Roadside Craftsmen

The Roadside Craftsmen was opened in the early 1930s by Clarence Wemett as a place to make and sell novelty items.  Homer Bullock was hired in 1934 as a wood craftsmen.  Guy Daugherty was the potter; a weaver and metal worker were also involved.  Clarence Wemett was a Shell Oil distributor with headquarters in Hemlock, NY.  He also had a gas station and a restaurant down the road to the left.

 

The Roadside Craftsmen was on the north side of Route 5 and 20 in East Bloomfield.  The main building was a church building that was dismantled and rebuilt here.  There were two small shelters in front of the building where the potter and the wood turner performed for the visitors and customers.  Homer's wood turner shelter is shown here on the right side of the building.  Ruth Bullock is shown standing near a tree to the right.

This is from an advertisement in a tourist's guide printed in 1935.  Homer is depicted as the stick figure wood man and Guy Daugherty as the potter.

 

A photo of Homer Bullock turning a bowl in the outside shelter at the Roadside Craftsmen.  The photo is from a newspaper article in the Rochester Times Union in 1935.

Another photo from the newspaper article shows the method of grinding clay.  Carl Jennings is leading the horse.

PDB
June 2001