West Bloomfield Historical Society, New York

10/29/2026

Thanks to WYSL and Jeff Miller for the invite to talk about North Bloomfield. You can hear it on WYSL 1040 AM, 92.1 FM, and 95.5 FM this Saturday at 10am and again at 5pm.
When Jeff asked me a few weeks back I was more than eager to accept. Always nice to talk local history and gain exposure to the West Bloomfield Historical Society. And yes, before you ask, North Bloomfield like Ionia is in fact part of West Bloomfield.
So I was ready to describe that little slice of history as a few mills and businesses along the Honeoye creek. But in doing my preparation for the show I'd have to admit I greatly underestimated just how significant North Bloomfield was.
My first thought was it was a modern day mega mall. However modern mega malls are just places to purchase almost anything nobody actually needs. Instead North Bloomfield was a center to life's essentials. Nearly every one of those essentials. Just a brief list includes, Grist mill, Chairmaker, clocks and coffins, wooden pumps, flour mill, Blacksmith, Clothes pins, felt hats, wood shop, cooper shop, brick yard, and shoe shop. Again this is just a partial list!
We at the WBHS have a very nice collection of records, photos and descriptions related to North Bloomfield. Settled in 1795 by Daniel Gates as land he received as a revolutionary war solder. As many of you know the federal government had exhausted it's treasury by the end of the revolutionary war. So in lieu of money they granted land grants to soldiers. So that is the very start of a very interesting story right here in West Bloomfield.
Early 2021 the Honeoye Falls Sentinel hosted a series of articles written by Deb and Tim Smith in conjunction with Doreen Haller, Bill Lane and Paul Worboys.
What our records however lack is a comprehensive study of North Bloomfield as an industrial power house in the early days of the country. I'm going to make that a priority over the winter months to compile all the great materials we have in a well organized package. And having done that will put together a presentation for the 2027 season as well. So stay tuned.

10/23/2026

A special event.
As small historical societies we all struggle to have the necessary staff to open to the public on a regular basis. And we each have such a unique and truly local story to tell. So to better serve our communities we have organized the FALL FOR HISTORY tour. Saturday October 24th from 9am to 4pm. What makes this so special is that four of our local historical groups will be open the entire Saturday to welcome visitors. We anticipate there will be no admission costs. Just feel free to come.
And because we are all relatively close a visitor will able to visit each of the four locations at leisure. Each local group will also provide insight as to other interesting sights and historical gems specific to that area. So a visitor can create their own agenda to revisit any particular area and still have time to stop at the four locations. And the bonus here is that weekend in October should be near peak foliage! Having driven all the connecting routes between the four locations should be absolutely beautiful.
So here are the four participating groups with a snap shot of each as well as the addresses. So fire up your GPS and let's take advantage of this special open house event.
1. Cleveland House, 201 N. Main St. Naples NY
2. Honeoye Historical Museum, 8690 Main Street, Honeoye
3. West Bloomfield Historical Society. 8966 Routes 5&20 West Bloomfield
4. Valentown, 7370 Valentown Square Victor NY (behind the New York B**r Project - across from Eastview Mall. ) See less

10/15/2026

A special event.

As small historical societies we all struggle to have the necessary staff to open to the public on a regular basis. And we each have such a unique and truly local story to tell. So to better serve our communities we have organized the FALL FOR HISTORY tour. Saturday October 24th from 9am to 4pm. What makes this so special is that four of our local historical groups will be open the entire Saturday to welcome visitors. We anticipate there will be no admission costs. Just feel free to come.

And because we are all relatively close a visitor will able to visit each of the four locations at leisure. Each local group will also provide insight as to other interesting sights and historical gems specific to that area. So a visitor can create their own agenda to revisit any particular area and still have time to stop at the four locations. And the bonus here is that weekend in October should be near peak foliage! Having driven all the connecting routes between the four locations should be absolutely beautiful.

So here are the four participating groups with a snap shot of each as well as the addresses. So fire up your GPS and let's take advantage of this special open house event.

1. Cleveland House, 201 N. Main St. Naples NY

2. Honeoye Historical Museum, 8690 Main Street, Honeoye

3. West Bloomfield Historical Society. 8966 Routes 5&20 West Bloomfield

4. Valentown, 7370 Valentown Square Victor NY (behind the New York B**r Project - across from Eastview Mall. )

10/08/2026

We had a nice turnout at the Ionia Observatory last night. The weather was agreeable and the presentation was very interesting and informative! The history of the club was shared as well as the members enthusiasm for looking at the sky. A big thank you to Mark for that!
(Way too dark for me to catch some photos outside)

09/29/2026

09/29/2026

YES, the North Bloomfield Chapel is part of West Bloomfield! Lest we forget that North Bloomfield is in fact a part of West Bloomfield. The North Bloomfield we now see is miniscule compared to the hustle and bustle of the early to mid 1800's. North Bloomfield was thriving with a significant host of residents and businesses. Some of the towns earliest and most significant residents established themselves in North Bloomfield. And most 'went on" to their final resting places across from the Chapel in the North Bloomfield Cemetery. Those businesses where of course all along the once roaring Honeoye Creek. And before you have to ask what happened to that roar, it became rather diminished once Rochester claimed its water way as their own resource. That left Honeoye Creek much more of seasonal waterway than a roaring water source capable of driving early mills.

09/27/2026

A little easy reading about the natural gas well enterprise in West Bloomfield 1871. I hope readable. It's a challenge to post differently.

09/27/2026

A little easy reading about the natural gas well enterprise in West Bloomfield 1871

09/18/2026

This weekend! A wonderful tradition in the tiny but mighty hamlet of IONIA

09/09/2026

How about a bit of nature history. Please join us TUESDAY September 15 at 7pm.