Monroe County Historian

Celebrating Memorial Day 2021 For many of us, this weekend begins the unofficial start to the summer as well as the first of the 3-day long weekends. Many celebrate in multiple of ways: by either taking a camping trip, firing up the barbeque for the first time, hosting family picnics & social gatherings, attending baseball games, parades and memorial services. Even though not all of our local Villages’ and Towns’ remembrances parades and ceremonies resumed this year, undoub...Continue reading

Summer of 2021: ~ Reopening of Seabreeze Park: As the celebrations for Memorial Day Weekend are now underway, we are happy to report that Seabreeze Park is officially reopened for the 2021 season!! With last year’s pandemic restrictions finally removed, there’s definitely a lot to celebrate and for many local families it includes taking an annual trip to Seabreeze. The Park’s Location & Historical Background:...Continue reading

An Iconic Landmark ~ Erie Canal As summer is just around the corner and the much nicer weather has arrived, there’s been lots of recent activity along the Erie Canal pathways. Whether you a runner for pleasure or preparing for up an upcoming marathon, a practicing crew team, an avid bike rider, enjoy taking a boat cruise on the canal, out for a long leisurely walk, or waiting the anticipation of Canal Days returning, there’s absolute certainty the Erie Canal provides breath...Continue reading

An All-American Tradition ~ National Apple Pie Day Happy National Apple Pie Day!! Today is unique in that it celebrates one of America’s most beloved treasures apple pie. You might be asking yourselfif apples are typically harvested in the fall, then why would a celebration of apple pie be in the month of May? If you did pause and ask yourself this, then you would be actually right. Throughout the fall season, apples are harvested and stored for use until the next year’s...Continue reading

Lilac Festival 2021 It is amazing what a year brings! We are pleased to announce the Lilac Festival is in full swing and should bring more folks out to enjoy the splendor of Rochester’s treasured lilacs. As many may recall, 2020’s Lilac Festival organizers did not cancel the festival entirely, but revamped it significantly due to the full-blown pandemic. As a direct result, most of the events surrounding the popular festival were cancelled, but organizers saw the importance ...Continue reading

The Bounty of the County: Local Apple Orchards This week is the celebration of National Fall Foliage Week. As many of leaves on the trees are starting to turn the bright colors of red, orange, and yellowit is a great time to be outdoors and witness the beautiful foliage by visiting one of the many apple orchards within Monroe County. Historical Background of the Apple:...Continue reading

Voting In 2020 General Election With Election Day (Tuesday, November 3rd), only 39 days away, the Office of the Monroe Historian wanted to provide a short resource guide outlining the ways in which registered voters can participate in voting this year. The 3 possible ways to vote were designed to obtain large voter turnout while minimizing the concerns and overall risk involved with voting due to COVID-19. SAVE THE DATE: October 9th (Last Day to Register to Vote)... If one is not already a registered voter and wishes exercise their right to vote in the upcoming election, then the deadline to register in NY is Friday, October 9th. The following are a few of the criteria needed to be met in order to be eligible to register: must be a US citizen must be 18 years old must be a resident of NY State & Monroe County (City or Village) you live in for at least 30 days Registration can be done either in person or on-line. On-line information can be found at: www.ny.gov 3 WAYS IN WHICH TO VOTE: 1. Absentee Ballot Voting: Due to concerns surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all registered voters have the ability to vote by absentee ballot. Once the ballot is completed, here’s several ways in which to return to ballot for counting: By Mail (Note: must be post marked no later than Nov. 3rd) Drop it off at an early voting poll site (Oct. 24th Nov. 1st) Drop it off at polling site on Nov. 3rd no later than 9 p.m. Drop it off at County Board of Elections (Sept. 8th Nov. 3rd by 9 p.m.) For instructions to complete the absentee ballots & to find your designated drop off site, please refer to www.ny.gov for further information. 2. In Person Early Voting: (at designated polling site) Early voting begins on Sat., Oct. 24th and run through Sun., Nov, 1st (9 days of voting prior to Election Day) 3. In Person Voting Day of Election: (at designated polling site) On Tues., November 3rd, all polling sites throughout Monroe County will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 9 p.m. As Americans continue to maneuver through these unprecedented times due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the reality of past voting procedures in the general elections have been significantly modified allowing easier access for citizens to vote. In the 2016 General Election, only 58% of national voter population turned out. Despite all that in going on around us on local and national levels, it is imperative that voter turnout be stronger this election year than in previous years in order to restore balance. Therefore, every vote counts!! With multiple ways to exercise our right to vote, time will shortly tell if we shall see an increase in the national voter turnout.

A Walk Back in Time: ~ Genesee Country Village & Museum (GCV&M) Now as fall is underway and before the winter chill is upon us, it’s a great time to take advantage of the nearby weekend day trips that is surely fun for all ages. This week we are featuring GCV&M, which is a family-friendly, 19th century living country historic village located within the Town of Wheatland. Besides being the largest living museum in New York State, GCV&M also holds the largest collections o...Continue reading

The Reinvented Classroom This week students in the city and surrounding towns are returning to the classroom for another academic year, but this year is quite different than in years past. In order to officially reopen schools, guidelines from Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and state approved action plan protocols had to be developed by each district to minimize another outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. As a result, all prior conventional school preparati...Continue reading

Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse: Part III of Seaway Trail Series The third and final installment of our Seaway Trail series is featuring the historic Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse located on Lake Ontario. Lighthouses are commonly referred to as the traffic light on the sea. Prior to the introduction of GPS systems, lighthouses were navigational tools on the waterways to warn boaters of dangerous areas to avoid and helping those in need. Each historical lighthouse possesses ...Continue reading

Throw Back Thursday (TBT) and Part II of the Seaway Trail Series: Seabreeze Amusement Park This week we will be featuring Seabreeze Amusement Park as Part II of our 3-part series highlighting New York State’s must see sights located within Monroe County and along the Seaway Trail....Continue reading

Hamlin Beach State Park: Part I of the Seaway Trail Series As we find ourselves in the dog days of summer, our Office wanted to share a few local day trips ideas you and the family may want to check out. We will be running a 3-part series highlighting New York State’s parks located within Monroe County and found along the Seaway Trail. The Seaway Trail, or also referred to as, the Great Lakes Seaway Trail was created in 1978 and consists of 518 miles along the breathtaking ...Continue reading

As the COVID pandemic continues, our office wanted to share the amazing work Foodlink is doing by sponsoring additional food distributions happening throughout the County during the month of August. For all households that register, you will receive 40+ pounds of food. Please see the below poster for more information on where to register & the designated pick-up sites. ... If you know of someone in need or wish to spread the word to more residents about the food distributions, kindly share this post to your personal Facebook page. Wishing everyone continued health!!

Now that we are in the heart of summer, it’s a great time to explore places within Monroe County. Today, we are featuring Corbett’s Glen Nature Park. The following post originally ran on June 14, 2019. Since our office received such positive feedback on it, we wanted to repost it in order to remind folks of the beautiful nature park and introduce it to those that may not be aware of it. Repost: A Hidden Historical & Picturesque Treasure Trove Corbett’s Glen Nature Park...Continue reading

Happy 4th of July!! Wishing all a wonderful and safe holiday weekend!!

"Celebrating Juneteenth" Juneteenth is the oldest commemoration acknowledging the end of slavery within the U.S. It is celebrated nationally on June 19th. Historical Background...Continue reading

Like the gentleman pictured below, we must contemplate the pain and destruction in our community. This image was taken in the aftermath of the July 1964 riots; our community was shocked then as now to confront the despair of so many of our neighbors. In 1989, this office co-sponsored a conference at Strong Museum on the impact of these riots, including many voices from throughout the area and inviting insightful scholarship and research. In 2014, this office and students at S...Continue reading

Celebrating Memorial Day As Phase 1 of the reopening of Monroe County is well underway, this weekend marks the unofficial start to the summer of 2020. There is still much uncertainty as to how much access we will have to our local area parks and beaches throughout the summer. However, there is strong hope things are starting to return to normalcy. Earlier this week, Gov. Coumo announced the long standing NY State tradition of hosting Memorial Day parades & services honoring ...Continue reading