Building date: 1834
Original use:
Corner structures: Variable
Mortar application and content: Vertical heavy
Types and uses of stones:
Types and choice of windows: Lentils wood
Structures with similar masonry details:
Masons who worked on building:
Unique features:
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 43°13'18.50"N 77°00'43.23"W. Current owner of record, Cottrell as of the 2019 Tax Roll.
Town of Sodus and Wayne County Maps
7951 Ridge Road, north side, Wallington. House known as the Walling Cobblestone Tavern (old Route 104) in the hamlet of Wallington, is a heavily modified Neo Classical style cobblestone building erected about 1834. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. Richard Palmer blog.
"The Cobblestone Houses of Upstate New York", compiled by Dorothy Wells Pease. Research done in collaboration with Hazed B. Jeffery, supplemented with material furnished by Carl F. Schmidt, 1941. Reference the seventeenth paragraph on page 38.
"Cobblestone Structures of Wayne County" Bestard House excerpt, 1955, Verlyn Edward Klahn, pages 289 and 290. Essay submitted for Hoffman Foundation, Wayne County History Scholarship, awarded 1955. Reprint permission granted by Wayne County Historian.
Early Tavern Loses Its Romance, But Not Comfort as Modern Home, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, August 25, 1929
Stage Coach Once Rattled to Door of Turnpike House Where Weary Travelers Rested or Made Merry: Remodeled, It Shelters 20th Century Family
Wallington, Aug. 24. - The days of stagecoaches and quaint-looking taverns where many years ago travelers along the main turnpike between Eastern and Western New York made merry over the flowing bowl as the village fiddler played "Money Musk," "Pop Goes the Weasel" and other old-tome airs are recalled in an old cobblestone house standing close to the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks here.
The Wallington Tavern, for as such it was known in stagecoach days, was built entirely of cobblestones in 1834 by William Walling, the village's honored sage. Shortly afterward the tavern became known as the halfway house between Oswego and Rochester. Here coach horses either rested or were exchanged and passengers whiled away the hours in rollicking pastime. Stories of merry holiday parties, especially around Christmas time, are still narrated and it is said that the jovial landlord spared neither the best of his wine cellar nor the most appetizing which his larder afforded to give his guests a welcome would insure their early return.
Many years ago a traveler stopped at the tavern to rest and refresh himself, according to a story which is still told in this village. He entered the tavern through swinging doors over which appeared the boldly painted sign: "Beer." After he had remained in the taproom for some time, he was struck with a blunt instrument by another guest and killed. The motive may have been robbery or revenge. That point has never been made clear in the narrative. After he was killed the body was taken to strip of woods near the village, a shallow grave dug and the body thrown into it.
Years later, his remains were accidentally unearthed, but his identity never was established definitely. Above the present front of the once old tavern, now an attractive dwelling owned and occupied by Charles E. Whiting, the marble stone sign bearing the words "William Walling, 1834," is sill plainly visible. Walling conducted the tavern, which he later called the Wallington Hotel, for many years, and its ownership subsequently changed several times until the Town of Sodus went dry under the local option law and eventually Gabriel Ackerman, the last proprietor, barred the doors.
New Family Home
With the coming of the automobile and interurban bus lines, this famous old landmark has been converted into an attractive and comfortable home by its present owner. There are other cobblestone buildings in this vicinity. Some of them are old, while a few of them existed when a war between the United Stages and Mexico never was dreamed of by early residents of the northern tier of Wayne County. The passing of the stagecoach has left many reminders of those romantic days in this section, but the old Walling Tavern will probably be known a long time hence as the popular rendezvous of weary but fun-loving travelers close to a century ago between the "Lake City" and the "Flower City." Richard Palmer blog.
Wayne Historians Organization (WHO), Historic Sites Inventory Wallington Cobblestone Tavern
The Cobblestone Society & Museum Tours:
Cobblestone School Sodus Cobblestone Homes Tour, Stop #2 09/13/1986
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National Register of Historic Places Registration
- "Cobblestone Masonry", 1966, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, Walling - Bestard House
- Page 191
 Scan 2614.jpg ¹ |  Scan 2615.jpg ¹ View of the same structure in the 19th Century, looking east, showing modifications over the years. The current porch was added in the 1920s. Pole at left is a grade crossing warning sign for the Northern Central Railroad. |  Sod-18 Bustard 1.jpg ² Pease Collection 1940-41 |  GP Wayne Sodus Sod-18 1-1 N.jpg ² 11/3/1971 |  Sod_18_1.jpg |  Sod_18_2.jpg |  Sod_18_3.jpg |  Sod_18_4.jpg |
 Sod_18_5.jpg |  Sod-18 Bestard 2.jpg ² |  Sod-18 7851 Ridge Rd E 1.jpg 4 |  Sod-18 7851 Ridge Rd E 2.jpg 4 |
 Sod-18 7851 Ridge Rd E 3.jpg 4 |  Sod-18 7851 Ridge Rd E 4.jpg 4 |  Sod-18 Bestard 3.jpg ² 9/7/1997 |  Sod-18 Bestard 4.jpg ² 9/7/1997 |
 7851 Ridge Road, Wallington.jpg 5 4/14/2013 |
¹ Image courtesy Richard Palmer blog. Attribution not provided.
² Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum.
³ Photography courtesy Gerda Peterich. Cobblestone Museum.
4 Photography courtesy Martin and Sheila Wolfish.
5 Image courtesy Richard Palmer. Attribution Wikipedia.
