Kendall, New York  14476

(click on map for larger view)

Location—Northern part of Orleans County.  Bounded by Lake Ontario to the north, Hamlin (Monroe County) to the east, Murray to the south, and Carlton to the west, Kendall was part of the Connecticut Tract or the 100,000 Acre Tract. 

Early Description—A swampy, forested area.  Water in many areas was four feet deep.  Trees were so thick in places that it was dark on the middle of the day—thus the name—Black North.  However, the thick trees often kept the ground from freezing in the winter and the wind did not blow very much.  There were several large creeks running through the area.  Insects carried many diseases.  The forest contained many animals such as beavers, raccoons, skunks, mink, muskrats, bear, deer, wolves, fox, and rattlesnakes.  The streams had many fish including salmon. 

The Kendall area was often visited by Indians, but the first white settlers did not arrive until 1812 due to the harsh conditions of the area.  As a result, Kendall was one of the last sections of Orleans County to be settled. 

First Settlers—Samuel Bates first settled in the Morton area (eastern Kendall) in 1812.  He came from Vermont.  Soon several more settlers from New England with family names such as Auger (the only Revolutionary War soldier buried in Kendall), Randall, Balcom, Morse, Manley, Farnsworth, Jones, Weed, Bliss, and Clark. 

Norwegians—In 1825, around 50 Norwegians settled near Lake Ontario.  They stayed a few years and later moved to Illinois.  The road that ran through their settlement is today known as Norway Road.  This was the first Norwegian settlement in the United States according to a history of the town written by Dolores Sedore, former town historian, in the book Orleans County History (1976). 

Among the early jobs of the first settlers were:  the making of “black salts”—lye and potash, the collection of salt form the local salt springs; farming—wheat, potatoes, corn and, later when more land was cleared, fruit trees. 

Kendall started to grow more quickly with the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, and later with the opening of a railroad through the town in 1876.  Four villages developed in the town of Kendall and many businesses were established in these and flourished for many years.  Today, most of these businesses have disappeared.  At the present tome—1992—Kendall Central School is the largest employer in the town.

This is a sampling of the various businesses that at one time were located in the town of Kendall: 

More businesses in Kendall after 1836.  Please note that these were not all operating at the same time and the time period stretches into the 1920’s and 1930’s.  For details as to the exact times these were operating, see the Kendall Sesquicentennial book. 

West Kendall Businesses:

Early—blacksmith, tailor, wagon maker, carpenter, two general stores.

Later—four more general stores, cheese factory, coal yard, hardware, dry house, another blacksmith, storage house, cooper, grain and coal elevator. 

East Kendall (Morton) Businesses:

Early—blacksmith, wagon shop, general store.

Later—clothing store, hardware, farm equipment store, cold storage, packing house, dry house, cider mill, cooper, lumber yard, canning factory, cheese factory, dry goods store, harness shop, restaurant, bakery, several general stores. 

Webster Mills (Kendall Mills) Businesses:

Early—gristmill, tannery, sawmill, two general stores.

Later—stave mill, cooper, hotel. 

Most of these businesses disappeared over time probably due largely to improvements in roads and private cars allowing people to travel to Brockport, Albion, and Rochester to do their shopping. 

At the present time (1992) there are two general stores which double as pizza take outs.  One of these also sells gas and has a small restaurant.  There are several small construction type businesses, hairdressers, one barber, one bar, a hardware store, and auto repair shop, a sports card shop, insurance agency, one doctor, a day care center, marina, trucking firm, and a town library which is located in the Kendall High School. 

Kendall Central School:

The building built in 1936 housed the entire school system, both elementary and high school until the early 1970’s when a new high school was built around the corner on Route 18.  The elementary classes remained in the old building. 

Useful Sources for Kendall History: 

Kendall Sesquicentennial 1812-1962—Mrs. Hiel Whittier. 

Pioneer History of Orleans County—Arad Thomas (1871), pages 269-287. 

Orleans County History—Past to Present (1976), see pages 180-201, (an updated history of the town of Kendall written by Dolores Sedore). 

Kendall HI-LIGHTS—This was a Kendall School student newspaper that was published more or less monthly form 1936 into the 1970’s.  A single copy for most months was saved and these are now located in the Kendall High School Library. 

Troubadour—1936 to present.  This is the Kendall School yearbook.  Copies are located in the High School.  There are many interesting facts about the school in these, especially the early copies. 

Orleans County Bicentennial Calendar—1976  

Architecture Destroyed—C.W. Lattin (1984).  Page 4 contains a picture of the last log cabin in Orleans County.  It was located on Peter Smith Road in the town of Kendall.