Monroe County NyArchives History - Books .....Famous Landmarks 1957
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Book Title: Irondequoit Story

FAMOUS LANDMARKS

The Forest House

   The first building to occupy the site at the northeast corner of Ridge and
Culver Roads was built in 1842 by George Rhinewaldt and his brother Francis. Ten
years later Mr. James Swayne purchased and remodeled it. It was thereafter known
as Swayne's Tavern and the corner where it stood was called Swayne's Corners.
The Monroe Atlas of 1872 shows the place so marked. For years this Tavern was
the only place in Irondequoit where public meetings of any size could be held.

   Mr. Swayne came from England in 1830 and for a time lived on Empire Boulevard
opposite Winton Road, where he operated a Stage Coach Inn and a Toll Gate. In
1845, he moved to a log house at the corner of Ridge Road and Ridgewood Drive.
He taught school here and was noted for his beautiful penmanship. The historian
has an old minute book in her possession with many samples of Mr. Swayne'
penmanship.

   James Swayne is buried in the old Hooker Cemetery where the following
inscription appears on his tombstone: "A native of England, died 1864, aged 62
years. Elected by his fellow citizens repeatedly as Supervisor of Irondequoit,
Town Clerk and Justice of the Peace for 20 years. He served them faithfully and
acceptably."

   In 1860, after several other transfers, Swayne's Corners and Tavern were
purchased by Isaac Forest, who in 1866 razed the tavern and in its place built
the first Forest House.

   It has been said that no other hotel in Monroe County was so well known and
so popular over a period of 30 years as was that first Forest House. It was the
best constructed and equipped hotel in any country town of the state. A high
three-story building with a huge basement, it had a slate mansard roof and a
high obervation tower in the center of the roof from which projected a 50-ft.
flag pole.

   The first Forest House had 30 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Black walnut was used
for the inside doors and trim. The large dining room, which could seat 200
guests at one time, was finished in King Edward style. The spacious sitting
rooms and parlor were beautifully carpeted. The furniture was the best of its
time. In the halls and dining room were beveled glass mirrors that extended from
ceiling to floor. The hotel was noted for its beautiful paintings, all of which
were the work of William Held, who for many years lived on Held Island in
Irondequoit Bay. (This island was located in Held Cove on the east side opposite
the Newport House.)

   In the second floor wing, there was a ballroom large enough to accomodate 120
couples for dancing. This ballroom had a thirty-foot ceiling and the walls were
decorated with angelic figures. It was the scene of many a gay ball to which the
ladies came dressed in gowns with long trains, bustles and huge puffed sleeves,
after the fashion of the day. Also in this ballroom great orations took place,
especially at Presidential election time, and on such occasions as many as 800
people packed the room. This happened in 1880 when James A. Garfield was running
for the highest office in the land.

   Under the ballroom was a Court House where justice was meted out and Town
Elections held. Another of the rooms in the Forest House was used as a Post
Office for seven years. A Post Office had been established at Swayne's Corners
when the town was incorporated in 1839. People from town who chose this as their
mailing address, had to call there for their mail.

   Pidgeon and Chicken Shoots were held opposite the Forest House where the
Ridge-Culver Plaza is now located. Four or five shoots were held there each year
and the crack shot of Irondequoit was Albert Evershed who won many a contest.
These shoots were outlawed about 1890.

   In the years when sleigh-ride parties were in vogue, Higgins Livery brought
many a crowd to the Forest House. It was the pride of all Irondequoit and the
most popular place, outside of Rochester, in all Monroe County. The building
alone cost $80,000 and the furniture and equipment cost $25,000 more.

   The Forest House changed hands many times between 1872, when Mr. Forest
bought it, and 1885, when Daniel Forman became the owner. Mr. Forman, in 1903,
sold it to Mr. Fisher. In 1904, the Forest House, with two other buildings on
the premises, was destroyed by fire. Mr. Fisher replaced it with the present
building in 1907.

   In 1932, Mr. Oliver Costich came into possession. It passed through several
hands between 1932 and 1956 and the present owner is Mr. Katsampes, who also
owns the Avon Dairy. Recently, there has been talk of razing the old building
and erecting a gas station on the premises.

Rifle Range

   The Rifle Range was located on the top of a high bluff of the Genesee River
just north of Seneca Park. General Brinker was instrumental in forming the Rifle
Range Association in 1875. This association purchased in the same year, some
fifty acres of land from the rear of the Colt Farm on Summerville Blvd. This
level piece of land, commonly called the "Flats" has a drop of about 50 feet
below the boulevards, Winona and Summerville. The high hills and embankment that
form the western slopes of these two boulevards acted as a lodging place for the
bullets. Mr. Louis List once said that he had found quantities of these bullets
in that locality. This shooting range, maintained by the state, was also used
for a drilling ground, for target practice and maneuvers by the State Cavalry,
Artillery and Infantry and later by the First and Eighth Separate Companies as
well as the Naval Reserves.

   Before Seneca Park was laid out, the only way to reach the Range was through
the lane between the Grant and Colt Farms, thence through an apple orchard and
down through a gully. Part of the lane is now Belcoda Drive and a narrow
one-lane road still leads to the property. At one time there was a large sign at
the boulevard entrance to the lane which read "New York State National Guards."
This shooting range became known all over the state for one of the best, and
often large crowds came to view the maneuvers. William Cody, better known as
"Buffalo Bill" was once one of the attractions here. These target practices and
other maneuvers were held in Rifle Range for more than 25 years. As the
neighborhood became more thickly settled, objections were raised and the Town
Authorities demanded that a stop be put to the shooting practice. The Rifle
Range Association went into bankruptcy and the property was sold to General
Brinker.

   At about the time that the Rifle Range Association acquired their property,
in 1877, a man by the name of John Staudenmaier with his wife Mary Serth
Staudenmaier bought about 12 acres from the rear of the Colt farm, which joined
the Range on the South. They occupied a building on the high river bank, with a
long platform attached and steps leading down the high banks to the river. The
old steam boat "The City of Rochester" made stops there and the passengers
ascended the stairs to have luncheon and refreshments. About seven years later
this building was moved about three hundred yards to the east and several other
buildings were erected that gave one the impression of a trading post. These
buildings consisted of a saloon, pavilion, horse barns and sheds, ice house,
smoke house, pig pen and cow barn. The Staudenmaiers established turkey, duck,
chicken and geese runs to the creek. They also had a place fenced in, all wired
with very heavy wire where they harboured wild game, including a bear and a pair
of bald-headed eagles, which were about as much attraction then as the zoo in
Seneca Park is today. Seeing an opportunity to cater to the crowds that attended
the target practice, the Staudenmaiers served hot chowder and sandwiches of all
kinds, as well as cool lager beer. When the Windsor Beach Railroad was completed
in 1884 and passenger trains stopped at the Range, the business prospered greatly.

   Mr. Staudenmaier, who was a captain in the National Guards, died in 1886 in
his 48th year and his widow, Mary, carried on the business until 1908. In 1899,
the one daughter of the Staudenmaiers married Michael C. Magin who bought and
has carried on the business since 1908. Under the management of Mr. Magin, with
his brother-in-law, William Serth, this place also became famous for pit clam
bakes. These pit bakes continued until two years before Mr. Magin's death in 1950.

The Cobblestone Blacksmith Shop

   The Cobblestone Blacksmith Shop, located on the south side of Ridge Road near
Culver, was built by Ransford Perrin in 1820. Mr. Perrin laid the field stones
in rich mortar for the two-foot-thick walls and to this day the walls appear in
perfect condition, with no cracks or falling stones. This speaks well for the
thoroughness of work done in those early days.

   From the time that the shop was built in 1820 until 1948, when the present
owners took possession, the property changed hands fourteen times.

   The last blacksmiths to work at the forge were Patrick Mac Elligott and his
helper, a Mr. Hopkins. Mac Elligott bought the shop from the widow of Al
Krischke. Mr. Krischke had owned and run it for many years. He died in 1924 but
the new owner never changed the name of "Al Krischke" over the door. It hung
there as long as he had the shop, but when automobiles began to take the place
of "old Dobbin" and the buggy, their work changed from fitting horses with
durable footwear to mending auto springs and tire carriers.

   Originally there was a frame carpenter and wagon shop, next to the blacksmith
shop, which a Mr. Bidlack ran for forty years. He had received his training at
the Cunningham Carriage Factory in Rochester and was considered an expert
craftsman. Mr. Fred Cook, who founded the Cook Iron Works on St. Paul Street,
had managed this wagon shop for about five years prior to Mr. Bidlack's
ownership. The wagon shop was torn down years ago. Both shops had been a meeting
place for town gossip and discussion.

   The present owners, Mr. and Mrs. Gerard Richter, bought the old Cobblestone
Shop from the Lyndhurst Construction Company in 1945. The appearance of this old
landmark has been somewhat changed by cutting away parts of the wall to install
display windows, for the old blacksmith shop is now a most attractive Gift Shop
run by Mrs. Richter. In the cement block building at the left, Mr. Richter has a
welding business.

   The Historian is indebted to the Richters for the accompanying picture of
this historic place.

Schuetzen Park

   In 1872, a German-American organization purchased four and a half acres of
forest land on the Ridge Road between what are now Clinton and Joseph Avenues.
Sebastian Auer was one of its members and was a famous hunter and trap shooter.
These men erected a high board fence about the property at a cost of $1,100
which was quite a sum in those days, and they held trap-shooting tournaments
there. Thus the place became Schuetzen Park from the German word for "shoot."
Whenever a member of the organization retired, his share was bought by Mr. Auer,
and soon Schuetzen Park was entirely in the Auer custody.

   This place subsequently became very popular for Sunday picnics, especially
those of the Federation of German Societies. There was band and chorus music on
these occasions as well as folk dancing and bicycle races.

   In 1886, Sebastian Auer erected a hotel on the grounds. Judge Isaac Buyck,
later known as "Sage of the Forest House" conducted his first court at Auer's
Hotel.

   Sebastian's son, Henry Auer, was proprietor of the hotel after his father's
death in 1911 and both his sons, Sebastian and Henry, were born there. Henry
Auer died in 1931 and his wife carried on the business with the help of her
sons, until her death in 1953.

   Schuetzen Park heard its last German band and its final political oratory
when the Auer brothers decided to turn the park into a Shopping Plaza. The park,
rich in nostalgia for many a Rochesterian, held its last picnic on Sunday August
14, 1955. It was the fifth annual picnic of the 22nd Ward Republican Club and
they had arranged with the park owners that they might be the last booking.

   The Ridge-Seneca Shopping Center, which now occupies the old Schuetzen Park
site, was opened August 30, 1956.

The Lyceum Building

   Long a Summerville landmark, the old Lyceum building on St. Paul Blvd. was
razed in 1947.

   Around 1880, Sunday School services for Summerville residents were held on
the front lawn of the home of David Cope-land. Cold weather and rain presented a
problem for the organizers and discussion arose regarding a permanent place to
hold the services. Charles Salmon, who owned considerable property in that area,
gave the use of the land with the provision that it be used for religious or
educational purposes and the Elm Beach Sunday School Association built and paid
for the building which was called the Lyceum. At that time, St. Paul Blvd. ran
from the city to Colebrook Drive (then Cole Road) to Washington Ave. and then
along the lake front. Some who recall the old building said it was first erected
on a hill which stood where St. Paul Blvd. now turns left at the lake front and
that it was later moved. In 1893, the boulevard was cut through to its
approximate present course and the old hill was removed.

   For many years, the Summerville sector was purely a summer resort since
would-be residents put off moving to the lake until water and gas lines were
installed. Thus, the Lyceum had been boarded up each winter and re-opened each
following summer. About 1914, the year-round population increased and there
arose a need for permanent Sunday School and recreation facilities. A meeting
was called in the Lyceum and over $400 was raised to install a furnace and
otherwise equip the building for winter use.

   It was on June 8, 1920 that the first community entertainment in Irondequoit
at which an admission charge was made, was held in the Lyceum. The President of
the Children's Welfare Club (forerunner of the P. T. A.'s) of School District
No. 4 desired to build up the treasury of that organization from its low figure
of $100. The show (a Mutt and Jeff and other comic characters affair) was a huge
success and received reviews in the Rochester papers. There was a 35-cent
admission charge and people from Irondequoit and Rochester jammed the hall and
stood on boxes to look through the windows.

   Sunday School services in the old building were conducted by the Ladies'
Community Association. It served as a place for religious gatherings and dances
and other recreation until 1923 when its usefulness started to wane. Late in
September of that year, the Summerville Presbyterian Church was organized and
from that time until its demolition, the old building was used only occasionally
as a voting place for the 4th district and once or twice a year for other
purposes. Today, it is gone completely.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

IRONDEQUOIT STORY
A History of the Town of Irondequoit
(Suburb of Rochester, County of Monroe, State of New York)
COVERING THE YEARS 1839-1957
Collected and Compiled
by
MAUDE I. WEST, Town Historian

Published by The Town of Irondequoit


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