Pittsford Farms Dairy remains today as a thriving dairy industry just as it was when it began in the late 1800s in the Rochester Area. The farming business on this property began in the 1860s when Jarvis Lord purchased the property and added barns and the circle driveway that still exists today. When Lord lost his fortune in 1888, Frank Hawley and his wife Estelle purchased the farm and named it Pittsford Farms. They combined three farms into one larger business where they bred jersey cattle and Shetland ponies. The Hawley family gained recognition nationally for their introduction of scientific agriculture. “Numerous accounts of the farm were published in period agricultural journals chronicling its use of new ‘scientific’ husbandry techniques. The jersey cattle and Shetland pony herds gained national recognition” said the mayor of Pittsford in an article chronicling the history of Pittsford Dairy.
Frank Hawley mysteriously disappeared in 1898 and his wife worked to restructure the farming operation. This is when the farm’s dairy milk stopped being shipped to restaurants in NYC and began being delivered to local residents in returnable glass bottles. The delivery was eventually replaced by the store that exists today.
The Zornow family then purchased Pittsford Farms in 1947 and Theodore A. Zornow focused on the furthering the dairy operation of the farm, while his son, T.J. Zornow, bred standardbred racing horses. The farm was taken over by T.J. Zornow’s son in law in 1960 who further focused on the dairy operation.
Corby was joined by his son Charles T. Corby in 1992. The dairy ran selling milk in glass bottles to local residents until Late 2008.
“It is one of the few independent dairies to survive into the twenty first century”, also said by the mayor of Pittsford. By this time, volume had increased so much so that they were forced to expand and constructed the building that is the store today. In the build, they added an ice cream parlor and a bakery with indoor and outdoor seating. The farm remains today as a 200- acres of preserved farmland although they have moved to sourcing their dairy from upstate farms rather than on site cattle as they had in the past.
History of Pittsford Village
The village of Pittsford is found in western New York, seven miles southeast from the city of Rochester in the Monroe County. The village was originally named Northfield but was changed to Pittsford to honor Colonel Caleb Hopkins who was a farmer, community leader, and veteran of the War of 1812. It is considered a historic village sitting on the roughly 364-mile-long Erie Canal. A spring fed pond was the main attraction for European Americans to settle here. The first settler of the village of Pittsford was Israel Stone, who resided in a log house he had built for himself by the pond in 1789. It maintains a small-town way of life despite the rapid urbanization that has developed around it. The village prides itself in a strong sense of community, beautiful site seeing, and a rich history.
For Monroe County, Pittsford was the first village to have a practicing lawyer and doctor. The village of Pittsford was the location of the first ever school in the county which was built in 1794, as well as the first library created in 1803, and the first permanent church which was built in 1807. The church which began meeting in 1803 is located on Church Street as the First Presbyterian Church. The county’s first post office was also established here in 1811 along with the first newspaper publishing established in 1815.
The village of Pittsford was a local trading center given its location as an intersection of the roads between Genesee Falls and Canandaigua, the area’s biggest and oldest town. With Samuel Hildreth’s creation of the region’s first stage coach line, Pittsford was made to be a hub for western New York. As a center for networking and with the development of the Erie Canal in 1822, Pittsford was incorporated as a village on July 4, 1827. The village gained a source of income through the construction of the canal and the creation of businesses which would take part in the canal trade. Some of the village’s largest industries included a flour mill, lumberyards, and produce warehouses.
Pittsford hit a decline in its development due to the resilience of its original buildings which contribute to the present day charm of the village which maintains historical canal warehouses, and has repurposed mills and silos for modern day offices, boutiques, and eateries. A resurgence of its development occurred in the 1870s when wealthy Rochester locals developed estates inside and around the Pittsford. This is believed to have been the main source of the village’s transition from a farming community to a suburb of Rochester. The oldest village estate which still stands is the Pittsford Farms, established in 1860s by a canal contractor named Jarvis Lord.
The 1950s was a turning point for the village of Pittsford as suburban residential development led to a significant population increase. This dramatic population growth led to strong preservation efforts which is one of the reasons behind the continued existence of the Pittsford Farms and restoration of village buildings. Today locals pride themselves in the preserved sites of the village of Pittsford.
Source: https://theurbanphoenix.com/2017/06/24/pittsford/
Pittsford Farms Dairy 