Did You Know?

The first settler in the Town of Gaines was a woman. Mrs. Elizabeth Gilbert took an article for land, about ½ mile east of the present village of Childs, on the north side of the Ridge Road March 3, 1807.

When the Town of Gaines was formed it included Barre, Albion, and part of Carlton (then known as Oak Orchard) and was in Genesee County. Gaines was formed in 1816, Barre in 1818, Carlton 1826, and Albion 1875; Orleans County was formed in1825.

The Congregational Society of Gaines built the first Church in Orleans County. The Holland Land Company gave the property to the Society in 1822 and the Church was built in 1824. It was the first church built between the Genesee and Niagara Rivers.


A Family Portrait in Gaines...
(Click to enlarge)

The Gaines Academy building was constructed in 1825. The building was built believing it would be the Orleans County Court House. Within months the county seat was awarded to Albion, so the people of Gaines decided to make the building an academy. The Academy opened in 1827 and was the first Academy between the Genesee and Niagara Rivers.

The first burying ground in Orleans County was the Gaines Burying Ground located on the north side of the Ridge Road just east of the present Rt. 279.

The most northern point on the Erie Canal in New York State is at Gaines Basin in the Town of Gaines.

The hamlet of Childs was named for Supreme Court Judge Henry A. Childs. Judge Childs had been born in Gaines in 1836.

When the Erie Canal was first constructed it was only 40 feet wide. This width did not allow boats as long as 80 feet enough room to turn around. Therefore, wider areas called turn basins were dug at certain places along the canal. One such turn basin was dug on the Canal in Gaines. The small community that developed there was called Gaines Basin.

Five Corners gets its name from the intersection of three roads north of Albion – thus creating five corners. Those roads today are Rt. 98, Bacon Road and Rt. 279.

In 1898, the third organized Golf Club in the United States was constructed in Eagle Harbor. The course was on the Eagle Harbor-Waterport Road between the Canal and the Ridge, with six holes on each side of the Road around Otter Creek.

In the 1930s the script for the radio program ‘Little Orphan Annie’ was written in Childs. Mr. Ferrin Fraser, and his wife Beatrice, lived in Childs. Mr. Fraser wrote radio scripts for other early radio programs such as: ‘Lights Out’, ‘Terror’, ‘Suspense’ and ‘Nick Carter’.

Beginning in the 1940s and lasting until the early 1980s, the “Doll Hospital” was a familiar part of Childs. Mrs. Mary Murray ran this business from her home and it was known as far away as California, Florida, Canada and Costa Rica!

In the 1970s the Village Inn was the host for the Knights of Columbus Sports Night. At these dinner events, nationally known sports figures were invited to be speakers. Some of those who visited the Village Inn in the Town of Gaines were: Willie Mays, Billy Martin, Tom Gorman, Lou Piccone, Willie Stargel, Ron Jarowski, Catfish Hunter, Lou Pinnella and Sparky Lyle.

When the route for the Erie Canal was being surveyed in 1815 a large bird’s nest, supposedly that of an eagle, was found in a tree near the site of what was to become a village on the Canal. That village was named Eagle Harbor.

The first bank in Orleans County was located in Gaines; it was called the Farmer’s Bank of Orleans, begun in 1832.


Henry A. Childs

Mrs. Sheldon
 In 1898, the third organized Golf Club in the United States was constructed in Eagle Harbor. The course was on the Eagle Harbor-Waterport Road between the Canal and the Ridge, with six holes on each side of the Road around Otter Creek.