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The son of a Scottish immigrant, Hamilton was born 1832 in Le Roy and grew up on a farm. After a brief time spent as a teacher in the upper midwest, Hamilton returned to Caledonia, married Jane Vallance, and had five children. Hamilton was a leading…

"Under the Protection of Mary" is the usual translation for this emblem blessing the Catholic Church's approved ceremonial book. First published in 1829, it was by 1894 in its 8th edition and used in churches like St. Columba in Caledonia, NY.…

This resonant symbol appears near the end of a 1904 history of the Western New York Diocese of the Protestant Episcopal Church. It was fairly common in the Anglican church and its Episcopal branches in the United States, one of them St. Andrew's…

Map from the company's 1897 annual report shows the extent of this primarily industrial railroad, whose main purpose was to deliver coal from Pennsylvania mines to the industrial cities of Rochester and Buffalo. From the latter location, coal could…

Located in Washington, DC, this impressive building was designed in the French Second Empire style. As its name suggests the structure housed several important departments that eventually outgrew available space. The building still stands today,…

At the time of this photograph the buildings and trees shown on Main Street were little more ten years old, rebuilt in 1892 after a devastating fire. In addition to the Soldiers Monument (dedicated in 1900), the Hotel Kreisler figures…

Postcard shows the junction of East and State Streets, including what the writer calls "Our much talked of monument." At this time the Soldiers Monument, dedicated in 1900 by then-governor Theodore Roosevelt, would have been seven years old and an…

Named after the miller Theophilus Short, this small village of perhaps 800 seems to have been using this map in an aspirational way: by visualizing itself as a place to which more businesses and people would locate. The main appeal was its situation…

Bird's eye view looking northwest shows the rapidly growing town of 3,200 located along Oatka Creek. Founded in 1803 from the Holland Purchase tract, agriculture followed the clearing of timber and by the later 19th century the town's economy was a…

Detailed map of former Erie Canal boomtown reflects its growth into a large city half a century later. Looking north, from Highland Park, we can trace the Genesee River to Lake Ontario. Several features from Rochester's earliest days still are…