Step Back in Time Mural

Canandaigua’s local history includes Roseland Amusement Park, opened in 1925 as “The Playground of the Finger Lakes” and remembered for attractions including its carousel, roller coasters, rides, and dancehall; the “Dinky” electric trolley that replaced an 1886 horse car system and became part of a wider rail connection after power generation began at Littleville Dam in 1894 and Ontario Light and Traction took over in 1900; Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion, begun as Frederick Ferris and Mary Clark Thompson’s farm purchase in 1863, enlarged with a mansion in 1887 and later preserved as a state historic park; Mary Clark Thompson’s many civic gifts in Canandaigua and beyond after the death of her husband in 1899; Jesse Hawley’s promotion of the Erie Canal idea through newspaper articles written while imprisoned for debt in 1806; the annual Ring of Fire around Canandaigua Lake, begun in 1953 and linked to Seneca-Iroquois inspiration and heritage; the lake’s long importance for settlement, fishing, transportation, recreation, boathouses, and steamboats; and the Granger Homestead, built in 1816, home to generations of the Granger family and later saved from demolition in 1946.

Canandaigua, New York · United States