Sheila Edmunds Sampler

By Sheila Edmunds, Former Village Historian  

Taylor House

Set on ample property and clearly intended to be visible from the lake, Taylor House, as it is now known, was built around 1838 for Henry Morgan (1810-1886), third of the six Morgan brothers who shaped much of Aurora’s history and appearance.

It was frequently the site of village events, like Fourth of July celebrations. In 1877-78 Henry had the imposing Greek Revival mansion enlarged by the addition of a lofty dining room on the south side, designed by Russell Sturgis, a prominent NYC architect; the construction was directed by Samuel D. Mandell of Aurora.

Henry’s home, inherited by his daughter, Kate Morgan Brookfield, was eventually sold to Anna R. Goldsmith, who used it, and a new building on the north called Walcourt, for a women’s prep school. After her death, Miss Goldsmith’s stepson, Myron C. Taylor, presented the property to the Wells College Alumnae Association; since 1936 it had been the official residence of the college’s president [until the property was sold to Pleasant Rowland in 2014.] In 1998 it was designated a Village Landmark.

Cayuga Lake National Bank, Aurora

“The Bank” stands to the north of the Aurora Inn. It was built about 1840 with limestone from Union Springs, by a mason, Solomon Myers, as a home for himself, his wife and family. The design may have come from a Dowling pattern book.

About 1850 the Myerses moved north to Union Springs, and their old home was acquired for a tenant house by Henry Morgan, whose home, now called Taylor House, was directly across the street. In 1864 Henry Morgan sold the building to a consortium of local business men who were organizing the “First National Bank of Aurora,”  now the Cayuga Lake National Bank.

The foundations were strengthened, flagstone was brought in to floor the basement, and the roof was changed, giving the building an Italianate appearance. In 1994, an admiring architectural historian, Jonathan Hale,  said of  the Aurora bank, “You feel pleased to be near such a building.. . . “  In 1998 the Bank was designated a Village Landmark.

Abbott House

Aurora’s most romantically conceived house is a palatial lakeside Queen Anne mansion towards the northern end of the village.It was built for Alonzo Morgan Zabriskie (1867-1913), eldest son of Louise Morgan and N. Lansing Zabriskie, in 1902, the year Alonzo married. His bride was the St. Louis socialite Belle Loader.The new construction was located near the site of the “Old Homestead” his grandfather, E. B. Morgan, built about 70 years before, and was said to contain some of its bricks, probably for sentimental reasons.

According to a local contractor, Alonzo’s house was “planned by the owner.” Whether or not a professional architect was also involved (and the scope of the plan makes this seem likely), it was designed on a very grand scale; it is said to have some 40 rooms, including a ballroom. The “Zabriskie house” remained in the family until 1949. It has commonly been called the Abbott House, after Dave Abbott, the man who owned it from 1967 to 2000, [until the name was changed to Rowland house in 2014 when it became part of the Inns of Aurora, owned by Pleasant Rowland.]