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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Four Miles Along the Towpath: Greece’s Junction Lock Offers a Glimpse of the Old Erie Canal

June 3, 2025 |
The words “Erie Canal” often brings to mind those engineering marvels we call “locks” that raise and lower boats along the historic waterway. However, the portion of the Erie Canal that runs through the Town of Greece is part of a 60-mile “long level” between the cities of Rochester and...
Categories: 1800-1850 1850-1900 1900-1950 1950-2000 2000 - Present Guest Stories Living in Greece Stories
Tags: “Clinton’s Ditch” Albert R. Stone Negative Collection Barge Canal Broad Street Bridge Court Street Dam Elmgrove Road Enlarged Erie Canal Erie Canal Erie Canal Aqueduct Erie Canalway Trail Genesee River Governor DeWitt Clinton Henpeck Park Junction Lock Long Pond Road NYS Office of Parks and Historic Preservation old Rochester harbor Recreational Trails Program Ridgeway Avenue Rochester South Greece Syracuse Towpath Unity at Ridgeway
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Murals Brought Awareness of Greece Erie Canal History

May 28, 2025 |
At Henpeck Park in Greece, NY, three murals beneath the Elmgrove Road bridge depict the Erie Canal's evolution: its construction, expansion, and the Junction Lock era. Commissioned by the Greece Chamber of Commerce and painted by Stacey Kirby, they were unveiled in 2010 to highlight the canal's local significance.
Categories: 1800-1850 1850-1900 1872 Common School Districts 1900-1950 1950-2000 2000 - Present Living in Greece Stories
Tags: 1918-1920 Albion Cayuga Dave Pandina Elmgrove Road Erie Canal Erie Canal at 175 Erie Canal Bicentennial Greece Chamber of Commerce Henpeck Park Jodie Perry Junction Lock Mural Mania Orleans September 2010 South Greece Stacy Kirby World Canal Conference
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Family painting of their farm

Richardson Family Connection to the Erie Canal

April 8, 2025 |
In 1880, George Richardson purchased 100 acres in Greece, NY. By 1918, the Erie Canal's relocation split the farm, reducing its fields. Edward and Cora Richardson received compensation in 1907. The land was auctioned in 1939; today, it hosts Canal Ponds Business Park, townhomes, and a professional building.
Categories: 1850-1900 1900-1950 Corinthian Living in Greece Stories
Tags: 1880 1895 1907 Payment 1918 200 years of the Completion of the Canal Auction (1939) Big Ridge Road Bradford Bridge Construction Canal Ponds Business Park Central Drive-in Cora Miller Daniel Sharp David Richardson Edward Richardson Erie Canal Farming Flour City George Richardson Long Pond Road Lot 108 Mitchell Road New York State PA Pennsylvania Phelps and Gorham Purchase Ridgeway Avenue
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Area Photo showing current property lines Monroe County GIS

The City of Rochester in the Town of Greece: A legacy of the Erie Canal

February 9, 2025 |
The distinctive shape of Rochester, New York, is largely the result of various annexations over the years. Notably, in 1926, the city annexed a narrow strip of land, approximately 2 miles long and 130 feet wide, running parallel to Ridgeway Avenue in the Town of Greece. This land was part...
Categories: 1800-1850 1850-1900 1900-1950 1950-2000 2000 - Present Erie Canal Living in Greece Stories
Tags: 1825 1918 1922 1926 1938 1956 390 Camegi Companies Charlotte city Culver Road Durand Eastman Park Erie Canal Erie Canal Commons Genesee Valley Park Geographic Information System GIS Greece Irondequoit Bay Junction Lock Lake Erie Latona Road Lee Road Monroe County GIS North NY-390 old Olde Erie Trail Plat Map population density property boundaries rail Rochester State Route 390 subway town trail Tyron Park weather patterns
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Parma Greece United Church of Christ

Parma Greece United Church of Christ

November 4, 2024 |
“About the year 1830 a small number of persons, residing near the town line in Parma and Greece, feeling the necessity of religious services, met together at what was known as the old red schoolhouse, east of Parma Centre, and agreed to hold bi-weekly meetings for mutual prayers and for...
Categories: 1800-1850 1850-1900 1900-1950 1950-2000 2000 - Present Churches Corinthian Guest Stories Hamlets of Greece Living in Greece Stories North Greece UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
Tags: 1834 1835 1843 1844 1848 1861 1888 1903 Albert Dunlap Ambrose Burlingame Asa C. Morrison Christian Conference of Western New York Cobblestone Cobblestone Church Elder Crocker Elder James W. Burgdorf Elder Joel Doubleday Elias Jones Erie Canal Ezra Smith Isaac Chase Jessilou Gage Vaccarelli Jonathan Morse Jonathan S. Thompson Latta Road Madison Thomas Manitou Road Orleans County Parma Parma and Greece Christian Church Parma Greece United Church of Christ United Church Of Christ William J. Grimes
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The Grand Erie Yacht Club

The Grand Erie Yacht Club

May 4, 2024 |
Laurie Eisele explores the remnants of the Grand Erie Yacht Club, founded in 1982 by marina members seeking camaraderie. Bought for $1, operational hurdles were overcome by community support, culminating in a bustling hub of activities until its closure in 1992 due to disagreements and regulatory challenges. Despite its derelict...
Categories: 1950-2000 Guest Stories Living in Greece Stories
Tags: Capt. Jeff’s Marina chicken barbecues Commodore Erie Canal Fleet Captain Henpeck Henpeck Park Monte Carlo nights New York State Rear Commodore Ross Gates Secretary spaghetti dinners steak roasts The Grand Erie Yacht Club treasurer Vice Commodore
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The Ridgeway Air Park

January 1, 2022 |
For years during the 20th century, many communities in our area had their own airports ranging from grassy fields to paved run­ ways with hangers to store airplanes. Hilton had the Hilton Airport on Burritt Road. The Brizee airport in Pittsford was on Marsh Road. In Henrietta, there was the...
Categories: 1900-1950 Living in Greece Stories
Tags: "Power Puff Derby" 1947 1948 1955 1956 Army Air Corps veteran Britton Field Brizee airport Burritt Road Erie Canal Genesee Airfield Greece Aero Club Greenleaf Flying Club Henrietta Hilton Hilton Airport Honeoye Falls Hylan Airport Jim Earl Koda Vista Kuhn Road Latona Tract Lee Roads Leroy Marsh Road Monroe County Pittsford Richard (Dick) Kaiser Ridgeway Air Park Ridgeway Avenue Roy DeVal Salt Lake City Scottsville Road Shoremont The Greece Press Town of Greece Woodward Field World War I World War II WWI WWII
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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”

November 1, 2010 |  and 
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. While in his teens he ran a line boat on the Erie Canal and...
Categories: 1850-1900 1872 Common School Districts Living in Greece Stories
Tags: Alanson Phizarro Britton Beals Brighton Britton Farmstead Civil War East Avenue Erie Canal Falls Cemetery Greece Common School District #9 Hubbard Squash Laura Lewis Supervisor Toll Gate
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