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.

88 stories
Reset
Sort stories by:
Published date Title Last updated Random Comments

The Rochester Park Band at Manitou Beach in 1906

July 1, 2020 |
1900s Manitou Beach Postcard Want to have some fun? Let's go on a company picnic to Manitou Beach in the summer of 1906. We'll join the nearly 1,000 employees of James Cunningham & Sons, a huge company with several factories, which, in 1906, was still making horse-drawn carriages, but by...
Categories: 1900-1950 Charlotte Guest Stories Living in Greece Stories
Tags: 1890s 1906 1920 1920s 1924 19th Century 20th Century 54th Regiment Band amusement park at Manitou Beach Automobile Club Baseball Braddock Bay Canal Street Chralotte Elmheart Hotel Fred Zeitler James Cunningham & Sons. Manitou Beach Manitou Beach Hotel Manitou Beach Trolley Manitou Hotel Manitou Trolley New York Central train station Odenbach Hotel Orphans Day Rochester Park Band Theodore Dossenbach William Bausch
Read Story

A Community That Saved a School

May 1, 2020 |
During the 1920s and '30s Greece experienced an increase in population, especially in the Dewey-Stone area. Among that increase were very many Catholic families; so in 1926 St. Charles Borromeo School on Dewey Avenue opened with a planned enrollment of 250 students. By 1938, with some modifications, the school had...
Categories: 1900-1950 Dewey-Stone Area Living in Greece Stories
Tags: Barnard Fire Department Bishop James Kearney Catholics City of Rochester Hose Company 24 Democrats Dewey-Stone Easter Break Good Friday Eve Holy Thursday Jews North Greece Fire Department Protestants Rabbi Philip Bernstein Republicans Rochester Diocese Sheriff Albert Skinner Simon Stein St. Charles Borromeo Parish St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic St. Charles Borromeo School Temple B'rith Kodesh The Greece Press Western New York
Read Story

A Milk Pail, A Photo Album and the Fleming Farm

March 1, 2020 |
The Fleming House, a stately brick farmhouse on Latta Road in Greece, was owned by the Fleming family for over 160 years. Joseph E. Fleming was the first to purchase the property in 1853 and completed the double-wall farmhouse in 1854. The farm had milk cows, goats, pigs, chickens, a...
Categories: 1800-1850 1850-1900 1900-1950 Fleming Family From The Historian's Files Living in Greece Stories Pioneer Families
Tags: Joseph Fleming Pioneer Families
Read Story
Greece Link to the National Football League

Greece Link to the National Football League

February 1, 2020 |
As we celebrate Super Bowl LIV and the NFL's 100th season, we might want to consider the very "focal" Greece's con­nection to the game. Joseph McShea was a talented athlete who grew up on his family's farm on Dewey Avenue, just north of Latta Road. His great-grandparents emigrated to the...
Categories: 1900-1950 Guest Stories Living in Greece Stories
Tags: 1920 1928 1963 1965 1976 American Professional Football Association Charlotte High School Joseph Maurice McShea Joseph Maurice McShea Jr. Leo Lyons Leo V. Lyons Marie Villone Poinan Mary McShea Miss Marguerite McShea National Football League NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame Rochester Jeffersons Tom McShea Tom Sawnor
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

“Apples, Pine Trees and Boxing Gloves!”

September 1, 2019 |
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 venture. The tavern business was a bit different, but Edward slowly built the Pine...
Categories: 1900-1950 Living in Greece Stories
Tags: 1225 Ridge Road West 1914 1920 1928 1933 1948 1964 Alice Conroy Apples Bankruptcy Bowling Boxing Gloves Clement Versluy Cuba Democrat and Chronicle Edward Sturm Europe Henry Clune Joseph Ave. Lake Ave Man­itou Road Mexico Mike Conroy Pine Tree Inn Pine Trees Shale Gans Shales (Sol) Gans Speakeasies
Read Story

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
Read Story

Town’s First St. Patrick’s Day Celebration, in 1836

September 1, 2019 |
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 was healthy (in other words, not poison). Somewhere along the line, a Ro­man custom...
Categories: 1800-1850 Living in Greece Stories
Tags: G. Moore Henry Benton Judge Nicholas Read Nicholas Read Squire Nicholas Read
Read Story

Willow Creek Ranch

March 1, 2019 |
Located at 1118 Long Pond Road about 80 years ago was the Willow Creek Ranch. Far in the rear of the 10 acres was a farm house. Owner, Irving James Thompson known as 'Tommy" Thompson, was a big strong fellow weighing near­ly 400 pounds at one time, who could pick...
Categories: 1900-1950 1950-2000 Living in Greece Stories
Tags: "Cap" Preston 1036 Long Pond Road 1118 Long Pond Road 1944 Arabian gelding Bob Thompson bronc­ busting Bucking broncos bull dragging calf roping Charlotte Cobourg Duke Thun­derbolt Gary and Bob Thompson Gary Thompson Gene Preston Greece Press Hamlin Irving James Thompson knot tying Kodak Lucky Boy Williams Maiden Lane Monroe County Sheriff Nebraska New York Preston Family Preston Farm Ray Slaght Red Cross Rodeos Ronald J. Arndt Ronald J. Arndt Funeral Home Round Pond Creek Tommy Thompson western horse show Willow Creek Ranch
Read Story

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
Read Story

Greenleaf Flying Club

November 1, 2018 |
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 win a Greece coffee mug. The Contest to guess where this sign has ended,...
Categories: 1950-2000 Living in Greece Stories
Tags: 1964 1969 1974 1975 Airstrip Brockport Father's Day Gene Preston Greece Arcadia Greece Police Greenleaf Ledgedale Airpark Lloyd A. Feary Sweet Acres Drive Wesley Bell
Read Story

A Civic Club’s Legacy

September 5, 2018 |
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 and names are just as varied. Most parks names are either derived from their...
Categories: 1900-1950 Corinthian Living in Greece Stories
Tags: Barnard Civic Club Barnard School Basil Marella Bou Scout Troop 14 Boy Scouts Braddock Bay Park Dr. Sherwood Sawyer George Badgerow Milton Milton Carter Mrs. Antoinette Grabowski Webster William Hogan YMCA
Read Story
Richard Laurette

Richard Laurette – Memories of Dewey Stone Area

July 4, 2018 |
After reading Bill Bartling's story about Dewey Stone in the 1940s in our May Corinthian, GHS member, Richard Laurette sent us his story about the 1950s. My parents moved to the suburbs in February 1944. I came along in November. (You can do the math.) Coincidental­ ly to Mr. Bartling's...
Categories: 1950-2000 Guest Stories Living in Greece Stories
Tags: arnard Market Barnard Carnival Barnard Crossing Barnard Fire Department Barnard Meat Market Barnard Park Barnard School Barnard's Crossing Beaumont Bethany Presbyterian Church Bill's Barber Shop Kujaqa's Television Repair Cadet Clearners Common School District # 15 Dew-Stone Fay's Drug Store George H. Clarke Park Greece Greece Historical Society Gulf Gas Station Jack Symonds Jackson's Bakery Johnny’s Sweet Shop Kodak Lincon Bank Loblaw's Maiden Lane Mortillaro's Jewelry Mortillaro's Paint Store Nick & Erwin's Dry Clearners Richard Laurette St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Stone Sunoco Gas Station The Dutch Mill The New Dutch Mill Times-Union Newspaper Towne Men Shop YMCA Yo-Yo
Read Story

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
Read Story

“Climate Change in 1918?” – YUP Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

February 2, 2018 |
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 might predict what was ahead with some luck. Here are a group of photos...
Categories: 1900-1950 Living in Greece Stories
Tags: Albert Bowers Jr. Alfred Bowers Sr. Charlotte Christmas Dewey Ave. Farmer's Almanac Kodak Kodak Park Lake Avenue Mrs. Bowers Parma Ridge Road Stone Rd Thanksgiving World War I
Read Story
1 2 3 4 5