April 2008 Gary Kent

Land of opportunity in Orleans County backyards 

Lack of economic opportunity within Orleans County is often cited for the eagerness of people to leave.  But what accounts for the affection many residents have for Orleans County as well as the fairly steady stream of new residents?

Having done door-to-door campaigning around Orleans County, I have come into contact with many who are relatively new to the area and others, including an M.I.T. professor, who spend their summers here.  When asked why he moved here, one younger husband and father said simply, “Look around!”  His family lives on the north side of Ridge Road in Gaines!  A woman from Trenton, N.J. came here to raise dogs after searching Pennsylvania and Virginia long and hard.  Sounding as though she had just passed the “Pearly Gates,” she raved last fall about the six-acre property she had found here.

A variety of things seem to account for significant numbers of new arrivals.  Among the more frequently mentioned is the physical environment including open space and the water resource base.  How many places within an hour of good shopping opportunities lack strip malls?  The former head of the Jamestown Audubon Society, Bruce Robinson—who spent last summer in Southern Africa and a month of 2006 in Queensland, Australia listing parrots—has raved to me about the variety of bird life here, asserting, for example, that Orleans County is the most dependable location in Western New York for finding yellow billed and black billed cuckoos.  Just as a tremendous assortment of wildlife may be found here, a surprising variety of plant life—including white dogwood—is found along the Lake Plain that normally isn’t found 150 miles south of here. Fruits are grown such as berries, apples and peaches as good as may be found anywhere.  There are certainly local wildlife assets some would rather no one found out about.

Talking to people new to the area, the cost of property—a downside for long-time residents looking to move—is a major plus.  Properties selling for $300 to $500 thousand elsewhere often bring a third of that here.

For those who do additional research, other things we often overlook become apparent.  The significance of this area in history, especially the history of various reform movements, is striking.  Historic efforts to improve American society were important parts of the history of Ontario Lake Shore Counties such as Orleans.  Susan B. Anthony, synonymous with women’s rights, lived and worked in Rochester as did her friend and colleague Frederick Douglass, arguably the person most closely associated with the abolition of slavery.  Douglass was chased, shot at and took refuge in the home of a stranger, in Irondequoit.  W.E.B. du Bois’ movement for full and immediate equality for African Americans—including the NAACP—is associated with Niagara Falls.  The Society of Friends, or Quakers, who were among the earliest abolitionists, as well as Unitarian Universalists, had a significant presence here. 

There were others as well—though ultimately less successful—such as the temperance movement.  Growing up in Kendall, I was aware of one of the last chapters of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.) in New York State.  During the Civil War, the 28^th Western New York Volunteer Regiment in the Union Army had a very active chapter of The Sons of Temperance.  Its officers included young men from Medina, including Hugh Dunham.  A schism in the Methodist Church over slavery resulted in the establishment of the still flourishing Free Methodist Church in Orleans County.

Many homes, churches, commercial and government buildings with architectural, as well as historical, significance remain, though perhaps hundreds have been lost.  These include Medina sandstone, cobblestone, Greek Revival and Victorian homes and scattered, often distinctive, 19^th century barns.  Appealing examples of such architecture may be found in all the county’s villages.

There are people who flatly state that they are sold on Orleans County living because of the quality of the public schools.

People here enjoy the upside of proximity to Rochester and Buffalo, without the commercialization, congestion and violent crime.  These urban centers offer accessible cultural activity, professional sports and some of the best medical treatment facilities in the world within an hour of quiet rural homes.

All things considered—especially taking into account our caring, generous, hard-working people—Orleans County is, in effect, a tranquil island in a sea of turmoil.

Gary F. Kent
Legislator – At Large (Central)