Audio Tour
The Railroad
Presented by
Bob Corby
Pittsford was the center of three regional stage coach companies. One located where Pittsford Farms Dairy is today, a second at the Phoenix building, and a third at a hotel that no longer exists on the site of the current Pittsford community library. In 1834 the first line of the New York Central Railroad, which originally was called the Rochester and Auburn Railroad came through Pittsford and ran behind Schoen Place in what is now a parking area. That was a major source of commercial transportation and passenger transportation well into the 20th century.
The reason these buildings are at these funny angles, like over here is because there was a siding in there where they would drop off box cars or hopper cars to unload and load product. So if you look, there was also a siding behind the red barns over there. That's why they're angled that way.
Many of the businesses that thrived on Schoen Place from the late 19th century into the third quarter of the 20th century, relied on the railroad for transporting their products to commercial markets around the country. At one point, the village of Pittsford was the largest shipping point for kidney beans east of the Mississippi River.
The railroad tracks and Monroe Ave. bridge leaving the Village toward Rochester.
There were sidings all over the place as you can see. I've got a map that actually shows them.