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    Geneva: 1940-1970
    Geneva: 1940-1970
    Geneva: 1940-1970
    Ebook180 pages1 hour

    Geneva: 1940-1970

    By Geneva Historical Society

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    About this ebook

    Like many American towns, Geneva changed dramatically in the mid–20th century. Geneva: 1940–1970 examines events that influenced the city, among them the influx of sailors and workers at the nearby Sampson Naval Training Station during World War II and the construction of the Routes 5 and 20 bypass in the 1950s. Many factories ceased operation during this time, and downtown businesses began feeling pressure from a new shopping plaza and stores on the edge of town. The book also captures the social life of the community and notable people who visited Geneva, such as Bobby Kennedy and Jane Russell, and those who grew up here, such as legendary jazz bassist Scott LaFaro.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateOct 10, 2007
    ISBN9781439619957
    Geneva: 1940-1970
    Author

    Geneva Historical Society

    The Geneva Historical Society has been preserving local history for more than sixty years and has collected some fifteen thousand photographs. Geneva represents the best of that collection, showcasing familiar and rarely seen images. Residents and visitors alike will enjoy this trip through Geneva's rich past.

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      Book preview

      Geneva - Geneva Historical Society

      record.

      INTRODUCTION

      It has been four years since the Geneva Historical Society produced its first Arcadia Publishing book. This volume of Geneva images picks up in 1940 where our first book ended. While Geneva covered the founding and development of Geneva, Geneva: 1940—1970 looks at the turbulent years of the mid-20th century.

      Geneva felt the coming of World War II with a mixture of fear and excitement. No one relished the thought of going to war or having a loved one in combat. However, the government’s decision to place an ordnance depot and a naval training station near Geneva meant economic opportunity that had not been seen in years. There were jobs for locals and newcomers alike. One carpenter from Binghamton, New York, who worked on the construction of both facilities told his brother, You’ve got to come over here—they’re paying a dollar a day! The influx of new people to Geneva meant more jobs in service and entertainment industries such as restaurants and theaters.

      In many ways, Geneva in the 1950s illustrated trends of American industry and culture. Corporations began moving their factories from the northeast United States to the southeast United States. (In turn, that region enjoyed its heyday until the corporations went to other regions and countries in search of cheaper operating costs.) Other factories closed due to obsolescence; people no longer needed wallpaper paste or metal type. Roads became clogged with increased ownership and use of automobiles, particularly on downtown streets and at at-grade railroad crossings (in the days of long, frequent trains). A bypass, known locally as the arterial, was built to the east of the city to carry travelers on Routes 5 and 20 around downtown; in the process, 900,000 tons of dirt were poured into Seneca Lake to create new land for the road. Downtown was slighted again as developers built retail developments on the outskirts of town. Shopping plazas, and later indoor malls, offered one-stop shopping and access to multiple stores under a covered walkway. Large parking lots became a must as shoppers lost interest in fighting for downtown parking spaces or parking far away from the stores.

      Geneva celebrated its sesquicentennial of village incorporation in 1957. (The 150th anniversary was in 1956, but organizers decided to wait a year to allow for better planning.) The city embraced the week of activities that marked the occasion: men grew beards, women eschewed makeup, and there was a historical pageant at Boswell Field on the Hobart and William Smith Colleges campus. At the same time, Geneva was on the cusp of major change. Sampson Air Force Base closed at the end of 1956, the arterial was recently completed, and the new Town and Country Plaza was opening. Rumors abounded about factory closings with little news of new business coming to the city. The mood was perhaps best summed up by Paul Vogt, chairman of the Sesquicentennial Special Events Division, in a letter to the bicentennial committee of the future:

      As history may show 1957 was a year of great mental depression for Geneva. Many of its citizens were greatly disturbed as to the future of Geneva. The great inflation was playing its part. Taxes were eating the life blood of business and individuals. These were Federal, State, County, City and School taxes and the people were getting restless. A tax strike is in the offing.

      By Vogt’s assessment, one might guess that Geneva fell apart in the 1960s. Again, like most towns, Geneva continued forward. Many industries did close, but key employers such as Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva General Hospital, and the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station continued to thrive. The city began to rethink its use of its lakefront property and how it could be used to best advantage. It was a slow process that is still underway—debates of 2007 echo those of 1957—but Geneva began transforming into more of a tourism and service-based economy.

      Many of the photographs in this book were taken by photojournalist Platt Benson Oakley (1894—1982), known locally as P. B. Oakley began his newspaper career with the Geneva Times, then covered Geneva and Ontario County for the Syracuse Herald-Journal beginning in 1939 until his retirement in 1971. He had a number of side jobs as well, including police photographer and official photographer for the Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Board. Oakley’s many jobs and interests created an archive of Geneva’s history that ranged from cute babies to murder scenes. After his death, the Geneva Historical Society received approximately 11,000 negatives and prints of Oakley’s work. Even with such a large collection, there were events and people that Oakley did not capture, and we turned to other photograph collections within the historical society to round out this book.

      Photographs are important resources that are receiving new interest from younger generations. People are interested in seeing changes around town; as new business owners move into downtown they want to know how their building used to look. And in some respects photographs confirm that human activities have changed very little: kids still join Little League teams in the spring, music is still alive and well in Geneva, and parents still deliver a new class of freshmen to Hobart and William Smith Colleges each fall.

      The Geneva Historical Society welcomes visitors to use its archives and photograph collection. This book merely scratches the surface of what we have—and what we would like to collect. Please feel free to contact us if you are searching for an image or have photographs you would like to donate.

      I hope you enjoy this glimpse of Geneva’s recent past.

      John Marks

      Curator of Collections

      Geneva Historical Society

      June 2007

      One

      ON THE HOME FRONT

      No town in America was unaffected by World War II, but Geneva was in a unique situation. Karl D. Hartzell in The Empire State at War declared that Geneva was an outstanding example of a small city whose way of life was radically altered during the war by the location in its vicinity of two large Federal war facilities.

      In early 1941, the Department of

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