The origin of the name Rushford remains uncertain. One account ties it to the rushes that grew along the river, while another points to a well-known lawyer named Rush. The first annual town meeting took place in April 1816 at the home of Benjamin Levy. The 1817 meeting was set for the home of Sampson Hardy, who, according to the minute book, kept a tavern.
Education was a real priority here, with district schoolhouses spread across the town. Rushford Academy, intended for higher learning, was built in 1851. The Rushford Band, still active today, was founded in 1857 at a local school of singing and instrumental music. The town was known for its many industries, among them cheese factories and a woolen mill. Fire later destroyed many of those wooden buildings. Laying out roads played an important part in the new town’s growth, and a number of those road survey plans survive to the present day.
The Town of Rushford Today
Rushford spreads across the hills, plateaus, and valleys of northwestern Allegany County, near the border with Cattaraugus County. The unincorporated village of Rushford sits at the center of the town, close to New York State Route 243, which crosses it from east to northwest. On Main Street, in the heart of the village, stands the town hall, with a bandstand in front of the building. Rushford Lake, a man-made body of water, was created in 1926 during the construction of the Caneadea Dam.
Local history has been well preserved: the Rushford museum opened, the historian’s documents were collected, the old schools were restored, and a new archive was set up in the town hall.
The Rushford Historical Society
The Rushford Historical Society was founded in 1958, during the town’s 150th anniversary. Its first president was Mildred Falsion, with Margaret Russell as vice president and Lillian Foster as secretary. Helen Lewis served on the board as a member-at-large. From this small group of founding women, the society grew to its present size.
Before the current town hall went up in 1950, the museum building was the town hall and fire station. The old council meeting room still stands as it was, along with the justice of the peace’s office and his law library. Once it passed to the society, it became the local history museum. The first floor gathers a veterans’ corner, an exhibit on Rushford Central School, recreated dentist and doctor offices, and a barbershop with its shaving mugs, among other displays. A back room holds the agricultural section and its rotating exhibits. Upstairs there is a Victorian bedroom and parlor, a town council meeting room, and an old-fashioned kitchen. The music room sits in its own space, furnished with funds from the Rushford Cornet Band and open during museum hours.
A few years later, in the 1970s, the society acquired the Red School on Llewellyn Street. Originally built as the first frame school in Allegany County, it had served in turn as a public school, a private select school, and then a private home. After the purchase, the building was returned to its original appearance and is now set up to look the way a nineteenth-century school would have. All of the restoration work used rough-hewn timber to match the original frame. In the fall of 2007, the building was used by the Home Schooling Association for a study of early American history, complete with period costumes and books.
In 2002, Ron Beverly gave the blacksmith shop to the Historical Society on the condition that it continue to be used as a blacksmith shop. Built in 1908, it was returned to its original dimensions.
In the fall of 2010, the Rushford Grange handed its building over to the Rushford Historical Society. Built in 1842, it began as a Presbyterian church. The church closed in 1980 and later served as a meeting place for the Rushford Agricultural Society. The Rushford Grange itself, formed in the early 1900s, stayed active in community life into the 2000s. Once it joined the society’s historic buildings, the structure received a new roof, and its lower floor was fully renovated. In 2011, insulated windows and a new high-efficiency heating boiler were installed. The lower floor is used for meetings and dinners, as well as family gatherings and community events, with kitchen facilities available. The upstairs hall is used by various groups for church services and other occasions. The building is open for community use, and donations toward that purpose are accepted.
Beyond its regular meetings, the Rushford Historical Society holds a Memorial Day program and an annual chicken barbecue after the ceremonies. During the Labor Day celebration, the society runs an ice cream stand on the grounds. The museum is usually open before the Saturday band concerts in summer, and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Labor Day. By prior arrangement, visits are possible at other times, on (585) 437-2960 and (585) 437-5268.
The Rushford Historical Society meets on the first Tuesday of each month at the Grange building at 7 p.m. The meetings are open to everyone, and membership is not required to attend. Annual dues are $5 per person. As a small organization, the society welcomes new members and participants who help carry its work forward.