MMOONNRROOEE CCOOUUNNTTYY''SS Maggie Brooks LLEEHHIIGGHH VVAALLLLEEYY TTRRAAIILL LLIINNEEAARR PPAARRKK County Executive

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ruary 1995. In the subsequent years, with the Greenway on the westernE side. tion. After the depot was removed in 1952 and FALLS FIVE POINTS I o N

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R N RD E T O R T O S AS O fundsV were secured. The Trail reached substan- O E serves as the trailhead, and provides trail-side I A T E slide into obscurity. FortunatelyO for the generations W I F D to come, Monroe CountyW took a forward-looking tial completion in the fall of 2004. In fact, it parking for over 100 cars. view, and after the demise of the main line in 1976, is an unusualL E G dualE trailN Dsystem, consisting of * Food & Beverages Available sought and acquired the old Lehigh Valley right-of- a 10’+ wide, multi-use trail with a stone dust 0 .62 1.24 Miles Lehigh Valley Trail † Water Fountains Available (in season) way. surface, and a parallel 5’ wide equestrian trail. Parking Area ‡ Public Restrooms Available (in season) 0 1 2 Km This approximately 15 mile Atrailcc eiss san P ooutstandint - Trail Distances Between Roads Miles ing facility for walking, hiking, jogging, bik- An Afternoon ride on the Lehigh Valley Trail ing, cross-country skiing, and equestrian use. Old Dutch – Mile Square 0.6  Rush hamlet:* Its depot removed in 1950, It is also a vital link in the area’s expanding Mile Square – Route 64 0.6 the mill dam (made obsolete when the T.K.T. regional trail network, connecting the Genesee Route 64 – Route 251 0.2 Mill burned in 1941) and the Bock-Kinsey Valley Greenway Trail to the west with Vic- Route 251 – West Bloomfield 0.9 buildings remain the prominent features of the West Bloomfield – Chamberlain 1.0 tor’s Auburn Trail to the east. In addition, the railroad era. Chamberlain – Quaker Meeting House 1.7 northern extension of the Lehigh Valley Trail Quaker Meeting House – Clover 0.5 from Rochester Junction through the Towns of  Rochester Junction:†‡ With the Honeoye Clover – Plains 0.8 Henrietta and Brighton is under development, Creek valley (the pre-Ice Age course of the Plains – Route 15A 2.5 and will result in a connection with the Erie Genesee River); with the Seneca lore of Totiak- Route 15A – Fishell 1.75 Canalway Trail System at Genesee Valley Park. ton village on the plain above; and with the Laying & Compacting the Cinder Trail Base Fishell – East River 1.2 Hemlock water mains running beneath; Roch- East River – Genesee Greenway Trail 1.6 Partnership For Success Interest Points On The Trail ester Junction is not just a railroad place — it is  Wadsworth (Genesee River) Bridge: Once a crossroads of history. Late in 1993, the Mendon Foundation ap- In case of a Trail Emergency, 3,000 ft. long, until scrapped in the late 1970’s,  Mendon hamlet:*† Sunday church services proached Monroe County with a proposal to the river span was preserved and today allows were forever being interrupted and its twin Call 911 develop and maintain the Lehigh Valley rail- Mendon Foundation The Route of the Black Diamond By Paul S. Worboys The Mendon Foundation is a oday, with the great railroad era in our past, recreation enthusiasts can experience a portion of Transportation history on the Lehigh Valley Trail, a right-of-way that witnessed about Mendon based, tax-exempt, charita- 500,000 trains serving the company and its successors from 1892 to 1981. The story of ble corporation. Initially established Tthe Lehigh Valley Railroad, however, goes back another half century, to the early days of coal in 1992 as a Land Trust, we are mining and our nation’s booming demand for mountains of clean burning anthracite coal (“Black actively engaged in the further Diamonds”) to feed industrial furnaces and home stoves. development and day-to-day main- By the late 1880’s the Lehigh had expanded into New York State, but its only access to western markers was via Buffalo and over a competitor’s line (the Erie) out of Waverly, New York. With the tenance of the Lehigh Valley Trail. acquisition of the Geneva, Ithaca and Sayre Railroad in 1889, the Lehigh was able to construct its Being an all-volunteer organization, own line over 100 miles between Geneva and Buffalo. Opening via Victor, Mendon, and Rush on the 1st of September, 1892, the Lehigh mainline covered a 435-mile route from Buffalo to New York we rely heavily on community City. involvement to promote our preser- Welcome to the Historic The same day, a quiet spot known as Surrine (sic) Hollow became a busy railroad hub of fascinating vation, education and recreational proportions. Because the city of Rochester was not on the Lehigh’s New York-Buffalo route, a activities. junction was created that utilized branches northward to Henrietta and Rochester and southward Lehigh Valley to Honeoye Falls, Lima, Livonia Center and Hemlock Lake. The new site, located on Plains Road, If you are interested in learning was called Rochester Junction and has survived in name long after the railroad disappeared from more about railroad history, Trail the landscape. heart-healthy activities, becoming A basic country station was build at Rochester Junction, but it was soon replaced with a two-story a volunteer, or making a financial Victorian depot that stood as a landmark until its destruction by fire on Easter Sunday, 1972. The location of a post office, produce, freight and watering facilities, the storied Terry Hotel and even contribution to help us with main- a baseball team, the setting was one of the most photographed and painted railroad places in our tenance and improvements to this region. historic Rail-Trail, please contact us A Monroe County Running over a scenic route through the Finger Lakes and the mountains of Pennsylvania, the at: Linear Park Lehigh’s most famous name train, the “Black Diamond Express,” was created with great fanfare in 1896 and made its last runs on May 11th, 1959. Station stops at Mendon, Rush and down to Mendon Foundation, Inc. Hemlock ended in the 1930’s, while Rochester trains connected to the mainline until 1950 and P.O. Box 231 buses made the runs until 1957. Following the closure of the depot in 1959, two late night expresses blasted through Rochester Junction until February, 1961, when the Lehigh became the first major Mendon, NY 14506 railroad designated “freight only.” On April 1st, 1976, the U.S. Government-sponsored Conrail took over several bankrupt eastern rail lines, including the Lehigh Valley. The mainline tracks were immediately abandoned, while the branches between Rochester and Lima survived until August, 1981, leaving the “Route of the Black Preservation • Recreation • Education Diamond” to the whims of the future. www.mendonfoundation.org