World War I

Milton H. Carter Park

by Keith Suhr

What’s the story on….Milton H. Carter Park?

Carter Park is a 12-acre recreational landscape located on Long Pond Road near The Mall at Greece Ridge. It hosts a playground, baseball fields, basketball, and tennis courts as well as an open pavilion. It is a representation of the long tradition and commitment to recreational investment and development by the town and it is named after a particularly meaningful historical local figure; former Greece Police Chief Milton H. Carter.

The park was part of a recreational development wave in Greece during the 1950s and the former American Legion property was previously identified as the “Long Pond Road Recreational Area.” On 15 September 1970, a Town Board resolution moved to change the name to “Milton H. Carter Park,” in honor of the former chief following his death in 1968.

Chief Carter was a resident of Greece from 1904 until his death. Prior to serving as chief, he was a farmer and a decorated World War I veteran. He was the first full-time Greece police officer and with the support of his wife Edna, served as chief from 1931 until his retirement in July 1960. He was instrumental in the creation of the Greece Volunteer Ambulance Service, shepherding the growth of the department from a small town force to a leading, sophisticated, police agency. He developed and implemented the first professional training of the department well ahead of a New York State law that required it in 1960.

At the testimonial dinner celebrating his retirement, leaders of the community spoke of Chief Carters’ “ramrod straight integrity,” his kindness, and his leadership abilities. Former Greece Town Supervisor Gordon A. Howe said of him at the time, “He bears without burden the grand old name of ‘gentleman’.” So was his mark on our history and Milton H. Carter Park stands as a remembrance in his honor.

“Talk of the Town” Newsletter Article, January 2020, Issue by Keith C. Suhr, Assistant Director, Greece Public Library and Greece Town Historian

Here are some facts and images not mentioned or shared in the original story are:

Chief Milton Carter (Right)
Chief Milton Carter (Right)
The flag of stars flew at Greece Town Hall to call attention to the number of Greece Men and Women in service during World War II. Additional stars were added as the numbers grew. From Left to Right Town Supervisor Gordon Howe, Police Chief Milton Carter, and Lucius Bagley World War I Veteran
The flag of stars flew at Greece Town Hall to call attention to the number of Greece Men and Women in service during World War II. Additional stars were added as the numbers grew. From Left to Right Town Supervisor Gordon Howe, Police Chief Milton Carter, and Lucius Bagley World War I Veteran

Chief Carter purchased the shell of the old one-room common school district number 5 school and moved it down the road. He was at the storm headquarters for the blizzard of 1966.

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The Ridgeway Air Park

by William Sauers

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 Hylan Airport and the short-lived Genesee Airfield. Woodward Field was well-known in Leroy; even Honeoye Falls had a small airfield. Let’s not forget the very early Britton Field on Scottsville Road organized by former Greece Supervisor Willis Britton.

What about the Town of Greece? Our first known airfield was run by WW I Ace, Roy DeVal, located in the Shoremont area in 1927. It had one of the first hangers in Monroe County. During the 1960s and 70s, the Greenleaf Flying Club had a private field on Kuhn Road. Of course, there were other landing areas on private farmland.

The largest and most infamous in the Town of Greece was located at the Southeast corner of Ridgeway Avenue and Lee Roads.

Shortly after WW II, Richard (Dick) Kaiser opened Ridgeway Air Park. At the time many veteran pilots

were looking for a place to store their planes or just a convenient field to land and rest, and this seemed to be an ideal spot. The place had a small hangar and at one time 16 private planes were quartered there.

But by the summer of 1947, neighbors began to complain about the low-flying planes over their homes. In July The Greece Press reported that the Town Board received petitions from the residents of the Latona Tract and Koda Vista neighborhood, citing flights allegedly created by the airpark that were “detrimental to the physical and mental health of the residents, especially children.” They wanted the place closed down.

Kaiser claimed that Ridgeway fliers were getting blamed unfairly for the low-flying acrobatics, but eventually did change the flight patterns of the planes flying in and out of the air park. This seemed to have calmed down the nearby residents.

However, a tragic accident occurred in October of 1947 when an Army Air Corps veteran flew too low while coming in for a landing and crashed into the Erie Canal embankment just north of the landing field killing himself and an 18-year-old passenger.

In June of 1948, a social organization, the Greece Aero Club, was formed at the airpark, and in August of ’48, Jim Earl, also an Army veteran, took over ownership of the place. But soon news reports about the airpark vanished.

Dick Kaiser and his wife, June, eventually moved to Utah. By 1956 Kiser’s wife, also a pilot, was flying in (I kid you not)a “Power Puff Derby” in Salt Lake City and Dick was employed by a company in Utah.

We are not sure when or what exactly ultimately ended the life of this airfield. There were reports of young boys using the “old field” for radio-controlled planes in 1955. Industrial expansion eventually took over the airfield land, forever covering any evi­dence of it ever having existed. Now, three-quarters of a century has all but eliminated hearing personal stories of the Ridgeway Air Park.

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

by Alan Mueller

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 all taken with a folding Kodak camera by Alfred Bowers Sr. They cover about a three-year period from 1917 to 1920. The general area is Ridge Road, west of Kodak Park to al­most Stone Rd. Albert Jr. is in some of the shots, as is Mrs. Bowers. The photos are not identified by me, but all were noted on the original photos. Unfortunately, none of the buildings or old familiar landmarks that existed 100 years ago exist today. Get out your copy of our society’s publication, “Eight Miles Along the Shore” and casually peruse the pages.

Just a thought, how would we, somewhat pampered folk in the 21st century, deal with the winter of 1917-1918? The roads would not be plowed….no snow plows! A very few roads might have the snow rolled with a large wooden drum pulled by a team, which allowed travel by horse and sleigh much easier. Drifting was a problem because of the open farm fields. Imagine no street lights and just a few telephones. Early radio was not available to the public until a few years after World War I.

The rare owner of an automobile put it away until late spring. Public transportation was limited to the trolley service on the Lake Avenue line from the city to Charlotte. The Dewey Ave. line ended with a loop at Ridge Rd. You might hope that an Auto-bus would appear along Ridge Rd. from Parma headed to Kodak Park, if the snowfall was light. The Greece farmer was lucky if he had a team of horses hitched to his sleigh or the converted wheel wagon.

Neighbors watched out for each other and always were willing to help. The “family fruit cellar – larder” was always stocked with full canning jars from the fall harvest. The root vegetables were stored in the root cellar. The wood pile and coal bin were ready for winter before Thanksgiving. After Christmas, the Parlor was closed off. What little heat rising through the floor or a grate from the warm room below for the bed­ rooms came from the kitchen and a “parlor stove” in the sitting-dining room. No reading in bed…. too cold and poor light…….no late TV….or even a last look at Facebook or email.

Enjoy the winter photos from a long time past in rural Greece. Hopefully, you will be warm and snug. Should you feel a chill, heat up a cup of instant cocoa in the microwave and enjoy! Think of April… winter could be over then!

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“Calling Home” in The Great War, World War One

by Alan Mueller

Incumbent President, Woodrow Wilson, barely won a second term over the Republican candidate, a former Governor of New York State, and an associate Supreme Court Judge, Charles Evan Hughes. Wilson’s propaganda re-election promise had been, “He kept us out of war”. President Wilson was born and raised in Virginia and was aware of the devastation and poverty in the southern states following the Civil War. Events shortly after his second term drastically caused a turnaround in his thinking. Germany increased its war aggression in February 1917 when it announced that German U-boat Submarines would attack every ship in the waters around Europe, regardless of purpose, nationality, or destination. The war by that time had been waging in Europe since 1914. Within days Wilson ended diplomatic relations with Germany. The German emperor was informed in strong terms that Germany’s action was not acceptable and risked confrontation. Following several other incidents, after the threat was ignored, the United States began clamoring for war. At the urging of President Wilson, Congress declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917.

Registration and the drafting of young men followed. One hundred years ago, what was a fast way to communicate with a friend or relative who was in the military? With all our electronic devices and more added every few blinks of an eye, it’s hard for us to realize communication in 1917: no overseas telephones, radio was just developing, but not for the masses. Overseas cable had long been in use, but was used for official business. The Penny-Postcard was the answer for a short message to or from a loved one or friend. Popularized in the early 1900s, they were popular all over the world. The card makers were quick to realize patriotic and sentimental cards would be in demand. We’ve gathered just a few to illustrate some of the thousands printed dur­ing a brief period of less than two years, 1917-1919.

The French printed card illustrates a “Doughboy’ on the left and a French soldier on the right, while a French Red Cross Nurse is in the center, under the French and U.S. flags. The short message on the back, in pencil is very short: “To All at Home and friend Ann – Have been wounded am in a hospital now and will write later”… July 19 – Harry G., Cog – 38 inf. Passed by A.E.F.

Another is a photo of seven American soldiers with a French Machine Gun. A special card with machine-embroidered emblems of the Allies and a message to a soldier’s mother. A very faint message, again in pencil, laments the fact that he missed his mom’s birthday, but hopes he will be home next year to celebrate it with her. The basic message 100 years ago or today still echoes the same: Hope all is well, we miss you, tell all hello, we can’t wait to see you …our love. Even with today’s instant communication, sometimes the darker side of devastating, horrific conflicts are not revealed by the person who experienced them until a much later time. The passing of one hundred years has not changed that….

"Doughboy' on the left and a French soldier on the right, while a French Red Cross Nurse is in the center, under the French and U.S. flags
Postcard to my dear Mother
American soldiers with a French Machine Gun
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The Post Card Craze Helped Popularize Halloween and Thanksgiving

by Alan Mueller

The postcard craze of the early 1900s embraced all the holidays. Two of the holidays, excluding Christmas and New Year’s, were the next largest, Halloween and Thanksgiving. For one cent, a colorful, often embossed card, the best printed in England or Germany, could be sent to any state. The average card costs less than twenty cents and the cheapest often three for a dime.

Both Halloween and Thanksgiving were celebrated as family holidays for adults and included the children. On the back of one of the cards shown is the following printed invitation: “Yourself and company are cordially invited to attend the Masquerade given by the LYRIC CLUB at Frankfort Temple – Thursday, Thanksgiving night – Nov. 24, 1910.” “Come and meet King Carnival!” “Mueller’s (no relation) popular orchestra.”‘

Just a few examples of the millions of cards produced over a period of a short span of twenty years are

here reproduced in “flat black”. The rise of greeting card companies, World War I, and other circumstances caused the surviving postcard companies to abandon holiday cards and concentrate on the ever-popular scenic view cards with the handwritten message… “Having a wonderful time, wish you were here”……

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The Manitou Trolley – Charlotte to Grand View Beach – “From The Historian’s Desk”

by Alan Mueller

By the mid-1880s a steam railroad was planned to run from Charlotte to Grand View Beach. This plan never went beyond being chartered and was soon abandoned. The electric trolleys that began to appear on the streets of large cities seemed a more practical solution for this short line, which would eventually be just over seven miles.

Book page excerpt
Book page excerpt
Trolley schedule 1909
Trolley schedule 1909

The Grand View Beach Railroad was organized in 1891 and ran from Charlotte to Grand View Beach, which was not far west of the end of Long Pond Road. By 1895 the line was extended to Manitou Beach with a long trestle over Braddock Bay. Washouts and deterioration of the trestle caused the line to go into receivership in 1907 and a new company was formed in 1908. Improvements were made along the line including a new Braddock Bay trestle.

Child's ticket
Child’s ticket

After the World War of 1917-18, the popularity of the automobile caused revenue to plummet. The Manitou trolley had never been a huge money maker and by 1924 it was apparent that it would have to suspend operation at the end of the season. The passenger service was not resumed in 1925 and finally, the entire line and rolling stock were offered for sale in August 1925.

Elm Heart Hotel stop
Elm Heart Hotel stop
Manitou Trolley- west end
Manitou Trolley- west end

If you live along Beach Avenue or Edgemere Drive, the former route of the trolley can be hard to trace. But, an odd rail spike or strange jog in the road oftentimes reveals itself as part of that old Manitou line.

Trolleys passing on the line

Photos, data supplied by Alan Mueller, Greece Historian’s Office.

If you have any information on our photos, call Alan at 663-1706.

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