Pittsford is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in Monroe County, New York, United States. The population was 1,419 at the 2020 census. It is named after Pittsford, Vermont, the native town of a founding father. It is the oldest village in New York, incorporated in 1827. The village, an

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...

community, is in the town of Pittsford and is a suburb of Rochester.

History

Pittsford is the oldest of Monroe County's ten incorporated villages. The village was the site of a spring-fed pond which attracted the first European Americans. Israel Stone, the village's first settler, built the village's first structure, a

log house A log house, or log building, is a structure built with horizontal logs interlocked at the corners by notching. Logs may be round, squared or hewn to other shapes, either handcrafted or milled. The term "log cabin" generally refers to a smal ...

next to the pond, in 1789. The town of Pittsford surrounding the village was established in 1789 and was originally named "Northfield". Pittsford's original

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

settlement was located a mile south of the current village. In the second decade of the nineteenth century the opening of a new east–west highway (now NYS Route 31) and the surveying of the proposed Erie Canal route caused settlement to migrate northward to the Four Corners area. Early Pittsford served as the governmental seat for the town of Northfield, comprising most of what is now eastern Monroe County. The settlement contained the county's first school (1794), the first library (1803), the first permanent church (1807), the first post office (1811), and the first newspaper (1815). In 1813, after the surrounding towns were organized, reducing Northfield's territory, the name Pittsford was adopted to honor the Vermont birthplace of

Colonel Caleb Hopkins Colonel Caleb Hopkins (1770 – January 14, 1818) was an officer during the War of 1812 and the first town supervisor of Pittsford, New York, United States. History In 1791, Caleb Hopkins moved from his hometown, Pittsford, Vermont, in Rutla ...

, a farmer, community leader and hero from the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. Pittsford's first church began meeting in 1803. The congregation survives today as the First Presbyterian Church on Church Street. Pittsford prospered as a local trading center due to its location at the intersection of the primary road between the mills at the Genesee Falls in Rochesterville and Canandaigua, the region's oldest and largest town and the new east–west road (now New York State Route 31). In 1816, Samuel Hildreth established the area's first

stage coach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

line, eventually putting Pittsford at the center of a large stage network covering much of western New York. Pittsford grew rapidly after the opening of the

in 1822 and was incorporated as a village on July 4, 1827. Local entrepreneurs profited from both canal construction and other businesses which benefited from the canal trade. Pittsford's excellent agricultural soil led to the early and successful development of commercial agriculture. However, because of its superior waterpower, Rochester soon eclipsed Pittsford as Monroe County's dominant economic and population center. Pittsford grew slowly through the middle of the nineteenth century. One result of Pittsford's mid-century decline was that unlike other local towns, many of Pittsford's earliest buildings have survived. Boosted by the arrival of the Rochester & Auburn railroad in 1834, Pittsford remained an important shipping center for local grains and produce until the late twentieth century. Village industries included a flour mill, lumberyards, produce warehouses, a

malt house A malt house, malt barn, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain foo ...

and several fruit dry houses. The present charm of the village's waterfront is due to the survival of historic canal warehouses, mills, and silos, which in recent years have been rehabilitated for offices, boutiques, and restaurants. Beginning in the 1870s, the village and town of Pittsford once again began to grow. In the second half of the nineteenth century wealthy Rochesterians began to establish country estates in and around the village. These estates were the first step in Pittsford's evolution from a farming community into a suburb of Rochester. Three of these grand homes remain within the village. Pittsford Farms, the oldest of the three village estates, was established in the 1860s by Jarvis Lord, a canal contractor. The property has retained its historic appearance and remains today a working farm, owned by descendants of the Zornow family. The farm's dairy plant continues to bottle milk in returnable glass containers. The Town of Pittsford has purchased the development rights to this farm and seven others to ensure their open space remains for generations to come. During the first quarter of the twentieth century, the construction of the Rochester & Eastern Trolley line and growing automobile ownership placed Pittsford within easy commuting distance of Rochester. During the early twentieth century, a number of infrastructure improvements were completed in the village, including a water system, paved streets, storm and sanitary sewers, and electric street lights. These decades also witnessed the development of new village neighborhoods of four-square, Craftsman and

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...

homes. The establishment of four

country club A country club is a privately-owned Club (organization), club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Ty ...

s and two colleges just outside the village contributed to the village's desirability as a premium suburban residential community. By the 1950s Pittsford began to experience significant population growth from suburban residential development. As the area surrounding the village continued to grow, residents became increasingly concerned about the effects of this growth on the village. Increasing traffic, demolition of historic buildings, commercial encroachment into historic neighborhoods, and the loss of open space led to the beginning of grass roots preservation efforts. Over the last fifty years, residents, business people, and government officials have worked cooperatively to preserve, enhance and revitalize Pittsford Village. Among the community's accomplishments are the restoration of numerous village buildings, the establishment of a historic preservation district, the redevelopment of the village's Erie Canal waterfront for commercial and recreational use, and the preservation of farmland through the town's purchase of development rights. Today the village of Pittsford is widely admired for the preservation of its historic character and its charming walkable business district. The Hildreth-Lord-Hawley Farm, Hopkins Farm, Adolph Lomb House, Phoenix Building, Pittsford Village Historic District,

Spring House A spring house, or springhouse, is a small building, usually of a single room, constructed over a spring. While the original purpose of a springhouse was to keep the spring water clean by excluding fallen leaves, animals, etc., the enclosing str ...

, and Thomas Youngs House are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Geography

Pittsford village is located in eastern Monroe County at (43.089013, -77.515239), in the north-central part of the town of Pittsford.

New York State Route 31 New York State Route 31 (NY 31) is a state highway that extends for across western and central New York (state), New York in the United States. The western terminus of the route is at an intersection with New York State Route 104, NY ...

passes through the village center, leading northwest to downtown Rochester and east-southeast to

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

. State Route 96 passes through Pittsford as its Main Street, leading by a more northerly route to downtown Rochester and southeast to Victor. Route 252 follows Route 96 along Main Street but leads northeast to East Rochester and west to Chili. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the village of Pittsford has a total area of , of which , or 2.76%, are water. The village is bisected by the historic

Demographics

Government

In March 2021, Alysa Subtelny Plummer was elected mayor of the village, defeating incumbent of 28 years Robert Corby; Plummer was the first woman elected to that position. Mayors Robert Corby (R) (1993–2021) Alysa Subtelny Plummer (D) (2021–present)

Notable people

* Mary Therese Friel, Miss New York USA 1979, Miss USA 1979 * Thomas Kempshall, former US congressman * Andrew Rea, host of the YouTube cooking channel '' Binging with Babish'' * Magnus Sheffield, professional cyclist *

Abby Wambach Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired Association football, soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on ...

, former USA women's soccer player; Olympian, World Champion

Gallery

File:Phoenix Hotel.jpg, The Phoenix Hotel marks Pittsford's Four Corners intersection. The building is one of the finest Federal style structures surviving in Western New York. File:Pittsford Village Hall.jpg, Pittsford's Village Hall was constructed as a home in 1855. In 1937, the building was remodeled in the colonial revival style and donated to the village. File:Sylvanus Lathrop house.jpg, The Sylvanus Lathrop house was constructed in 1822 by the general contractor responsible for Pittsford's section of the Erie Canal. File:Vogt - Allen house.jpg, The Queen Anne Vogt-Allen house was built by the family operating the Pittsford Flour Mill. File:Carver house.jpg, Dr. Hartwell Carver, the original owner of this fine Gothic revival home, was a nationally prominent advocate of the transcontinental railroad. File:Pittsfrod business district.jpg, Like much of the village, Pittsford's compact business district is distinguished by many fine nineteenth-century buildings. File:Wiltsie and Crump buidling.jpg, The Wiltsie and Crump Building, originally housing a

dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and Common ...

store, replaced an earlier structure which had burned. File:Pittsford Farms Dairy.jpg, Pittsford Farms dairy, established in 1888, is Pittsford's oldest operating business.

References

External links

*
Town of Pittsford websitePittsford Chamber of Commerce - About PittsfordHistoric Pittsford
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pittsford (Village), New York 1827 establishments in New York (state) Erie Canal Populated places established in 1827 Villages in Monroe County, New York Rochester metropolitan area, New York Villages in New York (state)