May 24, 1962 New
Restaurant Is Opened On Geneva Street
The May 24, 1962, Interlaken Review noted, “Interlaken
has a new restaurant, opened recently by Mr. and Mrs. Nick Candido at their
home on Geneva St. The Candidos will specialize in Italian Cuisine. The
building was formerly Roarks Hotel, back in the heyday of Railroad. Located
directly across Geneva Street from the Lehigh Station, the hotel became a
landmark of this area.”
I was able to find a number of references to the Roarke Hotel
or sometimes Hotel Roarke in the Farmer Review. March 16, 1901, “Fox
chase at Farmer this afternoon at 3 o’clock. Headquarters at Hotel Roarke.”
October 5,1901, “Hotel Roake has been greatly improved by a coat of paint
applied by Johnson & VanDusen.”
April 24, 1903, “John Marshall has moved from Hayt’s Corners
to Farmer and opens Hotel Roarke on May 1st.”
The Interlaken Review listed the Bell Telephone
customers in Interlaken in the April 7, 1905, issue. Included in that list, “Hotel
Roarke now has a Bell ‘phone.”
A new sidewalk was installed in May 1907, Interlaken Review
May 31, 1907, “Thos Briggs has completed a cement walk for C. K Yates, on
Geneva Street extending from Hotel Roarke thru to Cayuga street…”
1910 Sanborn map showing the former Roarke Hotel
The Hotel would change hands over the years, retaining the
Hotel Roarke name. Michael Roarke died on May 30, 1928. His obituary in the Interlaken
Review June 1, 1928, did not mention the Hotel, but it would be part of the
settlement of his estate. Interlaken Review January 10, 1941, “Notice of
sale as part of the last will of Michael Roark, ‘Such premises being known as
the Roarke Hotel’…”
Some locations retain their earlier designation after
ownership or business use have changed. On May 21,1937, Under the headline
“Local Fire Department Answers Two Alarms” a second alarm occurred when “fire
was discovered in rooms occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Lester Covert, in the south
part of the former Hotel Roarke near the Lehigh Valley station.” The article
continued, “The flames were confined to the kitchen and one room on the second
floor, and except for the fact that an abundant supply of water was available
from a nearby hydrant, probably would have destroyed the entire structure.”
This was the first reported use of the new village water system in fighting a
fire.
Even into the 1940s, the Hotel was still a known landmark. Interlaken
Review August 25, 1944, “James Drake has purchased the vacant lot…just
north of the former Hotel Roarke and plans to erect a feed store on the site as
soon as possible.” A few years later, the feedstore would be purchased and become
the Interlaken Pennysaver offices.
Do you recall dinning at Interlaken’s Italian Restaurant? Some
memories linger for many years, often seeking an outlet to share. In trying to
find out more about Candidos Restaurant I was able to trace the history of
another of Interlaken’s older buildings.
While there were a few other references to the restaurant, the one ad I found was this Christmas ad from the December 23, 1965, Interlaken Review.
Antonio “Nick” Candido was born February 23, 1903, in Italy. He died October 21, 1981, and is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Ovid. He was a Korean War veteran. [www.findagrave.com]
Dewitt’s Diary
Tuesday, May 24, 1949, Temperature 58 degrees, rain. Light rain again this
morning. Bunny, Leland and I tried bullhead fishing, no luck. Tried night
fishing tonight. They bit for an hour until the wind blew us off the lake. I
caught 2 at night, small ones for the 1st of the season.
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