The Society is a non-profit volunteer organization that operates the Fairport Museum at 18 Perrin Street in the Village of Fairport and maintains its collections. The Society began as a research organization founded by ten individuals in 1935 and incorporated in 1937. Now over 70 years of documents and images have been collected. Some items from our collections are found nowhere else.
The mission of the Society is to promote interest in preserving and sharing local history. The vision is to be the leading, widely recognized community resource for promoting and instilling a sense of local history among Perinton residents.
One of our key goals is to operate the Museum using the American Museum Association’s standards and to enhance our collections by focusing primarily on acquiring objects and artifacts manufactured in Perinton in the 19th and early 20th centuries. We have collections and resources on farming, genealogy, canal development, structures, and industry.
To fulfill our educational objectives we sponsor lectures featuring stimulating local and regional speakers. Our Curator along with our Town Historian host a 4th grade program.
The Society organizes historic house tours, a picnic in the spring, and publishes the Historigram, a newsletter that contains articles about local history, events and special exhibits.
The educational arm of the Perinton Historical Society (PHS) currently consists of four key programs; Fairport school fourth graders, scouts program, local history presentations, and historic tours.
The by-laws of the Perinton Historical Society calls for a Board of Trustees to govern the operation and an annual meeting of members each year.
Preservation Projects
Bill Matthews interest in old buildings and his association with the Matthews Building Movers made the preservation and relocation of an outhouse, trolley stop and switch station possible.
Historic Tours
The Society organizes an annual house tour and have developed several walking and bike tours.
Structure Committee
The mission of the committee is to serve as a resource to help identify significant local historic structures; to promote public awareness and education about local historic structures; and to provide assistance to citizens, government, and other groups seeking information about local historical structures.
History of the Society
Ten women founded the Perinton Historical Society on November 1, 1935 at the home of Mrs. Clarence Moore at 23 Pleasant Street. This was a follow up meeting to an October 25 gathering at Mrs. Gardner Bown' s house at 127 South Main Street when the forming of a club for the recording and preservation of Perinton history was first suggested
Website and Logo
In June of 2009 a new website was launched with a new logo inspired by the Museum Mural by Carl Peters. The goal of the site is to inform and educate the community about local history, and make it easy to access Society and Fairport Historical Museum information.
Help us achieve our goals and preserve history today for tomorrow. Join now and support the Society with your time and talents. Membership information.