ALBION – A course in Home Economics was introduced into the Albion High School curriculum in 1934. It was first taught by Miss Evelyn S. Fischer, a graduate of Cornell University.
The late Fred Holt took this picture 80 years ago of high school girls in the kitchen area of the Home Economics classroom. This was located on the third floor of the old high school, which is now the Carl I. Bergeson Middle School.
Teen-agers looked a lot older, somehow back then, than they do now.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 April 2014 at 12:00 am
Heritage Hero: Erin Anheier
Photo by Tom Rivers – Erin Anheier is pictured at Hillside Cemetery in Clarendon with a chapel from 1894 in the background. Anheier wrote the application to get the site on the National Register of Historic Places. She said a fund-raising campaign may be needed to refurbish the chapel, particularly some of the window panes that are rotting.
CLARENDON – When Erin Anheier retired as personnel director for Delphi in Michigan, she wanted to come back to her roots.
In 2008, she and her husband Russ Bosch bought a cobblestone house on Bennetts Corners Road. It’s not too far from where she grew up on West Sweden Road, just across the Orleans County line.
Anheier’s house was built in 1849 and the masonry includes lake-washed cobblestones.
“They are very carefully sized and arranged,” she said. “You can see the skill in the masonry and it’s spectacular.”
Anheier wanted to recognize that effort and she applied to have the house listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It made the list in 2010.
Anheier was content to live in her old home and be back in the area with her family.
“I’ve always loved it here,” she said. “The area is beautiful. I like the change of seasons and the topography.”
But her experience working on the National Register application, and her heightened awareness of local historical resources, soon came into play.
Courtesy of Erin Anheier – When Anheier moved back to the area in 2008 after a career with Delphi in Michigan, she and her husband picked this cobblestone home on Bennetts Corners Road. They made repairs to the house and got it listed on the National Register.
The Old Stone Store, a mainstay at the corner of routes 31A and 237 since 1836, was going to be demolished. Town officials and many residents saw the building as an eyesore.
But Anheier saw it as an important part of the town’s history and identity. She helped to rally support for the building. The town held off on the wrecking ball, while Anheier and other volunteers cleaned up some of the site.
She connected with the Landmark Society of Western New York, which worked with Anheier to get the building on the National Register. The Landmark Society also teamed with the town to market the property. The Old Stone Store is one of the oldest stone commercial buildings in the region.
Joe and Sue Fertitta bought the Old Stone Store and have been renovating it. They expect to have a tenant living in the upstairs and the first floor available for offices. Besides gutting and renovating the building, the couple plans to put on a front porch to match the building’s original look.
“This shows it can be done,” Anheier, chairwoman of the Old Stone Store Preservation Committee, said in October during a town meeting. “These buildings can be saved.”
File photo by Tom Rivers – The Old Stone Store was nearly demolished in 2011 after residents and town officials complained of its shoddy shape. Erin Anheier and other residents worked to clean it up. The site from 1836 was added to the National Register in 2012 and is currently being renovated with a front porch to be added to match its original look.
Anheier said the building will make Clarendon distinctive, with such a historical building at its main corner. She praised the community for coming together to keep up the site.
Anheier will be presented with a “Heritage Hero” award on Friday at 7 p.m. during a ceremony outside GCC’s Medina campus. Five “Heritage Heroes” will be honored during the Civil War Encampment.
Anheier was picked for leading several preservation projects, and for helping to change the culture in Clarendon, making preservation a priority.
She also sees potential in Hillside Cemetery. That site used to be owned and managed by a not-for-profit cemetery association, but was turned over to the town of Clarendon about a decade ago.
Anheier said Hillside is a great Victorian cemetery, a fitting final resting place for community residents. However, the site needs some upgrades, especially the chapel built in 1894 from local Medina sandstone.
Anheier wrote the application that landed the cemetery on the National Register last year. The designation should help the town secure grants for restoration projects.
“I also knew if we got it on the Register, the town would recognize we have a treasure here,” Anheier said.
File photo by Tom Rivers – The chapel at Hillside Cemetery could use some repairs. The cemetery was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.
She is secretary of the Clarendon Historical Society. The group would like to mount a fund-raising campaign to restore rotted window panes, repoint mortar and make roof repairs. Anheier would like to see the chapel used again for services and community events.
Anheier is working on other preservation projects. She wrote the application for the National Register designation for the John and Chauncey White House, the White Farm Bed and Breakfast, on White Road in Brockport. She expects that will be approved soon.
She also is working on the application for the North Star School, Hamlin District No. 11. That will be reviewed for the State Register in June. She is in the early stages of researching the Spencer-Sommerfeldt House, a stone house on the west side of Route 237, just north of New Guinea Road in Clarendon.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 April 2014 at 12:00 am
Merchants also planning for ‘Sip and Stroll Through History’ wine-tasting event for August
File photos by Tom Rivers – A crowd views the stained glass window at the First United Methodist Church during a tour of windows in the seven historic Albion churches in December. The Good Shepherd window was a gift to the congregation by the church’s pastor in 1914, the Rev. Henry Clay Woods.
ALBION – On a very cold December day about 30 people, including several from outside Orleans County, came to Albion for a first-time tour of the stained glass windows at the seven churches in the historic Courthouse Square.
County Historian Bill Lattin led the tour, and he shared details about the designers of the windows, the symbolism and Biblical stories in the designs, and some background on the people memorialized with some of the windows.
“We had such good feedback about the event that we wanted to do it again,” said Debbie Grimm, one of the organizers for this Saturday’s stained glass tour.
It runs from noon to 1:30. Besides tours of the churches, the event will conclude with refreshments at Hoag Library. The library also includes a stained glass window of a swan. For more than a century Albion’s public library was called the Swan Library until a new site opened in July 2012.
Tony Mancuso of Elba takes a photo on the stained glass window tour in December. He is shown inside the sanctuary at Christ (Episcopal) Church.
The tour on Saturday starts at the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church at the corner of East Park and Main streets. The Pullman church has more than 40 windows created by Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company, perhaps the most esteemed stained glass artist.
Tiffany revolutionized the stained glass world. Stained glass windows, prior to Tiffany, tended to have clear glass with a stencil pattern painted on the glass. Lattin discusses breakthroughs and changing techniques in stained glass.
The Albion churches have examples of windows from the 1860s to 1960s. Lattin wrote a book about Orleans County’s stained glass windows: “Luminaries in the Firmament.”
The Albion Merchants Association is organizing the stained glass tour and a sidewalk sale. Many businesses will participate in the sidewalk sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern will also be having an open house and collecting household and personal care items.
The Merchants Association also is planning a wine-tasting event with about 20 stops on Aug. 9. The “Sip & Stroll Through History” will show off the historic downtown and Courthouse Square.
“We want to put on community events and bring people to Albion,” said Carolyn Ricker, president of the Merchants Association. “We want to promote our history and draw people here.”
MORTON – These photos were taken in 1961 in front of Tom Spring’s Store in Morton.
The top photo shows Tom Spring and his brother Van Alan Spring, in uniform. The flag indicates that the store was also the Morton Post Office.
In the next photo we see a Texaco gas pump, which was in front. The girl with the box was a clerk at the time. Thanks to Kathy Scroger for loaning these pictures.
WATERPORT – On April 2, 1969, Edward D. Holmes of Region 8 Department of Environmental Conservation in Avon and Kenneth Rush of Waterport (right) are shown stocking the first salmon (Coho) in Orleans County.
The site was on the north side of Lake Alice just east of the Route 279 bridge over Oak Orchard River in Waterport.
MEDINA – In this panoramic view from 1905, we see Oak Orchard Creek from the Erie Canal in Medina.
On the right is the Medina Waterfalls and next to it is Station No. 1 of the A.L. Swett Electric Light and Power Company.
This photo was taken before the present canal basin was enlarged as we know it. Oak Orchard Creek below the Falls is a reservoir for electric generation known as Glenwood Lake. In this picture we are looking at the southern end of Glenwood.
ALBION – This snapshot was taken in the late 1920s in front of the Rialto Theater on Main Street in Albion.
The bus signage indicates: “Ride The Blue Bus – Rochester Batavia Buffalo.” The word “Special” is also displayed. This may have been a special excursion for Odd Fellows or Rebeccas as the 100F Temple was located next to the theater.
A storefront at the time in the Odd Fellows building has “Billiards” painted on a window.
Note a man placing luggage on top of the bus. Hope it didn’t rain!
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 April 2014 at 12:00 am
Heritage Hero: Matthew Ballard
Photos by Tom Rivers – Matt Ballard serves as co-director of the Cobblestone Society Museum. He is pictured in front of a church built in 1834.
ALBION – Matt Ballard has fond remembrances growing up on Brown Street and being a part of the St. Mary’s community. Ballard was an altar server and his family was very active in the Catholic parish.
The Catholic Diocese closed the church in 2007. Our Light of Victory has since acquired the church property and has Sunday services there. But it is no longer St. Mary’s. The big mural of Mary was painted over.
Ballard didn’t want to see the history of the parish lost. He created a web site in 2010, www.albionpolonia.com, that first catalogued the art inside the building – the stained-glass windows and murals.
The site has expanded to include baptismal records, marriage licenses, and funerals of the Polish community. Ballard has photos of many of the weddings. He has a searchable database that helps people on a genealogical quest. He is up to 379 marriages and 736 funerals from the St. Mary’s community.
Courtesy of www.Albionpolonia.com – Albion Polonia started as an effort to catalog the art work inside St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Albion, including this mural of Mary.
In recognition of his efforts, Ballard will receive a “Heritage Hero” award on April 25 during the Civil War Encampment at GCC in Medina. He is one of five winners. At 26, he is also the youngest.
“It’s a labor of love,” Ballard said about Albion Polonia. “It’s a way to give back to a community that has given so much to me.”
Ballard said the parish was close-knit and loving. His father Bob Ballard was a long-time trustee at St. Mary’s. The Ballard family was connected with many other families in the parish. The younger Ballard felt that love growing up.
“It’s that saying, ‘It takes a community to raise a child,’” Ballard said.
The Polish immigrants settled on the east side of the village on Brown and Caroline streets. They built a church in the early 1890s at the corner of Brown and Moore streets. Ballard thinks the Polish community has been underappreciated.
Many of those immigrants worked in the local sandstone quarries and helped shape the stone in prominent buildings in the region and state, Ballard said.
He receives feedback about the sent from people in the community and around the country. They have shared photos and some details from the Polish community, helping to enrich the site. Ballard welcomes more contributions.
Ballard has been involved in other historical initiatives. He is a board member of the Orleans County Genealogical Society. He served on the Albion Historic Preservation Commission and also on the board of directors for the Cobblestone Society Museum.
Courtesy of www.Albionpolonia.com – This historical photo shows St. Mary’s Catholic Church and a school next door.
In February he was named co-director of the Cobblestone Society Museum. The eight buildings near the intersection of routes 98 and 104 are a National Historic Landmark, the only site in the county with that designation from the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Ballard praised the community that rallied to start the museum a half century ago, and their devotion in preserving the buildings and the artifacts inside.
“It’s amazing that we have something like that in our county that is so unique,” he said.
Matt Ballard said it is an honor to be a part of the Cobblestone Society Museum. He is co-director with Sarah Karas.
He commended Bill Lattin, in particular, for being such a devoted caretaker and champion of the historic site. Lattin served as museum director for 40 years.
Ballard works part-time as a library supervisor for Hilbert College in Hamburg. He shares the museum director duties with Sarah Karas.
The museum opens on Mother’s Day. Ballard said it’s an privilege to help promote a museum that includes structures dating back to the 1830s.
“It’s a continuation of the people who came before me,” he said. “A lot of well-respected people in the community spearheaded the museum and a lot of well-respected people in the community continue to believe it’s very important.”
ALBION – Former U.S. President William H. Taft paid a visit to Albion on March 8, 1920. Here, third from the left in the front row, is Taft pictured in front of the Orleans Hotel with members of the Albion Chamber of Commerce. (The Orleans Hotel was located at the corner of Platt and East Bank streets.)
Others in the photo include: Herbert Reed, Spencer Tanner, Wm Karns, Bernard Ryan, Thomas A. Kirby and County Judge Gerald Fluhrer at a far right.
Taft was given a reception at the Elks Club and later gave a forceful address in the High School Auditorium on why the U.S. should join the League of Nations.
Taft and Teddy Roosevelt are the only two former presidents who have visited Albion.
