In his latest book, Brockport: Through Time, Bill Andrews explores the transformation of the village over the past hundred years.
“The book really attempts to document changes that have taken place since the early 20th century,” explains Andrews, who has lived in Brockport since 1967.
Those changes are many and attest to the resilience of the community. The Erie Canal was vital to the early growth and prosperity of the village, but over time it grew to become a recreational area rather than a means to ship freight. The College at Brockport, with 8,600 students, has grown out of a much smaller “Normal School” with a few hundred students while the former thriving manufacturing base of the community’s economy has almost vanished.
“Brockport is the only (Erie) Canal town that has a college right on the canal,” Andrews says. “The village evolved from a canal town – where life focused on the canal, to an industrial town to a college town.”
He notes that it was only recently – in the years since WWII, that the college has been a “… big factor in the life and economy of the village.”
In the midst of change, however, many treasures of the village have been preserved.
Brockport was “fortunate” regarding the preservation of its historic architecture, Andrews says, due in great part to two events: Firstly, an economic slump around 1900 meant “owners couldn’t remodel, which would have destroyed Victorian facades,” he says; and secondly, in the 1960s, thanks to a group of “… irate citizens rising up in opposition,” Frank Sacheli was elected mayor by a write-in ballot. The new administration put an end to the possibility of Urban Renewal in the village and the historic downtown business district was saved.
Andrews notes Brockport is a unique community with an “amazing volunteer culture” and has become a center for music, the arts and culture on the west side. He cited such groups and organizations/businesses as the Brockport Symphony Orchestra, the Sr. Chorus, the music program at Brockport Central High School, Bill Hullfish and the Golden Eagle String Band, A Different Path Art Gallery, and public art such as murals and sculpture which enhance the village and college campus landscapes. Programs at the Lift Bridge Book Shop also add to the cultural mix of the community, he adds.
Brockport: Through Time (Arcadia Publishing) is Andrews’ fifth local history book and a sixth is currently in press. The book features vintage images and retails for $22.99. It is available at area bookstores including the Lift Bridge Book Shop in Brockport and through online retailers or Arcadia Publishing (www.arcadiapublishing.com).
Andrews is a native of Colorado and an emeritus professor of the College at Brockport. He currently serves as village trustee/deputy mayor. Andrews lived in Norway and France before coming to Brockport to teach at the college and when asked what has kept him here so long and fueled his interest in the community, he responded, “You should bloom where you’re planted.”
