Greece

Images of America: New York

by Shirley Cox Husted

Greece, a community of nearly 100,000 people, lies on the south shore of Lake Ontario, opposite Toronto. It has a picturesque shoreline with a bay and more ponds than any other locality along the lake. In its early years, community life was centered around a harbor on the Genesee River at the village of Charlotte. From these simple beginnings, Greece eventually grew to become the largest township in Monroe County. Its growth was due in large part to photography leader George Eastman, whose factories became the major employer in the Rochester metropolitan area. Over the years, the township's political leaders have been recognized across the state. Its land once produced magnificent flowers, vegetable seeds, and rootstock for shipment worldwide. Greece also is the home of the Wegman families, whose food stores rank among the nation's best grocery operations. Buried in nearby Holy Sepulchre Cemetery are the remains of Dr. Francis Tumblety, inventor of patent medicine cure-alls and main suspect in London's 1888 Jack the Ripper murder investigation. Greece contains marvelous pictorial memories of the amusement park at Manitou Beach, with its poplar-lined entrance, grand old hotels reached by an open-air trolley that slowly crossed the bay and ponds, and two nearby lighthouses that guided vessels across the lake to and from Canada.

Genres: History

128 pages, Paperback

First published February 20, 2001