Bicentennial Snapshots


Beginning on Tuesday, March 22, 2022, and concluding on March 21st, 2023, the Greece Historical Society will be posting brief videos to help commemorate the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Town of Greece. This series will share many details about the people and events that influenced the town’s evolution. The topics in the Snapshots are researched, written, and narrated by Maureen Whalen, and all the snapshots are edited and produced by Pat Worboys. We hope that you will find these videos both interesting and informative.

We would like to thank the following people, town officials, fire departments, school districts, newspapers, and news stations for all the images and information from them that we used to compile these snapshots for you to learn more about the history of the Town of Greece.

People we would like to thank for their contributions to the snapshots are the following people: Gina DiBella, Bill Sauers, Marie Poinan, Douglas Worboys, Gene Preston, Jane Grant, Robert Bilsky, Ralph DeSptephano Sr., Alan Mueller, Joseph Vitello, Pat Worboys, Carolyn Kerheart, and many more. Some of the notes and research are from people that are longer with us we would like to give credit to Helen Slocum, Virginia Tomkiewicz, Shirley Cox Husted, William Aeberli, and especially Lorraine Kress Beane.

The organizations we like to thank for the use of the images are the following: North Greece Fire Department, Greece Ridge/Ridge Road Fire District, Barnard Fire Department, The Office of the Greece Historian, Rochester Public Library, The University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, Democrat and Chronicle, 13 Wham TV, WHEC, WROC, Spectrum News, Mother of Sorrows, Greece Baptist Church, Greece United Methodist Church, Greece Central School District, The Landmark Society of Western New York, Rochester Museum and Science Center, and others.

A blog post about the current week’s snapshot will also appear on this website each week at 9 am with a description of the video. Some of the posts will contain information that is written to explain content that was not included in the video but is related to the video so you can understand its connection to the snapshot. They may also include related articles that were written in the society’s newsletter or links to buy some of the books that the society has published over the years to enhance the subjects that are covered in the Snapshots that are put together each week.

If you have ideas or topics that you would like to see covered in this or a different future series, please let us know via our Facebook page or by submitting a request for a snapshot topic or subject.


The Bicentennial Snapshots

Bicentennial Snapshot # 04: King’s Landing

This week we consider King’s Landing, the First European Settlement, and Lake Port west of the Genesee River. Natives of Sheffield, Connecticut, in 1797. the King and Granger families established a settlement on the banks of the Genesee River. They cut roads, built a bridge over the ravine, cleared the land, built a wharf and a schooner, sailed to Fort Niagara with their first load of produce and wheat, killed rattlesnakes, and went about their daily lives until the settlement was decimated by malaria or Genesee Fever as it was called then. In 1807, the seven Hanford brothers renewed the King’s Landing settlement and built a mill, hotel, and shipping center there. More on Handford’s Tavern involvement in the War of 1812 Part 1…
Read More

Bicentennial Snapshot # 03: The Hinchers

This week on the Bicentennial snapshot we take a look at The Hinchers. They were the first European settlers on the shore of Lake Ontario, on the west side of the Genesee, between here and the Niagara River. William Hincher was born in Brookfield, Massachusetts on May 9, 1742. In Massachusetts his family name was Henshaw. In November 1794, Hincher purchased 627 acres of land in what is now Charlotte, using Continental currency. When the scrip was deemed to be of no value, he was forced to pay for the land a second time. It turned out to be an important purchase. And Later on, the Charlotte Lighthouse was constructed on part of their property, deeded to the government in 1821 by his widow, Mehitable…
Read More

Bicentennial Snapshot # 02: The Onödowá’ga (Oh-n’own-dough-wahgah) (Seneca is the English name)

This week, we look at The Onödowá’ga (Oh-n’own-dough-wahgah) (Seneca is the English name). And George H Harris Contribution on his documentation of some of these sites…
Read More

Bicentennial Snapshot # 01: The Founding of The Town of Greece

This week, we look at the founding of the town of Greece, from the inception of Ontario and Genesee Counties to the creation of Monroe County and the Town of Greece. During the session of 45th, New York State Legislature convened on March 22nd, 1822, the New York Senate approved dividing Gates into two Towns, Gates, and the newly formed Town of Greece. This decree went into effect on April 1, 1822…
Read More

Bicentennial Snapshot # 0: The Trailer

The Greece Historical Society presents these weekly Bicentennial Snapshots to mark the 200th Anniversary of the founding of the Town of Greece. Each week we feature a particular aspect of Greece history. Each Bicentennial story will be unique in nature and throughout the 52 episodes, you will learn about the people and events that comprise the vibrant history of Greece from its earliest days to the present.

Each story is researched, written, and narrated by retired librarian and local historian Maureen Whalen; she has a unique style of storytelling that makes each Bicentennial Snapshot come alive and easy for everyone to understand…
Read More