Browse Items (1393 total)

Excerpted from a larger bird's-eye view of Freeport, NY this image shows an agricultural business located on North Main Street; we see a streetcar in the foreground. Lenker is described as a "Florist and Nurseryman," although given Freeport's…

Postcard shows view of a decrepit water wheel, almost certainly located at the outlet of Conesus Lake where it becomes Conesus Creek. If so, then the photograph shows remnants of what had been a broom-handle factory operated by L.P. West, then…

Postcard view of waterfall in the town that is seat of government in Allegany County. Originally named Philipsville, its population grew rapidly following construction of an Erie Railroad line--pictured at left--in 1850. As of 1860 there were two…

Postcard shows guests taking in the scenery at a popular hotel located next to the Silver Lake Railroad. Actually, it was the second Walker House, the first having burned down in 1857. That earlier hotel was operated by Artemus B. Walker, whose…

At the time of replacing this bridge where Main St. crosses Honeoye Creek, it was nearly 100 years old, having been constructed in the early 1830s of local quarry stone. It was the only crossing in that village, save for a ford upstream of Honeoye…

At the time of this photograph wooden structure was at least 70 years old, having been constructed in 1830 by a Mt. Morris contractor named Russell Daboll. Its design was somewhat unusual in that wood was used even for the abutments upon which the…

Pictured at McPherson's Point on the east side of Conesus Lake, this building had a strange history. It was constructed as the "Avon Cure" in 1866, during the heyday of mineral springs resorts in that village, by Charles Whalley. It could host more…

Operating a ship named the "Windsor," the Charlotte and Summerville Ferry Company ran a service between those two towns located at the mouth of the Genesee River beginning at least in 1877. Passenger use climbed with trolley lines running along both…

Town along the Genesee River has experienced the rise and fall of fortunes associated with extractive industries: initially lumber and tanning (using bark from hemlock trees), then the petroleum industry. In 1879 oil was discovered near…

From a hillside looking approximately southwest, view shows part of the watershed supplying Hemlock Lake and ultimately the city of Rochester, NY. At the time of this photograph the town's population would have been around 1,700 people, still…