Two old Belmont pals stroll past St. Philips, the “Falls,” and other landmarks
COLUMN By Clayton “Tiger” Hulin
I have not been feeling particularly well lately. Recent cardiac concerns have forced me to slow down more than I would like, and I have had to put some important parts of my life on hold while I focus on getting my health back on track. Anyone who knows me understands that sitting still has never been my strong suit.
But Sunday morning I pulled it together anyway.
Some conversations are worth getting out of the house for.
I met Shannon Harding at the Herbert W. DeLong American Legion Post 808, where she had just finished helping with the Legion breakfast. Anyone who has volunteered at those breakfasts knows the rhythm of it. Coffee cups stacked, plates cleared, and the quiet satisfaction that comes from neighbors showing up to help neighbors.
When the breakfast wound down and the last coffee cups were emptied, we stepped outside and did something simple.
We walked the village.
Belmont is not a large place, but if you walk it slowly the buildings begin to tell their stories. The courthouse stands watch over the hill. The library and surrounding homes speak of another era when villages invested deeply in their civic life.
But you also notice the places that need attention.
Down near the Legion park along the Genesee, Harding pointed out that some upkeep is overdue. The Legion hopes to address much of it this summer. At the base of the large pillars near Village Hall, wood rot is beginning to show its age. Not far away, loose bricks along the old RG&E building show where time has begun to work against the mortar.
These are not dramatic problems. They are the ordinary signs of a village that simply needs people willing to maintain it.
And Belmont still has many of those people.
Many of the local businesses remain well-kept. Storefronts are tidy. You can see pride of ownership in many corners of the village.
Yet Belmont also stands at something of a crossroads.
Over the years Allegany County has purchased a number of properties in the village. Several buildings have disappeared and were replaced by parking lots. Residents still remember the old Methodist church that once housed the county museum. That building was torn down years ago.
Now another church building, the former St. Philip’s, faces the possibility of demolition.
Belmont resident Molly Pike recently wrote an open letter asking the county legislature to slow that decision and allow time to explore alternatives. I saw Pike on Sunday as well, and she asked me to read the letter. Now that I have, I remember it clearly, and I hope you will take the time to read it too.
In conversation, I mentioned that her parents had once been active in local politics. Pike smiled and told me she had no such ambitions herself. Still, it was clear she cares deeply about the village and its future.
Church buildings once stood at the center of village life. They were places where people gathered for christenings, weddings, funerals, choir rehearsals, holiday dinners, and the quiet conversations that knit communities together.
Once those buildings disappear, they rarely come back.
As Harding and I continued our walk, we eventually made our way toward the Genesee River.
Locals simply call it “the Falls.”
The sound of the water rolling over the dam filled the valley. Anyone who has stood there knows the feeling. The air seems sharper, cleaner. The constant rush of water brings that unmistakable lift that comes from moving water and fresh air. Belmont has always been lucky that its courthouse hill sits within earshot of that sound.
For a moment, we simply stood there listening.
Small towns rarely change all at once. They evolve building by building, decision by decision, summer by summer, as people choose whether to repair something or let it fade away.
Belmont still has much to be proud of.
But like many villages across rural New York, it now faces a quiet question about its future.
Walking those streets on a Sunday morning, it was hard not to think about the generations who came before us and the responsibility that now rests with those who live here today.
Belmont is still a beautiful place.
The question is what we choose to preserve.
Molly Pike, “OP-ED: Belmont resident asks Allegany County to reconsider plan to demolish former St. Philip’s,” Wellsville Sun, January 1, 2026.
