HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE TOWN OF EAST BLOOMFIELD

E BLOOMFIELD, NY

September 14, 2019: Former Corn Hill Methodist Episcopal Church as seen from Lunsford Circle, Rochester, New York The former Corn Hill Methodist Episcopal Church and present-day End Time Deliverance Miracle Ministry is a longstanding landmark of the Corn Hill district of Rochester, New York whose rich history lies at the intersection of the two rather paradoxical halves of the neighborhood's identity - the favorite abode of Rochester's moneyed class, yet also the historic nucleus of the local African-American community - and serves as a testimony to locals' commitment to historic preservation, having been rebuilt after a devastating 1971 arson fire.

If you're an architecture buff like me, you can read <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/198134987@N03/53617592723">more about the church</a> at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/198134987@N03/">Western New York Architecture Deep Cuts</a>: my other account where I go deeper into the weeds about these sorts of things. — September 14, 2019: Former Corn Hill Methodist Episcopal Church as seen from Lunsford Circle, Rochester, New York Credit: Carrotflower Productions International

The Historical Society of the Town of East Bloomfield is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to preserving and promoting the history and culture of East Bloomfield, a town in Ontario County, New York. The society was founded in 1969 and is located in the historic Bloomfield Academy building, which dates back to 1829.

The society's collections include a wide range of artifacts, documents, and photographs that relate to the town's history. These include items from the early Native American settlements in the area, as well as materials from the town's early settlers and industries, such as agriculture, milling, and transportation.

The society also maintains a research library, which is open to the public, and sponsors a variety of educational programs and events throughout the year. These include lectures, tours, and exhibits, as well as special events like the annual East Bloomfield Old Fashioned Festival.

Overall, the Historical Society of the Town of East Bloomfield is an important resource for anyone who is interested in the history of East Bloomfield and the surrounding area. Through its collections and programs, the society helps to preserve and share the rich cultural heritage of this historic town.

HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE TOWN OF EAST BLOOMFIELD is a Historical Societies, Historic Preservation in E BLOOMFIELD NY. US MID #8403601364

The museum is classed as HSC (Historical Societies, Historic Preservation). It comes under American Alliance of Museums (AAM) region: Mid-Atlantic (District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania).

September 14, 2019: Ford Street bridge, Rochester, New York A view of the Ford Street Bridge in Rochester, New York, as seen from just to the north of its western end, along the Genesee Riverway Trail at the south end of the historic Corn Hill neighborhood.

If you're an architecture buff like me, you can read <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/198134987@N03/53617386461">more about the bridge</a> at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/198134987@N03/">Western New York Architecture Deep Cuts</a>: my other account where I go deeper into the weeds about these sorts of things.

September 14, 2019: Atkinson Street in Corn Hill, Rochester, New York A view eastward down Atkinson Street from just past the corner of Greenwood Street in the charming and historic Corn Hill district of Rochester, New York. Also known as the Third Ward, Corn Hill has been cited as Rochester's oldest residential neighborhood, with a history that dates almost as far back as that of the city itself: during the early boom years of the 1820s and '30s, when the newly opened Erie Canal was converting sleepy frontier villages into important inland ports practically overnight, this gently sloping hilltop across from the business district became the residence of choice for the city's newly wealthy flour millers and other incipient industrialists, earning it such jocular nicknames as the &quot;Ruffled-Shirt Ward&quot; and the &quot;Silk Stocking District&quot;. Despite Rochester's continued outward growth, Corn Hill held onto its cachet as one of the city's most desirable addresses well into the 20th century. Later, as its fortunes began to level off and decline, the story became one of conflict between, on the one hand, city planners who sought to demolish many of the handsome but deteriorated period homes in the name of urban renewal, and on the other, preservation-minded neighborhood residents who saw in its picturesque Victorian streetscapes the key to its future return to prosperity. Happily, the latter camp won out, and deserve the credit for the successful nomination of the Third Ward Historic District to the National Register of Historic Places, which was made official in 1974.

September 14, 2019: Ford Street bridge, Rochester, New York Looking westward along the Ford Street Bridge in Rochester, New York on a September 2019 evening.

If you're an architecture buff like me, you can read <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/198134987@N03/53617720504">more about the bridge</a> at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/198134987@N03/">Western New York Architecture Deep Cuts</a>: my other account where I go deeper into the weeds about these sorts of things.

September 14, 2019: The verdant Lunsford Circle, Rochester, New York Looking southward toward the corner of Glasgow Street from the verdant Lunsford Circle Park in Rochester, New York on a pleasant afternoon in late summer. One of the oldest public spaces in the city, this 35,000-square-foot, Frederick Law Olmsted-designed green space is found at the intersection of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Greig, and Frederick Douglass Streets in the heart of the historic Corn Hill neighborhood.

September 14, 2019: Genesee River and downtown skyline as seen from Ford Street bridge, Rochester, New York One of the most widely photographed views of the downtown skyline of Rochester, New York is the one looking northward along the Genesee River from the Ford Street Bridge.

September 14, 2019: Atkinson Street in Corn Hill, Rochester, New York Boughs of lush greenery frame the view eastward down Atkinson Street from between Greenwood and South Washington Streets in the charming and historic Corn Hill district of Rochester, New York. Also known as the Third Ward, Corn Hill has been cited as Rochester's oldest residential neighborhood, with a history that dates almost as far back as that of the city itself: during the early boom years of the 1820s and '30s, when the newly opened Erie Canal was converting sleepy frontier villages into important inland ports practically overnight, this gently sloping hilltop across from the business district became the residence of choice for the city's newly wealthy flour millers and other incipient industrialists, earning it such jocular nicknames as the &quot;Ruffled-Shirt Ward&quot; and the &quot;Silk Stocking District&quot;. Despite Rochester's continued outward growth, Corn Hill held onto its cachet as one of the city's most desirable addresses well into the 20th century. Later, as its fortunes began to level off and decline, the story became one of conflict between, on the one hand, city planners who sought to demolish many of the handsome but deteriorated period homes in the name of urban renewal, and on the other, preservation-minded neighborhood residents who saw in its picturesque Victorian streetscapes the key to its future return to prosperity. Happily, the latter camp won out, and deserve the credit for the successful nomination of the Third Ward Historic District to the National Register of Historic Places, which was made official in 1974.

September 14, 2019: Daniel M. Flanigan and Anthony J. Miller Houses, Rochester, New York Illustrative of the Victorian-era architectural smorgasbord of Rochester, New York's historic Corn Hill neighborhood are the Daniel M. Flanigan <i>(left)</i> and Anthony J Miller <i>(right)</i> Houses on Atkinson Street. Although the precise dates of their construction, the particulars of their aesthetic style, and the identities of their early owners differ from each other, they each exemplify the neighborhood's original identity as longstanding haven for Rochester's wealthy elite as well as the commitment of its modern-day denizens to the continuing preservation of what is now the city's oldest and most intact residential historic district.

If you're an architecture buff like me, you can read <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/198134987@N03/53617592693">more about these stately homes</a> at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/198134987@N03/">Western New York Architecture Deep Cuts</a>: my other account where I go deeper into the weeds about these sorts of things.

Former Corn Hill Methodist Episcopal Church as seen from Lunsford Circle, Rochester, New York, September 2019 As seen from the verdant <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/198134987@N03/53617592633">Lunsford Circle</a> in September 2019: the former Corn Hill Methodist Episcopal Church and present-day End Time Deliverance Miracle Ministry, a longstanding landmark of the Corn Hill district of Rochester, New York whose historic significance places it at the intersection of the two rather paradoxical halves of the neighborhood's identity: on the one hand, the favorite address of Rochester's moneyed class of flour millers and other industrialists, and on the other, the historic nucleus of the local African-American community, who as early as the 1820s had begun gathering in the uppermost blocks of Clarissa Street just to the north and west of the wealthy district. Completed in 1900, the church is the work of local architect Herbert L. Lanzeliere, who brings to the table a majestic Richardsonian Romanesque design whose elegance matches that of the stately homes that surround it: the ponderous massing, the rugged texture of the Medina sandstone blocks that comprise the exterior walls, and particularly the dramatic forms that figure on the 75-foot corner tower (note the round arches of the belfry, the miniature turrets and gabled lancet, and the ubiquitous finials) all exemplify the aesthetic. Sadly, however, what's visible in this photo is only the remnant shell of a structure most of which burned to the ground in a devastating fire; behind the walls is a pleasant grassy courtyard traversed diagonally by a concrete walkway that leads to the present-day worship space at the rear of the property. Corn Hill Methodist Episcopal Church was the congregation for which the building was originally constructed; one whose history in the neighborhood predated its construction by nearly half a century. It was in 1852 when a gathering of about thirty former members of the vibrant but distant First Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal Church assembled at the Adams Street residence of William P. Stanton to incorporate a new congregation that would be headquartered in a location more convenient to their own homes. Just a few months later, a similarly sized group broke away from the Third Methodist Episcopal Church to throw their lot in with the new Corn Hill body. After a brief period of holding services in the chapel of a former orphan asylum on Adams Street, the flock was able to amass a sum of $3,500 for the construction of their first purpose-built home, a handsome but modestly scaled brick building that was completed on the same site in 1854 and enlarged twenty years later, a testament to the vigor of the congregation's continued growth which matched that of the city as a whole. That same growth would soon overtake the dimensions of even the larger building, and as early as 1892 there was talk of demolishing it and building anew. Those rumors became official in July of the following year by order of the church's board of trustees, who proceeded to hire an architect and begin raising the $40,000 in funds that would be necessary for the construction of the present-day edifice. The whole process from conception to groundbreaking to completion took nearly eight years, but at the end of it, the congregation now numbering about 500 members had a new space in which to continue to thrive. That they did initially, but great changes were in the offing that would spell a fundamental shift in the neighborhood's identity. The early 20th century saw a pair of trends converge more or less simultaneously: the noise and congestion of the nearby downtown and along the canal drove Corn Hill's wealthier denizens out to further-flung city neighborhoods and suburbs, while the so-called Great Migration - a nationwide movement of African-Americans out of the rural South toward the plentiful industrial jobs offered by Northern cities such as Rochester - was also incipient. Soon, the formerly small and tight-knit local Black community began to expand outward from its historic nucleus into Corn Hill proper, and the predictions of local urban development commentators for the future of the neighborhood and its institutions had taken a pessimistic tone. However, in defiance of those expectations, Corn Hill Methodist weathered the transition comparatively well: even as the decline kicked into high gear after World War II, with highway construction and urban renewal rendering large swaths of the neighborhood nearly unrecognizable, the church soldiered on into the second century of its existence a bit worse for wear but still a cherished community cornerstone, with a slate of programming that catered to a newly diversified congregation. Most notably in that regard, it served as the stage for one of the last public appearances by civil rights leader Malcolm X, who gave a rousing speech in February 1965 just five days before his assassination that touched on international race relations, Rochester's recent riots, and media portrayals of African-Americans. Still, the reality was that the flock was dwindling in number, driven away by social ills and unrest that were very real. The end of the line came just four years later, when the remaining congregants voted to merge with First Methodist (thus, interestingly, bringing the church's history full circle) and to donate their former property for the establishment of another congregation, namely the Corn Hill African Methodist Episcopal Church. Notably, this was a church with a membership (or at least the beginnings of one) but no pastor; the energetic young Rev. Noel V. Christian had been hired for the purpose, but was not due to arrive in Rochester until the completion of his previous assignment in Philadelphia in October 1970. The building remained vacant in the interim, targeted by fire-setting vandals who continued their spree even after the church became active again, culminating in the aforementioned August 1971 blaze that completely gutted it. The upstart congregation was understandably shaken: many members were intimidated into defecting to other churches, leaving a remaining core of about 50 to manage the task of rebuilding even as they continued to meet for services at Immaculate Conception Catholic School, which generously donated the use of their auditorium for the purpose. The question facing the members was a binary one: whether to use the proceeds from the insurance payout to purchase another property or rebuild as best they could on the same site. Thankfully, the newfound spirit of historic awareness and preservation that had taken hold in the neighborhood (largely the fruit of efforts by the Landmark Society of Western New York) informed the congregation's decision to not only do the latter, but to incorporate into the design of the new building as much of the old one as could be salvaged. Thus, the doors to Corn Hill A.M.E. proudly reopened to worshipers in the spring of 1973, and 144 Edinburgh Street would remain that church's home address for the remainder of its existence. The property passed into the hands of its present owners in 1997.

Corn Hill Gazebo and Lunsford Circle, Rochester, New York, September 2019 With its lovely gingerbread-style woodwork and steep octagonal tent roof, the Corn Hill Gazebo is the central feature of the verdant Lunsford Circle Park, a 35,000-square-foot manicured green space at the intersection of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Greig, and Frederick Douglass Streets in the heart of the historic Corn Hill neighborhood of Rochester, New York. The versatile little shelter is a bandstand for a popular summer concert series, a beehive of activity during the annual Corn Hill Arts Festival, and at quieter times simply a pleasant respite for neighborhood residents. Originally known as Caledonia Square, Lunsford was among the earliest public spaces in the city, laid out in 1837 along with the other surrounding streets and lots. However, periodic renamings and redesigns have been a recurring feature of the park's history practically since the beginning: the first occurred in 1859, when it was given its current elliptical shape and the new moniker of Plymouth Park, in honor of the recently constructed avenue of the same name which now bisected it from southwest to northeast. However, the park's most complete and consequential overhaul was a work of preeminent landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Olmsted had made a name for himself first as designer of Central Park in New York City and later for his visionary concept of interconnected systems of parks and tree-lined boulevards that he dubbed &quot;parkways&quot;: a model that he had pioneered a few decades earlier in nearby Buffalo, and of which Rochester's city fathers hoped for their own version when they summoned him in 1888 for what would ultimately be the final commission of his illustrious four-decade career. Olmsted's designs for the &quot;emerald necklace&quot; of Genesee Valley, Seneca, Maplewood, and Highland Parks typify his trademark aesthetic - expansive verdant spaces whose curved contours, subtle design details, extensive use of native flora, and intentional dearth of built elements sought to accentuate the natural features of the landscape - but he was responsible for establishing and revamping a number of the city's smaller parks as well. His plans for Plymouth Park were as simple as they were lovely: a six-spoke wheel of radial footpaths that converge on a central seating area. It remains the essence of the park's design today, with the exception of the gazebo, which was relocated here in 1979 after a century spent in the garden of the recently-lost-to-fire St. Joseph Catholic Church downtown; the culmination of yet another round of park renovations that also entailed the addition of new trees and branches and the repaving of the walkways. Coincidentally mirroring the change in the park's design was a change in Corn Hill's demographics: by the mid-20th century, what had once been the exclusive domain of the city's wealthy industrialist class became instead the epicenter of the local Black community, with nearby Clarissa Street - chock-a-block with soul food restaurants, neighborhood businesses, and above all, jazz clubs - being described as Rochester's own answer to Harlem. Subsequent decades saw the importance of the African-American presence of the neighborhood reflected in neighborhood nomenclature: the 1980 renaming of the northerly portion of Plymouth Avenue in honor of Frederick Douglass, the prominent civil rights leader, social reformer, and publisher who lived and worked in Rochester during the mid-19th century (the segment south of the park is no longer extant) was followed up six years later when, by decree of the city council, Plymouth Park itself was renamed in honor of the recently deceased Dr. Charles T. Lunsford (1891-1985), a luminary in both the local civil rights movement and the field of medicine. The first practicing African-American physician in the city, Dr. Lunsford was also historically notable for leading the charge to desegregate the University of Rochester Medical School, the employee facilities of the Eastman Kodak Company, and the local YMCA as well as helping to overturn the American Red Cross' prohibition against Black blood donors.

Hamilton Apartments as seen from Corn Hill Landing, Rochester, New York, September 2019 A September 2019 scene in Rochester, New York, looking from Corn Hill Landing - an upscale mixed-use development unveiled in 2000 and comprising apartments, shops, restaurants, and the riverfront parkland where this photo was taken - across the Genesee River into the adjacent neighborhood of South Wedge, where we see the Hamilton Apartments rising just left of center. Despite being showcased at the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of an exhibit on notable new trends in architecture and urban planning, the design of this 13-story, 200-unit, L-shaped high-rise tower exemplifies 1970s architecture at its most minimalist and utilitarian: all straight lines, right angles, and smooth planar surfaces, the river-facing side of the building (which seems to be the main façade, or at least of equal importance to the side facing Mount Hope Avenue) is a smooth-textured concrete wall, featureless save for its perforation by a regular pattern of windows set out in alternating columnar arrangements, first amply proportioned and then narrow and set high in the interior walls. In fact, the main work of exterior ornamentation - namely the patchwork of colored panels - is a latter-day addition to the design; the product of a 2010 renovation of the building by its new owners, Conifer Realty. Initially known as Genesee Gateway and later renamed River Park Commons, the building was designed by Stephen Whitney, a staff architect with the New York State Urban Development Corporation which was tasked with redeveloping the 35-acre site of a former State Barge Canal terminal into a massive urban renewal project of badly needed housing for low- and moderate-income tenants. In early 1970 commenced a labyrinthine tangle of negotiations involving the city council, the Urban Renewal Corporation, the Barge Canal, and the Lehigh Valley Railroad, the latter of which owned track that ran along the river through the site. However, the railroad's bankruptcy the following July gummed up the gears until 1972, when bankruptcy litigation was finally resolved and the transfer of the railroad right-of-way was finally permitted to go through. Shovels went in the ground in April 1973 to kick off the nearly two-year, $12 million construction process that comprised both the high-rise tower as well as a row of terraced townhomes that stretched for three blocks along the riverbank to the south, the latter of which were demolished in 2009. Together, those buildings comprised 402 of the 1,200 total units originally planned for the site, the remainder of which were never built due mostly to the financial woes that befell the Urban Development Corporation in the late '70s. The Hamilton is now privately owned but continues to be reserved for low-income residents, with rent charged on a sliding scale that's capped at 30% of the annual income of the individual householder.

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HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE TOWN OF EAST BLOOMFIELD
PO BOX 212
E BLOOMFIELD
NY
14443-0212

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MID #	8403601364
Name	HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE TOWN OF EAST BLOOMFIELD
Alternate Name
Classification	Historical Societies, Historic Preservation, , Mid-Atlantic
Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN)	161110588
NTEECC	A80
Tax period of the latest return filed (YYYYMM)	201212
INCOME	0
REVENUE	0
LAT/LONG	42.89721, -77.433551
CODES	FIPS State Code: 36 FIPS County Code: 069 US Census Tract: 050500 US Census Block: 5018