People of Ontario County: Daniel Prue & John Hite
Excerpt from Preston E Pierce’s A Tour Guide to Black History Sites in Canandaigua, NY. When Daniel Prue died in 1895, he was quietly buried in the first row of graves in the old soldier (GAR) plot in Woodlawn Cemetery. Each year, his tombstone literally overlooks the Memorial Day ceremonies. In 1857, Daniel Prue was […]
People of Ontario County: Lloyd Colbert
Excerpt from Preston E Pierce’s A Tour Guide to Black History Sites in Canandaigua, NY. The family of Lloyd Colbert was one of the longest established Black families in Canandaigua. Daniel Dorsey, who settled around Lyons, brought the Colberts to Ontario County as slaves from Maryland. Among them was Lloyd Colbert, oldest son of Phoebe […]
People of Ontario County: Henry W. Johnson
Excerpt from Preston E Pierce’s A Tour Guide to Black History Sites in Canandaigua, NY. A self-educated man of affairs, Henry Johnson was born in Ferrisburg, Vermont. His hometown was a center of abolitionist sentiment and an important junction on the Underground Railroad. When his father died, Johnson moved to Canandaigua about 1836 and got […]
People of Ontario County: Henry C. Beeman
Henry C. Beeman was born in Canandaigua on Oct. 8th, 1847, the youngest child of Reuben Beeman and Orpha Crane. Beeman was educated at Canandaigua Academy until June 23, 1863 when he enlisted in Company C, Fifteenth New York Calvary. Although just 15, he lied on his enlistment papers claiming to be 18, and was […]
A Historical Playlist
What was considered popular American music changed significantly over the 20th Century. The earliest iteration of popular American music in the early 1900s was comprised of sentimental parlor songs. The growth of Broadway in the early 1910s also heavily influenced the sound of American music, and gave rise to composers like George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, […]
Long Pier
Much like Canandaigua’s pier, Geneva’s long pier once had 36 boathouses on its north side. During the construction of the 5&20 arterial in the 1950s, the pier was shortened by 14 boathouses. By 1962, the state ordered the remaining boathouses be burned due to deterioration. Long Pier served as a breakwater for the public dock […]
Onanda Park
In 1919 the Rochester YWCA purchased the Shale Glen property on the north side of Point Rochester on Canandaigua Lake. Camp Onanda, named by Mary Moulthrop as an approximation of the Native American word for “pine or fir tree,” was opened in 1920, serving young working women. In its final years before being purchased by […]
Whiskey Point
Whiskey Point is located on the east side of Canandaigua Lake. The spot gets its name from a whiskey still that early Ontario County settlers operated there. It’s said that a scow full of whiskey sank off the point, momentarily turning the lake into a large highball. By the early 20th Century, disreputable gangs of […]
People of Ontario County: Helen Stewart
Helen, along with her sister Peggy were well known portrait photographers in Canandaigua and beyond. In 1932, Peggy was named “Child Photographer in America,” and had her portraits hung in exhibitions throughout the U.S., Canada, England, France, and Japan. She photographed Franklin Roosevelt, King George, and Queen Elizabeth, among others. Helen worked with her sister […]
Canandaigua Health Home
Dr. George Washington Gregg, son of Canandaigua’s oldest resident George Gregg, was born in 1876. He built and founded the Canandaigua Health Home at 6 Gorham St. in the city. The Canandaigua Health Home focused on the care of chronic and acute illnesses, though an advertising booklet for the home lists specifically what illnesses were […]