Riverside Tea Room

Text

Sometime during the 1920s Riverside Team Room, located at Red Banks between Edinburg and Mt. Jackson, produced this menu for patrons. Originally it stood on the west side of US 11.

Riverside Tea Room was first opened between 1920 and 1925 by Arline Allen (Davis) and backed by owners Ken and Frank Stoneburner.

Very little is known about the tea room except for what we can learn from this menu and other surviving advertisements. What we do know is:

• The business provided a wide array of amenities including the restaurant, cottages, camping, and a gas station

• The majority of the site’s customers appear to have been tourists travelling along Route 11. This menu listed local attractions including historic sites, fishing points, boating access, and “unequalled” scenic views. Endless Caverns is also highlighted.

• The selection of food and drinks was limited by local and legal factors. Several items, including steak, biscuits, and strawberries have been crossed off the menu most likely because there was difficulty getting them from local sources. The restaurant also only served “Near Beer” because of Federal and State prohibition laws.

The tea room would not remain in operation for many years. Sometime in the 1930s it closed. In 1935 became The Spot, a local dancing establishment where people could enjoy music, social opportunities, and a bottle brought from home.

In 1949 the Spot closed. Its owner, Ripley S. Walker, then leased the building to Matt Vitol, a Woodstock resident who owned and operated what later became the Woodstock Blue Bell plant. He converted the site into the Riverside Manufacturing Company which was designed to produce drape material.
However, the plant along with newly installed machinery and supplies, was destroyed by fire on September 20, 1950. It had opened the previous day. A home was later constructed on the ruins. It still stands between the river and Route 11 which has since been re-routed to the west of the site.

Anyone wishing to enhance our understanding of the tea room, the Spot, or of the Red Banks Community are asked to share their memories share online at tinyurl.com/gru4a5r or by contacting the library.