Casey’s

When I was eighteen I was introduced to alcohol…legally. Since our town is five minutes away from the New York state line and their drinking age at the time was eighteen many of our teenagers spent a lot of time in Limestone. There were a few bars there but the favorite by far was Casey’s. What made this bar so special was the piano guy…Phil English. It was a party every Saturday night when my now husband and I would sit at a table and sing and sing along with the tunes Phil was playing. It was such a happy time. The bar became famous and the picture below was in Life magazine. It even drew people from Buffalo to come down and have a great evening. Like most good things the bar finally closed but my good memories live on.

PHIL "FINGERS" ENGLISH, who was hugely popular & somewhat of a legend ranging from Kinzua(which was Phil's hometown) to Bradford & up to Salamanca. But it was at Casey's Limestone Hotel, located in Limestone, NY, that was considered Phil's second home, as he was the feature entertainer here. He was widely known for getting a party started & making it last till the end of the night. One of the things that made Mr. English so immensely popular, was the fact that he could play ANY SONG upon request, no matter what the song was. If he was not familiar with it, he would ask the person to hum a few bars of it, then he would take it from there. He was a man that never had any type of formal piano lessons.

"CASEY'S LIMESTONE HOTEL" was located on Route 219 in Limestone, NY, and across the road from the old Limestone Entrance into Allegany State Park. It says that they have been open since 1865/1866, there slogan sounds like one from the 1800's, that says, "PURVEYING SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS".
It was built in 1865 and is one of the oldest buildings in Cattaraugus County. Casey's once hosted President Woodrow Wilson. Casey's was known for it's big top quality steaks and also for the liquor bottles that rattled on the bar, as well as the windows shaking, when trains rumbled past, on the very nearby railroad tracks. Another popular draw at Casey's, was that it had a piano bar to entertain the bar crowd & the dining patrons. This piano bar was extremely popular, mainly because of a smaller, thin man named Phil English, who hailed from the former community of Kinzua, Pa. Mr. English, who had a background in music and the theater, but no formal piano lessons, had a knack for pulling patrons into the fun and songs. Phil English, was, well you could say that he was ahead of his time for back in those days, because he was not shy about saying that he was “openly gay,” also kept the parties and drinks flowing every night. Mr. English’s evening performances, were so well-loved that word spread to local media, who included Bill and Mildred Miller, hosts of the popular “Meet the Millers” cooking show on TV, in Buffalo. Through the Millers, who were regular customers at Casey's, and other media sources, word of the popular piano player at a rural steak house, spread to Life Magazine. The Life Magazine staff, complete with several large trucks and flood lights for the famous photographer Yale Joel, arrived in the summer of 1959 for the photo shoot. This famous photograph, looks much like a Norman Rockwell painting, as it captured a lively piano bar scene with pianist Phil English, leading a fun-filled sing-along of spirited patrons. After the photo(seen at the top) was published in Life Magazine's December 29, 1959 issue,"the little restaurant near the railroad tracks" skyrocketed in fame. Reservations were booked weeks in advance, and lines of people were part of the landscape. After this once immensely popular restaurant closed down, it became an antique shop, called "Discovery Antique Store" for a while. This famous old local landmark, is still standing, but sitting abandoned, the word is that it is going to be torn down, because it has become an eye sore and a problem because of asbestos. I received some of this information from an Olean Times Herald newspaper article