Bicentennial Snapshot No. 54: Gone, but Not Forgotten

Bicentennial Snapshot # 54: Gone but not Forgotten
Monroe County Bookmobile in front of the old town hall, 1955 from the Rochester Public Library Local History and Genealogy Division

Today, as we acknowledge all those who helped us produce these Bicentennial Snapshots, please enjoy photos of places and businesses no longer part of the Greece landscape.

We would like to thank the following individuals with their contributions to the snapshots:

First of all, we are tremendously thankful for all the photos provided by Society President Bill Sauers. He has a vast archive of photographs that he generously shared with us.

Edgewater Hotel from Bill Sauers
Odenbach Shipbuilding, 2012, photo by Bill Sauers

If he didn’t have a photo we needed, he went out and took one, especially for the snapshots.

We greatly appreciate Greece town historian Keith Suhr giving us permission to use photos from Greece Images.

Dutch Mill, 2017, from the Office of the Town Historian
Mount Read Chase-Pitkin

Thank you also to our other photographers or those who provided photos for various episodes: Alan Mueller, Ben Kerr, Bonnie Stemen Fiser, Carolyn Kerheart, Dick Halsey, Deborah Cole Meyers,

Douglas Worboys, who worked at Chase-Pitkin and helped you find the tools and supplies for that home improvement project you had going on in your home,

Maiden Lanes Bowling Alley, photo by Mike Callen

Gene Preston(Retired North Greece Fire Department / Kodak Fire) and owner of Preston Fresh Produce on Long Pond Road, Gina DiBella, Gloria LaTragna, Gretchen Howe, Dr. George Sanders, “Booze, Barns, Boats and Brothers” by H. Dwight Bliss III, John Cranch, Jane Grant, Author of Barns of Greece, Kathy Gray who provided pictures of Frank Siebert that were added to the snapshot on Ridge Road Fire District, Jo Ann Ward Snyder co-author of Pioneer Families of the Town of Greece, Joan Winghart Wilcox Sullivan who wrote about her father, Bernie Winghart, Gordon Massecar,

Joe Vitello, Marie Poinan co-author of Pioneer Families of the Town of Greece as well as the co-author of two books with Maureen Whalen, one book with the late Tom Sawnor, and 5 books on her own, RRFD/Greece Ridge FD Historian and District Photographer Matthew Pillsbury, Battalion Chief Brian Gebo for providing Ridge Road/Greece Ridge Fire Districts 100 Years logo for our use,

Rochester Gas & Electric, Russell Station from GHS
Lincoln First Bank postcard at Dewey and Haviland

Patricia Conklin, Paul Pakusch who let us use the personal home video that he recorded on his way to work at News 10 (WHEC) NBC in 1991 during the ice storm, Mike Parker, Robert Bilsky, Ralph DeStephano, Ed Spelman, Tom DiBello, Travis Beaver, Francis Howard Whelehan, Stanley Hwalek, Mason Winfield the Author of “Haunted Rochester”, William Aeberli, Helen Edson Slocum, Virginia Tomkiewicz, Shirley Cox Husted

We would like to thank the following organizations, news outlets, local colleges and libraries

North Greece Fire Department, Greece Ridge/Ridge Road Fire District, Barnard Fire Department, Barnard Exempts, FDNY(Fire Department of the City of New York), Greece Police, Center for Governmental Research,

Island Cottage Hotel, 1977, from GHS
Streb’s Steak House from GHS

Rochester Public Library, Buffalo and Erie County Public Library’s Recording Studio in the Launch Pad Maker Space at the Central Library, The University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, Wayne State University, Princeton University, University of Iowa, nebraskastudies.org, SUNY School SOAR

Democrat and Chronicle, 13 Wham TV, WHEC, WROC, Spectrum News, Histrotic Detroit, The Hilton Record, Rochester Times-Union, The American Issue, New York Daily News, Global News a Division of Shaw Media, newspapers.com, Rochester Gas & Electric News Publication, Rochester Daily Advertiser,

Verhulst Brothers Farm Market from GHS
Our Lady of Mercy Rectory designed by James H. Johnson from GHS

Our Mother of Sorrows Church, Greece Baptist Church, Greece United Methodist Church,

Greece Central School District, Archive.org, BoxRec.com, US Treasury National Archives, FBI, National Archives, Department of Defense, U.S.C.G.S. ( United States Coast Guard), Library of Congress, USDA, Wikipedia, IMDB, National Weather Services, NOAA, NASA, Canadian Ice Service, US PTO(Patent and Trademark Office), Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), Rochester Baseball Historical Society, Monroe County GIS Map Gallery which contains 11 interactive maps that were used in some of the snapshots as well as the parcels map that was used to verify data on certain properties,

District School #5, 2007, photo by Bill Sauers
999 Long Pond Road from GHS

The Landmark Society of Western New York, Rochester Museum and Science Center, Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, mcnygenealogy.com, New York State digital archive, Monroe Historical Society, Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse, Cobblestone Museum, Buffalo Maritime Center, New York State Department of Transportation, Bob Johnson Chevrolet

We relied heavily on past newspaper accounts and are so grateful that the Greece Historical Society secured grants to have the Greece Press, Greater Greece Press, and Greece Post digitized.

Bull at Scarlett’s Island Cottage from GHS
Lake Shore Drive-in Sign from GHS

History writers of the future will have a more difficult time documenting the past with fewer newspapers available.

Cine 1234 Ridge Rd (FB Gina Beebee)

The maps digitized by the Rochester Public Library’s Local History and Genealogy Division are a marvelous resource.

St Charles Borromeo school photo by Bill Sauers
Movie Theatre in Stoneridge Plaza from GHS

If these Snapshots brought back memories or taught you something you didn’t know, then we succeeded in our endeavor. They will remain a resource for future students of local history.

We encourage you to get out and photograph what will be tomorrow’s history. Keep a journal documenting your lives and bequeath them to future generations.

Johnny Maier’s Hotel and Restaurant, 4454 Dewey Avenue, from GHS
Friendly’s Restaurant on Dewey Avenue from GHS

Lastly, we invite you to visit the Greece Historical Society and Museum to learn more about the history of the town of Greece.

Greece Volunteer Ambulance (GVA)
Greece Volunteer Ambulance (GVA)

This is Maureen Whalen, on behalf of the Greece Historical Society, Pat Worboys, and myself, saying thank you to our loyal viewers and wishing you the best as Greece begins a new century.

Frear’s Garden Center, 2022, photo by Pat Worboys
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Bill Bartling’s – Memories of Dewey Stone Area

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 Barnard Grill. Directly across from Sar­vey’s was a Hart’s grocery. It was sort of a 7-11 before there were 7-11s. Next to Hart’s going toward Stone Road was Veltri’s shoe repair. Back on the West side, next to Sarvey’s was Esler’s, which sold records and probably some other electronic stuff. Back on the East side was a little strip shopping center with a little haberdashery shop and on the corner of the center was Johnny’s Diner. Then there was Cowan’s drug store. Across from Cowan’s was, and still is, the Dutch Mill. There was nothing behind the Dutch Mill at the time, just an open field. Back across Dewey there was a small country store on the Northwest corner. Going East on Stone there was McBride’s Tavern. Heading west on Stone was Barnard School and behind Barnard was St. Charles. Back on the other side of Dewey was a church and farther down the Barnard Fire House. The firehouse was much smaller then. There was a large home just before the firehouse with a large open lot between the house and the firehouse. The homeowner let the firefighters make a large garden on the lot where they grew food for firehouse use.

You’d find mostly homes from there to the Britton Road area except for Hope Lutheran Church. Every day at noon the firefighters sounded the siren. I don’t know if that was to test it or to let everyone know it was time for lunch. The si­ ren’s real purpose was to alert the volunteers that it was time for action when there was a fire. When the siren sound­ ed shopkeepers would come running out of the stores, jump into their cars, and head for the firehouse to learn where the fire was.

Kids would be out all day in the summer and after school when it was in session. Parents didn’t worry about the chil­ dren’s safety and usually the Barnard school playground was the destination. Smaller children played on the swings, slides, monkey bars, and whatever else was there while the older kids played baseball, football, or soccer, whatever was in season. With no assigned teams, we chose up sides, and had no coaches or even adults. I almost think this was better. We learned a lot about life without an adult directing what we should do and how we should act. There were no school buses; we all walked to school.

Every year a group of Gypsies came and camped in the lot behind the Dutch Mill. We youngsters always went there to talk to the exotic people who were really quite nice to us. Today people would never let their children go there un­ supervised. Later, the shopping area around the back of the Dutch Mill was built and the Gypsies’ camping grounds were no more. One of the shops there was a bakery. A young ex-sailor by the name of Jackson started his bakery which still exists today now found across the street.

One event we always looked forward to was the minstrel show performed by the Barnard firefighters and exempt members. It was amazing to see people we knew performing- some with great talent and others with great enthusi­asm. The shows were stopped because they were considered racist I believe. We were too young and innocent to understand racism and we all wanted to be one of the End Men (as they were called) when we grew up.

Another annual event we looked forward to occurring was the Christmas party the Fire Department conducted for children of the firefighters. We always were given a net stocking filled with hard candy, a little toy, and an orange which was a real treat. We only had whatever fruit was in season in those days and seldom from a faraway place like Florida……… So many more memories…..

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