Click Image to Enlarge

What happens when Livingston County Historians and the Livingston County Tourism office comes together?  Plenty of story telling and a new word to signify a great partnership.

Lisa Burns, Livingston County Chamber of Commerce Tourism Director, and Amie Alden, Livingston County Historian, greeted town historians at a Chamber of Commerce holiday luncheon held in December. At the event, Burns conveyed her strong commitment to working closely with the historians.  “Tourists like knowing ‘little known’ trivia about the place they are visiting.  Becoming more aware of our history makes their visit special and causes them to remember us more,” noted Burns.

County Historian Alden shared that a new Western New York Historian’s group has formed with a specific mission of showcasing historical programming in the western part of the state.

Burns announced that the county’s tourism website will feature a new page with a new name: “Historianism.”  The obvious merger of the words historian and tourism is meant to convey the commitment of the two groups in their joint effort to educate and entertain both the visitor and the local community alike.  The website will include references to Clara Barton, who started the American Red Cross in Dansville, and Francis Bellamy of Mount Morris, author of the Pledge of Allegiance.  Burns requested that historians provide additional information for the website based on the question:  “What is one thing you’d like a tourist to know about your town?”

Havilah Toland, Springwater historian shared the following surprising facts:  the highest point of elevation in Livingston County is in eastern Springwater; during WWII the location was the site of an aircraft “lookout” station with 24/7 observers.  Tom Roffe, Leicester historian, noted that the little hamlet of Cuylerville was the site of the most significant and largest village of the Seneca Indian Nation.  Another remarkable fact presented by North Dansville historian Quentin Masolotte was that one of the first nursery businesses in western New York was started in Dansville.

More recent news concerned the publication of three new books about Livingston County.  Lima in America and Other Stories, by Lima Historian Joyce Rapp; Terrible Tales-Geneseo Ghosts and Livingston Legends, by Geneseo Historian David Parish; and Voices of the Past, by the Avon Preservation and Historical Association and historian Maureen Kingston.

The Livingston County Historian’s office is located on the Livingston County Campus, Murray Hill in Mt. Morris. You can view the new “Historianism” page on the county’s tourism website at www.fingerlakeswest.com.