The town of Ogden and the village of Spencerport were considered pioneer country when the first settlers arrived in 1801 from Connecticut, seeking more fertile farmland. The two communities witnessed the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 and survived through the rise and fall of the importance of that waterway. Throughout much of the nineteenth century, many farms produced and sold vast amounts of produce, shipped via the canal. Since the time of their agrarian roots, Ogden and Spencerport have evolved into thriving residential suburbs. Using some two hundred stunning images, Ogden and Spencerport chronicles almost two centuries of history in pictures that highlight the past and show how it has shaped the town and village of today. As Ogden grew and Spencerport was preserved as a unique canal-side village, families, workers, and business owners came to the area and created lasting memories. Summer outings on the canal, early-twentieth-century baseball games, businesses along Union Street, and many other places, events, and people from the past can be visited in the pages of Ogden and Spencerport.
Henrietta depicts the simpler times of a sleepy farming town in western New York State, known for its wonderful produce and staples. People knew each other by their first name and, in true neighborly spirit, pitched in to help with the plowing, harvesting, and barn raising. Henrietta stayed much the same until after World War II, when veterans returned looking for new housing, transportation improved, services expanded, business and commercial establishments opened, and suddenly it was a boomtown. The dust has not settled yet, but the community, although changed, still retains its small-town flavor.