At the turn of the 20th century, a small streetcar station stood at the corner of East Main Street and Chamberlain Street, a little grassy corner that now stands in front of the RTS building. Though small, quaint, and unassuming, this little station was the portal leading from the city out to the pleasure resorts along the western shore of Irondequoit Bay.

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Glen Haven

An early site of attraction for Rochesterians, Irondequoit Bay promised pristine bay views, boating, amusement parks, performers, and cool breezes. As the crowds continued to come each summer, businessmen turned their eye to the area, building grand hotels and special transport systems for bay-goers. Rochester’s summertime favorite summertime getaway, Seabreeze amusement park, sprung up during this time.

One of the most noteworthy of these early resorts was Glen Haven; also known as Dreamland [although, many places were at various times, including Seabreeze for a period], this bayside retreat was a beloved place of recreation in the 1890s.

Of course–as usual–the history is gone into with far more detail by the blog Local History Rocs, run by the local Office of Rochester & Monroe County History: https://rochistory.wordpress.com/2024/08/08/dreamland-the-story-of-one-of-rochesters-earliest-amusement-parks/.

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Rochester & Glen Haven R. R.

In 1887, a company was founded by a number of local businessmen, to build and operate a railway from East Main Street to Irondequoit Bay–specifically, to the Glen Haven Hotel, their planned luxury hotel on the bay.

An optimal course between Rochester and the soon-to-be Glen Haven hotel was plotted, and the next task was acquiring the lands and rights-of-way between the two sites. One of the first acquisitions, close to the planned East Main Street station, was a segment of land cutting through the property of John R. Thomas:

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John R. Thomas

The land through which the railway would cut was that of John Rochester Thomas, who was a well-known architect of public buildings.

He did not live on this East Main Street plot; his own home was on West Avenue, corner of Colvin Street.

This would be Thomas’s home until 1881, when his family moved to New York City; the house was sold to I. Lawrence Haldeman, a Pennsylvanian grain dealer, for some reason.

In 1887, the house would transfer into the possession of hardware dealer Henry Lester, who lived at the location until his death in 1917.

The house would pass to Lester‘s daughter, Emma Marie Lester, and her husband Dr. Frank B. Maynard.

It would remain the home of Dr. Frank B. Maynard at the time of his death in 1962.

The house was sold by Maynard’s son, Carl Lester Maynard, to Hart’s Food Stores. The house and two others were razed to make way for a Star Market which opened in 1964.

This former grocery store is now the site of TEKE Machine Corporation.

Anyhow, all of that had only a tenuous connection to the original topic of this article: the Rochester and Glen Haven Railroad Station on East Main Street. But that’s Gonechester for you.

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Completing the Railway

Returning to the Rochester and Glen Haven Railroad; it’s 1887, and almost all the rights of way have been gathered; construction can begin as soon as the final ones are secured.

The above states that a “baloon track” would be at the Glen Haven terminus of the railway; “baloon tracks”, or “balloon tracks”, refers to a large loop of track at the terminus of a rail line, with a single switch allowing for entry and exit by trains. These were customarily used in places where either passengers or goods were being unloaded or loaded.

It also mentions the use of the Eames vacuum brake by the cars along the line. Patented in 1874, this was an improved pneumatic braking system designed to stop all cars on a train simultaneously. Frederick W. Eames‘s braking system was widely adopted, but legal difficulties plagued him as numerous other patent-holders sued his company. This would eventually result in his death, albeit indirectly: returning to his factory after a marketing trip in 1883, he found it had been taken over by a rival company with a claim against him. After legal recourse, he basically had to buy back his factory; upon returning to it, Eames was locked out of the factory’s pattern room by an employee, then shot dead upon breaking into the room.

Probably in 1889, the station at the corner of East Main and Chamberlain Streets was built to shelter those transferring between the streetcar lines and the Glen Haven railroad.

However, several sources cite an 1891 build date for the station; it’s possible that another structure was used as the depot until 1891, which was the year trolleys on East Main Street were replaced with electric streetcars.

Below, one of the 1891 streetcars which debuted along the East Main Street streetcar line between the Bull’s Head neighborhood and the Glen Haven depot at Chamberlain.

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Irondequoit Park Railroad

The Glen Haven Railroad was shut down due to financial problems; in 1896 the new Irondequoit Park Railroad company took over. The company switched out the old narrow gauge track to standard gauge and electrified the railroad.

Below, a shot of a streetcar for the Irondequoit Park Railroad, at the streetcar factory of John G. Stephenson; this was at Nos. 35-47 East 27th Street in New York City, on the block presently occupied by 51 Madison.

The 1900 Plat Map places the station on the east side of the Glen Haven R. R. tracks, which is at odds with later maps. However, mention is made in a 1920 source source that–prior to the electrification of the road–the station was further to the east, and in connection with a long shed. Perhaps the placement on this map represents that, although the electrification of the railroad took place around four years prior to the 1900 plat map, in 1896. It’s the best explanation I can posit, given what I know.

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Site of First Voting Machine

Also in 1896, the first mechanical voting booth, invented by Jacob Hiram Myers, was set up in the Glen Haven station for the 1896 election, which was used for the first time by folding box manufacturer Arthur Benjamin Cowles and his six-year-old son, Harold Arthur Cowles.

There appears to be a small error in the above; the elections were actually held on November 3rd, 1896, not the 7th.

The walk to be the first to the polls that day was none too long for Arthur Cowles and son, as they lived just down Chamberlain Street from the station:

Below is a photograph of Harold A. Cowles and his wife Louise M. VonEuw Cowles winning a trophy at the 1949 Rose Show:

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Lease by Sodus Bay R.R. Co.

The Irondequoit Park Railroad Company would eventually lease the Glen Haven railroad line to the Rochester & Sodus Bay Railroad Company, which would extend the railroad line across the Float Bridge at Irondequoit Bay all the way to Sodus Point.

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1907 Robbery

Around the last year of its operation, Glen Haven Station on East Main Street was the site of a “heist” in the form of some people grabbing a strong box off a Sodus Bay car and running off with it. Not exactly Ocean’s Eleven, but it was a surprise nonetheless:

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Era of Abandonment

Reportedly, 1907 was the last year of continuous operation of the East Main Street station. After which, it sat vacant, a tempting target for youthful vandals.

At some point, likely around 1917, large billboards were installed on the unused station, covering its iconic open porch.

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1920 Demolition

By 1920, the Glen Haven station had reportedly gone unused for several years.

The abandoned station aged into decrepitude over the years; it was a frequent target of fires built by youths, and visually was becoming unpleasant to passers-by. The New York State Railway company decided to tear the historic old structure down in 1920, and the regretful passing was remarked upon but not prevented.

Here is one of the previously-mentioned sources to select 1891 as the supposed date of the station’s construction. It is my understanding from research that the station was built alongside the completion of the Rochester-Glen Haven railroad, around June of 1889. Nonetheless, future articles would state the 1891 date as gospel:

I don’t have enough evidence to make the call one way or another; though the “Glen Haven Station” is mentioned as early as 1889, it is possible this was a different structure and was replaced with the more well-known station with the introduction of the electrical cars on East Main Street in 1891.

The above article gives some possible insight as to the history of the building: though no specific dates are given, the electrification of the Glen Haven road would have taken place around 1896-1897, which means the station was divided from a long shed and moved to the site at the corner of East Main and Chamberlain, while the shed was moved to the rear of the lot.

By the end of January 1920, the station was no more. Its former site remained as a corner of the extensive lot belonging to the Rochester Railway Company, where the East Main Street Car Barns would operate.

According to a “ten years ago” update from the 1930 Post Express, the billboards which had made their home on the erstwhile station, courtesy of the Rochester Poster Advertising Co., returned to the empty grass corner left by the station’s removal:

The New York State Railways Rochester Lines would change format, and the car barns at East Main Street would become the bus depot of the Rochester Transit Service, predecessor of today’s RTS:

To this day, nothing but trees stand where the Glen Haven Railroad Station used to be, although now and then a hot dog cart will park nearby.

The path of the former Rochester & Sodus Bay Railroad is still easily seen, remaining along its route a city-owned green space through which one can walk–or, with some difficulty, bicycle, though I didn’t really enjoy that attempt. I’d stick to walking.

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