About the Perinton Historical Society

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.

Our Mission, Vision & Goals

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.

We sponsor lectures featuring stimulating local and regional speakers. Shown here is Steve Trimm who provided members with an historic interpretation of Ulysses S. Grant in 2011.

Education Programs

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.

Governing Body

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 has 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.

Property Committee

The Property Committee is the planning body for the long-term internal and external needs of the museum and the property.

Scholarships

For the first time in July of 2010 the Society announced they would award a scholarship to high school seniors who have an interest in local history. Today, that scholarship is up to $1,000 for two eligible candidates.

Focusing on local history, the Peter McDonough Memorial Scholarship (PMMS) will be awarded to a high school seniors whose residence is within the geographic boundaries of the Fairport School District. The scholarship will be administered and awarded through Fairport-Perinton Dollars for Scholars.

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.