One-room schoolhouse will host history talks for county’s bicentennial
By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian
“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 22
GAINES – The Orleans County Historical Association has scheduled an ambitious monthly series of History Talks in celebration of the county’s bicentennial.
The programs are on Wednesdays and begin at 7 p.m. They are presented in a unique setting: the restored one-room cobblestone schoolhouse at 3286 Gaines Basin Rd., Albion. That school was built in 1832 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The schedule is as follows:
Dennis Upton portrays Joseph Ellicott, a major influencer in the development of Western New York.
• June 25: Dennis Upton will present a first person portrayal of Joseph Ellicott (1760-1826). The name Ellicott is familiar to us – Ellicott Creek, Ellicottville etc. but we never question how these placenames originated. As the person who surveyed the area and sold the land, Joseph Ellicott had a profound and lasting impact on the early development of Western New York. Ellicott was also instrumental in the development and routing of the Erie Canal.
• July 30: “The Haudenosaunee Confederacy” – Kae Woodruff Wilbert will discuss the history of the six Indigenous nations whose traditional lands encompass New York State.
• Aug. 27: Amy Machamer, owner of Hurd Orchards in Holley, will discuss “Orleans County Fruit Culture as Living History.”
• Sept. 24: Doug Miller, retired history teacher, will discuss how multiple religious ideas and beliefs developed and spread along the Erie Canal in the early 19th century in a talk titled “The Erie Canal & The Burned Over District; History is not Accidental.”
• Oct. 29: The county’s historic markers capture the stories of people, place and events of significance. Catherine Cooper, Orleans County historian, will present the newly reissued edition of the book, Historic Markers of Orleans County, which includes the markers added in the last 24 years.
There is no admission charge for these programs. Donations are gratefully accepted.
