This Advertisement appeared in the Waterloo Observer – July 1, 1874: Valuable - WATER POWER - For Sale The water power on which formerly stood the North Bloomfield Flour Mill, is now offered for sale. Said privilege has first right to water, with a head and fall of 18 feet; situated on the outlets of Hemlock, Honeoye and Canadice lakes, 17 miles south of Rochester, at North Bloomfield, New York. Railroad accommodations, convenient, thickly settled, rich farming community. A good place to build a flouring or paper mill, or manufacturing purposes generally, in fact one of the finest localities and best water power in the state (this was before Rochester cornered the water for their use). In connection to the above is also a GOOD HOUSE and STORE. Will be sold together or separately. For particulars inquire of or address subscriber of North Bloomfield, Ontario County, New York. O. H. Huntington Early in North Bloomfield history, it was called Smithtown because of all the Smiths that lived there from about 1795 to early 1800’s. Some of the early businesses were
a distillery run by John Blake, Joseph & Horace Chambers ran a store, Amos Gates had a grist mill, Isaac Hall a forge. The Goodriches ran an ashery & store, R. Huntington a tavern, Samuel Miller & Ebenezer Crites built a saw mill in 1795. Squire Smith had a grist mill, Francis Smith a distillery, James Smith a store, Eldrick Smith a fulling mill. (In the Honeoye Falls Times March 1, 1917 W. R. Hunt wrote – The old mill on the site of the present Noyes mill, and saw mill was built by Eldrick Smith about 1790. The locality was called Smith’s Mill and later Smithtown. Many people believe that North Bloomfield is part of Honeoye Falls, but they have always considered themselves the Hamlet of North Bloomfield and are proud of that fact.
Town Historian If anyone is interested in writing an article for a future issue of the Community Focus, or to request we cover a specific topic, please feel free to contact Pat Talley at pwtdmthillock@aol.com.
Ionia Volunteer Fire Department Wayne Parrish First, an update on our fire house as promised. The Building Committee reported at the last meeting that the Proof of Loss document was provided to the insurance company on schedule. Shortly thereafter a team of people from several organizations reviewed the document on the site of the burned building. The committee is confident that visual progress is close to beginning such as removal of the burned building. Second, an update on our new fire truck. The new truck has been in Ionia for a couple of months now and as I write this article the truck is still not in service. During the initial training with it we found some issues that had to be corrected at the factory. We believe those issues are all resolved; now we have to get a significant number of members trained to drive and operate the pump on it. Once that occurs, the hose and other equipment on the 30-year old truck will be moved to the new truck and it will be put into service. The old truck has been listed for sale since the first of the year and we have received several inquiries about it.
• Be sure you have a working carbon monoxide detector on each floor of your home. • Be sure you have working smoke detectors in or near each bedroom at a minimum. • Be sure you use heat detectors in kitchens and garages rather than smoke detectors. • Be sure you have your heating system serviced prior to using it this heating season. • Be sure you have your chimney cleaned if you use a wood stove or fireplace. Remember, in the event of an emergency call 911 and we will respond along with the West Bloomfield Fire Department and Honeoye Falls Ambulance.
Lastly, a few quick bullet points to remember: • You must pull over to the right and stop for emergency vehicles no matter which direction you are travelling relative to the emergency vehicle. • Be sure to avoid open burning if the weather is still hot and dry. 6 townofwestbloomfield.org