Village, town, hamlet, ward: Where you live may be all so confusing in Rochester
Location, location, location.
Let’s say you recently moved to the Rochester area. You like it here. But as you settle in, you may be a little confused as to where you actually live.
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Monroe County, like the rest of New York state, is blessed (or cursed) with boundary issues.
In the city of Rochester, you can reside in a ward, even though wards don’t exist anymore, just as you can live in a neighborhood that is technically dead, but still alive.
In the county, you can simultaneously live in a village and a town, just as you can live in a hamlet and a town at the same time.
Basically, living here requires multi-tasking. Let’s say you moved into a house on the west side of the city. You tell all your friends back in Topeka that you live in Rochester. Not so, your neighbors explain, you live in the 19th Ward.
Are there other wards? Not really, as the city long ago abandoned the ward system of government. Still, the 19th Ward remains the 19th Ward. The name has stuck.
Maybe you live off Lake Avenue, up near Lake Ontario. You assume you live in Rochester, but locals say you live in Charlotte, even though the village of Charlotte was annexed in 1915 by the city of Rochester. The name lingers. Use it.
Perhaps, you have a home in the hamlet of Garbutt west of Rochester in the town of Wheatland between the village of Scottsville and the hamlet of Mumford. Whew, that’s a lot of locators.
Reality check: Hamlets don’t quite exist, as they don’t have their own governments. Nonetheless, New York state, always overachieving, has more than 1,000 hamlets, including the hamlet of Hamlet in Chautauqua County.
Around here, there’s the Monroe County hamlets of North Greece in the town of Greece and North Gates in the town of Gates. The hamlet of Union Hill straddles the town of Webster in Monroe County and the town of Ontario in Wayne County.
Unlike hamlets, villages have their own elected officials. But they’re also parts of towns. Thus, you may live in the village of Fairport, but you also live in the town of Perinton, which includes land outside the village.
Perinton is a big place, with a population estimated at just over 47,000. That makes it larger than many cities in the state, so why is Perinton still a town? For that matter, why is Greece, population 97,000, still a town? Not sure why, but it seems to work, no sense rocking that boat.
Back to your friends in Topeka. They (and you) may be confused by your mailing address.
Your house could be in Irondequoit, Brighton, Gates, Greece, or Henrietta, but your mailing address may be Rochester. Blame your zip code, as area ZIP codes that start with 146 are treated as Rochester addresses.
One more reality that muddies the waters: School district lines in Monroe County suburbs don’t always line up with town boundaries. Thus, the town of Brighton includes five school districts: Brighton, Penfield, Pittsford, Rush-Henrietta and Wheatland-Chili. That’s confusing. Best to put your kids on the bus and let the driver decide where they go.
And with the kids off to school, you can double down on your research and figure out where you live. Remember, hamlets don’t count, and ZIP codes lie.
Remarkable Rochesterians
In recognition of the 50th anniversary in June of Title IX, the change in federal education law that, among other things, opened the door to participation of girls and women in sports, let’s add the name of this pioneer to the list of Remarkable Rochesterians.
Ellen Hawver (1919-2007): As assistant director, and then director, of health, physical education, and athletics in the Rochester City School District, she led the way in organizing interscholastic and sectional sports for girls. A graduate of Fairport High School and Ithaca College, she was on the Midwest field hockey team for 12 years and, in 1955, was an honorable mention member of the U.S. national team. Before coming to the city district, she taught in Batavia and in the East Irondequoit School District and is a member of the Ithaca College and Monroe County sports halls of fame.
From his home in Geneseo, Livingston County, retired senior editor Jim Memmott, writes Remarkable Rochester, who we were, who we are. He can be reached at jmemmott@gannett.com or write Box 274, Geneseo, NY 14454.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester NY towns, hamlets, villages, towns. It's all so confusing
