NEWSPAPER
1821 – 1971 MONROE COUNTY ROCHESTER NEW YORK SESQUICENTENNIAL SECTION
USED: GOOD CONDITION – SOME SPLITS AT PAPER FOLDED CORNERS
ROCHESTER,
N.Y., SUNDAY, MAY 2, 1971
THE
STORY BEGINS WITH THE RIVER BY HOWARD HOSMER
THE
RIVER RISES IN PENN COUNTRY AND FLOWS NORTHWARD, ROUGHLY FOLLOWING THE NEW PATH
SCRATCHED OUT FOR IT WHEN THE GLACIER RETREATED, SCRAPING THE LONG-IMPRISONED
EARTH WITH GRINDING BOULDERS AND ICE, GOUGING OUT FINGERS OF LAKES, RAISING
HILLS AND HILLOCKS AND SPREADING OUT VAST STRETCHES OF FERTILE SOIL.
THE
RIVER BEGINS AS A TRICKLE AT ITS BIRTHPLACE, THEN BROADENS AND CRAWLS THROUGH
THE HILLS TO ITS GREAT GORGE AT LETCHWORTH.
THERE IT ROMPS OVER FALLS, ONLY TO BE CONFINED BY THE TALL DAM AT MT.
MORRIS, WHICH KEEPS IT FROM INDULGING IN THE KIND OF TANTRUMS WHICH WERE ITS
SPRING RITUAL IN THE NORTHERLY FLATLANDS FOR UNCOUNTED CENTURIES BEFORE MAN
ERECTED THE BARRIER.
NORTH
OF THE DAM, IT IS MORE PLACID, MOVING TOWARD THE INLAND SEA, ONTARIO, BISECTING
MONROE COUNTY, DIVIDING ITS OWN CITY, ROCHESTER, WHERE IT IS CROSSED BY THE
BARGE CANAL.
NORTH
OF THIS INTERSECTION, IT BECOMES MORE AGILE, TUMBLING OVER TWO MORE FALLS ON
ITS WAY TO THE LAST GREAT LAKE AND THENCE FINALLY, IN THE MAJESTIC AVENUE OF
THE ST. LAWRENCE, TO THE OCEAN, THE RECIPIENT OF ALL WATERS, ITS 144-MILE
JOURNEY FROM PENN COUNTY TO ONTARIO LONG SINCE COMPLETED.
THIS IS
THE GENESEE. MONROE COUNTY IS WEDDED TO
IT, HAS BEEN NURTURED BY IT AND HAS GROWN FROM IT, SUCKING UP ITS POWER.
IN
TERMS OF THE RIVER, IN TERMS OF TIME, THE UNIVERSE AND LIFE ITSELF, MONROE
COUNTY IS A NEWLY-BORN INFANT OR LESS.
AT 150 YEARS AS A FORMAL POLITICAL ENTITY, IT IS AS A DROP IN ITS OWN
RIVER, AS A FLAKE IN ITS OWN GREAT SNOWSTORMS.
IN TERMS OF REASONABLY CIVILIZED MAN, IT IS VASTLY MORE IMPORTANT AND
MEASURABLE.
ORGANIZED
MAN DELIGHTS IN MEASURING. HE CALCULATES
TIME AND DISTANCE, SPEED, BREADTH, HEIGHT, DEPTH AND WEIGHT. MONROE COUNTRYMEN HAVE NOW MEASURED OFF 150
YEARS OF ORGANIZATION AND COHESIVENESS – 15 DECADES OF ADVANCEMENT OR
DEVELOPMENT OR PROGRESS OR SURVIVAL – WHICHEVER WORD SUITS THE FANCY. WITH THIS CONVENIENT FIGURE HAPPILY AT HAND,
LET THE MEASUREMENT BEGIN.
PICTURE
MAP FROM HAMLIN BEACH N.W. TO WEBSTER N.E. TO WHEATON, RUSH, MENDON SOUTH.
TOWN
AND COUNTRY
THE
MAJORITY OF ITS TOWNS AND MANY OF ITS VILLAGES ARE OLDER THAN MONROE COUNTY
ITSELF.
THERE
WAS ONCE A PLACE CALLED NORTON MILLS, NAMED AFTER ZEBULON NORTON WHO ARRIVED IN
THE REGION IN 1798 AND WAS BOTH A MILLER AND A MILLWRIGHT AND THE VERY PERFECT
PICTURE OF THE VARY EARLY SETTLER.
NORTON MILLS BECAME HONEOYE FALLS, HONEOYE IS IROQUOIS FOR “FINGER ON THE
GROUND.”
THE
LITTLE VILLAGE ACQUIRED ITS FIRST STORE IN 1810, A SHOP OPERATED BY ONE JOSEPH
DIXON, BUT IT WAS ALREADY PRODUCING SONS WHO WOULD BECOME PROMINENT IN MONROE
COUNTY, PEOPLE LIKE THE SHUARTS AND THE BARRETTS AND TOWNSENDS AND DR. HENRY
ALLEN, WHO MARRIED A DAUGHTER OF ZEBULON NORTON.
THE
VILLAGE WAS BLESSED BY THE PRESENCE OF HONEOYE CREEK, WHICH PUT THE “FALLS”
INTO HONEOYE FALLS AND ON WHICH EARLY SETTLER NORTON BUILT HIS FIRST MILL IN
1791. THE PRESENT STONE MILL BUILDING ON
THE SITE IS ITS SUCCESSOR, STANDING WHERE THE EARLY STONES GROUND OUT FLOUR
WHILE GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS PRESIDENT.
THE MILL SUPPLIED THE WHOLE REGION AND ONE OF ITS CUSTOMERS WAS BRIGHAM
YOUNG, WHO LIVED IN THE TOWN OF MENDON AND WAS THE PROPRIETOR OF BOTH A CHAIR
FACTORY AND A BRICK KILN NEAR BOUGHTON HILL ROAD BEFORE HE BEGAN, WITH JOSEPH
SMITH, TO LEAD THE MORMONS TO THEIR PROMISED LAND IN UTAH.
THE
TOWN OF MENDON, OF WHICH HONEOYE FALLS IS THE ONLY VILLAGE, HAD ITS OWN
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL IN 1963, WHICH MAKES IT EIGHT YEARS OLDER THAN ITS OWN
COUNTY. IT IS A TOWN WHICH FROM THE
BEGINNING WAS ATTRACTIVE TO THE INDUSTRIOUS, AND AMONG ITS EARLY SETTLERS WERE
MEN OF AMBITION AND VIGOR, ONE OF WHOM WAS CORNELIUS TREAT, A VETERAN OF THE
REVOLUTION, WHO ARRIVED IN 1793. OTHERS
WERE JOSEPH ALLEN JOSEPH BRYANT AND SAMUEL LANE.
THE
MENDON AREA, HONEOYE FALLS INCLUDED, HAS HAD A PENCHANT FOR ATTRACTING
INDUSTRY. MENDON HAD BOTH A FLOUR MILL AND A SAW MILL IN 1885, OPERATED
BY STEAM. THE LEHIGH VALLEY RAILROAD
LAID ITS TRACKS THROUGH THE TOWN IN 1890 AND WITH THIS CAME THE ESTABLISHMENT
OF ROCHESTER JUNCTION.
SEARJEANT
METAL PRODUCTS, INC. IS A LEADING MANUFACTURER OF POWER PRESS SAFETY
EQUIPMENT. EMERSON-RITTENHOUSE COMPANY
IS VIRTUALLY AN OLD SETTLER, AND JAMES CUNNINGHAM & SON COMPANY, WHICH HAD
ITS BEGINNINGS IN THE 1830s IN ROCHESTER AND IN THE EARLY 1900s, MANUFACTURED
ONE OF AMERICA’S GREAT LUXURY AUTOMOBILES, HAS SINCE MOVED TO HONEOYE FALLS AND
THERE, AS A GLEASON WORKS SUBSIDIARY, MANUFACTURES ELECTRONIC DEVICES.
OGDEN
MENDON
HAS ITS HONEOYE FALLS AND THE TOWN OF OGDEN HAS ITS SPENCERPORT. THE TOWN IS 154 YEARS OLD, THE VILLAGE 104
YEARS OLD. OGDEN IS 37 SQUARE MILES OF
RICH SOIL IN WHICH GREW TREES WHICH KEPT THE TOWN CONTINUOUSLY IN THE LUMBER
BUSINESS RIGHT UP TO THE 1950s.
MORE
LATELY, OGDEN HAS GONE THE RESIDENTIAL ROUTE.
ITS PRODUCE WAREHOUSES AND FRUIT PROCESSING INDUSTRIES HAVE DWINDLED OR
DISAPPEARED AND IT IS MOSTLY NOW A PLEASANT RESIDENTIAL AREA FOR PEOPLE WHO
WORK IN THE CITY, 10 MILES AWAY.
THE
FIRST KNOWN SETTLER IN OGDEN, GEORGE WARREN, ARRIVED FROM CONNECTICUT IN
1802. HE WAS FOLLOWED NOT LONG AFTERWARD
BY SUCH FAMILIES AS THE WILLEYS AND THE FOUR COLBY BROTHERS, ABRAHAM, ISAAC,
TIMOTHY AND EPHRIAM, WHOSE HARDY DESCENDANTS STILL LIVE IN THE TOWN. A UNION OF THE HILL AND WILLARD FAMILIES
PRODUCED IN 1839 FRANCES WILLARD, THE FIRST OF THE GREAT AMERICAN TEMPERANCE
LEADERS, WHOSE STATUE GRACES THE STATUARY HALL IN THE NATION’S CAPITOL IN
WASHINGTON.
OGDEN
AND ESPECIALLY SPENCERPORT, ITS ONLY VILLAGE, BENEFITTED GREATLY FROM THE
COMING OF THE ERIE CANAL, AS DID MOST OF UPSTATE NEW YORK. OGDEN IS THE SEAT OF THE SMALLER OF MONROE
COUNTY’S TWO INDEPENDENT TELEPHONE COMPANIES, THE OGDEN COMPANY HAVING
CONSOLIDATED IN 1957 WITH THE HILTON TELEPHONE COMPANY. THE BIG ONE, OF COURSE, IS ROCHESTER
TELEPHONE.
SPENCERPORT
HAS HAD ITS INDUSTRIES, AMONG THE MOST FAMOUS OF WHICH WAS THE ANTONELLI
FIREWORKS COMPANY, WHICH IN THE 1930s PRODUCED FIREWORKS IN GREAT PROFUSION AND
WHICH EVENTUALLY WENT INTO THE PRODUCTION OF BOMBS AND HAND GRENADES FOR THE
NATIONAL WAR EFFORT IN WORLD WAR II AND GOT ITSELF INVOLVED INA CELEBRATED
TRIAL IN WHICH IT WAS CHARGED WITH MAKING FAULTY GOODS FOR THE GOVERNMENT. THE
TRIAL RESULTED IN JAIL SENTENCES AND FINES FOR SOME OF ITS PRINCIPALS.
SPENCERPORT
IS ALSO THE SEAT OF THE MATHEOS ICE CREAM COMPANY, FOUNDED IN 1915, AND OF A
NOBLE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
THE
VILLAGE WAS ONLY A LOT IN A MEADOW WHEN THE CANAL CAME BY. ORIGINALLY, WHEN THE WATERWAY ARRIVED, IT WAS
KNOWN AS SPENCER’S BASIN. ITS FIRST
PRESIDENT, WHEN IT ATTAINED THE STATUS OF VILLAGE, WAS DR. WILLIAM
SLAYTON. IN THE COURSE OF THE YEARS, IT
HAD A WASHING MACHINE FACTORY, COAL YARDS, GRIST AND SAWMILLS, NOW GONE.
SPENCERPORT
HISTORIAN EARL EDGAR WHITE NOTES THAT SPENCERPORT AND ITS IMMEDIATE ENVIRONS
PRODUCED A NUMBER OF PEOPLE OTHERS SHOULD HAVE KNOWN, AMONG THEM NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHERS CORYDON AND ROY MALAY, JOHN F. TROWBRIDGE, POET AND AUTHOR, DR. JOHN
WEBSTER, WHOSE HOME WAS A HAVEN FOR RUNAWAY SLAVES PROGRESSING THROUGH MONROE COUNTY
ON THE “UNDERGROUND RAILROAD AND CHARLES
UPTON, FAMED AS THE MANUFACTURER OF THE ROCHESTER LAMP, WHICH WAS SOLD CLEAR TO
CHINA.
IT ALSO
PRODUCED PETER THOMPSON, A METHODIST MINISTER WHO FATHERED DOROTHY THOMPSON, A
NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST AND LECTURER OF NATIONAL STATURE IN THE 1930s WHO WAS ALSO
A WIFE OF SINCLAIR LEWIS, THE NOVELIST.
GATES
UNLIKE
THE TOWN OF OGDEN, THE TOWN OF GATES NEVER HAS BENEFITTED GREATLY FROM THE
PRESENCE OF THE BARGE CANAL, BUT IT GOES BACK TO 1813, AT WHICH TIME A WHOLE
STRING OF EARLY SETTLERS MOVED IN TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE TERRAIN AND TO WRING
FROM IT SOME KIND OF LIVELYHOOD. THESE
ICLUDED PEOPLE NAMED JOHN HARFORD, ISAAC RAY, WILLIAM HINCHEY AND OTHERS NAMED
GILMAN, CORTWRIGHT, SHAW, VAN SICKEL, GRIFFIN, LYELL, JAMESON, THOMAS, FRINK,
BARTLETT, HILL, MURINGER, KNAPP BENTLY, HUNT, KELLOGG, AINSWORTH, DEAN, HART
AND FIELD.
GATES
WAS ONCE THE PARENT OF A FAMOUS BRICKYARD, ROCHESTER CLAY, BRICK & TILE
COMPANY, WHICH AT ONE TIME PRODUCED AS MANY AS 50,000 BRICKS A DAY BUT WHICH IS
NOW, IN BROOKS AVENUE, A PART OF THE ROCHESTER-MONROE COUNTY AIRPORT. IT WAS TORN DOWN IN 1935.
GATES
ALSO BOASTED ACKERMAN’S HOTEL AT HOWARD AND LYELL ROADS, BUILT IN 1844 AND A
STAGECOACH STOP BEFORE THE RAILROADS CAME IN COMPLETELY. IT WAS ALSO THE HOME OF JOSEPH HARRIS,
FOUNDER OF THE HARRIS SEED COMPANY, WHO LIVED AT 3670 BUFFALO ROAD, AND WHOSE
GRANDSON JOSEPH, IS NOW PRESIDENT OF THE COMPANY. THE CENTURY-OLD HINCHEY HOMESTEAD REMAINS AT
634 HINCHEY ROAD.
THESE
NAMES RING DOWN THROUGH GATES MEMORIES.
THERE ARE MANY WHO TREASURE MOMENTS IN ELSER’S GROVE, WHERE PRIVATE,
CHURCH, SOCIAL, FRATERNAL, POLITICAL GATHERINGS WERE HELD BY THE HUNDREDS.
THAT’S GONE TOO.
THE
GATES CENTER CEMETERY IS A LINK WITH THE TOWN’S HISTORIC PAST. IT CONTAINS THE REMAINS OF JOSEPH GILBERT,
WHO DIED IN 1850 AT THE AGE OF 93, AND DAVID GAGE, WHO DIED IN 1844. BOTH HAD FOUGHT IN THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION.
WEBSTER
THE
TOWN OF WEBSTER, WHICH INCLUDES THE VILLAGE OF WEBSTER, HAS A LAND AREA OF
21,468 ACRES AND 612 ACRES OF WATER. IT
MAY BE SAID TO BE TYPICAL OF MONROE COUNTY TOWNS THAT IN 1875 IT HAD 400 FARMS
OF AN AVERAGE ACREAGE OF 51 ACRES, DIPPED SLIGHTLY IN THIS RESPECT FOR 79 YEARS
AND IN 1954 REPORTED 247 FARMS WITH AN AVERAGE ACREAGE OF 51 ACRES. IN 1969, IT SHOWED ONLY 100 FARMS, BUT THEY
AVERAGED 53 ACRES. FROM 1875 TO 1969,
THE PERCENTAGE OF WEBSTER’S LAND DEVOTED TO FARMING DWINDLED FROM 94.6 PER CENT
TO 24.7 PER CENT.
BUT IN
BETWEEN, WEBSTER ACQUIRED MONROE COUNTY’S SECOND LARGEST INDUSTRY IN XEROX
CORP. AND ITS LARGEST PUBLISHER OF BOOKS, LAWYERS COOPERATIVE PUBLISHING
COMPANY.
THERE
ARE SOMETIMES VALID REASONS FOR THE NAME OF ROADS AND PLACES. SALT ROAD IS IN WEBSTER WITH A REASON. EARLY SETTLERS IN WEBSTER, WHICH WAS A LATE
COMER AMONG …
CAPTIONS:
BROCKPORT
ALSO GREW AS RESULT OF THE ERIE CANAL BUT THE BIG JOHNSTON HARVESTER CO. PLANT,
SHOWN IN THE OLD MACHINES WERE SHIPPED TO EUROPE, EVEN TO NEW ZEALAND.
THIS
EARLY PRINT OF FAIRPORT SHOWS THE OSBURN HOUSE AND BUSY LIVERY STABLE BEHIND
IT. THOSE MANY RAILROAD TRACKS CROSSING
STREET SPELLED THE END OF THE BIG CANAL BOOM THAT BUILT UP THE VILLAGE FIRST
NAMED FOR PERRIN FAMILY.
THIS
VIEW OF LAKE ONTARIO SHORE, IN AN EARLY ENGRAVING, IS FROM WEBSTER PAST. DURAND EASTMAN PARK ACROSS TO CHARLOTTE AT
MOUTH OF GENESEE RIVER. LEFT CENTER IN
THE DISTANCE IS SEA BREEZE HOTEL AT LAKE FRONT IN IRONDEQUOIT.
EAST
ROCHESTER
THE
LATE LUCILE S. SAUNDERS, HISTORIAN OF EAST ROCHESTER, TOOK A SPECIAL DELIGHT IN
RECOUNTING ITS ORIGINS, ITS EARLY ENTHUSIASM AND ITS HARMONIOUS ATMOSPHERE IN
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL YEAR.
EAST
ROCHESTER IS PERHAPS THE ONLY ONE OF MONROE COUNTY’S VILLAGES WHICH CAN BE SAID
TO HAVE BEEN FOUNDED ON INDUSTRY ALONE, AND ON AN INDUSTRY WHICH BEGAN IN
GOODMAN STREET IN THE CITY AND WAS BURNED OUT IN 1894. MERCHANTS DISPATCH TRANSPORTATION COMPANY
MADE RAILROAD CARS AND HAD TO HAVE A PLACE TO GO.
MOST
IDEAS, TO BE FULFILLED, NEED A WONDER WORKER.
WALTER PARCE, A FAIRPORT MERCHANT WAS ONE. MR. PARCE WAS AN OPPORTUNIST AND A VISIONARY,
WHICH IS NOT A BAD COMBINATION FOR GETTING THINGS DONE. CONSCIOUS OF THE M.D.T’s SITUATION, HE
FREQUENTLY RODE FROM FAIRPORT TO ROCHESTER ON THE NEW YORK CENTRAL, ADMIRED THE
FARMS ALONG THE WAY, REALIZED THAT ABOUT SIX FARMERS OWNED MOST OF THEM, AND
KNEW THAT THERE WAS WATER POWER AVAILABLE IN IRONDEQUOIT CREEK.
THERE
WAS ALREADY INDUSTRY IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA – THE LINCOLN FLOUR MILL, A QUALITY
PRODUCER, AND THE BOWN BROTHERS APPLE DRYING PLANT.
MR.
PARCE MOVED QUICKLY, ACQUIRING OPTIONS ON THE FARMS ALONG THE TRACKS, AND, WITH
ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY BUSINESSMEN ? FORMED THE VANDERBILT IMPROVEMENT
COMPANY AND OFFERED THE FAMRLAND TO M.D.T. FOR A NEW PLANT WHICH WOULD BE BUILT
ON 35 ACRES OF ONCE PRODUCTIVE SOIL.
THE
LAYING OF THE CORNERSTONE FOR THE FIRST OF THE DISPATCH SHOPS PROVIDED, OR
PERHAPS INSPIRED, ONE OF THE MOST GALA DAYS IN MONROE COUNTRY INDUSTRY AND DREW
MORE THAN 20,000 PERSONS TO A GIGANTIC BARBECUE TO CELEBRATE THE ERECTION OF A
WORKINGMAN’S VILLAGE, THE COUNTY’S FIRST.
PITTSFORD
THE
TOWN OF PITTSFORD, IN WHICH THE LARGER PART OF EAST ROCHESTER SITS, WAS SETTLED
IN 1789. IT CONTAINS 24.8 SQUARE MILES
OF MONROE COUNTY LAND, ITS OWN WHOLE, LOVELY VILLAGE, THE AFOREMENTIONED PART
OF EAST ROCHESTER, WHICH IT SHARES WITH PERINTON, AND A CHUNK OF BOTH POWDER
MILL AND MENDON PONDS PARK.
LIKE
ALL MONROE COUNTY TOWNS, PITTSFORD WAS ONCE GREAT FOR AND WENT IN HEAVILY FOR
FARMING. IT ALSO HAD VAST GRAVEL PITS, ALTHOUGH THEY ARE VIRTUALLY EXHAUSTED,
AND MUCH OF THE FARMLAND HAS GONE FOR RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT. ONCE IT WAS FAR MORE INDUSTRIOUS THAN IT IS
NOW, HAVING HAD A NUMBER OF EARLY FLOUR AND SAW MILLS, TANNERIES, BRICKYARDS
AND DISTILLERIES TO SATISFY THE LOCAL TASTE AND THIRST. IT ALSO PRODUCED LUMBER, SAND AND LIMESTONE.
PITTSFORD
GOT HISTORIC EARLY. THE MARQUIS
DENONVILLE PASSED ITS WAY WITH HIS ARMY ON THE WAY FROM MONTREAL TO GIVE THE
SENECAS A LESSON, ONLY TO MEET MISFORTUNE, AND IN RETREAT PASSED THROUGH
PITTSFORD AFTER MAKING BIVOUAC THERE IN 1687.
PITTSFORD
CAME CHEAP IN ONE OF THOSE EARLY REAL ESTATE DEALS THROUGH WHICH PHELPS AND
GORHAM PARCELED OUT SOME OF THE GREATEST LAND AND MOST ATTRACTIVE COUNTRYSIDE
IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. SIMON
AND ISRAEL STONE OF WASHINGTON COUNTY BOUGHT TOWNSHIP 12, RANGE 5, WHICH BECAME
PITTSFORD, FROM PHELPS AND GORHAM FOR 36 CENTS AN ACRE, ACQUIRING 13,296 ACRES
IN ALL FOR $4,786.56 OR 960 POUNDS, 5 SHILLINGS AND 4 PENCE. IT WAS NORTHFIELD THEN, LATER BOYLE, LATER
SMALLWOOD.
IN
1823, WITH THE CANAL COMING ON – IT WOULD PROVE A BOON – THE ASSESSED VALUATION
OF REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY IN THE TOWN WAS $167,461. IN 1970, ITS TOTAL VALUE, INCLUDING THE
VILLAGES AND THE TOWN OUTSIDE THE VILLAGES WAS SOMETHING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF
$278,500,000.
MANY OF
THOSE WHO SETTLED PITTSFORD WERE VETERANS OF THE REVOLUTION, AMONG THEM CAPT.
HENRY GALE OF MASSACHUSETTS, WHOSE GREAT – GREAT – GRANDDAUGHTER, ZONA GALE,
WOULD BE A CELEBRATED AMERICAN WRITER.
SIMON
STONE BUILT THE TOWN’S FIRST GRIST MILL IN 1791 ON IRONDEQUOIT CREEK NEAR A
HAMLET WHICH BORE THE NAME OF CARTERVILLE.
THE TOWN’S FIRST PHYSICIAN, ALSO THE COUNTRY’S, WAS DR. JOHN RAY, WHO
ARRIVED IN 1793 AND WAS FOLLOWED SOMEWHAT LATER BY DR. HARTWELL CARVER, WHO HAD
THE ADDITIONAL DISTINCTION OF BECOMING KNOWN AS THE FATHER OF THE PACIFIC
RAILROAD. HIS ONE-TIME RESIDENCE, A
VILLAGE SHOWPLACE, IS AT 41 MONROE AVENUE.
PITTSFORD
IS CREDITED WITH MANY MONROE COUNTY “FIRSTS,” AMONG THEM THE FIRST SCHOOL
HOUSE, FIRST LIBRARY, FIRST LAWYER IN THE PERSON OF SIMON STONE II, WHO ARRIVED
IN 1804, FIRST POST OFFICE, SET UP IN 1811, AND FIRST NEWSPAPER. …
PITTSFORD
HAS ACQUIRED A NUMBER OF DISTINCTIONS OVER ITS MANY YEARS. ONE CONFERRED ON IT IN 1900 WAS THE TITLE, “
THE VILLAGE WITH SIX CHURCHES AND SIX SALOONS.”
IN
ADDITION TO THE INDUSTRIES IN EAST ROCHESTER, THE TOWN ALSO BOASTS GRAFLEX,
INC., MOVED OUT FROM THE CITY LIKE SO MANY OTHERS, IS THE HOMELAND OF THREE
COUNTRY CLUBS – OAK HILL, IRONDEQUOIT AND MONROE GOLF CLUB, AND A PART OF A
FOURTH, LOCUST HILL. IT IS ALSO THE HOME
OF THREE PRIVATE SCHOOLS OF DISTINCTION, THE ALLENDALE SCHOOL FOR BOYS AND ST.
JOHN FISHER AND NAZARETH COLLEGE OF ROCHESTER.
PENFIELD
ONE OF
PITTSFORD’S NEAR NEIGHBORS IS PENFIELD, AND VERY FEW TOWNS ANYWHERE HAVE BEEN
SO FORTUNATE IN THEIR HISTORIANS AS THIS ONE, WHICH HAS KATHERINE WILCOX
THOMPSON, AUTHOR OF “PENFIELD’S PAST,” A SCHOLARLY AND INTRIGUING BOOK
PUBLISHED IN 1950, WHEN THE TOWN HAD ITS OWN SESQUI-CENTENNIAL. THE TOWN ACTUALLY GOES BACK BEFORE ITS FORMAL
BEGINNING IN 1810, HAVING BEEN DIVIDED EARLY INTO EVEN SIZED LOTS OF 400 ACRES
EACH IN THE AREA IMMEDIATELY EAST OF
FIVE MILE LINE ROAD. IT WAS KNOWN AMONG
THE PHELPS AND GORHAM HOLDINGS AS TOWNSHIP 13 AND WAS SOLD BY OLIVER PHELPS OF
CANANDAIGUA, THE AREA METROPOLIS, TO JONATHAN FASSET OF VERMONT IN 1790, ONE OF
102 TOWNS, MRS. THOMPSON RECOUNTS, DEVELOPED AFTER THE REVOLUTION BY PHELPS AND
NATHANIEL GORHAM AS THEY PARCELED OUT THE HUGE ACREAGE HELD UNDER THE PHELPS
AND GORHAM PURCHASE.
Combined items reduces total shipping cost. I will combine into a 1 package weight shipping.