Medina Sandstone Society

Todd Bensley, village historian, created five walking tours of Medina that are available on the village home page (https://villagemedina.org) and at the Visitor Center.

At the end of the 2023-2024 school year about 60 4th grade students from the classrooms of Mrs. Pane, Mr. Gerdes and Mrs. Patterson visited our Hall of Fame to learn about Medina Sandstone geology and its history in Orleans County.

During the recent Holley Memorial Day parade, Tom Rivers captured this photo of a Fancher-Hulberton-Murray Fire Company truck logo. Their fire station, located on Hulberton Road, is just a stone's throw from some of the historic Medina sandstone quarries, which were bustling with activity in the 1890s and early 1900s. It’s wonderfully fitting that they’ve chosen to honor such a significant piece of our Orleans County heritage with this tribute!

The 2024 Sandstone Society Hall of Fame Tour took place on May 9. It began with introductions at Medina City Hall, home of the collection of Hall of Fame awardees. Medina Mayor Marguerite Sherman and Society directors greeted 30 tour guests as Jim Hancock, a founding Sandstone director, spoke about the Society's objectives and the selection process involved in nominating a Medina sandstone structure for Hall of Fame consideration.
The group of 30 tour members journeyed by motor bus to the prominent Richardson Hotel in Buffalo, a National Historic Landmark for lunch and a hard hat tour.
Following lunch the group traveled by bus and drove by several notable Medina sandstone structures and onto the iconic St. Louis Church where the group disembarked and was introduced to the imposing 2000 seat church completed in 1889.
A special thank you to our loyal stonecutters and attendees, several who joined us on past tours. The Medina Sandstone Society looks forward to planning and hosting future excursions, and we welcome your feedback and suggestions.

SOMERSET HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESENTS
𝙒𝒆𝙖𝒓𝙞𝒏𝙜 𝙏𝒉𝙚 𝙇𝒆𝙩𝒕𝙚𝒓 ‘𝙋’ by Sophie Hodorowicz Knab

MONDAY, MAY 20, 7:00 pm
SOMERSET TOWN HALL, 8700 HAIGHT ROAD, BARKER, NY

Born in a Displaced Person’s camp in Germany after WWII, her parents were among the millions of Poles who had been taken from Poland and made to work in Germany as forced laborers. Knab’s book, 𝙒𝒆𝙖𝒓𝙞𝒏𝙜 𝙏𝒉𝙚 𝙇𝒆𝙩𝒕𝙚𝒓 ‘𝙋’ vividly describes the terrible, heartbreaking ordeal hundreds of thousands of Polish women suffered. She combines scholarly research and first person accounts from historical documents to reveal this atrocity.

𝐴𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑠ℎ𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑

Newly discovered Medina Sandstone church in Rochester.
We sometimes think we know about all the sandstone buildings still in existence, but then a new one is brought to our attention. That was the case recently with the Church of the Holy Apostles at 530 Lyell Ave. Built in 1896 by Irish immigrants as a beautiful place of worship in the English Gothic style. The building has a distinctive appearance and is still occupied by its original Roman-Catholic congregation.

It is time to make your reservation for the 2024 Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame Tour. See photo for details.
We hope you can join us!

On Saturday January 24, 1925, the Medina Daily Journal reported "A cloud laden sky prevented Western New York from getting a glimpse of the much heralded eclipse of the sun. Heavy skies prevented even an indication as to where the sun might be and in a few minutes all hope of a possible look at this wonderful sight was over."
That was the previous total eclipse in Medina almost 100 years ago!
Sadly, the same occurred again today, April 8, 2024, with only the briefest glimpse of the sun through heavy clouds. If Mother Nature had been more cooperative we might have seen this view over the First Baptist Church - a recent Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame inductee.

Our journey continues - please join us……
Announcing the 2024 Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame Bus Tour to Buffalo
Thursday, May 9 from 8:30 – 3

Meet at Medina City Hall to board a bus for the trip to the Richardson Hotel in Buffalo for lunch and tour, then drive by other prominent Medina Sandstone buildings on the way to the St Louis Church for another informative tour.

COST $95 Per Person
$90 for our loyal Stonecutters

For reservations, please send your check by April 26 to Medina Sandstone Society, PO Box 25, Medina NY 14103
• Please include email, contact information and your sandwich preference (Ham/Beef on Weck or Grilled Chicken)
Questions? Contact Susan Holland at [email protected] or 585-721-3809

More info will be posted soon.