In my research regarding my local neighborhood one name comes up prominently again and again: Allen L. Wood. Wood’s extensive land holdings meant his name became ubiquitously written across the plat maps of subdivisions along Culver road, between Garson and Atlantic, and stretching east nearly to Akron Street.

The reason for these extensive land holdings was Allen L. Wood’s highly-successful nursery business, Woodlawn Nurseries, established in the area in 1876; the nurseryman provided plant and seed stock for agriculture, landscaping, and decor alike.

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Origin of the Woods

The branch of the Wood family to which Allen L. Wood was born was settled predominantly near Moravia, Cayuga County, New York State.

Walter Allen Wood was the husband of Jane M. Wood [née McIntosh] and father to Allen Locke Wood, Walter Harris Wood and Minerva A. M. Greenleaf [née Wood].  Walter A. Wood’s middle name, “Allen”–which he bestowed on his first son–was the name of his father, Allen Wood (1782-1885), who was the husband of Lucy Locke (1789-1877) and resided near Moravia, New York.  Allen L. Wood was born there in 1860.

Interestingly, Jane McIntosh was a great-grandaughter of John Harris, founder of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

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The Woods in Brighton

Walter Allen Would wood–sorry, Walter Allen Wood would move with his family from Moravia to Brighton, New York at some point prior to 1872, settling near the corner of Schanck Avenue and Culver Street.

This 1872 map of Brighton shows the home of Walter Allen Wood in the upper right hand corner.

Schanck Avenue on this map is present day East Main Street, and University Avenue is present day Atlantic Avenue. Culver Street is, obviously, now Culver Road.

The below 1875 map shows the home of Walter Wood in slightly more detail:

Allen’s father Walter A. Wood died in 1892. His mother Jane M. Wood lived until the beginning of 1901. Until their deaths, Walter and Jane lived at the “Wood Homestead” on the east side of Culver Road, between East Main Street and Garson Avenue.

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The Wood Homestead

The stately brick Wood Homestead was three storeys high, with twelve rooms, facing west. A large front porch was on the west face with a path to Culver Road, and a two-storey bay window with entranceway on the south face along the driveway. A large ornamental garden and several outbuildings–including a chicken coop where the Woods raised prize-winning Buff Orpington chickens.

The Jane McIntosh Wood estate in 1902, the year after her death. Red marks No. 530 Culver Road, the Wood Homestead. The estate stretched from Culver Road on the west, slightly past [what is now] Jersey Street on the east, Garson on the north and–prior to this date–down to [what is now] Atlantic Avenue. By this map’s publication, the lands south of East Main Street have been parcelled out for sale to individual homebuilders as the Allen L. Wood Subdivision.

Following his mother’s death, Allen L. Wood would rent out the Wood Homestead.

In 1910, he would sell the property outright:

Here we see the Wood Homestead, No. 530 Culver Road. The “L” shaped brick layout with the signature south-facing bay window and entrance. By 1912, more of the former Wood land has been parcelled out, and Stratford [Macbeth] Street, Bonner Place [Packard Street], and Federal Street [Cedarwood Terrace] have been cut through the estate, with parcels for homes along either side.

It is amusing to note the chicken coop tucked into the angular corner just to the south of Bonner Place; that chicken coop would now be halfway into Packard Street. Presumably this is where Wood’s Majestic Buff Orpingtons were raised.

Lots for sale in the “Allenwood” and “Woodside” developments.

William S. Riley, former Commissioner of Parks, lived at No. 900 Culver Road until his death in 1928. His widow Carrie L. Riley would live on in the home until 1945, when she removed to No. 233 Westminster Road, an apartment where she lived until her own death in August of 1950.

As of 1946, the property belonged to William H. Parkin, who undertook major renovations in order to re-open the house as “The Parkin Home”.

Until 1955, No. 900 Culver Road was to be The Parkin Home, a home for “the elderly, invalids and the chronically ill”, setting the precedent for the address to be a nursing home, as it would remain until Beechwood’s closure in 1999.

Goodness, do I wish this image were better quality.

In 1955, No. 900 Culver Road was sold to Herbert B. Chambery, whose brother Thomas owned the Maplewood Nursing Home since 1947. Chambery would renovate and re-open the property as Beechwood Sanitarium.

By 1972, the Beechwood Sanitarium was ready to expand. In order to do so, a new modern facility was built on the lot’s eastern end, near Packard Street, alongside the existing former Wood Homestead.

After completion of the new nursing home facility in 1974, the former Wood Homestead at No. 900 Culver Road was razed, becoming the west lawn of Beechwood Sanitarium. And so, the story ends for the stately brick house.

The Beechwood nursing home facility at No. 900 would operate until 1999, when it was closed by order of the state during a conflict with the Chambery family. By 2012, the courts determined the state’s actions to be retaliatory, and a settlement was reached with Brook Chambery, owner of the facility.

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Woodlawn Nurseries

The Woodlawn Nurseries operated on the corner of Culver Road and Garson Avenue.

In 1888, the Rochester & Glen Haven Railway Company purchased a right-of-way through the lands owned by Catherine McIntosh (Jane A. McIntosh Wood’s sister) and tenanted by Allen L. Wood. After the construction of the rail, a new packing-house was built to take advantage of the tracks for freight and shipping.

Catherine McIntosh died in 1898, leaving the estate to her sister Jane A. McIntosh Wood.

The offices and packing shed of Allen L. Wood’s Woodlawn Nurseries on Garson and the Rochester & Sodus Bay track, 1910.  Also present are buildings for The Hawks Nursery Co. and Allen Nursery Co.  The Hawks Nursery Co. would eventually be purchased and subsumed by the Allen Nursery Co, which would itself declare bankruptcy and dissolve in 1932.

This view is presumably looking west along the tracks of the Sodus Bay Line, which ran along the south of the packing house and carried freight cars for Woodlawn and other businesses along its course.

Red: The packing house for the Woodlawn Nurseries.
Orange: No. 1022 Culver Road, home of Allen L. Wood.

It can be surmised that this view is looking northwest from south of the Sodus Bay line, looking at the packing house and towards Culver Road.

Come the early thirties, bankruptcy proceedings were initiated against Woodlawn Nurseries; their assets were sold off to other interests, leaving Allen L. Wood with his home at No. 1022 Culver Road.

Brown Bros. Nurseries would claim the former Woodlawn Nursery properties for a period starting in 1934 and ending in the 1940s when the company removed to Penfield.

Red – The large vacant building was a concrete packing house building which had an earthen floor, wood post construction, and a sawtooth-style roof. 
Orange – No. 1022 Culver Road, home of Allen L. Wood. 
Yellow – The smaller building behind it was a concrete garage. 
Green – The central building above the packhouse was No. 891 Garson Avenue, a concrete housewhich formerly served as Woodlawn Nursery Co. offices.
The present-day home at the address claims to have been built 1940,  but it appears to still be the same structure as in the attached maps.

By 1938, The large frame structure behind No. 1022 Culver has been torn down, as well as the sheds along Garson Avenue.

Fun fact: though the directories fail to back this up, according to one newspaper article Gustave F. Weber lived in this house between Brown Bros. vacating it and his own death in 1947. Gustave Weber was known to be the man who installed the very first telephones ever installed in Rochester, NY.

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After the Nursery

The packhouse has been razed, partially replaced with automobile parking.
The No. 1022 Culver Road and its garage have been razed.
No. 891 Garson Avenue has been parcelled off and sold as a private residence.
The tenants in the commercial buildings on the southwest corner of the plot at this time were Loblaw’s grocery (No. 1004 Culver), Utz Bakery/a Valor Radio & TV service shop (No. 1010), and a restaurant, Wilson’s Grill (No. 1012).

The Loblaw’s store opened in 1941 and was the largest Loblaw’s in Rochester. And get this–the doors opened automatically on approach! The shopping experience couldn’t possibly get better than this, could it? The location would remain open until 1974.

These aerial shots have been a wealth of blurry monochrome visuals! Here we can see the commercial building at Nos. 1004-1006 Culver has expanded eastward, while its neighbor at Nos. 1010-1012 has yet to do so as of 1952.

And that brings the site to the present day. As one can see, a majority of the old nursery grounds became parking surrounding the plaza, with some of the packing house site left as open grass.

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No. 1022 Culver Road

At some point prior to 1902, Allen L. Wood had a frame home constructed at No. 564 Culver Road [which would become No. 1022 Culver Road] at the corner of Culver Road and Garson Avenue. The home fronted on Culver Road, with a large wraparound front porch facing west and north. A smaller rear porch was on the north side.

Unfortunately, not as much can be divined about No. 1022 Culver as could be for the Wood Homestead, nor are there any photographs I could find. All that is left of the house is its contours on the maps above, and the articles describing events taking place at the address:

Apparently No. 1022 Culver Road hosted an annual reunion of Georgiana Wood’s family, the Eatons. I’m hoping the event changed venue yearly and that Georgiana and Allen didn’t have to play host to the Eatons every single time. Big house or no, that’s a lot.

Then again, who could resist a party at the Eaton-Wood house? Certainly not a termite or a beaver! Haha!

In 1932, Allen Wood’s wife Georgiana Eaton Wood would die in the home.

In 1941, Allen L. Wood joined his late wife in death.

Sadly, my attempts to locate and photograph the graves of Allen L. and Georgiana Eaton Wood in Mount Hope Cemetery were unsuccessful. I’ll try again, and include photographs at a later date if I find them.

Throughout April and May of 1945, No. 1022 Culver Road was dismantled and sold, piecemeal.

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Walter H. Wood

Allen L. Wood’s brother, Walter H. Wood, returned from New York City and engaged in real estate, primarily working with Allen on dividing and selling plots of the former Wood estate to individual homebuilders.

The land for my own home on Ohio Street was purchased in 1923 by Frank Van Wyckhouse, directly from Allen L. Wood in connection with the Walter H. Wood realty company.

Walter H. Wood and his wife, Lucie Hahn Wood, lived at No. 142 North Union Street. In addition to realty, Walter was a dealer in oriental rugs:

Walter and Allen’s sister, Minerva A. M. Wood Greenleaf [wow! What a name.] would die at the home in 1932.

Walter H. Wood’s wife Lucie Hahn Wood died at the home four years later, 1936. I couldn’t find an obituary for her.

Part of Walter H. Wood’s estate went to his two nephews, Allen L. Wood’s sons Allen R. and Walter E. Wood. However, most of his estate, his house at 142 North Union Street, its contents, and his car went to someone named Mrs. Martha Yaeger. Apparently, Mrs. Yaeger took care of Walter’s person and property during his final illness, during which she slammed her face into a chair in the dark, losing three teeth.

Eventually, in the 1960s, the house was one of several torn down for the construction of a Volpe Car Wash.

Walter H. Wood’s house at No. 142 North Union Street would have been here:

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I know, I know; I did it again. I went overboard. But I can’t help it! This is my neighborhood. More than anywhere else in Rochester, the history of my little familiar area is special. I’ve seen some of these sights change ever-so-gradually for decades of my life. It’s incredible to me to gain insight into the people that called it their neighborhood before, and during their lives great changes happened as well–changes that leave evidence, some of which I can find and collate and put here, for your perusal.

Enjoy!

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