickets on the events page of their website.

The Walton Theatre website.

GMAP

About Kandy Harris

Kandy is a writer and musician/music teacher living in Saugerties, NY.

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