Our new season of Second Tuesday of the Month programs begins on September 13, 2022, at 7 pm, in the Welsh Room at the Greece Public Library, with “Set in Stone: The History of Cobblestone Masonry”, by Douglas Farley.
Mr. Farley looks at the geological and social factors that created the perfect storm for a truly unique, regional architectural phenomenon that lasted from roughly 1820 to the end of the Civil War. Also covered is the creation of the Cobblestone Society & Museum and its growth to include its award-winning National Historic Landmark campus.
The Cobblestone Church at the Cobblestone Museum in Albion, NY
Douglas Farley
Douglas Farley is the current director of The Cobblestone Society located in Albion (Orleans County) NY, a position he has held since 2017. The Cobblestone Society interprets three National Historic Landmark cobblestone buildings and several other historic structures on their large campus. You can learn more about the Cobblestone Museum at https://www.cobblestonemuseum.org/
A brief note: In the town of Greece, there is an example of cobblestone architecture at 978 North Greece Road just south of Mill Road. You can learn more about this building by clicking the link below. Also – look for more information about the role of cobblestones in Greece in our upcoming Bicentennial Snapshots 28, 29, and 30.
Our new season of Second Tuesday of the Month programs begins on September 13, 2022, at 7 pm, in the Welsh Room at the Greece Public Library, with “Set in Stone: The History of Cobblestone Masonry”, by Douglas Farley.
Mr. Farley looks at the geological and social factors that created the perfect storm for a truly unique, regional architectural phenomenon that lasted from roughly 1820 to the end of the Civil War. Also covered is the creation of the Cobblestone Society & Museum and its growth to include its award-winning National Historic Landmark campus.
The Cobblestone Church at the Cobblestone Museum in Albion, NY
Douglas Farley
Douglas Farley is the current director of The Cobblestone Society located in Albion (Orleans County) NY, a position he has held since 2017. The Cobblestone Society interprets three National Historic Landmark cobblestone buildings and several other historic structures on their large campus. You can learn more about the Cobblestone Museum at https://www.cobblestonemuseum.org/
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED for this program. Please click the link below to register or you can call the Greece Public Library by phone
A recording of this presentation will be available at a later date for reference only.
A brief note: In the town of Greece, there is an example of cobblestone architecture at 978 North Greece Road just south of Mill Road. You can learn more about this building by clicking the link below. Also – look for more information about the role of cobblestones in Greece in our upcoming Bicentennial Snapshots 28 and 29.
Architect James H. Johnson talked about his career and the buildings he designed. This was recorded in May 8, 2012 at St John the Evangelist Church, on Ridge Rd in Greece, a church he designed in 1963. Mr. Johnson died on February 2, 2016, at the age of 83. He was known, was well recognized for his unique architectural designs and innovative structures, including the Liberty Pole, Temple Sinai, the Mushroom House, Church of St. John the Evangelist, St. Januarius Church in Naples, NY, the Phyllis Wheatley Library, and many custom homes that he designed.
“The Architecture of James H. Johnson” is presently out of stock. We anticipate printing more in the next few months. If you are interested in getting on a waiting list, please email us at: greecehistoricalsociety@yahoo.com
Here is a presentation that is done on May 14, 2019, about James H. Johnson architecture
Come visit with descendants of two early settlers – the Volkmar and Cole/Kenyon families. Jo Ann Ward Snyder and Maire Poinan interviewed family members when researching their book: Pioneer Families of the Town of Greece. Carolyn Kerhaert descendant of the VOLKMAR family came to Greece about 1865 and helped found St. John’s Church. Cousins Deb Myers and Maureen Murphy are descendants of the COLE and Kenyon families who settled in the area in 1814 before there was the Town of Greece or an Erie Canal. Community engagement was instrumental in preserving pioneer stories. These descendants became interested in tracing their families’ history and having their stories preserved in our Bicentennial book. Presented by Jo Ann Ward Snyder and Marie Poinan in cooperation with the Greece Historical Society.
The Volkmar, Cole/Kenyon Families are in the first volume of the Pioneers Families of the Town of Greece which you may purchase here or on Amazon.
These are the time codes for the chapters in this Tuesday’s program so you can jump right to the chapter you would like to view:
Volume 2 of The Pioneer Families of the Town of Greece will be released in Early 2024 depending on final revisions and last-minute touches on the book. Stay tuned to our Facebook page for updates on when the book will go live for sale.
The Greece Historical Society (GHS) is sponsoring a Cultural Resource Survey of The Architecture of Thomas W. Boyde, Jr., Rochester’s first African American architect. The project is funded by grants from the Rochester Area Community Foundation. It also receives support from the Preservation League of New York State/New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). Individual donations contribute to the funding as well.
Thomas Boyde 1930 NY Architects Office cropped to headshot
Thomas W. Boyde, Jr. was a prolific designer of Mid-Century Modern homes and businesses. He also did significant work designing buildings for economically disadvantaged communities. The survey will help identify Boyde’s built work across Western New York. It includes several houses in the town of Greece. It will also bring new appreciation to this supremely talented architect. He left a remarkable legacy in the greater Rochester area.
The research team includes:
Christopher Brandt, architect at Bero Architecture PLLC;
Jeffrey A. Harris is known as “Free”. He is an independent historian and a historic preservation consultant from Hampton, VA.
Katie Eggers Comeau, a former architectural historian at Bero.
Gina M. DiBella, preservation consultant from Greece.
Jenna Huizinga, Brighton Historian’s Office intern and SUNY Geneseo student
Alexis Rivers, research assistant.
Thomas Boyde Jr. designed a house at 442 Edgemere Drive View facing the front door.
Thomas W Boyde, Jr. Designed House, 442 Edgemere Drive View from the rear – Photo by Bill Sauers
The project team discovered additional drawings, correspondence, and interviews while conducting research. These findings went beyond the original scope of the project. They are now working to raise additional funds to include this new information and complete the project.
1725 South Ave, Rochester, NY
St. Agnes cottage at St. Joseph’s Villa, photo by Bill Sauers
The children were housed in “English Cottages.” Thomas Boyde, Jr., Rochester’s first African American architect, had a hand in designing some of the features of these cottages.
For more information on Thomas W. Boyde, Jr. and some of the work the project team has already completed, read this AIA Rochester article.
On March 9, 2021, at the Greece Public Library, Monroe County Historian Carolyn Vacca presented a history of the county’s 200-year development through 19 towns, 10 villages, and the City of Rochester. The event, recorded by the Greece Historical Society, was part of the county’s bicentennial celebrations.
Thank you to Bill Sauers and the Greece Historical Society for recording the event. For more bicentennial events and information, visit www.visitrochester.com/bicentennial
Explore the history of Seabreeze Amusement Park through photographs and stories with Kevin Dorey, Seabreeze Park Historian. Seabreeze is the fourth-oldest operating amusement park in the country and has been one of Rochester’s favorite summertime playgrounds since it opened in 1879. Learn about the park’s origins as a picnic grove at the end of a steam railroad, its evolution into an amusement park, and its growth into the popular family destination that it is today.
Kevin Dorey is the historian at Seabreeze Amusement Park in Irondequoit. He is an educator and avid amusement park enthusiast with a passion for history. Kevin has been actively researching and documenting Seabreeze for the past seven years; he enjoys talking with people about their memories of Seabreeze, as well as viewing their photographs, home movies, and memorabilia from the park.
This video discusses the process that was used by co-authors Marie Villone Poinan and JoAnn Ward Snyder to research, create, and produce this two-volume publication, which highlights contributions to the town of families who settled in the area before 1872 with vignettes, photos, and input from current family members.
Pioneer Families of the Town of Greece – Vol. 1 is available from Amazon or from our online museum gift shop, or by visiting our gift shop in the museum during our regular office hours.
Pioneer Families of the Town of Greece – Vol. 2 is expected to be ready to order Late 2023 or Early 2024.
Marie Poinan is an active member of the Greece Historical Society and the Charlotte Genesee Lighthouse. She has written several booklets on local history and regularly conducts history programs at the Charlotte branch library.
Life within the Boundaries of Our Airport (Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport) with Rick Iekel.
A community’s airport is a somewhat curious combination of feel-good moments and trying times. It’s the beginning of a long trip or the first “Hello” to an arriving visitor. While the experienced business person can zip through without needing anyone’s support, to the occasional traveler, the experience can be confusing and even threatening. Often, when the traveling is done, the experience generates family stories for years to come.
Join Rick Iekel as he tells the fascinating story of life within its boundaries, from an insider’s point of view.
Rick Iekel spent 28 years working at Rochester’s airport. He started his career in 1965 as a customer service agent for United Airlines, was hired by Monroe County as the Assistant Airport Manager in 1973, and took over the reins as Airport Manager from Sam Cooper when Sam retired in 1989. Before leaving the airport in 1993, Rick was named Director of Aviation.
Nellie Gardner will give us a history of the flower industry here in Western NY and will tell us about the industry today and about her own flower business. She will show us her unique style, having had no formal design classes, as she demonstrates making a bouquet with flowers from her garden. Growing up on a self-sufficient horse-powered farm on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, gave Nellie the experience, incentive, and perspective to work her way through college, graduating from Cornell University with no high school education and no money. Nellie started her own cut flower business in 1992, has restored several Frank Lloyd Wright landscapes and now consults on horticulture and agriculture. Her Flower Barn and shop is in Adams Basin, NY. This was an outdoor event.
A presentation about researching your family in anticipation of the town’s Bicentennial in 2022. With Barb Koehler, JoAnn Ward Snyder, and Marie Poinan.
JoAnn Ward Snyder, and Marie Poinan followed up with a program in November with a look at who was in volume I and three family members that were featured in the book joined us for the talk called A Visit with Pioneer Family Descendants and it featured a visit by the descendants of the Volkmar and Cole/Kenyon families.
Here is the Next Chapter in the Process after this program was recorded.
Volume 2 of The Pioneer Families of the Town of Greece will be released mid to late 2023 depending on final revisions and last-minute touches on the book. Stay tuned to our Facebook page for updates on when the book will go live for sale.
An update on Volume 2 status has been recorded and here is the link to the updates on where the book stands as of November 14, 2023, currently they are waiting on final sign-offs from families to print the stories in this volume.
On May 11, 2021, Kathleen Britton discussed the evolution of Park Avenue Hospital in Rochester. The institution relocated to Greece, New York, transforming into Park Ridge, then Unity, and presently it integrates Rochester General Hospital.
In this Zoom presentation, join James Valenti as he discusses the Rochester court case, Nebbia v. New York, which made its way to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1934. It dealt with the suit of Leo Nebbia, the owner of a grocery store, against a piece of NYS’s version of New Deal legislation. He will also touch on two other local Supreme Court cases, Valenti v. Rockefeller and Town of Greece v. Galloway.
James Valenti, JD, LLM, Esq, is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at SUNY- FLCC in Canandaigua.
Linda Bartash-Dawley unveiled her work, “Carousels of Monroe County,” in a recent presentation. The narrative represents a comprehensive exploration of the historical carousels in Monroe County, appealing universally to carousel enthusiasts, historians, and anyone curious about local culture and heritage.
On February 9, 2021, Karen Dinkle Bunton and Jerry Bunton engaged in a Zoom discussion about Rochester’s Black History from the Dinkle family’s perspective. The dialogue was facilitated by Michelle Finn and Emily Morry from the Local History & Genealogy Division, Central Library.
On January 12, 2021, a presentation titled “Mark Twain and the Civil War” was delivered by Rosemary Irwin. The event, recorded via Zoom, discussed the renowned American author’s connection to and perspectives on the Civil War.
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