Friends of Greenway seek
historic photos of canal and railroad

In its efforts to promote knowledge, appreciation and preservation of the Genesee Valley Greenway as an historic transportation corridor, the Friends of the Genesee Valley Greenway have launched a Historic Photo Project. They are searching for any photos that might show the Genesee Valley Canal or Pennsylvania Railroad in Livingston County. (The railroad was known as the Pennsylvania Railroad Rochester Branch, but before that it was the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad, and before that, the Buffalo, New York, and Philadelphia Railroad.)

Photos can be of friends or family at one of the stations, businesses that operated along the tracks, train wrecks, water towers, bridges, train cars or any other aspect of the operation of the canal or railroad. The subject of the photo may have nothing to do with the railroad or the canal, but the background may, and thus it can provide valuable clues to the past. The Friends of the Greenway do not wish to own the photographs but would like to copy them so that they can be used in exhibits, slides talks to community groups, and the interpretive signage that they hope some day will be installed at many locations along the trail. A copy of the photos will also be provided to the Livingston County Historian's Office. The donor will be fully credited whenever the images are used.

Late last year, FOGVG received a Community Arts Grant from the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts to gather and reproduce historic canal and railroad images of the Greenway corridor in Livingston County. "We are very pleased that the Council on the Arts chose to support this project. The funds will help us reproduce a number of images from a private collection, but we really hope that others who may have photos from Livingston County will also come forward with photographs they may possess so that we can take advantage of the funding assistance to have them copied professionally. The railroad stopped running 39 years ago. Many people still remember it and may not consider it far enough in the past to be considered 'historical,' but if we do not document information and preserve the images and any artifacts now, the record of this part of our region's history will be lost," commented FOGVG Executive Director Fran Gotcsik.

Anyone who may have photographs that they would like to loan the Friends of the Greenway for copying should contact the Greenway Office at 585-658-2569 or email them at fogvg@aol.com. A public exhibition of the Livingston County images will be held the afternoon of October 6, 2002, at the Nunda Historical Society Building, on Route 436 in Nunda, in conjunction with the Friends of the Greenway annual meeting.