This article was scraped from Rochester Subway. This is a blog about Rochester history and urbanism has not been published since 2017. The current owners are now publishing link spam which made me want to preserve this history.. The original article was published January 15, 2015 and can be found here.
By Clarke Conde
We brave the cold in this edition of Wear to Where to visit the oldest place in Monroe County - the Landmark Society's Stone-Tolan House and their heirloom apple orchard...
If you are a native Rochesterian, odds are you have been to the Stone-Tolan House
(but maybe not since your fourth-grade field trip.) To the applephile (the non-Steve Jobs kind), the orchard is classic example of the type that was often part of small local farms, with the tasty heirloom apples developed in New York in the early nineteenth century to match.
The house itself is a teaching museum of local pioneer life complete with tavern and kitchen built to accommodate small gatherings of locals and travelers. Standing on the grounds on chilly days like we have been having, it is hard not to imagine how difficult it was for people in 1792 to make through the winter. It is hard enough here sometimes in 2015.
The days and nights between New Year's Eve and the nebulous arrival of spring can be a challenge for Rochesterians. This past week has been cold (you can see it in Danitza's face), some days among the coldest on record. Too many times I have heard that the social life of Rochester effectively shuts down in the winter. True, we are not Montreal
but a place that has largely chosen to orient towards summer with our festivals and events. Still, we too have these long, cold months. So here is the question: are there ideas we have not tried that could better bring this community together during the winter or is it just too cold to go outside? * * *
Model: Danitza Cruz Hernandez
Clothing: Thread
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If you are a local boutique, maker or model that is interested in participating in the Wear to Where series, please contact Clarke Conde at clarke{at}condephotography.com