Photos by Tom Rivers – Alice Swett, daughter of Medina industrialist Albert L. Swett, was only 11 when she died. She is buried in the family plot at Boxwood Cemetery in Medina.

MEDINA – Albert L. Swett was one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Orleans County’s history. In 1898, he formed the A.L. Swett Electric Light and Power Company, which brought electricity to Medina.

He built another reservoir in Carlton to provide more power to Orleans County about a century ago.

Swett also ran a massive iron works company, “A.L. Swett Ironworks,” in Medina. A quick search under “A.L. Swett Ironworks” on Google showed a list of heavy-duty items, ranging from manhole covers and barn door hangers to iron ladles.

Medina Historian Todd Bensley and County Historian Bill Lattin led a tour of Boxwood Cemetery this afternoon. They stopped by the massive monument for Swett near the back of the original cemetery. (The burial grounds has expanded east.)

They said Swett was grief-stricken about the loss of his daughter, who was only 11 when she died. When Swett had a reservoir dug in Carlton as part of a power project at Waterport, he named the site in honor of his daughter. That’s why it’s called “Lake Alice.” I didn’t know that story until today.

Mr. Swett lived from 1850 to 1924. His daughter died in 1884.

Albert L. Swett has a massive monument at Boxwood Cemetery in Medina.

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

ALBION – This interior photo shows the Post Office in Albion, perhaps around 1920.

The Post Office was located on the north side of East Bank Street in the Kinmont Block between Platt and Ingersoll streets. From here the Post Office moved to the Orleans Hotel block about 1930.

In 1937, the present U.S. Post Office was built on Main Street at the corner of West State Street.

Employees shown in this picture, from left to right, include: Frank Tripp, Leon Gilbert, Daniel Hanley, Postmaster unidentified and Charles Patton.

Photos by Tom Rivers

HARTLAND – I headed home from Barker early this afternoon and took a different route, this time going south on Carmen Road, looking to connect with 104.

I stumbled upon a one-room schoolhouse made of cobblestones in 1845. The building was used as a school for more than a century until 1947. It was later a residence, but is now owned by the Hartland Historical Society.

I also noticed a nice cast-iron horse as a hitching post in front of the building.

This site is on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s at the corner of Carmen and Seaman roads.

By Bill Lattin, Orleans County Historian

MEDINA – This photo circa 1910 shows the Medina baseball team. It certainly represents a multi-racial group working together in a team effort more than 100 years ago.

Some of the players’ names have been written on the photo, but in no order. Those identified include: C. Bradly; F. Charles, SS; Myron Post, Mgr.; Bob Johnson, C-Field; Pete Slatterly, Catcher; Pitcher H.D.; L. Johnson, R-Field; and Ed Collins, 2^nd Base.

By Bill Lattin, Orleans County Historian

CARLTON – The Town of Carlton owned this Brockway truck in 1919, when this photograph was taken. The two men in the open cab are not identified. We note a tool box on the running board and hard rubber tires on wooden spoke wheels.

By Bill Lattin, Orleans County Historian

This picture was found in a family photo album in 1863. The two teen-agers here are not identified. However, it is safe to say the photo is of the Civil War era considering their appearance.

These two guitarists were photographed in the studio of George P. Hopkins, an Albion photographer who was working locally in the 1860s. The photographer’s name is printed on the back of the picture along with advertising, noting a large assortment of albums and frames are available.

It is interesting to note that playing guitars has never really gone out of style for over 150 years.

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

HOLLEY – Our photo was taken around 1920 on East Albion Street in Holley. To the left is Dr. G.C. Kesler’s horse barn. It was out of here that he practiced his veterinarian work. (Note the horses looking out of each window in the barn.)

The house behind this barn marked with an X that faced White Street was Dr. Kesler’s residence. This structure was built in 1834 by Holley Baptists as a meeting house.

When the present Baptist Church was erected on Geddes Street in 1890, the meeting house then became a residence. The house to the right in our picture was also owned by Dr. Kesler. In front of this is a telephone pole with many lines strung on it.

By Bill Lattin, county historian

This photo, taken circa 1905, shows many people in attendance at the Orleans County Fair in Albion. The large building at the right with a cupola supporting the flag was known as Floral Hall. It was the main exhibition building where all kinds of displays were judged. In the distance is the Dining Hall and to the left of that another exhibition building. In the skyline looking east we see the steeples of the First Presbyterian Church (left) and the Albion First Baptist Church (right).

This picture was taken 110 years ago in 1903 on the race track at the old Orleans County fairgrounds. The photo was taken by Marc Cole and shows three fast-moving sulkies, all in a blur. The driver of the middle sulky, which is slightly ahead, is Jack Roach. The driver of the sulky to the right is Harry Lattin. Daily races at the fair drew huge crowds years ago, as seen here. Both men and women are shown enjoying this popular event.

This photo was taken in Sept. 1929 when Charles Howard had the idea for creating the world’s largest apple pie at the Orleans County Fair. Joseph Dibley is pictured with the rolling pin he made for the pie. The clipping is from a city newspaper.

Here is the report from the newspaper:

“To Use Huge Rolling Pin in Making World’s Largest Pie”

ALBION, Sept. 8, 1929 – A huge rolling pin is expected to keep some comic strip characters away from the Orleans County Fair which opens in two weeks. Those whose helpmeets have the rolling pin complex will undoubtedly be absent when this specimen is used to smooth out the dough for the world’s largest pie.

Shown with Joseph Dibley, local blacksmith, who made it, the roller is four feet long with eight-inch handles and it is eight inches in diameter. Made of fir, it is estimated that it weighs about 60 pounds.

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

CARLTON – This picture was taken in September 1888 at the Two Bridges in the Town of Carlton. It shows the delivery wagon for the country store in the background. Stenciled on the wagon is advertising including “General Merchandise” and “G.D. Fowler Carlton, NY.”

Country stores often ran a delivery service to rural people living on the back roads years ago, perhaps going over the route twice a week. A housewife could order something from the grocer and it would be delivered the next time around.

We notice the horse pictured here is wearing a fly net to keep the horse flies from landing on its body. The Fowler store is currently Narby’s Superette and Tackle at the Bridges.

Photos courtesy of Adam Tabelski – This barn on Route 104 is believed to be the oldest structure in Orleans County.

By Adam Tabelski

RIDGEWAY – The oldest man-made structure in Orleans County that can be documented is not made of stone or brick. Rather, it is a wood-frame barn that dates to the early pioneer era, even before the construction of the Erie Canal.

This fact came to light during the recent bicentennial ceremony in the Town of Ridgeway, as several of the proclamations read during the affair mentioned the longevity of a barn on Ridge Road built for Seymour Murdock about the time of the town’s inception.

Sources agree that Murdock, his wife, and their many children settled on the Ridge in 1810, but they differ on whether the barn in question was built in 1813 or 1814. The latter year would seem to be correct if the story told in Landmarks of Orleans County (published in 1894) about General George Izard’s troops helping the Murdock family to raise the timbers is true.

It was in the fall of 1814 that Izard’s army moved through our section of Western New York on its way to participate in the tumultuous conflict along the Niagara River during the War of 1812.

One of Seymour’s daughters, Betsey, is reported to have taught school in the barn soon after it was built.Over the years many of the exterior boards have no doubt been replaced and many trimmings added, but the skeleton of the structure is believed to be original.

The Ridge Road Improvement Association erected a roadside monument in 1941, consisting of a bronze plaque affixed to a boulder. Keep your eyes peeled when driving along Route 104 just west of Marshall Road.

(Tabelski is a member of the Medina Historical Society.)

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

MEDINA – This picture taken in 1913 shows, in the foreground, the top of the aqueduct in the bottom of the canal in which the Oak Orchard Creek flows through. This is just before the water tumbles over Medina Falls.

This photo is looking west into the Erie Canal Basin at Medina when the last enlargement to this historic waterway was under construction. The building with a smoke stack in the middle ground in the A.L. Swett Electric Light and Power Co. Behind the stack is the tower of the Bancroft House. It was a hotel and is now the NAPA store. In the distance to the left appears the steeple of the First Baptist Church.