Cole House
In 1953, Irondequoit was in the midst of a housing boom that would not only change the history of the town but also its physical appearance. Farmland was being sold to developers anxious to build homes for a population on the move from urban to suburban areas. The small farms specializing in market gardening would disappear as more and more tracts were built. Peach orchards, asparagus, onion, celery and tomato fields would be replaced by split levels, ranch and two story houses.
This aerial photo of the Colebrook Drive area illustrates the rapid changes that occurred in the 1950's. Colebrook Drive had once been part of Cole Road, which dates back to 1852. It first appeared on maps as Colebrook Drive in 1931 but as is apparent from this picture it was not even heavily populated in 1953.
Josiah Cole acquired the land that is now Colebrook Drive in 1855 and built a house located at approximately 295 Colebrook Drive. The home is now owned by the Jean and Richard Specht and was the subject of this column in January of 2002. The original farm was sub divided over the years to other members of the Cole family and then to others out side of the family.
Charles Gillette inherited the land from his father, George Gillette, who had purchased it from Anna Wilkens. Mr. Gillette was a unique builder. He built Mary Kramer's house, seen on the left, back from the road to save the large pine tree in the front. He also afford her stones from the Hillhurst mansion that had been destroyed by fire for her retaining wall. Kay Zudima, whose house is on the opposite side of the road, said the stones on her house came from the Clinton Avenue trolley bed and the marks from the lines can still be seen on them.
Our thanks to Kay Zudima, Mary Kramer, and Lois Jenkins for sharing their "Irondequoit Memories" of their neighborhood and giving us the information about this picture donated by Mary Kramer.
Patricia Wayne, Town Historian |
