Medina Through Time

Life in this part of Western New York State began typically as wilderness owned by the Holland Land Company, based in Batavia. Joseph Ellicott was mandated to survey and plot the area. He established the counties of Genesee and Orleans. Soon, a major trail followed the Oak Orchard Creek, running from today’s Shelby Center, passing through present day Medina, and onward to Lake Ontario. Settlers soon followed in the early 1800’s, but the real impetus to the growth of the region was, of course, the construction of the Erie Canal. That waterway opened the entire area which led to the establish the three major industries in Medina: quarrying of the famous Medina Sandstone, used throughout the United States and even overseas, metal foundries, and the emergence of the furniture manufacture business. These factors led to real wealth within Medina by the turn of the Twentieth Century which is reflected in what has been left behind and preserved.