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Ontario Beach Park – a series of articles written by Dick Halsey (also contains access to other historical content)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 (77)Guest Stories (14)1800-1850 (10)1850-1900 (23)1900-1950 (52)1950-2000 (30)2000 – Present (7)From The Historian’s Files (24)
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Music in the air for over 130 Summers at Ontario Beach Park

This 2016 summer season of Wegman’s Concerts by the Shore has concertgoers hearing such varied groups as The Dady Brothers Grand Band, The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, The Greece Jazz Band, and the Skycoasters, with more to come. Looking back through newspaper files, postcards, and photos of the last century and earlier, it is quite evident…

Marketing to Farmers From the 1850s to the 1900s

Prior to the Civil War (1861-65) the farmers in Greece got the latest information concerning all aspects of farming from fellow farmers or a number of monthly publications such as The Genesee Farmer (founded in 1831) or Moore’s Rural New Yorker (founded about 1849). Both papers were published in Rochester and both were priced at…

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 and decided to invest in property on Lake Ontario. They purchased the Elmheart Hotel in 1903, running it from…

Manitou Beach Hotel – “From the Historian’s Files”

By far the largest and the most elegant of all the late 19th and early 20th century hotels along Lake Ontario in Greece was the Odenbach Manitou Beach Hotel. It was located at the far western end of the Manitou Beach Trolley. Built in 1888 by the Matthew and Servis Co. of State Street in…

“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 contracted with their team of horses to pull fairly large rollers to pack down the road snow for a…

NOT THE FIRST AIR TRAFFIC OFFICER!

Jules Verne was a French author who pioneered the science-fiction genre. In the early part of the last century, Officer William M. Lindner, one of the first traffic patrolman with the Rochester Police Bureau, had an idea for an aerial traffic officer. He suggested a Zeppelin-type balloon with a wide porch or platform with places for the landing of the traffic officer and storing of captive ships. The balloon would be stationed directly over the city with communication to headquarters via telephone. Officer Lindner suggested the bravest of the force be given the first chance to do airship traffic duty…

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 his dairy barn…