Town of Sodus Historical Society

Got this at an antique store today. Belive it is Circa 1950's. CORRECTION: This would have been the 1930's. Thanks Jim Norton for posting the correct time.

We have a new Historical Site in Huron today , New York State has designated the land currently owned by Cathy and Paul Stewart which has long been in the fam...ily of Cathy Stewart to be an official site( a sawmill and Boat Landing)first established by the Reverend Fay Hovey Purdy a Methodist Evangelical in 1870 See more

Sodus Bay was a popular recreational destination as far back as the late 1800 and early 1900s. Hotels appeared around the bay at Sodus Point, Resort, Bonnie Ca...stle, and even on the islands. Pictured here are two LeRoy Island hotels, both built, owned, and operated by Harlow C. LeRoy, an Oswego lumber dealer, whom the island was named after. The three-story hotel burned in February 1901. LeRoy rebuilt another hotel on the same site. Note the buggies in the second photo. LeRoy Island also had a racetrack in the center on the island. Horse racing was a popular activity in the early 1900s, there being a number of racetracks around the county. Horse racing was not limited to spring, summer, and fall. There were horseraces on Sodus Bay in the winter months on the ice, as revealed by the Lake Shore News, February 28, 1907 news clipping! [Map is from the the 1904 Wayne County Atlas - Town of Huron.] See more

On this day in history, 1824, the Town of Savannah, NY was "BORN." As population increased in the frontier of New York State between 1789 and 1829, larger poli...tical units like counties and towns divided into smaller and more manageable units. Savannah was originally part of Galen. They were both previously part of Junius when this part of Wayne County (formed 4/11/1823) was still part of Seneca County. See more

And, HERE IS THE REST OF THE STORY! As we began to dig more into our Wayne County history, we found some facts that lead us to dig deeper. As it turns out, we... found that in 11 of our 15 Wayne County towns, we have been using the date the NYS Legislature PASSED the law allowing for the town to be formed INSTEAD OF the date the law was to TAKE EFFECT. Here is an example. We knew that Walworth was the last Wayne County town to be established, BUT we thought it was on April 20, 1829. Read carefully..."From and after the first Monday of April next..." That would be April 5, 1830. The signature under "Approved April 20, 1829" is Governor Enos T. Throop. In coming days we'll be putting more of these details on line and let you know where to find them. Isn't history FUN? See more

The Sodus Historical Society is working on collecting photos, stories, etc for the upcoming 2023 Wayne County Bicentennial Celebration. Please submit anything that you may have to Steve Heald at [email protected]. We look forward to seeing what you may have that will help commemorate Sodus History! If you would also like to be a part of the Bicentennial Sodus Town Committee please contact Steve.

The Railroad Crossing at Old Macedon Center Road By Bill Poray, Perinton Town Historian North of the canal bridge at Turk Hill Road is the intersection with Cob...b’s Lane, named for the canning factory which stood across the canal on the south bank. The western end of Cobb’s Lane traces the path of an earlier road, which meandered northeast, across Thomas Creek and multiple tracks of the New York Central and West Shore railroads. Known at different times as Brown’s or Howard’s Crossing, pedestrians, vehicles, and livestock passed this way at their own risk. Sometimes known as Old Macedon Center Road, the swampy cut-through still appeared on a 1935 assessor’s map, however was closed off by the time a 1952 topographic map was drawn. The eastern end of the road still exists today. As with most early railroad crossings, unprotected in any way, sad stories are commonplace. One snowy day in March of 1885, the father of Civil War veteran Chester Hutchinson, Lewis, was thrown from his horse-drawn cutter at the railroad crossing. Traveling from his home on East Whitney Road, called Cheese Factory road in that era, the 81-year-old man suffered serious injuries, which no doubt hastened his death not long after. A neighbor of the Hutchinsons nearly lost his life at the troublesome crossing the following year. John Howell was on his way to a meeting, in his capacity as an overseer of highways. The local newspaper reported that Howell had a narrow escape from a serious accident at Howard’s crossing one of the worst known. Blowing coal dust and snow made visibility to the west impossible. Howell crossed one set of tracks, when a fast-moving train slammed into his buggy, sheared off one wheel, and collapsed the front of the contraption upon the driver. Through good fortune, neither Howell nor his horse were badly injured. The newspaper surmised, It is a wonder that with the wind blowing and the draft created by the train, the buggy was not drawn under. A cattle drive of five dozen head in the spring of 1886 was crossing the tracks when an express train split the group in two, causing loss several prize steer for farmer Smith Bills. More incidents followed, including the death of a pedestrian found on the tracks at the crossing. By 1893, and reports of another man nearly killed at Howard’s Crossing, town supervisor Egbert Hodskin took on the railroad, A resolution was passed to seek from the railroad companies the assignment of a flagman at the Howard Crossing. As described in the Monroe County Mail, There are six tracks, crossing the highway diagonally, making it a very dangerous crossing, and our citizens generally will be very glad that the town authorities are taking steps in the matter. Two weeks after the resolution, yet another narrow escape punctuated the need for the implementation of safety measures. An express train struck the wagon of 68-year old Percy Budlong of Walworth, who was thrown to the ground but escaped death. Soon after, Dan Crowell of Fairport’s East Avenue was assigned the position of flagman at the notorious crossing. A thirty-year veteran of the railroad, the newspaper reported, It is a good thing to have him there, and all who use the crossing will feel much safer because of it.

Only 4-feet deep and 40-feet wide, work began on the Erie Canal in 1817. It opened in 1825. In Wayne County, canal construction was completed in 1821. The canal... is 363 miles long, extending from the Hudson River to Lake Erie (Albany to Buffalo). Canal boats were pulled by mules walking on a towpath adjacent to the canal. The canal was enlarged and improved during the 1840’s & 1850’s. The Erie Canal made it possible to ship goods 10 times faster at 1/10th the cost. The Erie Canal was so successful there were plans to build a branch canal from the canal in Clyde to Sodus Bay. This branch was never completed. Due to the number of locks that would have been required between Clyde and Sodus Bay, the project cost was too prohibitive. Photo credit to: New York State Archives (http://www.archives.nysed.gov//26695_ca_object_representat) Map Credit to New York State Archives - There are many more maps at this link - for those of you who are map geeks - (http://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov//objects/43548) See more

The farmerettes and the Sodus Fruit Farm...check out Bruce Farrington's latest addition to our website and all the other historical information there. A generation before Rosie the Riveter, there were strong patriotic women coming to the aid of their country during a World War. Locally, they were the Sodus Fruit Farm Farmerettes..... Read all about these remarkable women:... http://townofsodushistoricalsociety.org//sodus-fruit-farm/

Today's historic marker is in Lyons, NY at the site of a very important early industry in Wayne County. If you have not visited this museum, please put it on y...our MUST DO list. Thanks to H.G. Hotchkiss and being located along the Erie Canal, Lyons was once considered "The Peppermnt Capital of the World." To learn more, please visit https://waynehistorians.org/Places/site.php?site=187 See more

Attention History Buffs - The Roosevelt School will be the topic of the third program in the 2020 Winter Lecture Series this Saturday, March 14, at 2:00 p.m. at... the Newark-Arcadia Museum, 120 High St., Newark. Cindy Russell will be the presenter. This program is free and open to the public. See more