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.

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Rotobowling Never Quite Caught on in Greece

January 1, 2021 |
In the late 1940s, as bowling was becoming more popular, the residents of Greece had several choices of where to bowl, including Boem's on Edgemere Drive and the Charlotte bowling hall on Stutson Street. Along the Ridge, there was the Lyon's Den, Damm Brothers, and Ridge Bowling, but with no...
Categories: 1900-1950 1950-2000 Living in Greece Stories
Tags: 1940 1946 1954 1956 1957 1960 AMF Barnard School Boem's Charlotte Cramer's Drug Store Damm Brothers Dewey Ave Donato Fasano Edgemere Drive Ernest Fasano Fasinos Frear Estate Gambling Lyon's Den Maiden Lane Maiden Lanes McCall Michael Fasano New York State Northgate Plaza Orville Whittle Pin Boys Pin Spotter Ridge Bowling Ridge Bowling Hall Rotobowling Sam Mink Schantz Construction Stone Road Stutson St.
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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
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Greece “Roadhouse”

September 1, 2019 |
A Roadhouse (United States, Australia) or stopping house (Canada) according to a recent dictionary is Roadhouse: a tavern or inn along a country road, as in the 1920s. John Frank Maier was born and grew up along with his siblings on Hague St. in Dutch (Deutsch) town. Both his parents were immigrants from...
Categories: 1900-1950 Dewey-Latta area From The Historian's Files Hamlets of Greece Living in Greece Stories
Tags: 18th Amendment 1919 1920 1923 1958 1965 1968 Bar Canada Canadian Canadian Liquor Deutsch Dewey Ave Dewey/Latta Dodge Brothers Dutch Eddie Surridge George Maier Germany Hague St Henry Ford Island Cottage Hotel Jim Davis John Frank Maier John Frank Maier III Juke Box Kirkwood Rd Lake Lake Ontario Latta Road Long Pond Pond Midge Neon Signs Olive Hager Prohibition Restaurant & Residence Roadhouse Round Pond Rum Runners T.W. Beatty and Son. T.W. Beatty and Son. Island Cottage Hotel The Maier Family two-and-a-half-story Volstead Act Wenzel Maier World War II
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Proposed Community Center and Park

December 1, 2018 |
In June of 1929, our town of only 13,000 was growing rapidly and there were no provisions for playgrounds or rec­reation. Then W. Chandler Knapp, chairman of the Greece Planning Board, with the backing of leading residents, proposed purchasing 85 acres of land, known as Glendemere Farms, on Dewey Avenue....
Categories: 1900-1950 Dewey-Stone Area Living in Greece Stories
Tags: 1929 1942 1949 2006 Almay Road Barnard Fire Department Catholic Diocese of Rochester Churchville Clark Park Dewey Ave Eastman Dry Plate & Film Company Eastman Kodak Company Ellison Park Fall football George Clark Glendemere Farms Gordon A. Howe Gordon Howe Great Depression Greece Community and Senior Center on the Greece Town Campus Greece Planning Board Mendon Ponds Monroe County Parks Commission Mr. Clark St. Joseph's Villa Villa of Hope W. Chandler Knapp
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Bill Bartling’s – Memories of Dewey Stone Area

May 1, 2018 |
This is what it was like in the 1940s growing up in Greece in the Dewey Stone area. When I was 5 we moved to 22 Dalston Road. It was the first house on the street behind Sarvey's Gulf station. Across Dewey, one block toward the city, was Shorty Junker's...
Categories: 1900-1950 1950-2000 Guest Stories Living in Greece Stories
Tags: 1940s Barnard Fire Deparment Barnard Fire House Barnard School Bill Bartling Chief Carter Cowan's drug store Dewey Ave Dewey-Stone Esler's Gypsies Hart's grocery Hope Lutheran Church Jackson's Bakery Johnny's Diner Milton Carter Sarvey's Gulf station Shorty Junker's Barnard Grill St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic The Dutch Mill Veltri's shoe repair
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“The Main Street of Greece” – From The Historian’s Desk

September 1, 2014 |
Ridge Road in photos: 1909 -1960 Every few years, if not sooner, a news article about the Ridge being expanded or improved pops up in news­ print or other media. From what was once the eastern edge at Lake Avenue to the western edge of Greece at Manitou Road, Ridge...
Categories: 1900-1950 1950-2000 From The Historian's Files Living in Greece Stories
Tags: "The Lewiston Road" 1900s 1909 1928 1940 1955 1956 1961 20th Century Cube-Block Dewey Ave Eight Miles along the Shore Emrich Kids Greece DPW Kodak Park Lake Avenue Long Pond Road Manitou Road mid-1860s Monroe County Pure Waters System Monroe County Water Authority Native American Naum Bros. Nicholas Sparks Pepperidge Dr Ridge Road West Stone Road
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