Living in Greece Stories

Stories and recollections from the people, places, and publications that document life in the Town of 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. Submit a local history story or memory of growing up in the Town of Greece by emailing a zip file with your story and photos to greecehistoricalsociety@yahoo.com. Use the subject line: Share My Story of Local History or Memories Of Greece N.Y. plus your story title. Include a brief bio and one photo for publication.

Your story should be no more than 500 words. We can edit for continuity, grammar, and punctuation. Stories may cover one span or multiple spans: 1800-1850, 1900-1950, 1950-2000, and 2000-Present.

8 stories
Reset
Sort stories by:
Published date Title Last updated Random Comments
A building with a sign on the front Description automatically generated

The Grand View Beach Club

April 2, 2024 |
In the early 20th century, Grand View Beach Club on Rochester's lakeshore was a social hub for entertainment and civic advocacy. Built in 1902, it hosted dances, movies, and raffles until membership dwindled in the 1950s. Closed and dismantled by 1964, today, only memories and the club's sign remain with...
Categories: 1850-1900 1900-1950 1950-2000 Living in Greece Stories
Tags: $3500 1882 1902 1940s 1946 1947 1949 1950 1951 1961 1963 1964 1977 2286 Old Edgemere Drive Annual field days Barb Bray Bill McCormick card parties carnivals Clambake dances Democrat & Chronicle Don Blanchard Dr. Ed Hardenbrook Dr. Joe Martin Sr Dr. Joseph W. Martin Jr. early 1950s Edmund M. Lambiase entertainment Fred McCormick Grand View Beach Grand View Beach Club Grand View Beach Hotel Grand View Fire Department Greece Press Harold D. Cross Jim Bell Joe Mahler Joseph C. Murrer Joseph Mahler kid friendly movies Lake Ontario Leonard B. Finewood Long Pond Rd Manitou Trolley meetings Mennonites minstrel shows paraphernalia Pat Martin Protestant church Robert F. Gifford Rosenbach’s slot machines Turkey Raffle Committee William L. Dibacco
Read Story
Notice in the Daily Democrat, June 14, 1854

Ralph Francis: Black Activist and Abolitionist

February 2, 2024 |
Marie Poinan presented on Charlotte ferries' history, highlighting Ralph Francis, a black ferry operator who might have aided the Underground Railroad (UGRR). With limited records due to UGRR secrecy, Francis's activism and circumstantial evidence, including his property and business ties, support possible involvement. After facing personal tragedies and potential danger,...
Categories: 1800-1850 1850-1900 Charlotte Hamlets of Greece Living in Greece Stories
Tags: Benjamin Cleggett Canada Charlotte Civil War conductor Daily Democrat Democrat & Chronicle Eagle Hotel Francis & Cleggett Barber Shop Frederick Douglass Fugitive Slave Act Genesee River Greig Street Harriet Tubman Kelsey's Landing Marie Villone Poinan Maureen Whalen New York State North Star Ontario Peterborough Port of Charlotte Ralph Francis Reynolds Arcade Stagecoach stationmaster Third Ward Underground Railroad
Read Story
A picture containing grass, outdoor, plant, garden Description automatically generated

They Gave Their Talent for the Benefit of the Community

June 1, 2023 |
Deep in the back of a rather large yard at Paddy Hill, hidden among the weeds and overgrown brush, is what appears to be the foundation of an old structure. Adolescents finding this structure could easily imagine themselves as an explorer discovering the ruins of an ancient civilization. A less...
Categories: 1900-1950 1950-2000 Living in Greece Stories
Tags: "shanty" "The Cat and the Canary" 1931 1946 1947 1948 1955 1957 76 Productions Auditorium Theater comedies Common School District 5 Cornell University Democrat & Chronicle Greece Post melodramas mysteries Paddy Hill Paddy Hill Players Paddy Hill Players troupe philanthropic group premier amateur theatrical group PTA Statewide Contest Times-Union Newspaper Walter Whelehan Whelehan Whelehan Family Farm
Read Story

Greece Demanded Decency- No Topless Bathing!

October 1, 2021 |
"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 may not have guessed it was directed towards men. It seems in the early...
Categories: 1900-1950 Living in Greece Stories
Tags: 1930s 1933 1934 1937 Chief Carter City of Rochester Public Safety Commissioner Democrat & Chronicle Greece Town Law Milton Carter Milton H. Carter The Greece Press Walter Cox West Coast
Read Story

Bible School Association of Greece

March 1, 2021 |
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 this story about what she discovered reading these minutes. This year marks the one-hundred-year...
Categories: 1900-1950 Guest Stories Living in Greece Stories
Tags: 1905 1906 1921 A. E. Truesdale Bible School Association Bible School Association of Greece Democrat & Chronicle Dewey Avenue Reformed Church J.J. Kelly Kate Huppé Mary Moall Michael Oberg Reverend J.J. Kelly Sunday School
Read Story

Leaving a Message for the Future

February 1, 2021 |
John J. WalshGreece Press1939 It is quite common here at the Greece Historical Society to receive a phone call or email asking a local history or family-related question, which we are always happy to help with. We also get calls about donating some precious antiques, family heirlooms, or other objects....
Categories: 1900-1950 Living in Greece Stories
Tags: COVID-19 Democrat & Chronicle Gordon Howe Greece Democratic Party Holy Sepulchre Cemetery John J. Walsh Justice of the Peace Rochester OPA (Office of Price Administration) Control Board St. John the Evangelist Church Supervisor The Greece Press Times-Union Typographical Union No. 15
Read Story

How Different It Might Have Been?

October 1, 2019 |
The fall of 1953 was a rapidly changing time for the residents of the town of Greece. The Lake Ontario State Parkway (LOSP) was under construction and contractors had all they could do to build new homes for Greece's growing population, as 100 people a month moved into the town....
Categories: 1950-2000 Living in Greece Stories
Tags: 1953 1961 75000 people 800 employees City of Rochester Democrat & Chronicle Dewey Ave Edgemere Drive Haloid Co. Hollenbeck Street Joseph C. Wilson Ling Road LOSP Mario Berardi Monroe County Northgate Plaza Odenbach Odenbach Shipbuilding Corp Odenbach Shipbuilding Corporation Ray Cole Webster Xerox
Read Story

Outdoor Ice Skating

February 1, 2017 |
The opening of the outdoor skating rink on the Greece Town Campus should bring back memories of the "good old days" to many of us who have lived in the area for a half century or more. Back then there were many opportunities for outdoor ice skating, including public schools,...
Categories: 1900-1950 1950-2000 Living in Greece Stories
Tags: Barnard School Britton Rd Britton Road School Carter Park Cooks Hardware Democrat & Chronicle DPW Fleming Creek Forgham Road Greece Department of Public Works Greece Town Campus Maplewood Park pond Milton Carter Milton H. Carter Milton H. Carter Park Ontario Beach Park
Read Story