4 more inductees go into Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame
Sites include First Baptist Church in Medina, Hamlin Beach State Park, Robin Hill Manor in Lyndonville and Mundion home in Ridgeway
The new inductees in the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame include from left going clockwise: First Baptist Church of Medina, the Masten/Mundion home in Ridgeway, Robin Hill Manor in Lyndonville, and Hamlin Beach State Park.
MEDINA – The Medina Sandstone Society inducted four more sites into the Hall of Fame during a ceremony on Thursday.
The 10th anniversary class includes the First Baptist Church of Medina, Hamlin Beach State Park, Robin Hill Manor in Lyndonville and the Masten/Mundion home in Ridgeway. There have now been 39 sites inducted since the Hall of Fame was established in 2013. The plaques and photographs are on display in the main meeting room of City Hall.
Hall of Fame Committee member David Miller, left, and Jim Hancock remove the curtain to unveil this year’s inductees. The committee also includes Reinhard Rogowski, Rollin Hellner and Tom Rivers. The sites are nominated and the committee visits and researches the sites. More than 70 locations have been nominated for the Hall of Fame. The Medina Sandstone Society board of directors gives a final OK for the sites included in the Hall of Fame.
Takeform in Medina has donated the plaques and display for the Hall of Fame each year.
Mindy Cogovan, a long-time parishioner at First Baptist Church in Medina, and Rev. Randy LeBaron of the church hold the plaque after the ceremony at City Hall.
First Baptist Church of Medina
The plaque for the church states:
“For 150 years, the First Baptist Church of Medina has been a landmark, one of the most iconic sites in the village. The steeple, peaking at about 150 feet high, is one of the first sights approaching the downtown, especially from Route 31 to the east.
The church was constructed between 1870 and 1873 at 203 West Center St. It is made of locally quarried gray Medina Sandstone and was built in an example of Gothic Revivalism tempered with influences from the then-even more popular Romanesque Revival style.
The Medina Tribune on Jan. 16, 1873, made the church’s dedication front page news, saying the Medina community could pride itself for having “one of the most elegant and substantial church buildings in all of Western New York.”
A congregation of 140 people contributed the $45,000 to have the church built on one of the best sites in the village, the Tribune noted.
The church’s members through a century and half have proven devoted caretakers of the building, ensuring its longevity and lofty presence for the community.”
Matt and Heather Mundion hold the plaque recognizing their home is now in the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame.
Ephraim Masten Homestead – Telegraph Road in Medina, New York
The plaque states:
“In 1819, Ephraim Masten and his wife Nancy came to Ridgeway and purchased 130 acres of land two miles east from what would become the village of Medina. They built and lived in a log cabin until 1831 when the family had done well enough to be able to construct a house of locally quarried sandstone to replace the log cabin.
Ephraim died in 1840 and his wife in 1872, but the home remained in the family for many succeeding generations of Masten descendants.
In more recent years, the home was occupied by attorney Vincent Cardone, who did considerable restoration work on the historic building, then industrialist Milford L. Phinney and family.
Most recently, Matt and Heather Mundion have further expanded and beautified the home using repurposed Medina Sandstone for new porch and patio areas and other interior and exterior improvements.
With its long history of restoration and stewardship, this historic home will soon be 200 years old!”
Robin Hill Manor is an not only an impressive Medina Sandstone home, the site includes an arboretum with about 250 varieties of trees.
Robin Hill Manor – Platten Road, Lyndonvillle, NY
“This beautiful home was built in the late 1940-1950 by Lyndonville residents William and Mary Smith and their children George and Marion Smith.
William and Mary Smith designed the Manor House and had drawings done by a professional architect from Rochester. It took them five years to quarry and cut the Medina Sandstone and build the house. George did most of the stone work and all of the interior wood and cabinetry while Marion and Mary finished the kitchen, hauling materials for the floors and staining the cedar shakes for the roof.
The house was finished in 1952. The family lived there until Marion’s passing in 2013, when Doug Pratt inherited the estate. He lives there and has set up the non-profit he Robin Hill Nature Preserve for the public to enjoy the 45 acres and more than 250 varieties of trees.
“Smith Pond” has been a beloved landmark for decades in Lyndonville, with many people stopping to admire swans and other wildlife. Pratt continues to make this “jewel” available to the community.”
Hamlin had a contingent representing the state park at the hall of Fame ceremony. In front, from left, include Ed Evans, winner of a Heritage Award for his efforts at the park and the former CCC/POW camp; Ross Lovell, park manager; and John Snyder, assistant regional director for NYS Parks. Back row: Members of the Friends of Hamlin Beach State Park: Sue Evans, Nick Kramer, Kim Walter, Jim Lugert, Patti Sullivan and Tom Dabrowski.
Hamlin Beach State Park – Hamlin, NY
“At Hamlin Beach State Park in Monroe County, the Medina Sandstone is everywhere – the shelters, bathrooms, culverts, fireplaces, fire pits, drinking fountains, retaining walls and a concessions building.
The entire park, which draws about 300,000 people a year, is a tremendous showcase of Medina Sandstone.
Hamlin Beach State Park was largely developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1935 to 1941, with state contractors then working on the park until 1952.
Operating from a camp on Moscow Road, the CCC employed local stone masons, carpenters, forestry crews, auto mechanics, truck drivers, rock crusher operators and road crews to build the park during the latter years of the Depression.
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has made recent investments in the park’s upkeep, and the Friends of Hamlin State Beach have pushed to make the park more accessible and its history more fully understood.”
Hamlin Beach includes many drinking fountains, fire pits and retaining walls, as well as the larger shelters and a bathhouse.
The honorees at the Hall of Fame induction include, from left: Jennifer Wells-Dickerson with a Heritage Award for her efforts preserving the story of her great-grandfather, Pasquale DiLaura, a quarry owner who was influential in the stone work on the Parkway and at Hamlin Beach; Matt and Heather Mundion, owner of the Masten-Mundion home on Telegraph Road in Ridgeway; Mindy Cogovan and Rev. Randy LeBaron of the First Baptist Church of Medina; John Snyder, assistant regional director for New York State Parks and Ross Lovell, Hamlin Beach State Park manager; and Ed Evans, Heritage Award honoree for his efforts to preserve the history of the Civilian Conservation Corps camp/POW camp at Hamlin Beach State Park. Missing from photo: Doug Pratt, owner of the Robin Hill Manor in Lyndonville.
