sandstone heritage

4 more sites inducted into Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame

Photos by Tom Rivers: Representatives from four sites that were inducted into the medina Sandstone Hall of Fame check out the Hall of Fame which is located in the main meeting room of Medina’s City Hall. The 2024 class includes Mount Albion Cemetery, Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse in Rochester, First United Methodist Church of Penn Yan and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Jamestown.

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 October 2024 at 12:19 pm

New inductees include churches in Jamestown and Penn Yan, lighthouse from 1822, and Albion’s historic cemetery

MEDINA – Four more inductees were added to the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame on Thursday, bringing the total to 43 sites since the Hall of Fame was established in 2013.

The new inductees include churches in Jamestown and Penn Yan, Albion’s historic cemetery and Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse. That lighthouse, built in 1822, is now the oldest structure in the Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame celebrates sites made of the local sandstone that have been well preserved and stand out for their architectural beauty.

The Sandstone Society also presented two Heritage Awards to people whose work and effort have contributed to the understanding and appreciation of Medina Sandstone.

The honorees during Thursday’s Hall of Fame ceremony include, from left: Heritage Award winner Mariana Rhoades, a geologist who authored definitive works on the stone industry in Orleans, Niagara and Erie counties; Heritage Award winner James Friday who a book on the sandstone industry in Orleans County; Jan Hafner, church historian for Penn Yan United Methodist; Jack Kemp, president of the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse Historical Society; Luke Fodor, rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Jamestown; and Jason Zicari, superintendent of Mount Albion Cemetery.

The new inductees have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame in Medina City Hall. The plaques state the following:

Mount Albion Cemetery is not only hallowed grounds for more than 20,000 people, but the historic site on Route 31 is a cohesive collection of sandstone workmanship that unifies the cemetery.

From the arch leading into the main entrance of the cemetery, to the office building, chapel, a Civil War memorial and many hitching posts, carriage steps and monuments, the painstakingly carved sandstone is prominent.

The Civil War memorial was inducted into the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame in 2014. That 58-foot-high tower is a memorial to nearly 500 Orleans County soldiers killed in the Civil War. It was built in 1876. The cemetery includes so much more, and the Sand- stone Societyi s inducting the entire cemetery into the Hall of Fame.

The chapel was built in 1875, a year before the

iconic tower was complete. The archway at the main entrance was completed in

The keeper’s house (now the office) and storage barn were completed in
A sandstone spring house and lily pond were completed in 1908.

Mount Albion remains a much loved and revered place in the community. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, the first in Orleans County on that distinguished list.

The Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse, built in 1822, may be the oldest Medina Sandstone structure. The sandstone was likely quarried from the deep Genesee River gorge to the south. The 40-foot-high tower was built in northern Rochester at the juncture of the Genesee River and Lake Ontario.

The lighthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a City of Rochester Landmark.

The tower went out of service in 1881. In 1965, Charlotte High School students started a letter writing campaign to save the lighthouse from impending destruction. The students prevailed.

The tower was declared surplus in 1981 by the government, and the site is now managed as a museum by the Charlotte Genesee Lighthouse Historical Society, a nonprofit volunteer organization.

The Historical Society uses the next-door brick keeper’s dwelling from 1863 as a local museum. The grounds also are home to a peace garden, detailing four encounters with the British during the War of 1812. As of 2014, the lighthouse is again active, and listed in the United States Coast Guard Light List as light number 2333.

Penn Yan United Methodist Church – In 1823, a woman named Mrs. Susan Benson arrived in Penn Yan, New York to reside and found that there was no Methodist church, which she deemed totally unacceptable. About a year later, on March 29, 1824 the First Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Penn Yan was incorporated.

Over the next 74 years, the congregation outgrew two other buildings and in 1897 they decided to build their present building. They contracted with Jacob Allington & Sons of Elmira. They chose a Romanesque Revival style and used a beautiful ruddy gray Medina Sandstone. The cost for this magnificent building was $35,000, a huge sum for that period. The church was dedicated on January 12, 1898.

In 2024, the First United Methodist congregation celebrated their 200th birthday and the Medina Sandstone they chose some 126 years ago still looks as beautiful now as it did then.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Jamestown was completed in 1894, built of rock-faced Medina Sandstone. Mary Prendergast left $125,000 in her will to build the fireproof stone church in memory of her daughter, Catherine. (The original church building burned down in 1862.)

A plaque inside the church recognizes the family for their gift of building the church. “This is none other but the house of God and this is the gate of Heaven,” the inscription states.

St. Luke’s is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is in the heart of the Downtown Jamestown Historic District. The church blends elements of the late Gothic Revival and Romanesque Revival styles.

The structure at 410 North Main St. has a traditional cruciform plan with a square bell tower attached to the northeast corner of the church. That tower features a clock on each face side and rounded corners topped with a conical pinnacle.

The bell tower was struck by lightning in 2013, damaging one of the corners. That tower also suffered years of water damage.

St. Luke’s recently completed $2.5 million of work on the tower, disassembling parts of the sandstone, rebuilding the stone and cleaning up the mortar.

The church property also includes a chapel and office building made of Medina Sandstone.

Dave Miller, a member of the Hall of Fame Committee, presents Heritage awards to Jim Friday, left, and Mariana Rhoades, right.

Their plaques include a sliver of Medina Sandstone. The writeups about them include:

Mariana Rhoades is a researcher with an MS degree in sedimentary geology from the University of Rochester. She taught geology for over two decades at St. John Fisher College and SUNY-Empire State College as well as through other continuing education programs at Nazareth College and the Roads Scholar offerings.

Rhoades has authored several papers on stone materials for the Erie Canal, California sandstones and other general geology topics.

Her most recent publication which was published last year is the “Stone Industry in Orleans County, 1820-1930.” It comes in the form of a CD and a USB flash drive. This definitive 1,517-page work documents virtually every quarry in this historic local industry. It also documents lime kilns which produced the mortar used by masons for construction.

Her work includes:

A list of owners of the quarry/kiln
New York state and federal census information for quarry owners
Web information on the quarry owners
Maps with description where the quarry/kiln was located
Bedrock at the site of the quarry/kiln
Structures where the extracted stone was used
History books and manuscripts describing the quarry/kiln
Newspaper articles describing the quarry/kiln operations
A time-line of quarry operation and its owners

She has also published similar works for Erie and Niagara counties and she is currently researching Rochester with that publication due next year.

Dave Miller, a member of Hall of Fame Committee, presented the award to Rhoades.

“We want to recognize your invaluable contributions and the impact you’ve had in preserving the history and heritage of our community,” Miller said.

James Friday is a Kodak retiree who loves local history. In 2021 he completed and self-published his book about the local sandstone industry entitled “The History of Sandstone in Orleans County NY.”

The 108-page book includes many photos of the county’s dominant industry. In the book he explores the geology of how and when the stone was formed, the rise and fall of the regional quarry industry and what remains today.

Friday is a descendant of Polish immigrants who lived in Albion. When he was a child, he spent a lot of time in that village and often swam in the village’s quarries.

At the present time Jim also serves as the coordinator of the orleans.nygenweb.net website that includes a wealth of local genealogy data about Orleans County families.

“Given the significant size and importance of the sandstone quarry industry in our county, it’s surprising how little has been documented about its history,” Miller said. “That’s why we are especially grateful to you for publishing this much-needed account about this part of our local heritage.”

Hall of Fame Committee members Tom Rivers, left, and Reinhard Rogowski pull the curtain to show the new inductees.

Mike Hungerford, third from left, is co-president of Takeform in Medina, which donated the plaques for the Hall of Fame and also for the inductees. Others in photo include HOF Committee members Reinhard Rogowski, Dave Miller and Jim Hancock. Takeform has donated the plaques for all 43 inductees in the Hall of Fame since 2013.

Justin Bruce, restaurant manager at Bent’s Opera House, serves food for 31 people who attended a Hall of Fame luncheon at Bent’s, a building that was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2021.

Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame expands to second wall at City Hall

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 October 2024 at 9:16 pm

New class of honorees to be inducted on Thursday

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – The Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame has expanded to a second wall in the council chambers of City Hall.

Some of the Hall of Fame Committee members worked on moving some of the plaques and historic photos of quarry workers to the second wall on Thursday.

Reinhard Rogowski, right, on chair and Dave Miller are both committee members working on the display on the second wall with some assistance from Barb Hancock, wife of committee member Jim Hancock.

Jim Hancock shifts some of the plaques on the main wall of the Hall of Fame to make room for the Class of 2024, which will be announced on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. during a ceremony at City Hall. 600 Main St. Takeform in Medina makes the plaques and donates them to the Hall of Fame and also to the inductees to display.

There have been 39 inductees into the Hall of Fame since the first class in 2013.

The Hall of Fame also recently added a touch-screen kiosk, featuring videos, slideshows, maps, and a comprehensive building database with photos. Much of the information on the kiosk is available of the Medina Sandstone Society website. Click here for more information.

The committee members work on rearranging the plaques on the main wall for the new class to be inducted on Thursday. Four new members will be added to the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame.

Dave Miller, Jim and Barb Hancock do the meticulous work of relocating the plaques of inductees from previous years.

Medina Sandstone Society seeks nominations for Hall of Fame

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 5 July 2024 at 10:30 am

39 buildings have been inducted so far in Hall of Fame at City Hall

Photo by Tom Rivers: Robin Hill Manor on Platten Road in Lyndonville was inducted in the Medina Sandstone hall of Fame in 2023. Robin Hill also includes an arboretum with about 250 varieties of trees.

MEDINA – The Medina Sandstone Society is accepting nominations for its Hall of Fame, seeking to recognize prominent buildings made of Medina Sandstone that are well-maintained and architecturally significant.

Since the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame was created in 2013, the society has inducted churches, public structures, private buildings and other civic sites, such as the Civil War Memorial at Mount Albion Cemetery. There have now been 39 inductees.

The four inductees last year included the First Baptist Church of Medina, Hamlin Beach State Park, Robin Hill Manor in Lyndonville and the Masten/Mundion home in Ridgeway.

The plaques and photographs are on display in the main meeting room of City Hall. The Hall of Fame will be open from 2 to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The Sandstone Society will be there to welcome some of the 520 cyclists on the “Cycling the Erie Canal” adventure which stops in Medina. The community is also welcome to see the Hall of Fame, which includes a new kiosk about Medina Sandstone sites and history.

This year’s Hall of Fame class could include nominations from previous years not already selected, and any new nominations received by July 15.

To nominate a site, fill out a form: www.sandstonesociety.org/hof-nomination.

Criteria for consideration will include age, beauty, longevity, structural soundness, and architectural uniqueness. If possible nomination information should have full background and documentation, and, at the very least, should give a name and phone number to be contacted for further information or a website.

Diocese restructuring plan would close several churches in Genesee County

Photos by Tom Rivers: The St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Batavia, built from Medina Sandstone in 1906, would close as part of a restructuring plan announced on Wednesday by the Diocese of Buffalo.

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 June 2024 at 1:58 pm

St. Mary’s at 20 Ellicott St. is made of rusticated Medina Sandstone and is the oldest Catholic church building in use in Batavia.

BATAVIA – The Buffalo Diocese on Wednesday announced more recommendations to close churches in the region, including in Elba, Batavia and Bergen.

The news followed the Diocese plan announced on Monday to close St. Mark’s in Kendall and St. Stephen’s in Middleport.

The Diocese of Buffalo proposals are recommended changes and are not final, said Joe Martone, Diocese spokesman. Parish families have the opportunity to present alternative proposals by July 15, Martone said.

The Genesee plan announced on Wednesday includes closing St. Mary’s in Batavia, Our Lady of Fatima in Elba, St. Brigid in Bergen, St. Maximilian Kolbe of Corfu and East Pembroke, Immaculate Heart of Mary in Darien and Bennington, and both locations of Mary Immaculate in East Bethany.

The Diocese will keep St. Joseph’s open on East Main Street in Batavia, Ascension parish on Sumner Street in Batavia, as well as St. Padre Pio Parish on Maple Avenue in Oakfield and Our Lady of Mercy on Lake Street in Le Roy.

The 8-county Diocese of Buffalo announced on May 28 it will work to reduce the number of parishes by 34 percent in the eight-county region, which includes Orleans and Genesee.

“The Diocese of Buffalo is facing multiple challenges including a significant priest shortage, declining Mass attendance, aging congregations and ongoing financial pressures brought about by our Chapter 11 filing,” Bishop Michael W. Fisher said on May 28. “This plan resulted from the lessons learned as we brought parishes together in the parish family model and determined rather quickly that scaling back the number of parishes would best allow us to use our limited resources to help reenergize a spiritual renewal in the diocese.”

Hamlin man shares passion for CCC boys who built State Park

By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 22 May 2024 at 8:05 am

Ed Evans has now given 239 presentations about Hamlin Beach State Park, POW Camp

Photos by Tom Rivers: Ed Evans is shown last August at one of the shelters made of Medina Sandstone at Hamlin Beach State Park. The park was indicted into the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame in 2023.

Dave Miller describes a kiosk on Medina sandstone which will be placed in the Hall of Fame for visitors to use.

MEDINA – Ed Evans, a retired teacher from Hamlin, has become a passionate speaker about Medina Sandstone and he gave a stirring address last week to the Medina Sandstone Society during its annual meeting at the Comfort Inn.

Evans, 82, has now given 239 presentations about Hamlin Beach State Park, how its many Medina Sandstone buildings were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps which was established there in 1935. The park’s buildings, headwalls, culverts, drinking fountains and fireplaces are made of Medina Sandstone.

Evans intended to retire from given the presentation. But he made an exception last week for the Sandstone Society. The group last October honored him with an inaugural “Heritage Award” for his 32 years of work in uncovering the sandstone legacy at Hamlin Beach.

Evans’ interest piqued about the park after he became the liaison to Hamlin historian Mary Smith in 1985. At that time she was planning a reunion for 40 CCC guys who were still alive. Evans taped the event. He spent every year after that trying to be allowed to get on CCC site, but the park fought him all the way, he said. Finally, a new park manager was interested in the site and the clearing began.

Guest speaker at the Medina Sandstone Society’s annual meeting Wednesday night was Ed Evans of Hamlin, who talked about the Civilian Conservation Corps which existed at Hamlin Beach State Park in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Much Medina Sandstone was used throughout the park. Evans was honored with a “Medina Sandstone Heritage Award” last October by the Medina Sandstone Society for his efforts to chronicle the history of Hamlin Beach.

“Ed remains proud of the work the CCC accomplished – about 80 years after they did the work,” said Dave Miller, a board member and former president of the Sandstone Society. “Starting in 2008, Evans and his wife Sue and friends began clearing away decades of thick underbrush and fallen trees on the eight-acre site which was used as a POW camp after the CCC closed. Over the next 10 years, they carefully mapped the camp buildings and pieced together much of the camp’s history.”

Photo by Dave Miller: Ed Evans marvels at the accomplishments of the CCC crews who built an everlasting state park in Hamlin. He gave a 40-minute presentation to the Medina Sandstone Society. He said he could talk for hours about the CCC workers and the POW camp in Hamlin.

The CCC camp constructed at the park in 1935 was part of a program by President Roosevelt to provide poverty relief from the Great Depression. Evans said the Hamlin CCC camp was the second largest in Western New York, down to the Pennsylvania line. He said there were more than 4,500 CCC camps in the United States and its territories. If there remain four sites in each state as well preserved as Hamlin’s site, Hamlin’s camp would be rated one in 200 of the most unique CCC camp sites in the country, Evans said.

He added Hamlin’s camp was also one of only 377 WWII prisoner of war branch camp sites in the United States. Most of them are now only marks on maps or roadside historical markers. Very few have spawned museums or a reconstructed building, Evans said. If each of the 46 states that had POW branch camp sites still had one site that had not been contaminated by urban sprawl, that would make Hamlin’s site rank one in 46. But only a few of those were also former CCC camps, which would place Hamlin uniquely in the top 10 historical sites of its kind in the country.

Young men who worked at the CCC camp were paid $30 a month. Many were not yet 18 and got to keep $5, while $25 went to their families, Evans said. The young men were fed, clothed and provided with educational and recreational opportunities. The camp was closed when the war was over.

Evans said when the CCC program was discontinued in 1941, most of those more than 4,000 camps were completely dismantled.

“Ours survived,” Evans said.

Early in 1944, the camp was modified to accommodate German prisoners of war. An eight-foot high barbed wire fence was erected, guard towers were put in place and the enclosed area was lighted. CCC cots were replaced with bunk beds so 400 prisoners could be housed.

The first German POWs arrived June 30, 1944 and stayed until the camp closed Jan. 11, 1946.

Unlike most other similar historical sites, Evans said the footprint of this camp and buried artifacts remained intact, untouched by post-war construction projects. Dense vegetation protected the site for 65 years, until volunteers began slowly turning it into a history trail.

In 2014, the history trail at the former CCC POW camp was opened.

Evans shared a slide show of photos of CCC workers he has accumulated and pictures of POWs. Most of them were from Mary Smith’s collection, which she left him when she died.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Ed Evans gives a tour of Hamlin Beach State park last August and notes some of the fine workmanship in one of the shelters. Evans is hoping to train his successor to give tours of the park and detail the history of the CCC.

He also located 90+ year-old Hazel Lake who has visited and walked around the entire Hamlin CCC site on three different occasions, clutching a 1937 photo of her late husband George posing in from of a CCC barracks. On each visit, she experienced a little more of what George must have felt when he lived in that camp. This was important to her because every weekend George walked from Hamlin to Medina and back to visit her, his 17-year-old sweetheart. He wore out a pair of shoes in the process and more than once got assigned extra KP for getting back to camp after Sunday night curfew.

Evans talked about Medina Sandstone that was used to build all areas of the park. A huge pile of sandstone was found while cleaning up the area for the history trail. He said every scrap of sandstone was used for something. Nothing was wasted.

“Letchworth, which also had a CCC camp and sandstone buildings, and Hamlin don’t realize what they have,” Evans said. “The history of Medina Sandstone should be made into a documentary which would run for two or three days.”

The Medina Sandstone Society last year inducted Hamlin Beach Satte park into the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame.

Dave Miller, who serves on the Hall of Fame Committee, said Sandstone Society created a new Heritage Award last year to recognize a community act or individual who contributed to our understanding of local history and preserving it. Evans was the first recipient. (Jennifer Wells-Dickerson also was honored with the award. She has documented the efforts of her great-grandfather, Pasquale DiLaura, who was a stone cutter, business owner and promoter of Medina Sandstone. He operated a quarry in Clarendon and the stone from that site was used for Hamlin Beach and the Lake Ontario State Parkway bridges and culverts.)

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Dave Miller describes a kiosk on Medina Sandstone which will be placed in the Hall of Fame for visitors to use.

Sandstone Society vice president Matt Holland conducted the annual business meeting, and introduced two new members to the board. Jesse Cudzilo serves as director of the YMCA in Medina. Michael Lepkyj is a technology teacher in the Medina school district.

Holland asked for reports from the various committees within the Sandstone Society.

Peggy Schreck reported she had received a letter from a company in Buffalo hired by the Erie Canalway Heritage Fund, who is organizing the 2025 World Canals Conference in September 2025. They are planning a day of field sessions and want Medina to be one of their sessions.

Miller announced the Hall of Fame nomination period had begun and names may be submitted online. He said he and Jim Hancock will begin visiting sites in June. Hub editor Tom Rivers will be the next chair of the Hall of Fame Committee, he said.

Miller also showed a new kiosk which will be installed in the Hall of Fame. Visitors only have to touch the screen to read about sandstone buildings in the area or watch a video. Miller hopes they will be able to place others in libraries and other public buildings.

The Sandstone Society is now on Instagram, Miller said.

Sue Holland, Kathy Blackburn and Gabrielle Barone are on the Events Committee and would welcome help from the community with special events, such as mailing newsletters and organizing the Hall of Fame luncheon at Bent’s Opera House. It is hoped volunteers would consider helping with special projects and/or joining the Sandstone Society by logging on to their website.

Holland recalled events they have done in the past, going back to 2008 to remember the late Bob Waters, a founder of the Sandstone Society who thought tours were meant to promote sandstone, not be a fundraiser.

She said they thought of ways to put information on the Medina Sandstone Society out in the public, and decided on walking tours.

“They were very successful, but we exhausted our locations,” Holland said. “So then we went to Boxwood Cemetery, which has a lot of sandstone markers and a sandstone chapel. We were fortunate to have Bill Lattin, former Orleans County historian, lead these informative tours.”

In 2018, the Sandstone Society decided to do a bus tour, and hired a small 30-passenger bus to tour Medina, Clarendon, Holley, Albion, Mount Albion Cemetery and St. Joseph’s Cemetery.

“We got brave the next year and rented a real bus,” Holland said. “We went to Buffalo and toured the Richardson complex which had recently opened. We also saw some of the Hall of Fame buildings in Buffalo. In 2023, we decided to go east, and visited Rochester and Sonnenberg Gardens. This year, we are going back to Buffalo and the Richardson complex.”

Holland said the winner of the John Ryan Scholarship will be announced by Medina High School this Friday. This year the students were asked to make brochures advertising Medina Sandstone or talk about cathedrals made of the local sandstone.

The next meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. July 17 at the Walsh Hotel.

Medina Sandstone tour on May 9 features Hall of Fame sites in Buffalo

Provided photos: Two historic Medina Sandstone structures will be the focus of this year’s Sandstone Society Hall of Fame Tour, scheduled May 9. At left is Buffalo’s historic Richardson Hotel/Olmsted Complex. At right is St. Louis Church at 780 Main St., Buffalo.

Posted 16 April 2024 at 11:03 am

By Ginny Kropf and Tom Rivers

MEDINA – The Medina Sandstone Society has announced the itinerary for its 2024 Hall of Fame Tour on May 9 in Buffalo.

This year’s tour will feature a visit to the historic Richardson Hotel/ Olmsted Complex, and St. Louis Church. In addition, there will be a drive by of several other prominent Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame honorees.

The Richardson/Olmsted Complex was in the inaugural class in 2013 for the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame. The massive complex of the former Buffalo State Hospital was designed by architect Henry Hobson Richardson and the surrounding grounds by Frederick Law Olmsted. This was the first major work on which the two collaborated. At that time it was considered to be one of the most architecturally significant designs for an asylum, a style that became known as Richardsonian Romanesque.

Construction started in 1871 and the two imposing 185-foot towers of the Administration building have been a highly visible and striking landmark in north Buffalo since 1880. The central pavilion, with its lofty Gothic towers, adjacent wards A and B and the four flanking wards are all built of reddish-brown Medina sandstone that was quarried in Hulberton, Orleans County. The heavy, rough-faced stone walls are set off by plainly finished blocks of the same material for doors and windows. Part of the site is now used as a hotel.

The St. Louis Catholic Church went into the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame in 2014. The church, at the corner of Main and Edward Street, was constructed from 1886 to 1889. This Gothic Revival church is built of red Medina Sandstone.

Heavily influenced by German design features, the distinctive front facade consists of two 128-foot side towers and the magnificent 245-foot center steeple and open-work spire. Perhaps the church’s most distinctive feature, this center spire, similar to the spires on several German churches including Cologne Cathedral, is the tallest open-work spire ever built completely of stone in the United States. It is also believed to be the only remaining open-work or pierced spire in the U.S.

The Medina Sandstone tour day will begin with a welcome at 8:30 a.m. by Medina Mayor Marguerite Sherman at the Sandstone Hall of Fame located in City Hall on Main Street.

The tour bus, a 47-passenger coach with bathroom, will leave at 9 a.m. and arrive at the Richardson Complex at 10:15 a.m., where guests may choose to take a leisurely tour of the grounds and museum or join a docent-led tour of undeveloped areas of the Richardson/Olmsted Complex.

At 11:30 a.m., there will be a luncheon will be served in the Glessner Room at the Richardson Hotel. The bus will leave for St. Louis Church at 12:30 p.m., where a 45-minute tour is planned at 1 p.m. The bus departs for Medina at 2 p.m.

Cost for the tour is $95 per person or $90 for stonecutters (Sandstone Society members). Checks are due by April 26 and should be mailed to Medina Sandstone Society, P.O. Box 25, Medina, 14103.

Anyone with questions or wishing more information may contact Sue Holland at (585) 721-3809 or at shollan2@rochester.rr.com.

4 more inductees go into Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 October 2023 at 9:04 am

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 10^th 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.

Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame seeks more wall space in City Hall

Photo by Tom Rivers: David Miller, chairman of the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame Committee, is shown last Oct. 20 when three more sites were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Miller and Jim Hancock, another committee member, asked the Village Board for more wall space in the main meeting room at City Hall.

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 June 2023 at 3:49 pm

MEDINA – The Medina Sandstone Society has inducted 35 sites in its Hall of Fame and expects to keep inducting more in the next several years.

The Hall of Fame is in the main meeting room at City Hall. The Hall of Fame is running out of wall space.

Two of the Hall of Fame Committee members, Dave Miller and Jim Hancock, asked the Village Board to allow for more space for the Hall of Fame to recognize outstanding structures made of Medina Sandstone.

They suggested a wall that includes many portraits of past Medina mayors be used for the hall of Fame when it runs out of space for new hall of Fame inductees.

Mayor Mike Sidari said the Village Board will work with the Sandstone Society to provide more space for the display of Hall of Fame structures. Takeform in Medina makes the plaques of the honorees without charging the Sandstone Society.

The Hall of Fame started in 2013 and is seeking nominees for its 10^th anniversary class.

The Hall of Fame includes churches, mansions, civic buildings, monuments and public works projects from Erie, Pa., to Buffalo, Batavia, Rochester, the Finger Lakes region and several in Orleans County.

About 70 sites have now been nominated for the hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame Committee wants to recognize Medina Sandstone sites with exceptional beauty, architectural uniqueness and longevity, or as Miller said, sites “that have the wow effect.”

Nominations should be made by June 30. People can nominate a site by filling out a form: www.sandstonesociety.org/hof-nomination.

(Editor’s Note: Orleans Hub editor Tom Rivers also is a member of the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame Committee.)

Medina Sandstone Society seeks nominations for 10th anniversary Hall of Fame class

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 June 2023 at 1:11 pm

Photo by Tom Rivers: The First Baptist Church in Holley was nominated for the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame in 2018. The church is shown in March.

The inductees last year included the Erie Canal Culvert in the Town of Ridgeway, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Albion (including the parish’s lyceum and cemetery chapel), and the Ryan Quarry home owned by Robert and Maureen Christian on South Holley Road in Clarendon.

This year’s class could include nominations from previous years not already selected, and any new nominations received by June 30.

People can nominate a site by filling out a form: www.sandstonesociety.org/hof-nomination.

Criteria for consideration shall include age, beauty, longevity, structural soundness, and architectural uniqueness. If possible nomination information should have full background and documentation, and, at the very least, should give a name and phone number to be contacted for further information or a website.

Bus tour visits Medina Sandstone Hall of Famers

Photo by Tom Rivers: Bill Lattin, retired Orleans County historian, leads a tour of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Albion last Tuesday. Lattin discusses the stained-glass windows in the church that opened in 1897. St. Joseph’s was inducted in the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame in 2022.

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 May 2023 at 9:00 am

ALBION – The Medina Sandstone Society took about 40 people on a bus tour last week of sites in the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame.

The “Sedimental Journey” bus tour returned after being cancelled during the Covid pandemic. The trip started at the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame which is in the main meeting room at Medina City Hall.

From there the tour headed to Albion to see St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church.

Photo by Dave Miller: Some of the attendees on the Hall of Fame bus tour walk in front of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.

The church was dedicated in 1897. It was built of locally quarried sandstone in a Gothic Revival style on West Park Street. The sandstone Society last year inducted the church, and that induction included St. Joseph’s School and Lyceum on Main Street in 1905 and the chapel at St. Joseph’s Cemetery on Route 31, which was built in 1920. The lyceum is the first school to be included in the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Bill Lattin gave the group a peek at the inside of the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church. The church was built in 1894 and has more than 40 windows from the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company.

Photos by Dave Miller: The Pullman church was among the first inductees into the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame in 2013. The church was primarily funded by industrialist George M. Pullman, as a memorial to his wife and parents. The building was designed in an Old English Gothic style with Richardson Romanesque features. Its long, low horizontal profile adds to a unique design.

After Albion the tour headed to Rochester to see the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Rochester, which was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2017. The group was able to tour inside the All Soul’s Chapel at the cemetery.

The chapel was built in 1876 and is the centerpiece of the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. The building features a steep slate roof, supporting hammer beams and exquisitely designed stained-glass windows featuring the 14 Stations of the Cross made in Roemond, Holland.

There is also a companion 100-foot bell tower built in 1886 that houses a six crypt mausoleum, the final resting place for the bishops of the diocese, including Bishop Bernard McQuaid, founder of the cemetery.

The chapel, as well as the two gate houses, and 1.36 mile stone wall surrounding the cemetery are all made of beautifully preserved and restored red Medina sandstone.

The tour also included a drive-by of St. Bernard’s Seminary in Rochester, which was in the inaugural Hall of Fame class in 2013.

After Rochester, the tour headed to Palmyra in Wayne County to see the Zion Episcopal Church, which was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.

The church was built in 1872 in a Late Gothic Revival style, an architectural movement popular in the Western world that began in the late 1740s in England. The church is built of sandstone with limestone trim.

The tour also did a drive-by stop at St. John’s Episcopal in Clifton Springs, which was inducted in 2018.

The tour’s last site was the Sonnenberg Manor in Canandaigua, which was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2016.

The 40-room Queen Anne style mansion was built in 1887. The facade is rusticated Medina gray and red sandstone. The property is now under the New York State Parks System.

The Sandstone Society will be inducting its 10^th anniversary class later this year. For more on the Hall of Fame, click here.

Albion native chronicles rise and fall of Medina Sandstone industry

Photos by Tom Rivers: Jim Friday, shown speaking last week during a Medina Historical Society meeting, talks about the sandstone industry in Orleans County. The cover of his book is at left. The cover includes an image of the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church in Albion, which is made of Medina Sandstone.

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 5 May 2023 at 9:14 am

MEDINA – Jim Friday marvels at the immensity of the Medina Sandstone industry. At its peak from 1890 to 1910, there were 50 quarries in the county employing 2,000 people.

The county’s population in 1900 was 30,164, according to the census. (In 2020, the population was 40,343).

“That was a huge percentage of the workforce,” said Friday, an Albion native who lives in North Chili. “It was just a huge industry.”

Friday, 75, is a Kodak retiree and loves local history. He wrote a book about the local sandstone industry, “The History of Sandstone in Orleans County NY.” The 108-page book includes many photos of the county’s dominant industry.

He spoke about the big business last week during the Medina Historical Society’s monthly meeting.

The quarries produced stone in some of the finest buildings in communities along the canal. They were used in churches, mansions and other public buildings. The stone also was utilized for sidewalks, curbs and street pavers.

The quarries were independently owned and competed against each other. The owners brought in immigrants from Poland, Italy, Britain and Ireland.

Friday is a descendant of Polish immigrants. His paternal grandparents (John Piatek/Friday and Stefania Siebak) lived on Moore Street in Albion. His maternal grandparents (Tony Rice and Rose Lucas) owned the farm at the end of Orchard Street along the canal in Albion. When he was a child, Friday spent a lot of time in Albion and often swam in the quarries.

He explores the geology of how and when the stone was formed, the rise and fall of the regional quarry industry and what remains today.

Jim Friday of North Chili was the featured speaker at the Medina Historical Society meeting last week at Lee-Whedon Memorial Library.

Friday presents this timeline of the Medina Sandstone industry. During construction of Erie Canal from 1817 to 1825 large deposits of sandstone were discovered. In 1836, John Ryan opened the first commercial sandstone quarry in Medina to supply stone for the second expansion of the canal.

In 1906, there were 50 quarries in the county, employing 2,000 workers. From 1919 t 1930, there were only a few independently leased quarries.

He includes includes vintage quarry photos from the early 1900s that give insight into the products, work conditions, methods and equipment used to quarry the stone. The experiences of some of the many immigrants who toiled in the quarries are presented along with photos of stone structures that remain as prominent reminders of a bygone era, Friday said.

The quarries were consolidated by New York City bankers, which led to the demise of most of the local operations. It was also cheaper to use cement rather than sandstone in buildings and public works projects.

For more information about the book, click here or send Friday an email at photos.JimFriday@gmail.com.

“It was a lot of fun to learn about the history of Albion and Orleans County,” Friday said. “The sandstone industry was huge in Orleans County, and it is interwoven with the history of the Erie Canal.”

Friday also serves as the coordinator of the orleans.nygenweb.net website that includes a wealth of local genealogy data about Orleans County. The late Sharron Kerridge and her friends were the driving force behind establishing this website.

Sandstone Society brings back bus tour to see Hall of Famers

By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 3 April 2023 at 9:47 am

‘Sedimental Journey’ goes to Medina Sandstone sites in Orleans, Rochester, Palmyra, Canandaigua and Clifton Springs

Photo by Tom Rivers: Michael Miano of Middleport takes a photo of the First Presbyterian Church of Albion on April 29, 2018 as part of the first bus tour of local sites that are in the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame. The Medina Sandstone Society organized the tour and had a sell-out with 30 people riding the bus.

The Medina Sandstone Society is excited to announce the return of its Medina Sandstone bus tour, an event that had been discontinued due to the Covid pandemic.

The Sonnenberg Manor in Canandaigua was inducted in to the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame in 2016 and will be featured in an upcoming bus tour on May 16.

For the first time since 2019, the Medina Sandstone Society will sponsor a bus tour May 16 to visit some of the magnificent structures in Orleans County, Rochester, Wayne County and Ontario County that made of Medina Sandstone. All of the sites on the tour have been inducted into the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame, which was established in 2013.

A 47-passenger bus will leave the Medina City Hall at 8:30 a.m. and return at 4 p.m. Stops will include Holy Family Parish in Albion’s Courthouse Square, Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Rochester, the former St. Bernard’s Seminary in Rochester, Zion Episcopal Church in Palmyra, St. John’s Episcopal Church in Clifton Springs and Sonnenberg Gardens in Canandaigua.

A stop for lunch will be at Warfield’s Restaurant in Clifton Springs, a restaurant and event center with beautiful gardens for guests to enjoy, according to Kathy Blackburn, a member of the Sandstone Society. There will also be time to tour the mansion at Sonnenberg in Canandaigua, she said.

Cost is $90 per person or $85 for stonecutters (who are members of the Sandstone Society) and includes lunch.

Reservations are due by May 5 by sending a check to the Medina Sandstone Society, P.O. Box 25, Medina; or by Paypal at Sandstonesociety.org. Include e-mail and contact information with reservation.

Commentary along the way will be provided by Bill Lattin, former Orleans County historian, and Dave Miller, a member of the Medina Sandstone Society’s Hall of Fame committee.

There are 35 sites included in the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame. For more information on the Hall, click here.

3 more sites inducted into Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 October 2022 at 9:16 am

St. Joseph’s in Albion, Canal Culvert in Ridgeway and Ryan Quarry House in Clarendon recognized by Medina Sandstone Society

Photos by Tom Rivers: The Medina Sandstone Society added three sites to its Hall of Fame at Medina City Hall. There are now 35 sites in the Hall of Fame which was established in 2013. Pictured from left include: Brandan Simon, west region canal engineer for Canal Corporation (representing the Canal Culvert); Maureen and Robert Christian, owners of the Ryan Quarry home on South Holley Road in Clarendon; and the Rev. Richard Csizmar, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Albion which was recognized for St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, its lyceum on Main Street and the chapel at St. Joseph’s Cemetery on Route 31.

MEDINA – The Medina Sandstone Society inducted three members into the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame on Thursday, bringing the total to 35 sites that have now been recognized since the Hall of Fame was established in 2013.

The three new inductees are all in Orleans County and include the Erie Canal Culvert in the Town of Ridgeway, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Albion (including the parish’s lyceum and cemetery chapel), and the Ryan Quarry home owned by Robert and Maureen Christian on South Holley Road in Clarendon.

The Hall of Fame includes churches, mansions, civic buildings, monuments and public works projects from Erie, Pa., to Buffalo, Batavia and Orleans County, Rochester and the Finger Lakes region.

Dave Miller welcomes about 30 people to the Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Thursday in the main meeting room at Medina City Hall. The Hall of Fame plaques are all made and donated by Takeform.

David Miller, Hall of Fame Committee chairman, said the Sandstone Society wants to showcase how the local quarried stone was used to build so many magnificent sites.

“What a wealth of beautiful buildings that have come out of the ground in Orleans County,” he said during Thursday afternoon’s Hall of Fame ceremony at Medina City Hall. “We need to appreciate them.”

Miller said the Sandstone Society welcomes more nominations. (Click here for more information.)

The Canal Culvert on Culvert Road in Ridgeway was initially built in 1823 for the Erie Canal. The current culvert was built in 1911 when the canal was enlarged. This is the only spot where traffic can go under the Erie Canal.

While the Hall of Fame features many ornate churches, mansions and civic structures, the Canal Culvert is the first inductee that served a more utilitarian purpose as a public infrastructure project.

The culvert has a 7 foot, 6 inch clearance, with a peak height of 11 feet inside the tunnel.

The stone tunnel is 200 feet long, 11 feet high at its peak and 19 feet wide. It is an iconic site in Orleans County, and is one of a kind on the 524-mile-long canal system – the only place where you can drive under the canal. The site has been featured on Ripley’s Believe It or Not.

The culvert was originally built in 1823 and was enlarged when the canal was expanded. The current culvert was built in 1911 as part of the Barge Canal enlargement.

The stone arch structure has a reinforced concrete prism liner directly above it, said Brendan Simon, west region canal engineer for the Canal Corp.

“The structure is near and dear to the canals,” Simon said. “I don’t know of any other structure like it on the canal system. Our staff is passionate about maintaining key pieces of infrastructure like the stone arch culvert.”

Simon said the Canal Corp. is gearing up for the 200^th anniversary celebration of the Erie Canal in 2025. That year Buffalo will host the World Canals Conference.

Photos by David Miller: The Ryan Quarry House has been lovingly restored and cared for by Maureen and Robert Christian. The home was built in 1863 from stone likely obtained from the nearby banks of Sandy Creek. A former quarry on the property is now a 2-acre pond. This farmhouse became the office building for the Ryan Company quarry beginning in 1920.

The induction of the Ryan Quarry House at 4160 South Holley Rd. in Clarendon is the first Hall of Fame inductee that has a direct link to a Medina Sandstone quarry operation.

The house was likely built from sandstone from the banks of the east branch of Sandy Creek. This was in 1863 when there weren’t any commercial quarries in Clarendon.

This part of Clarendon and Holley would later have three quarries – Down’s and Gorman’s quarry in 1881, Gleason Place quarry in 1890 and the large Ryan Company quarry in 1920.

The Ryan quarry was adjacent to the house at 4160 South Holley Rd. and the building was used as an office building for the Ryan Company in the 1920s and much of the ’30s. Writing from Civilian Conservation Corps workers were found inside on the walls of the house during a later restoration.

Dave Miller of the Sandstone Society praised Maureen and Robert Christian for an extensive renovation and upkeep since they bought it in 1977. They credited their aunt Flo Johnson for saving the site when she bought it in 1950. At that point the site had been abandoned with a collapsed roof and trees growing up inside the house.

“She was told it was too far gone,” Mr. Christian said. “But she always wanted a stone house in the country.”

The Christians bought the house from her in 1977 and raised their three children at the house. Mrs. Christian said the sound of the nearby creek and waterfalls is peaceful and relaxing.

“We just love the history of it,” she said. “It’s built like a fortress.”

Her husband said the family has tried to maintain a part of the county’s sandstone legacy.

“That’s what it’s all about – being a steward of it,” he said.

Miller said the Hall of Fame would like to include more history of local quarrying families. The group welcomes biographies of families that were prominent in the local quarrying industry.

Photos by Tom Rivers: St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Albion is a new member of the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame. The First Baptist Church, right, is St. Joseph’s neighbor on West Park Street.

The induction of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church is long overdue, said Jim Hancock, a member of Hall of Fame Committee. The site was nominated this year by former County Historian Bill Lattin. It joins other Albion sites in the Hall of Fame including the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church, First Presbyterian Church of Albion, and the Civil War Monument at Mount Albion Cemetery.

St. Joseph’s Church was dedicated in 1897, built of locally quarried sandstone in a Gothic Revival style on West Park Street. The parish also dedicated St. Joseph’s School and Lyceum on Main Street in 1905 and then a new chapel at St. Joseph’s Cemetery on Route 31 in 1920. The lyceum is the first school to be included in the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame Committee praised Holy Family Parish for its care of the three sites for more than a century.

The Rev. Richard Csizmar, pastor of the parish since 1994, said many people over the years have given resources, time and talent to keep up the sites. The lyceum recently completed a $100,000 renovation, he noted.

“They’re so valuable, so beautiful, and so memorable” he said about the buildings. “They are gifts from God.”

The Medina Sandstone Society also highlighted the lyceum and chapel in the Hall of Fame induction for St. Joseph’s, which is in the Holy Family Parish.

Editor’s Note: Orleans Hub editor Tom Rivers is a member of the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame Committee.

Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame will add WiFi at City Hall

File photo by Tom Rivers: Representatives of St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church in Rome thanked the Hall of Fame Committee for Hall of Fame recognition for the church on Oct. 17, 2019 when the church was inducted into the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame. Father Sean O’Brien is joined by the church’s maintenance director, Mark LaGasse, and office manager, Sharon Hansen. Jim Hancock, a member of the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame Committee, is at right. The plaques are made courtesy of Takeform in Medina.

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 July 2022 at 4:35 pm

MEDINA – The Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame will be adding WiFi at the City Hall and Hall of Fame display in the building’s main meeting room.

That way people can access the Medina Sandstone Society website to see more photos and information about the local sandstone industry.

Dave Miller and Jim Hancock, representatives of the Sandstone Society, attended Monday’s Medina Village Board meeting to ask for permission to put in the WiFi.

“This would definitely add value to the Hall of Fame,” Miller said.

The Sandstone Society will pay for the installation cost and maintenance to have a dedicated WiFi signal in the building for the Hall of Fame and Sandstone Society.

The group is working with C&H PC in Medina to put in the WiFi system with an ethernet cable and router. The network will be separate from the village internet service for the village office, police department and fire department. That way there isn’t a security issue that would make the village networks vulnerable, Miller told the Village Board.

The Hall of Fame was established in City in 2013. So far 32 sites have been inducted. However, Miller said the society has identified at least 200 buildings made of Medina Sandstone. He wants to make that database available to people at the Hall of Fame who could access it by going to the Sandstone Society website.

Eventually, Miller said he would like to see a museum developed about Medina Sandstone that would tell a bigger story with information about quarries, immigrants, notable architects and other details.

A new group of Hall of Fame inductees is expected to be inducted in October.

Sandstone Society celebrates active year, welcomes new president

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 March 2022 at 12:00 pm

Photo by Tom Rivers: Jim Hancock is the new president of the Medina Sandstone Society, succeeding Dave Miller (in back) who led the organization for three years. They spoke during the society’s annual meeting last Wednesday in the conference room of the new Comfort Inn & Suites in Medina. The hotel has a display about the Medina Sandstone industry.

MEDINA – The Medina Sandstone Society held its annual meeting last week, and the organization recounted an active year despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

The organization looks forward to an even busier 2022, perhaps with bus tours and other projects to boost the area.

The society praised David Miller for leading the organization the past three years. Miller chose not to seek another year as president. He will be succeeded by Jim Hancock.

Miller developed a new Wikipedia page about Medina Sandstone. He also is on the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame Committee which inducted a new class of honorees – the Bent’s Opera House in Medina, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Brockport and St. Mary’s RC Church in Canandaigua. The ceremony was cancelled in 2021. There have now been 32 sites inducted into the Hall of Fame since it started in 2013. The Hall is in the main meeting room at City Hall in Medina.

“We have found so many beautiful buildings in New York and western Pennsylvania,” Hancock said about the Hall of Fame initiative.

Miller also has created a database of Medina sandstone buildings and is up to 211 buildings so far.

His dream is to see a Medina Sandstone Museum with interactive exhibits, and public databases.

Miller and Treasurer Craig Lacy reported the Sandstone Trust grew in revenue by about $45,000 to $270,000 through investments and donations. That fund started in 2010 with $18,000. Last year the Sandstone Society used $4,000 from some of the investment revenue for grants to support projects in the Medina.

The society would like to assist more organizations this year, and take the lead on upgrading one of the gateway signs leading into Medina.

The organization also offers a $1,000 John Ryan Scholarship to a Medina senior with a passion for history. That scholarship is named for the man who opened the first commercial sandstone quarry in Medina in 1837.

The society welcomed four new board members including Matt Holland, Kathy Blackburn, Kathy Bogan and Reinhard Rogowski. (Outgoing members include Dave Schubel, Barbara Waters and Scott Robinson. Schubel has been with the organization since it formed in 2003, and his service goes back to the Armory Action Committee in the late 1970s which worked to find a new use for the old Armory building on Pearl Street. It became home of the YMCA. The Armory is in the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame.)