Hi there! Boy am finding more history of this area by the day.. there is a fair here every year in Hemlock, so named because of the hemlock trees, and in the mid 1800's it was started. Farmers would come to the fair to see and buy new equipment, find out the latest in crop technology from Cornell Univ., which is near here.  This was the high point of the summer.Trains brought in fair goers by the large numbers who then walked to the fairgrounds from the depot over the main street which became a plank road*(you guessed it, hemlock planks) 

The Grange was a very large group in small cities and they were like lobbiests for the farmers, initial in getting rural free postal delivery and electification to these areas.  Womens suffrage, ladies like Susan B Anthony, Cady Stanton, and Eliz Mott were active at this time, but put womens suffrage aside to lobby for the abolishment of slavery.

Of course native Americans played a part in this history as the ground was so perfect for crops, the weather fairly tolerable and  good water supplies,making this ideal country for them. This was in the 1500s so, as you can see, history is everywhere here.

I  will send more history and some pics later. I went to a winery today of course and saw 4 of the finger lakes. There are many more than just the 5 larger ones shown on most maps. 

 Until the next installment of history from this area, this is Vagabond Granny, learning something new every day, and promoting the cause of the United Breast Cancer Foundation!