One-Tank Trip / Pittsford
Historic village holds more than the Bills’ camp
Pittsford is a bustling Erie Canal village with one of the earliest and best-preserved collections of 19th century structures in the Rochester region. The village has been designated a National Historic Preserve America Community.
It also boasts a luxury spa resort, canal cruises, the Buffalo Bills Training Camp, a carriage driving competition and Wegmans flagship store complete with a full-service award-winning restaurant named Tastings.
The village, formerly known as Northfield, was a stagecoach trading post and a center of life on the western frontier.
Pittsford is the oldest of Monroe County’s villages. Israel Stone, the village’s first settler, built its first structure, a log house, in 1789. 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).
The name Pittsford was adopted to honor the Vermont birthplace of Colonel Caleb Hopkins, a farmer, community leader and hero from the War of 1812.
Pittsford grew rapidly after the opening of the Erie Canal in 1822 and was incorporated as a village July 4, 1827. Local entrepreneurs made fortunes from both canal construction and other businesses that benefited from the canal trade. Pittsford’s collection of Federal period buildings are evidence of the prosperity the community enjoyed during this period.
Boosted by the arrival of the Rochester & Auburn railroad in 1834, Pittsford remained an important shipping center for local grains and produce until the
mid-20th century. Today’s waterfront is due to the survival of historic canal warehouses, mills and silos, many of which have been renovated for boutiques and restaurants.
In the second half of the 19th century, wealthy Rochester residents 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.
Three of these grand homes remain within the village. Pittsford Farms, the oldest of the three village estates, was established in the 1860’s by Jarvis Lord, a canal contractor. The property has retained its historic appearance and remains a 200-acre working farm. 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.
Since the mid-1800s, Schoen Place alongside the Erie Canal has been a center of commerce in the village. Named for Joseph Schoen, a successful produce wholesaler and coal dealer, it was where residents came for provisions, loading up their wagons with coal and produce.
The opening of the Erie Canal brought with it an increased demand for coal. To meet the demand, Schoen and his brother, Charles, built a coal storage silo, from which they serviced residents and canal boats.
Buildings designed for 19th century use now serve as focus for visitors and residents. Shop in an old boathouse, learn yoga in an old potato shed and dine in the historic coal tower.
Today, the great barges of the past have been replaced with pleasure craft, and along the reconstructed towpath, cyclists, boaters and strollers enjoy the historic waterway. Canoes, kayaks and bikes are available for rent. Pittsford is one of the canal communities that parallels the original Erie Canal. The depression in the yards of homes along South Street marks the original “Clinton’s Ditch”.
Pick up a copy of a village walking tour in the 1819 Little House Museum just behind Schoen Place. It is now the home of Historic Pittsford. The first stop is the Phoenix Hotel building just across the street. It was built in 1807 and served as a hotel until the early 1900s. Daniel Webster, Gen. Lafayette, Commodore Vanderbilt and Gov. DeWitt Clinton are all rumored to have been guests. During Civil War days it was a stop on the Underground Railroad, connecting with a cavern.
Visitors can step back in time on the Sam Patch, a tour boat designed as an old-fashioned canal packet boat. The narrow boats carried mostly passengers and provided food and sleeping arrangements. They were long and narrow to accommodate the constricted demands of the early canal. They were the fastest way to travel the canal because they were pulled faster, often exceeding the 4 mph speed limit and were given priority at the locks. Slower boats had to let the packets pass.
Sam Patch is named for the colorful daredevil who jumped Rochester’s Genesee Falls. Although Patch had twice jumped Niagara Falls and survived, he failed to surface after leaping 97 feet to the base of the Genesee Falls on Friday, Nov. 13, 1829. His body was recovered at the mouth of the Genesee River the following spring.
The Sam Patch travels through Pittsford to Lock 32 and through the massive 40-ton gates. Once through the lock, the boat continues on a short distance and turns and goes back through the lock and to Schoen Place. A few years ago Cher traveled on the Sam Patch while visiting the area for a concert performance and her photo is displayed on the boat.
She also visited the nearby Pittsford Wegmans dressed as, well, Cher — creating an amazing experience for the day’s shoppers. This Wegmans features Tastings, an elegant, open-kitchen restaurant — perfect for lunch or dinner. Chefs at Tastings like to boast that they have some of the freshest and widest selection of ingredients of any dining establishment anywhere, since the entire store is at their disposal. This Wegmans regularly attracts tourists and visiting celebrities.
Today’s travelers can enjoy the most elegant 97-room Del Monte Lodge, overlooking the canal. It boasts a complete spa that is open to day visitors as well as overnight guests. If this spa existed in the 19th century, Pittsford would surely have been the most popular stop on the Erie Canal.
If you go
Pittsford Chamber of Commerce, (585) 234-0308, www.PittsfordChamber.org . Greater Rochester Visitors Association, (800) 677-7282, www.visitrochester.com . Corn Hill Navigation, (585) 262-5661, www.sampatch.org . The tour boat season on the Sam Patch operates from early May through October. Del Monte Lodge, 41 N. Main St.; (585) 381-9900, www.Renaissancedelmonte.com . Wegmans and Tastings, 3195 Monroe Ave.; (585) 381-1881, www.wegmans.com .
Directions
(from Buffalo)
Take the New York Thruway east to Exit 45 to Route 1-490 westbound. Take Exit 26 for Route 31. Turn right heading northwest on Route 31 toward Pittsford. Follow for 1.75 miles to the center of Pittsford Village.
