I'm in Sherman, New York in Chautauqua County and I want to tell a story about a particular site in the town’s business district.  Like a cat, it's had many lives.  It's even risen from the ashes a few times.

The first structure at the site on West Main Street was built in 1837.  It housed the first of many hotels with many different names.  There was The Sherman House, The Dean House, The Tucker Hotel, Hotel Sherman, Whitney House, The Sherman Hotel, and The Morse Hotel.  Fire destroyed or heavily damaged the building in 1878, 1890, and 1991.   After the 1991 fire, it was rebuilt as a single story establishment with no hotel rooms.

Nancy Card lived here as a young girl when her grandparents owned the Morse Hotel. She remembers how vibrant the town of Sherman was in the 1940s and 1950s.

"There was a movie theater.  There were two hardwares, four grocery stores, Now there's none,” she says.

There was a time when Sherman had two car dealerships and four gas stations.  Those days are gone.  However, Sherman is making a comeback.  The comeback includes a new business at the site of all those different hotels. It's called The Sherman Hotel Steakhouse and Saloon.  Owner Dave Conrad says he had no problem coming up with the name.

"People always say, 'We're going to the hotel.  Let's go to the hotel.' There's sure no way I was going to change it to something else because it's just in the mindset of people of my age and my generation,” Dave says.  

Dave always wanted to own a steakhouse.  He's proud to add to the history of this site on West Main Street. He says many, many memories have been made here. The building even housed a motorcycle club.  You can still see the skid marks on the floor.  Dave wants people to remember his steaks. He personally cuts the prime Angus beef every morning. The steakhouse has been open for only a month and people who visited are already coming back again and again.

"I can't tell you how many people said it’s the best steak they've ever had in their life and I'm not exaggerating,” declares Dave. “People who are saying this are very heavy into beef.  Even a cattle farmer came in and said it's the best steak he's ever had outside of his own house."

My history lesson from Nancy and Dave is over.  I’m now distracted by the smell and sizzle of a wonderful charbroiled steak.  It's time to sit down at a table and make my own memories at this site.

The Village of Sherman also had two new bed and breakfasts open recently.   A new tavern also opened on West Main Street.  A major renovation to the Edmunds Public Park is underway.  More revitalization and economic development in Sherman is expected.