[Illustration: Farish House. Now Old Wing of Monticello Hotel. _J.
Rawlings Thomson_]
Number Nothing (now Numbers 240-242 Court Square) is the original house
on this lot. It was built in 1820; a double store, separately owned and
handled. The name comes from the fact that at first the lot was intended
for a horse lot. When it was sold the other lots had been numbered in
rotation; a sequence was impossible, so Number Nothing was chosen.
Traditions of the slave trade cluster here. Until some forty years ago
there was on its Southern side, at the curb, a large stone, some
eighteen inches high, by fifteen inches wide, and thirty long, which was
known as the slave block. Here the village auctioneers long functioned,
and doubtless when slaves were brought in, their dealers made use of
these facilities. A fragment of an old sign may still be deciphered on
this wall: “... and Bros. Auction Rooms.” The stone was unintentionally
removed during recent street repairs.