Living in Greece

These articles offer perspectives on what it was like to live in the Town of Greece in the past. Many are from the archives or newsletters of the Greece Historical Society. If you would be interested in learning more about the Town of Greece’s history, please feel free to contact us at (585) 225-7221.

(These stories, are the property of the Greece Historical Society, which retains all right thereto. The contributors to these stories provide them for non-commercial, personal, educational, and/or research use only. Prior written permission from the Greece Historical Society and the individual authors must be obtained for any other use; including but not limited to commercial or scholarly publications, or any reproductions or redistribution of any kind.)

Share Your Stories and Memories

We love to read stories and memories by YOU or your organization. Each of us has a story to tell. Submit a story about your group or a local history story or memory of growing up in the Town of Greece. Please email your story with photos as a zip file to: greecehistoricalsociety@yahoo.com and in the subject line put Share My Story of Local History or Memories Of Greece N.Y. and the title of your story along with a photo and brief bio so when we publish your story in the newsletter and on the web just like the stories below. Your story should be no more than 500 words. Don’t worry if you’re not an English scholar — we will edit as needed for continuity, grammar, punctuation, etc.

Ontario Beach Park – a series of articles written by Dick Halsey (also contains access to other historical content)

Our Interviews and Older Publications prior to the ones published in the Corinthian Newsletter

Some of the stories of living in Greece may bridge the years that the story is based on some may bridge all years and some may only bridge 2 or 3 of the 50 years spans per each 50-year span starting with 1800-1850, 1900-1950, 1950-2000, and 2000-Present.

Explore Living in Greece, NY

Living in Greece Stories (66)1800-1850 (8)1850-1900 (17)1900-1950 (44)1950-2000 (23)2000 - Present (4)
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Happy Birthday Monroe County

On February 23, 2021, we celebrated the Bicentennial of the founding of Monroe County. Named for President James Monroe, the county was carved out of land taken from both Ontario and Genesee Counties; it became a...
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The Stories That Find You – Camp Sawyer’s The Well

Every historian knows that while researching a specific subject, it is not unusual to stumble on a completely unrelated subject that sparks your interest. One day, not that long ago, while looking for an obscure fact...
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Frears' Garden Center

A Farewell to Frear’s Garden Center

Frear’s Garden Center 1892 to 2022 130 Years of Local Gardening Expertise Gallery of photos at the end of the story The Frear family has been part of the Greece landscape for 130 years, 93 of...
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Greece Special Police, the Former Civil Defense Auxiliary Police

The Special Police Unit of the Greece Police Department was also known as Auxiliary Police. In 1951 the Federal government passed legislation that civil defense would be a vested joint effort between the federal government and...
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The Dutch Mill – A Community Gathering Place

The Dutch Mill – April 17, 2022 Every community or neighborhood has a gathering place. Over time many come and go, they may change hands or change their name, but eventually something happens and the old...
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How Did the Term HOJACK Come to Be?

Established to serve the communities along the shore of Lake Ontario, a rail line founded in 1871 was active for nearly 100 years. Over the years the line was operated by several different rail companies and...
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Milton Carter

Milton H. Carter Park

What’s the story on.Milton H. Carter Park? Carter Park is a 12-acre recreational landscape located on Long Pond Road near The Mall at Greece Ridge. It hosts a playground, baseball fields, basketball, and tennis courts as...
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Greece Demanded Decency- No Topless Bathing!

“Your Bathing Suit Must be Right Kind in Greece or You’ll Visit the Judge“ This was a headline in an August 1934 issue of the Greece Press newspaper. Of course, it was about modesty, but you...
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Briarcliff Club Memories

Ration coupons, victory gardens, salvage drives, saving cooking fat, “buy bonds today.” All familiar words to a home front generation during World War II. Unlike our wars since, World War II affected every single person in...
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Bible School Association of Greece

Last year the Greece Historical Society acquired a handwritten book containing the secretarial notes and minutes of the Bible School Association of Greece dated 1905-1921. Kate Huppé, a recent graduate from SUNY Geneseo, offered to write...
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The History of Jazz 90.1 WGMC-FM

Did you know that one of the nation’s last 24/7/365 public jazz radio stations resides in Greece, New York? Jazz 90.1 FM (WGMC-FM) has been an important part of the town’s history since 1971, providing jazz...
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History of Historical Roadside Markers in Greece

Roadside historic markers are our windows to the past. They educate us, they make us curious to investigate, or they provide a nice excuse to take a break and stretch our legs while we read what...
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The Victorian “Survivor” on the Ridge

More than 170 years is a long time for a structure to survive on West Ridge Road. Di­rectly across from the south end of North Avenue at 3349 West Ridge is one of those survivors, a...
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Lakeshore Garden Club History

“The Lakeshore Garden Club is one of the oldest garden clubs in this area. It was founded in June of 1935 at Char­ lotte High School under the leadership of Mr. Walter Bennett, who was its...
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Town Hall - 1920s

The Tale of Three Bricks Or – “It only took 25 years”

More than a month ago we received a call from a fellow inquiring if our museum collection would be interested in having a few bricks gathered from one of the many piles around the demolished Greece...
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Town’s First St. Patrick’s Day Celebration, in 1836

Our History… by Bill Sauers Legend holds that the ancient Greeks were the first to wish someone good health while raising a glass and drinking. It is said that it was to prove that the drink...
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“Apples, Pine Trees and Boxing Gloves!”

We’ve explained apples and pine trees…… What about boxing gloves…? Mr. Edward Sturm had once been in the furniture business on Joseph Ave. and knew well how to greet custom­ ers and run a successful retail...
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Greenleaf Flying Club

Guess Where? The Greenleaf Flying Club owned a small private airfield in Greece. It closed sometime in the 1970s and is now a tract of homes. The first person to guess exactly where it was will...
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A Civic Club’s Legacy

The residents of the Town of Greece enjoy a variety of parks within the Town. Their features and size are certainly diverse, from the 577-acre Greece Canal Park to the 4-acre Henpeck Park. But their history...
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Streets and Roads

In the Town of Greece, there are over 1,050 streets and roads with all kinds of names. But are they streets or roads?...
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“Climate Change in 1918?” – YUP Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

Was anyone aware of climate change one hundred years ago? Was that term even used then? More than likely not… The local families (usually farmers) spoke of a harsh winter or damp spring. The Farmer’s Almanac...
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Twelfth Night – A Forgotten Ritual

Twelfth night is the last evening of the 1 2 days of Christ­ mas and according to an old European custom it calls for one final burst of feasting and revelry to commemorate the close of...
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Christmas Greetings Cards 1875-1900

Greeting cards for the Christmas season were very slow to gather popularity in the United States prior to the Civil War ( 1861-1865). The first commercial Christmas card was introduced for the season of 1843 in...
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A Tale of Two General Stores: “From Apples to Zithers”

Our History… by Alan Mueller Small general stores (as they were often called) were in the Charlotte area from the earliest days. In the 1850s general merchandise businesses were established along Ridge Road West. Henry C...
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Greece memories: Farmer’s diary shows 1800’s life in the Island Cottage area

The William Connelly family lived for many years in the Island Cottage and Janes Road area. Connolly was born in Clones, County Monaghan, Ireland in March 1818. At the age of eleven, he immigrated to the...
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American soldiers with a French Machine Gun

“Calling Home” in The Great War, World War One

Incumbent President, Woodrow Wilson, barely won a second term over the Republican candidate, a former Governor of New York State, and an associate Supreme Court Judge, Charles Evan Hughes. Wilson’s propaganda re-election promise had been, “He...
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Remembrances of Long Pond and Latta Roads in the late 1940s to 1955

The crossroads of Long Pond and Latta Roads are now a very bustling area. Back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, it was very much a rural area with farms in all directions. The 19th-century...
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The Cupola That Almost Got Away!

Our story begins more than sixteen years ago, at 2505 West Ridge Road near Long Pond Rd. A cupola on the ninety-year-old Greece Town Hall was about to be taken down with the rest of the...
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Truck Farming on Stone Road – The Thomas Farm

Seventeen-year-old WIi­liam J. Thomas immi­grated to Greece from Cheddar, Somerset County, England, in 1882. The following year, he purchased 11 acres of farmland on Stone Road, not far west of the intersection of Eddy Road (now...
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The Post Card Craze Helped Popularize Halloween and Thanksgiving

The postcard craze of the early 1900s embraced all the holidays. Two of the holidays, excluding Christmas and New Year’s, were the next largest, Halloween and Thanksgiving. For one cent, a colorful, often embossed card, the...
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“From tractors to tracts!” – From The Historian’s Desk

It is not quite a century since rural Greece slowly and sometimes not so slowly started to turn from an almost com­pletely agricultural community to street after street of home developments. After World War II the...
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The Dance years at the Elmheart – Manitou Dance Pavilion – From The Historians Desk

The Elmheart Hotel was built about the same time as the Manitou Beach Trolley line was constructed, circa 1890. George Weidman Sr. and his brother-in-law, Michael O’Loughlin ran a saloon on State Street in the city...
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“Keeping Greece roads clear in the 20th century”

Winter snows prior to the early 1900s weren’t a problem for the Greece highway dept. There was no highway department, as such, and they had no snow-moving equipment. There might have been a few farmers who...
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Homer J. Buckman – Sold Milk, Cream, and Lollipops!!!

Explore the story of Homer J Buckman. It might be a surprise to learn that a man that founded one of the first dairies in Greece also sold "suckers" in his very modest store, attached to...
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Tales of Winter in Greece – From the Historian’s Desk

“A White Hurricane” – tracking a record storm… “Cruelest Month” – storm drops 9 inches of snow… “City Reels Under 25 Inches of Snow” – one of the century’s worst blizzards… Are these the headlines that...
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First Christian Church then Greece Methodist Church Latta Road GHS

“A stone is a stone is a Cobblestone!”

Webster’s New World Dictionary (College Edition) has the following: Cob-ble–stone (kab‘ I ston’) A rounded stone of a kind formerly much used for paving.  Well, that is fine, but mention Cobblestone to the average Western New...
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North Greece Hotel, Domino Inn, or Cosmo Inn? – From the Historian’s Desk

OK! What’s in a name? When the new hotel (replacing the earlier Larkin Hotel) was built at Latta and North Greece Roads it was simply called The North Greece Hotel. That was in 1909; but not...
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“A Greece Winter Wonderland in the Early 20th Century” – from the Historian’s Desk

All seems so serene and calm in most of the accompanying photos of winter circa 1910-1920 in Greece of a century and more ago. What fun to go on a sleigh ride or cross-country skiing through...
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1879 photo at 1777 Ridge Road West.

“An Italianate Beauty in Greece” – FROM THE HISTORIAN’S FILE

The Colby-Shearman home was moved (due to the construction of I-390) in April 1968, in two sections about one-half mile from its original location at 1777 Ridge Road West to 550 Latona Road. The imposing, early...
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South side of 1066 Long Pond circa 1904- The Brittons standing on a stone wall.

1066 Long Pond Road- THE BRITTON FAMILY HOMESTEAD – “FROM THE HISTORIAN’S FILE”

Coming to Monroe County in the early 1800s, the Britton Family were early settlers in what was then called Rochesterville. Alanson Phizarro Britton, the ninth child of thirteen, was born in the tiny village in 1820...
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