Brockport CSD history

In 1802, Lake Road was opened from LeRoy to Lake Ontario that allowed access and purchase of lots.

The first settler on land that is now in the village was probably Calvin Freeman in 1803.

Sweden, Township 3 of the Triangular Tract, was incorporated in 1814 and included, at that time, the Town of Clarendon in Orleans County.

Land speculators Hiel Brockway and James Seymour bought the land on the north edge of Sweden that is now Brockport and laid out the village in 1822.

However, James Seymour had a first cousin, Henry Seymour, and a business partner, Myron Holley, on the Canal Commission and they arranged for the canal to be extended to Brockport by October 1823.

The last section of the canal, from Brockport to Buffalo, was opened in October 1825.

The Baptists began worship services in 1828 and built their first church on the site of the original schoolhouse at the corner of Main and Holley Streets.

In 1832-33, the Baptist Collegiate Institute was founded bringing higher education to the Town.

In 1845, Cyrus McCormick came to Brockport and licensed the Backus & Fitch foundry to manufacture 100 of his newly-invented reapers.

The Republican Party came to Brockport with the founding of the Brockport Republic weekly newspaper in 1856.

As an example of the volume of lumbering business, they and several other firms shipped 5.9 million pounds of barrel staves in 1860.

The Democrats founded their own mouthpiece with the Brockport Democrat weekly newspaper in 1870.

The first parochial school, Nativity, was created in 1876.

Five cemeteries had been founded in the Town of Sweden outside the village limits by 1880.

The Johnston Harvester Co. plant burned in 1882 and the firm rebuilt in Batavia.

The Soldier-Sailor Monument was built in 1893 to honor the Civil War dead.

In 1894, a 52-foot Soldiers Memorial Tower was erected at that site.

By 1900, the farm implement manufacturing industry had pretty much vanished from Brockport.

In 1908, the Buffalo, Lockport and Rochester Trolley started up.

In 1912, an area water system was constructed which drew water from Lake Ontario.

The Brockport section was rebuilt in 1914-15.

In 1915, they were consolidated into a "Grammar School" at the corner of Utica and Holley Streets.

In 1919, the company was in financial difficulty and was reorganized as the Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Rail Road.

In 1924, the rural schools in the area were consolidated into the Brockport Central School District, the first such consolidation in Monroe County.

In response to the 1927 act, the Brockport Central School District was formed and a junior-senior high school was built.

In 1929, the Great Depression began.

In 1948, General Electric built a plant in Sweden.

The Prose and Poetry Series, published by Singer Co. was compiled by Fanny Avery of Brockport. (Most school children used these books until the 1950’s.)

Hartwell, who prepared it for its becoming part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system and its huge expansion in the mid 1960’s.

In 1961, Owens-Illinois built a 350,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art glass factory that employed 700 workers at its peak.

In 1967, a new high school was built and the old building became the Oliver Middle School.

In 1969, Sweden left its Town Hall on King Street and renovated a former grocery store into a new Municipal Building for the Town and the Village of Brockport on State Street.

The 1980’s brought more growth and expansion with the construction of the Sweden Senior Center, several new apartment complexes and shopping plazas.

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Lakeside Memorial Hospital was erected at its present site on West Avenue, a local airport started on Colby Street, (dedicated in 1988 as a relief airport for Rochester small aircraft), Owens Illinois built a plant, and a quarry began on Swamp Road.

In the early 2000’s the Town became the stewards of Lakeview Cemetery, a 70-acre active cemetery atop the Niagara Escarpment.

Opening in 2002, the Sweden/Clarkson Community Center offers a full-range of recreational, social and educational programs for residents of all ages.

In addition, in 2006 the Town undertook its first public sewer expansion project in 30 years.

A 2009 addition expanded the popular fitness center.

Also in 2012, the Brockport Fire District was formed, the newly created entity assumed fire protection services from the village fire department.