This watercolor by Otto Zering recreates the Randolph store using an earlier line drawing as a guide. Two delivery wagons wait for goods while two well-dressed villagers stand near the corner of Main and Franklin beside the wraparound porch. Courtesy of Lydecker Realty.
For generations, 143 Main Street has stood at the intersection of commerce and community in Nyack. Long before the Goldfingers, the Lydeckers, or modern engineering firms occupied the space, the Randolph family shaped the corner. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, William and Margaret Randolph transformed a modest bakery into a thriving general store. More importantly, in 1879 they erected the substantial brick building that still anchors Main and Franklin today.
Their story combines enterprise, ambition, loss, and public scandal. Yet above all, it explains how one family established the physical and commercial foundation for what would become one of Nyack’s most recognizable business addresses.
From England to Nyack
The Randolph family traced its roots to English and Scottish forebears. In 1847, William Randolph of Kent and his wife Ann Parks immigrated to America with their three sons: Thomas, William J., and John. Like many immigrant families of the period, they moved first through New York City before establishing themselves elsewhere.
This detail from an 1859 map of Nyack shows the corner of Main and Franklin, then called Grove Street. The Randolph complex, including the original store at the corner, occupies the block between Main and Burd Street. Only a few other buildings appear along the street at this early date. Courtesy of the Historical Society of the Nyacks.
Meanwhile, in Nyack, William Emeny operated a bakery at the corner of Main and Franklin by at least 1854. His shop appears on local maps from that period. Thomas Randolph married Emeny’s daughter Esther and worked in the bakery. For a time, it appeared that Thomas might inherit the enterprise. However, he later relocated to New York City and eventually to Chicago.
Instead, the opportunity passed to his brother, William J. Randolph.
By 1860, William J. had already purchased the Emeny property for $4,523. The acquisition included land stretching from Main Street south toward Burd Street along Grove Street, now Franklin Street. Although census records still placed parts of the family in Brooklyn, William clearly intended to establish permanent roots in Nyack.
By 1870, William and Margaret Randolph had settled firmly at the corner. They raised five surviving children, and their three sons—George, Frederick, and William—worked as clerks in the store while still teenagers. The business had become a family operation.
Randolph’s General Store
Early advertisements described the establishment as a general store. Locals soon shortened that to simply “Randolph’s.”
The original structure was modest, but the Randolphs paid close attention to its appearance. They planted a flower garden at the busy corner and maintained it carefully. At a time when many sidewalks remained dirt or wooden planks, they installed flagstone paving in front of the store. They also maintained adjoining streets in good repair. These visible efforts earned the family respect throughout the village.
In 1877, William Randolph announced plans for a larger and more permanent building. Construction began in 1879 under the direction of Isaac Vervalen, a local builder and neighbor. The new three-story brick store used approximately 215,000 bricks, including reddish brown Philadelphia brick on the façade. A covered porch wrapped around both street elevations, while a bracketed cornice capped the flat roof.
This line drawing appeared in the 1888 Nyack Directory as an advertising image for Randolph’s store. Artist Otto Zering later used the illustration as the basis for his watercolor reconstruction of the building.
The building measured approximately 25 by 56 feet. A gas lamp marked the corner entrance. Whether tenants occupied the upper floors remains unclear, but the first floor clearly served as the principal retail space.
Inside, Randolph sold flour, feed, tea, coffee, sugar, and canned goods. He moved roughly one hundred barrels of flour each year. Because he purchased inventory with cash, he could offer competitive prices. A delivery wagon, pulled by one of the fastest trotters in the area, served nearby neighborhoods.
This view from the 1884 Burleigh Illustrated Map of Nyack shows the new Randolph grocery with its porch extending along both street fronts. Compared with the sparse landscape of the 1850s, the neighborhood had already begun to fill with houses and businesses.
Over time, Randolph expanded the structure. In 1890, he enlarged the building, and in 1900 he added an inventory building. By the end of the century, the corner had evolved from bakery to substantial mercantile anchor.
Growth, Disputes, and Real Estate
As rail service expanded into Nyack, competition developed between rail and steamboat freight lines. Randolph generally favored rail deliveries because the depot stood only a few blocks away. However, on one occasion he ordered butter by steamboat. The captain refused the shipment, remarking that Randolph could ship the same way he did in winter.
Around the same time, Randolph disputed a tax assessment related to Broadway improvements. He argued that he maintained his own streets and should not bear additional corporate taxation. That disagreement reflected broader tensions in the region, including Upper Nyack’s decision to incorporate.
Randolph Brothers Advertisements, circa 1900.
These four advertisements show how two generations of Randolph Brothers promoted t. The advertisement at right dates from the early 1900s.
Meanwhile, Randolph pursued real estate aggressively. He acquired multiple properties along Franklin Street between Main and Burd. He built cottages, purchased dwellings, and developed commercial buildings. By the late 1870s, he had constructed a brick building at Jackson and Franklin to house a furniture business. He later purchased additional lots near the Crawford House and along Main Street.
In 1889, he built a ten-room house west of the store for his daughter Susie and her husband, E. B. Sippel Jr. Collectively, these holdings formed what locals recognized as a Randolph complex at the intersection.
This eastward view along Main Street shows the Randolph Building at right with two delivery wagons waiting nearby. The store’s porch and signage remain visible. In the center of the intersection, workers repair underground pipes. Courtesy of the Nyack Library.and Franklin.
Gardens, Prosperity, and Private Loss
Newspapers frequently mentioned Randolph’s horticultural interests. In 1884, he reportedly cut his lawn earlier than anyone else in Nyack. He grafted apple trees and cultivated a castor bean plant that reached impressive height. Even after his death, Mrs. Randolph continued tending the garden at the corner.
Outward prosperity, however, masked personal hardship. Two sons died shortly after their first birthdays. Another child died at age eight. In 1885, Randolph’s daughter Jennie died at age twenty-eight. In 1889, Randolph lost part of his thumb while slicing meat in the store.
Despite these tragedies, the family remained active in village life.
William J. Randolph Jr.: Public Office & Prosperity
After William Randolph’s death, his son William J. Randolph Jr. assumed leadership of the business. He operated the store with his brothers under the name Randolph Brothers and remained a visible presence at the corner.
At the same time, he entered public life. He served as Nyack Trustee, Treasurer of the Nyack Board of Trade, and Collector of Taxes for Orangetown. In 1899, voters elected him Rockland County Treasurer. He won reelection in 1902 and again in 1905, sometimes by narrow margins. He maintained his county office in the rear of the family store, linking his political and commercial roles.
During these years of rising prominence, Randolph invested in a new residence in Aldine Park, then an exclusive subdivision off West Sickles Avenue. Developed in the 1890s, Aldine Park featured twelve houses arranged around a landscaped central green with a semicircular service lane. Randolph’s ten room house, completed in 1896, displayed oak trim and reflected contemporary Arts and Crafts tastes. The purchase signaled both prosperity and ambition.
William J. Randolph Jr. built this ten-room house in Aldine Park during the 1890s, when the subdivision represented one of Nyack’s most exclusive residential developments. Photo by the author.
For a time, Randolph appeared to embody civic success. However, scrutiny soon followed.
Scandal and Consequences
In 1905, a local editorial publicly questioned Randolph’s opposition to a county audit. Two years later, investigators uncovered substantial shortages in county accounts. Randolph repaid $27,000 but attributed the discrepancy to bookkeeping errors. An independent investigation followed.
In 1909, a jury convicted him of misappropriating funds. The court sentenced him to prison, and in April 1910 he entered Sing Sing. Soon afterward, foreclosure proceedings forced the sale of the Randolph properties, including 143 Main Street.
The Aldine Park house did not remain in the family. What had once signaled upward mobility became, instead, a reminder of how quickly circumstances could change.
After his release, Randolph worked as a manager for Kushner Tea and Coffee on Main Street. He died in 1942 at age seventy-eight.
With his conviction and the loss of the Aldine Park residence, the Randolph chapter at Main and Franklin closed.
A Structure That Remained
The Randolph family transformed a modest bakery into a substantial brick commercial building. They shaped the corner physically and economically during Nyack’s formative years. Although their fortunes rose and fell, the 1879 structure endured.
After foreclosure and sale, the building entered a new phase. Different owners would adapt the space for new purposes as the village itself changed. In Part 2, that story continues—from early motion pictures and the Goldfinger dry goods store to the Lydecker era and the building’s modern reinvention.
Mike Hays has lived in the Nyacks for 38 years. Following a career as an executive at McGraw-Hill Education in New York City, he now devotes much of his time to researching, writing, and interpreting local history.
He serves as Treasurer and past President of the Historical Society of the Nyacks, a Trustee of the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center, and Historian for the Village of Upper Nyack. In these roles, he works closely with community partners to preserve historic resources and expand public understanding of the area’s past.
Since 2017, he has written the popular Nyack People & Places column for Nyack News & Views, chronicling the rich history, architecture, and personalities of the lower Hudson Valley. In addition, he has researched and developed museum exhibitions, written interpretive materials, and leads well-attended walking tours that bring Nyack’s layered history to life.
Married to Bernie Richey, he enjoys cycling, history walks, and winters in Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @UpperNyackMike.
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