Ontario Beach Park

VINTAGE VIEWS OF ROCHESTER

ONTARIO BEACH PARK

TIMELINE
ONTARIO BEACH PARK POST CARDS

IMELINE

1849

Dirt trail is improved by plank road company.

1852

Charlotte Branch of the New York Central extends to the Lake.

1854

5,000 people enjoy the beach on a single day. The steamer Highlander takes four trips onto the lake with up to 700 passengers.

1865

Dr. Mott Moore and family erect a large tent just west of the river on the beach. They replace the tent with a cottage, and spend several summers here. In less than ten years there are 15 more families that have lake shore cottages.

1873

Spencer House built to help house the large crowds wanting to stay at the lakefront during the summer months.

1874

Cottage Hotel built
Promoters buy the Wilder Farm, and divide it into 74 lake front lots. Cottages extend for a mile east and west of the river.

1882

Rochester and Charlotte Turnpike Company completes an improved road that encourages the use of the lake front for cottages.

1884

New York Central & Hudson River Railroad build boardwalk at Ontario Beach Park. The steam train ride from the St. Paul St. Station costs 5¢. Land leased to Lake Ontario Beach Improvement Co., They run attractions, consisting of: a carousel, mild roller coaster, shooting gallery, bath house, and a camera obscura. A camera obscura is a darkened room with a lens built into a wall. An image of the outside is projected onto the opposite wall.
Hotel Ontario built on Charlotte Beach, with large pavilions, and bandshells.

1885

July 4th crowd reaches 20,000

1889

Electric trolley line extends down Broadway (Lake Ave.) from Ridge Rd. to Ontario Beach Park. NYC&HR RR loses passengers to trolley, so they build a fence around the park and charges 10¢ admission. Train passengers are let off inside the park, with no need to pay entrance fee.
Trolley line West connects Charlotte with Manitou, Grandview and Crescent Beaches. Trolley line East connects Summerville, White City, and Sea Breeze.

1893

Charlotte is gaining a reputation as a loose and wild community. There are 4 churches, and 40 saloons to serve the population of 1400. The full time residents were a respectful, law-abiding group, it was the 'summer people' from Rochester that caused problems. The rowdy behavior (including manipulating elections) was encouraged by the greed of the Rochester breweries and the New York Central.

1894

Blondin, the famous high wire performer who repeatedly crossed Niagara Falls, walks the wire at Ontario Beach Park.

1900

Thirty five saloons in the village, more than one for each of the twenty-eight street corners. A wave of 'Moral Reform' hits the area, banning slot machines, Sunday baseball, and dishonest games. There were also problems with 'Hotels' where it was legal to sell liquor on Sundays (less than a quarter of these were actually hotels, just saloons with rooms added for sleeping) and they also provided a convenient location for illicit sex.

1907

'The Breezer ' is built at Ontario Beach Park. This is a Scenic RR constructed along the river from the lake to Beach Ave. Twenty people ride in each car, which enter a darkened building as it starts it's return trip. After a quick flash of daylight, its back to darkness with the growls of lions and tigers. Daylight again, and the final series of hills to the end.
Labor Day, Fire destroys the Bartholomy Brewing Co.'s Pavilion & Cottage Hotel on the west side of Lake Ave., at Beach Ave.

1912

Rochester Police Chief 'Holy Joe' Quigley cleans up city, forcing undesirables out of the city, and into Charlotte.

1916

Village of Charlotte annexed by the City of Rochester into it's twenty-third Ward.
Ontario Beach Park acquired by city.

NTARIO

EACH

ARK

OST

ARDS

    Charlotte, on Lake Ontario, The Coney Island of Central New York
    Entrance, Ontario Beach Park, Charlotte, NY
    Main Entrance. Ontario Beach Park, Rochester, NY
     View at Ontario Beach, NY
     Charlotte, NY. Hotel Ontario
    Ontario Beach Park, Rochester, NY
     A Summer Afternoon at Ontario Beach Park, Rochester, NY
    Scene at Ontario Beach, Rochester, NY
    Ontario Beach Park, Rochester, NY
    Scene at Ontario Beach, Rochester, NY
    Ontario Beach Park, Rochester, NY
    Rochester, NY Ontario Beach
    Ontario Beach Park, Rochester, NY
     General View of Grounds, Charlotte, N. Y.
    The Midway, Ontario Beach Park, NY
    Ontario Beach Park, Rochester, NY
    A Scene on the Midway, Ontario Beach Park, NY
    Ontario Beach Park, Rochester, NY (Dancing Pavilion, 1907)
    Scene at Ontario Beach, Rochester, NY
     Scene at Ontario Beach Park, Ontario Beach, NY
    Roller Coaster, Ontario Beach Park, NY
    Ontario Beach Park, Port of Rochester, NY
    Night Scene at Ontario Beach Park, NY
    Japanese Village, Ontario Beach Park, NY
    Japanese Garden, Ontario Beach Park, NY
     Toboggan at Ontario Beach Park, Rochester, NY
    Virginia Reel, Charlotte, NY
    Scenic Railway, Ontario Beach Park, Rochester, NY
     Tight-Rope Walker, Out-door Exhibition, Ontario Beach, NY
    An Open Air Performance, Ontario Beach Park
    Death Trap Loop, Ontario Beach Park, Rochester, NY
    Airship over Ontario Beach Park, Charlotte, NY
    Band Stand, Ontario Beach Park, Charlotte, NY
    Band Stand, Ontario Beach Park, Rochester, NY
    Night Scene From Lake, Ontario Beach Park, Rochester, NY
    Municipal Park on Lake Ontario, Rochester, NY
    Bathing Beach, Charlotte, N. Y.
    The Bathing Beach, Ontario Beach Park, Rochester, NY
    Ontario Beach, Rochester, N. Y.
    Public Bath House and Pavilion, Ontario Beach Park, Charlotte, N. Y.
    Bathing Beach and Board Walk, Ontario Beach Park, Charlotte, N. Y.
    Ontario Beach Park at Rochester, N. Y.
                                                                                                                                                      .

| Home | | Parks Index |