G enesee
C ountry
V illage
& M useum
FAMILY TRAVEL
— by Deborah Williams
You Don’t Have
To Go Far To
Take A Walk
Back In Time
G
enesee Country Village &
Museum in Mumford, 20
miles from Rochester and
a little more than an hour from Buffalo,
is the largest living history museum
in New York State and one of
the gems of Western New
York. This is the place
where families are en-
couraged to “touch,
feel, smell and taste
the 19th century.”
It is even pos-
sible to live like a
pioneer family on
select weekends in
the summer and fall.
The sleepover weekends
come with pioneer clothing
for all family members. Par-
ticipants cook their food the pioneer
way and join staff in farm chores. No
cellphones or any 21st century devices
allowed!
“Families have come from as far
away as California and New York City
to live like 19th century pioneers,” ex-
plained Brian Nagel, Senior Director of
Interpretation. “It was a most memora-
ble weekend and a time the children will
always remember.”
The late John L. Wehle, president of
the Genesee Brewing Co. and a passion-
ate collector of sporting art, founded this
special place to help preserve the van-
ishing rural architecture of the Genesee
region encompassing the Genesee River
and stretching from the Finger Lakes to
16 WNY Family August 2019
the Niagara Frontier and Lake Erie. To-
day, this living history museum includes
a 19th century village, an art gallery, a
nature center, and 600 acres.
The founder’s granddaughter,
Elizabeth A.Wehle, is now the
President & CEO of this
treasure. The museum
extols the 19th century
and bills it as “the cen-
tury that made Amer-
ica.” The museum
village consists of the
third largest collec-
tion of historic build-
ings in America.
It was late in the
18th century that settlers
first began to trickle into the
Genesee Valley, a fertile region
named Genesee by the Seneca Indians
meaning “pleasant valley.” The 19th
century saw the real flowering of the
valley as pioneers settled the rich land.
This is a mu-
seum where visitors
can attend a baseball
game played by 19th
century rules, attend
a concert in an opera
house, enjoy a Vic-
torian Tea, learn to
weave or quilt, meet
a tinsmith or even
a pair of oxen or
spring lambs. Chil-
dren are welcome to
try their hand at old-
fashioned games such as hoops and bal-
ancing on stilts.
The Historic Village includes 68
structures that were moved here from
11 area counties. Early maps and busi-
ness directories guided the planning of
the village. The buildings depict how
an area small town might have changed
over time, providing insight into the ori-
gins of current customs, traditions, and
social values. The village includes a Pio-
neer Settlement (1785-1830), Center Vil-
lage (1830-1860) and Gas Light District
(1860-1900).
Each area has trade, craft, cooking,
and agricultural demonstrations with
interpreters in period dress. The village
depicts activities of everyday life as well
as seasonal programs that allow visitors
to see what it might have been like to re-
fine maple sugar, harvest field crops, par-
ticipate in an agricultural fair, celebrate
Christmas or fight a Civil War battle.
The Gallery is a must stop for dog
lovers this summer and fall. One of the
current special exhibits is “Working Like
a Dog” which explores the special rela-
tionship between dogs and people. For
the last 15,000 years we have valued
dogs for their keen senses of smell, sight,
and hearing that are superior to our own.