By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian
MEDINA – In 1914, when our picture was taken, William Gallagher of Medina owned this stone building where he rented wagons and carriages.
Likewise he did moving for hire as the signage indicates “moving vans.” This building which backs up to the canal now serves as the Butts-Clark American Legion Post in Medina.
By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian
ALBION – Peter A. Dragon established the Albion Advertiser in 1929. Here we see his car in the early 1930s when it was decorated for a parade.
We note the signage which states: “1st in News, Pictures, Circulation, Display Ads and Classified Ads.” The phone number was simply 1.
Under the Albion Advertiser sign it states: “Orleans County’s Finest and Best Newspaper.”
Editor’s note: The Albion Advertiser, a weekly newspaper, ceased publication in May 2013.
By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian
CLARENDON – One of Clarendon’s most famous citizens was Carl E. Akeley, a noted taxidermist, naturalist, sculptor and author.
Here he is in his studio shortly before he died in 1926.
The Clarendon Historical Society will celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth on May 21 at 7 p.m. at the Clarendon Rec Hall.
Special guest speaker will be Jay Kirk, author of “Kingdom Under Glass.”
He will present a program on Akeley, who is known for creating African Hall at New York’s Museum of Natural History.
A historic marker on Hinds Road notes where Akeley was born and grew up.
An early example of his work dating to around 1880, a stuff fox, is on display at the Cobblestone Museum in Childs.
By Bill Lattin, Orleans County Historian
MEDINA – In this color post card mailed Sept. 3, 1912 is a view of the S.A. Cook Building on Main Street in Medina.
Note the dirt street and horse drawn wagons. To the upper right is the tower of the Presbyterian Church. The red brick building next to that was the Central Bank of Medina.
By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian
ALBION – In this postcard from the early 20th Century we see the swing bridge over the Erie Canal looking up Main Street in Albion.
The bridge tender with a pole in hand is seen standing on the bridge. This pole fitted into gears under the hub in the middle which turned the bridge lengthwise of the canal.
Being mounted on a pedestal in the center of the canal when turned allowed boats to pass on either side. This bridge was removed in 1911 for the present lift bridge.
Photo by Tom Rivers – One of the 11 bases for interpretive panels about Medina history and lore was recently installed along Main Street by Rotary Park. The panels should be added next week.
MEDINA – Next week a series of 11 interpretive panels about Medina history will be installed in the downtown business district.
The sign bases have already been installed by the Medina DPW. The panels will be added next week.
Chris Busch, the vice president of the Orleans Renaissance Group, is coordinator of the project. The panels will teach local history, and make for a more meaningful visit for tourists, he said.
“It can bring a historic landmark or event to life and allow a visitor to take home more than a picture and a memory – a deeper appreciation of our village,” Busch said.
The signs also create “the perception of importance – that this place is worth visiting historically, culturally, architecturally and economically,” Busch said.
He expects the project will generate community pride and boost awareness for Medina’s historic, architectural and cultural resources. Businesses will benefit from visitors who stay in the community longer, Busch said.
The project was spearheaded by the ORG with backing from the Medina Business Association. Sponsors paid for the mounts and Ken Daluisio of The Print Shop donated the panels and helped coordinate the project.
Busch designed the panels and they feature village’s history – its sandstone, Erie Canal and railroad prowess, and some notable characters and community leaders, as well as a tribute to immigrants who worked on the canal and quarries. One panel features Grover Cleveland and his wife, the former Frances Folsom, a Medina native. Cleveland married Folsom while he was U.S. president.
Sponsors of the project include the MBA, Gabrielle and Andina Barone, Andrew Meier, ORG, Dave and Gail Miller, Hartway Motors, Rita Zambito/Zambito Realty, Medina Sandstone Trust, Marcia Tuohey, Chris and Cynthia Busch, and the Medina Fire Department Local 2160.
By Bill Lattin, Orleans County Historian
CARLTON – This picture was taken following the train wreck at Carlton (Ashwood) on July 27, 1883.
A freight car was blown off a siding onto the main track when an excursion train running to the Thousand Islands hit it at 9:48 p.m.
The two heavy engines were both overturned and heavy steel sleeping cars on the rear of the train crushed the light weight wooden passenger cars ahead.
As a result 17 people were killed and 25 were injured.
Our picture shows a number of curiosity seekers looking over the wreckage the next day.
By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian
MEDINA – In this late 19th Century photo we see a number of men who worked at the McCormick Medina Sandstone Quarry.
Notice the steam tractor is hauling a thick slab of stone. This quarry was located by the canal at the Bates Road bridge which shows partly in the right hand background.
Hundreds of boat loads of stone were shipped from here each season when the Medina Sandstone industry was at its peak.
Photos by Tom Rivers Ilene Benfer debuted today as a docent at the Cobblestone Society Museum. She is pictured inside the blacksmith shop.
GAINES – For many years Ilene Benfer brought her fourth-grade class from Kendall to the Cobblestone Society Museum. Her students most enjoyed the one-room schoolhouse, a structure from 1849 with cobblestone masonry.
“They are amazed that every grade could fit in there,” Benfer said. “This was long before Smart Boards and computers.”
Benfer now teachers Kendall third-graders. She recommends teachers bring their students to the museum.
“The children need to see, hear and touch history,” said Benfer, a Waterport resident.
Today was opening day for the museum, and also the first day Benfer was an official volunteer for the site, which is a National Historic Landmark. Benfer was in the blacksmith shop. She likes the old tools, and marvels at ingenuity of Joseph Vagg, the blacksmith who worked there. He had to fashion parts to fit carriage wheels, farm equipment and other community needs.
A carriage and other artifacts are displayed inside the blacksmith shop on Route 98, just south of Route 104.
Benfer took volunteer training last Saturday. She is serving as a docent, giving tours of the museum, which includes eight historic structures.
“I get to live in the past for a few hours,” she said.
She would like to see more schools bring students to the museum to learn about the past.
Some of the tools of the blacksmith trade are on display as well as an old manure spreader.
While today was Benfer’s first day as an official volunteer, Paul Letiecq has been a steady presence at the museum for 20 years. He was back at his favorite spot this afternoon at the entrance of the Cobblestone Universalist Church. The building was constructed in 1834. It’s the oldest cobblestone church in North America.
“I think this is a real asset to our community that we have the historic complex that we have here,” Letiecq said about the museum. “It tells a story of our heritage.”
Paul Letiecq enjoys talking about the Cobblestone Universalist Church, which was built in 1834.
Letiecq, 80, is retired as a full-time minister. He served the Presbyterian Church in Holley for 10 years.
In his retirement, he has been a supply minister for the Universalist congregation in Middleport. That group meets in a cobblestone church built in 1841.
Letiecq enjoys talking about the history of the Cobblestone Universalist Church in Gaines, as well as some of the social movements of that era as universalism spread as New Englanders moved across New York.
The cobblestone church once required pew rentals for the people to sit in the first floor seats. If the people didn’t pay or were visitors, they had to sit upstairs.
The Cobblestone Unversalist Church still holds church services at least twice a year and also is used for weddings.
One church, the Free Methodist Church, started in Albion and has spread to more than 1,000 in the world after it opposed the pew rentals in the early 1860s. Letiecq likes to share that story.
“Charging for pews was quite controversial,” Letiecq said.
By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian
EAGLE HARBOR – A steam pile driver is being used here to reinforce a concrete wall along the canal in August 1927.
It was just east of Eagle Harbor over Otter Creek where the canal retaining wall collapsed flooding over 500 acres to the south up Otter Creek.
The Albion Eagle Harbor Road was flooded out along with a couple of houses. Canal traffic came to a halt for over six weeks until the damage was fixed.
By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian
GAINES – One outstanding artifact at the Cobblestone Museum in Childs is this backdrop displayed in the Farmers Hall.
It was painted in 1929 for use on the stage in the Murray Grange Hall. Around the pretty scene businesses advertised which helped pay for the artwork. Most are long gone except NL Cole, now Stockham Lumber, and J.B. Merrill, now Merrill Grinnell Funeral Home. Both of these ads are in the bottom row center.
On Mother’s Day, the Cobblestone Museum will be open from 1 to 5 p.m. when you may be able to get a first-hand look at this treasured artifact.
By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian
KENDALL – In this picture from around 1890 we see people relaxing at the Ontario House. Located at Troutburg on Lake Ontario, north of Morton, this was a resort destination.
The Ontario House provided lodging, dining and entertainment. A summer hamlet of cottages were built here beginning in the late 19th Century.
The Ontario House was destroyed by a fire in 1940.
By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian
ALBION – Our snapshot taken during World War I shows Co. N. 74 Reg. NYS Guard parading up South Main Street in Albion.
Appearing in this 1917 picture are Capt. John Beckwith, Rev. Ford of the First Baptist Church, First Lt. Lynn Burrows, Bert Bidelman and George Houghton.
Note the vintage autos parked along the street. The house in the background (upper right) was the Waterman residence, which was torn down in 1956. This is now the site of Tim Hortons.
Provided photos – Carl Akeley is pictured with a leopard in Africa that he killed with his bare hands after it attacked him.
CLARENDON – The Clarendon Historical Society is planning one of its biggest events ever in honor of the 150th birthday of the town’s most famous son.
Carl Akeley, a world renown taxidermist and inventor, will be the focus of a May 21 event at the Clarendon Recreation Hall. The event starts at 7 p.m. and will include Jay Kirk, author of a book about Akeley called “Kingdom Under Glass.” Copies of the book will be for sale.
The cover of Kirk’s book: “Kingdom Under Glass.” The Clarendon Historical Society will be selling copies of the book on May 21.
Akeley grew up on Hinds Road. He made many safaris to Africa and became an advocate for preserving Africa’s wildlife.
“He is considered the Father of Taxidermy,” said Historical Society member Erin Anheier. “He made it an artform.”
The Cobblestone Society Museum has a fox stuffed by a young Carl Akeley, which will be displayed as part of the May 21 event.
Jay Kirk, author of the Carl Akeley biography “Kingdom Under Glass,” will be the featured speaker on May 21st during a program about Akeley, a Clarendon native.
Kirk, the author, chronicles Akeley’s life during the golden age of safaris in the early 20th Century. Akeley created the famed African Hall at New York’s Museum of Natural History.
“He was concerned about saving animals, especially the giant gorillas in Africa,” Anheier said. “He collected and stuffed the animals for scientific purposes.”
Akeley’s adventures connected him with Theodore Roosevelt, P.T. Barnum and George Eastman. Akeley died in 1926 and is buried in Africa.
“We were talking about programs for the year at the Historical Society, looking at what’s unique about Clarendon,” Anheier said. “Carl Akeley is the most famous person ever from Clarendon.”
A historical marker on Hinds Road notes that Carl Akeley grew up in Clarendon.
By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian
ALBION – Perchance this photo was taken on Flag Day during the 1940s in downtown Albion.
Walter’s dress shop shows to the left before it moved up the street. This is now Fischer’s Newsroom.
In the middle we see Harris Freemans Drug Store, which later was owned by Marvin and Alice Sayles. On the corner is the Charles Tibbits Jewelry Store. We also note DeLuca’s Shoe Repair sign above Walter’s dress shop.
