--- type: Article title: 'Fairport, then: what the shops on Main Street used to be' article_kind: monthly publication_status: published dek: >- Eleven places you already know, and the buildings they moved into: a 1911 trolley station, a 1924 bank and a 1938 fire hall among them. period_start: '2026-11-01' period_end: '2026-11-30' personas: - long-time-resident - new-arrival - weekend-visitor journeys: - J-01e - J-01 sources: - resource: 'https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/14000860' id: 'NRIS 14000860, Section 7, p. 129' title: >- National Register of Historic Places registration form: New York State Barge Canal (2014), Section 7, p. 129 quote: >- Fairport lift bridge was constructed in 1914 by H.S. Kerbaugh, Inc. of Philadelphia as part of Contract 63. - resource: >- https://www.canals.ny.gov/News/2019/Canal-Board-Approves-Overhaul-of-Erie-Canal-Lift-Bridges-in-Monroe-County id: 'Canal Corporation, March 28, 2019' title: >- New York State Canal Corporation: Canal Board Approves $9.4 Million for Overhaul of Erie Canal Lift Bridges in Monroe County (March 28, 2019) quote: >- Both of the historically significant bridges were originally built in 1914. - resource: >- https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/ny/ny2200/ny2263/data/ny2263data.pdf id: 'HAER NY-456, p. 2' title: >- Historic American Engineering Record NY-456, New York State Barge Canal, Fairport Lift Bridge (summer 2009), p. 2 quote: >- Fairport Lift Bridge was built under Contract 63, awarded to H.S. Kerbaugh Inc. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 13, 1910. ... The lift bridge was completed in 1913 ... In 1957 the Fairport Chamber of Commerce proposed removing the bridge because when it is in the raised position, it blocks two streets. Public outcry defeated the proposal. - resource: >- https://www.village.fairport.ny.us/Boards%20and%20Commissions/Planning/Reconnaissance-Level%20Survey%202014.pdf id: '2014 survey, p. 108' title: >- Village of Fairport, Reconnaissance-Level Survey of Historic Resources (Bero Architecture PLLC, 2014), p. 108 quote: >- 6 Main Street North, 1890s, 1980s: DeLand factory, then York State Fruit, Certo, now Box Factory. 23 Main Street North, 1911: Trolley Station. Designated Village landmark. - resource: >- https://www.village.fairport.ny.us/Boards%20and%20Commissions/Planning/Reconnaissance-Level%20Survey%202014.pdf id: '2014 survey, p. 109' title: >- Village of Fairport, Reconnaissance-Level Survey of Historic Resources (Bero Architecture PLLC, 2014), p. 109 quote: >- 32 Main Street North, c. 1870s: Deal Block; housed the Fairport Herald. ... Barranco's is a long-time business that has been in this building since 1928. 113 Main Street North, 1938: Built in 1938 as the Northside Fire Hall, serving the north portion of the village. - resource: >- https://www.village.fairport.ny.us/Boards%20and%20Commissions/Planning/Reconnaissance-Level%20Survey%202014.pdf id: '2014 survey, p. 112' title: >- Village of Fairport, Reconnaissance-Level Survey of Historic Resources (Bero Architecture PLLC, 2014), p. 112 quote: >- 58 Main Street South, 1924: Historically Fairport National Bank. Designated Village landmark. 65 Main Street South, 1953: 1953 by Martin, McGraw and Winard; incorporates Quonset hut style; remodeled in 1987. 70 Main Street South, c. 1840s- 1850s: John E. Howard House; designated Village landmark. - resource: >- https://www.village.fairport.ny.us/Boards%20and%20Commissions/Planning/Reconnaissance-Level%20Survey%202014.pdf id: '2014 survey, p. 113' title: >- Village of Fairport, Reconnaissance-Level Survey of Historic Resources (Bero Architecture PLLC, 2014), p. 113 quote: >- 99 Main Street South, 1934: Pure Oil building; designated Village landmark. - resource: >- https://www.village.fairport.ny.us/Historic%20Preservation/DESIGNATION%20BY%20YEAR.pdf id: HPC designations 2008 to 2013 title: >- Village of Fairport Historic Preservation Commission: Properties designated by year quote: >- 58 South Main Street 153.13-1-16.1 6/19/08 ... 70 S. Main Street 153.13-1-15 11/4/2010 ... John E. Howard House ... 23 N Main Street 153.09-1-41 5/5/2011 ... Rochester,Syracuse & Eastern Trolley Station ... 99 South Main Street 153.13-1-47 1/3/2013 ... Pure Oil Building - resource: 'https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/100001886' id: 'NRIS 100001886, Section 8' title: >- National Register of Historic Places registration form: Fairport Public Library, 18 Perrin Street (2017), Section 8 quote: >- Robert Douglas ... by 1906, partnered with two other businessmen to establish a cider and vinegar manufacturing business located in the former DeLand Manufacturing works in Fairport. Douglas and other chemists began experimenting with the extraction of pectin from apple pomace ... In 1921 the product was named Certo - resource: 'https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/100001886' id: 'NRIS 100001886, library' title: >- National Register of Historic Places registration form: Fairport Public Library, 18 Perrin Street (2017) quote: >- Completed in 1938 as a WPA project, the Fairport Public Library ... In 1914, the Fairport Chamber of Commerce petitioned the Carnegie Foundation for a gift to erect a new library building. The Carnegie Foundation granted $11,000 to the village ... the community could not agree on the site ... and eventually the grant was forfeited. ... the doors opened to the public in February 1938 ... In 1979, the Fairport School District gave the nominated property to the Village of Fairport, which then turned it over to the Perinton Historical Society for use as museum - resource: 'https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/100002835' id: 'NRIS 100002835, Sections 7 and 8' title: >- National Register of Historic Places registration form: First Congregational Church of Fairport, 26 East Church Street (2018) quote: >- The 1868 American Round Arch/Romanesque Revival building was expanded three times: two brick wings were added in 1900 and 1924, and a two-story southwest office addition was built in 1951 ... In December 1824, nine people met at the home of Jesse Perrin to form a worshiping congregation ... Glover Perrin and his brother, Jesse Perrin, purchased land in what was known as the Phelps and Gorham Purchase ... The town of Perinton, incorporated in 1812, was named in their honor - resource: 'https://archive.org/details/landmarksofmonro00peck' id: 'Peck 1895, p. 367' title: >- William F. Peck, Landmarks of Monroe County, New York (Boston History Co., 1895), p. 367 quote: >- L. T. and J E. Howard conducted for many years a large business in blacksmithing and wagonmaking ... The legal incorporation of Fairport was effected on the 30th of April, 1867 ... board of trustees, O. P. Simmons, J. Y. Parce, J. E. Howard - resource: 'https://perinton.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013_01_02_Early_Gas_Stations.pdf' id: 'Town Historian, January 2, 2013' title: >- Perinton Town Historian: Fairport Memories, Early gas stations (January 2, 2013) quote: >- In 1924, he began construction of his gasoline station at the southeast corner of Church and Main streets. ... The new owners offered Texaco products and sold Dodge and Plymouth automobiles. They named their new franchise Church Motors. By 1953, the business outgrew the building, and Church Motors was relocated to a new building at 65 S. Main St. generated: by: 'process:hm-history-editor' at: '2026-10-04T18:03:49.285Z' superbee_updated_by: 'process:hm-history-editor' published_at: '2026-10-04T13:55:02-04:00' editor_score: 4 --- # Fairport, then: what the shops on Main Street used to be You can buy yarn in a trolley station, order a cocktail in a bank and drink a beer in a 1934 Pure Oil building. Many of the places you already use on Main Street moved into buildings with a past. Here are 11 of them, from the lift bridge to Perrin Street. Walk them in order and end at the museum, the one stop here that is open for the sake of the story. ## The lift bridge The [Main Street lift bridge](../places/main-street-lift-bridge.md) went up in 1914, built by H.S. Kerbaugh, Inc. of Philadelphia as part of Contract 63 for the Barge Canal. In 1957 the Fairport Chamber of Commerce proposed removing it, because a raised bridge blocks two streets; public outcry kept it. A 2009 federal engineering survey puts its completion in 1913, but the canal's National Register nomination and the Canal Corporation both say 1914, so 1914 is the date used here. ## North Main Street The Box Factory at 6 North Main holds three of the places on this list: [Clementine Coffee](../places/clementine-coffee.md), [Lift Bridge Ice Cream](../places/lift-bridge-ice-cream.md) and [LULU Taqueria](../places/lulu-taqueria-mezcal.md). It began as a DeLand factory building in the 1890s and later held York State Fruit and then Certo. A National Register form says that by 1906 Robert Douglas was making cider and vinegar in the former DeLand works, and that the pectin he drew from apple pomace was named Certo in 1921. [Lift Bridge Yarns](../places/lift-bridge-yarns.md) at 23 North Main is in the 1911 Rochester, Syracuse & Eastern trolley station, a village landmark since May 5, 2011. [Barranco's Clothing](../places/barrancos-clothing.md) at 32 North Main fills the Deal Block, which dates from about the 1870s and once housed the Fairport Herald. The store opened on North Main Street in 1914, and the village's 2014 survey says it has been in this building since 1928. [Firehouse Woodworks](../places/firehouse-woodworks.md) at 113 North Main works out of the Northside Fire Hall, built in 1938 to serve the north end of the village. ## South Main Street [Bonnie & Clyde](../places/bonnie-and-clyde.md) at 58 South Main was built in 1924 as the Fairport National Bank and has been a village landmark since June 19, 2008. The old vault is now a private dining room. The [Howard Hanna Fairport Office](../places/howard-hanna-fairport-office.md) at 65 South Main went up in 1953 in Quonset hut style and was remodeled in 1987. The Town Historian writes that Church Motors, which offered Texaco products and sold Dodge and Plymouth cars, moved there from the corner of Church and Main by 1953. [Fairport Credit Union](../places/fairport-credit-union.md) at 70 South Main is in the John E. Howard House, from the 1840s or 1850s and a village landmark since November 4, 2010. Peck's 1895 county history lists a J. E. Howard on Fairport's first board of trustees in 1867 and, with L. T. Howard, a large blacksmithing and wagonmaking business. No source says he is the man the house is named for, so take the name as the landmark list gives it. [Fairport Brewing Company](../places/fairport-brewing-company.md) at 99 South Main pours in the 1934 Pure Oil building, a village landmark since January 3, 2013. ## Church Street The First Congregational Church at 26 East Church Street, the address of [Bertha Agor Memorial Nursery School](../places/bertha-agor-memorial-nursery-school.md), is a brick church from 1868 with additions in 1900, 1924 and 1951. The congregation began in December 1824, when nine people met at the home of Jesse Perrin to form it. Perrin and his brother Glover bought land in the Phelps and Gorham Purchase, and the town of Perinton is named for them. ## Finish at the museum The [Fairport Museum](../places/fairport-museum.md) at 18 Perrin Street was finished in 1938 as a WPA project and opened that February as the Fairport Public Library. In 1914 the Chamber of Commerce asked the Carnegie Foundation for a library, and the village was granted $11,000, then lost the grant when no one could agree on a site. In 1979 the school district gave the building to the village, which turned it over to the Perinton Historical Society as a museum. It is open Sundays and Tuesdays 2 to 4 pm and Saturdays 9 am to 1 pm, March through mid-December. # Related - [part of series](../article-series/fairport-then.md) - [draws on place](../places/main-street-lift-bridge.md) - [draws on place](../places/clementine-coffee.md) - [draws on place](../places/lift-bridge-ice-cream.md) - [draws on place](../places/lulu-taqueria-mezcal.md) - [draws on place](../places/lift-bridge-yarns.md) - [draws on place](../places/barrancos-clothing.md) - [draws on place](../places/firehouse-woodworks.md) - [draws on place](../places/bonnie-and-clyde.md) - [draws on place](../places/howard-hanna-fairport-office.md) - [draws on place](../places/fairport-credit-union.md) - [draws on place](../places/fairport-brewing-company.md) - [draws on place](../places/bertha-agor-memorial-nursery-school.md) - [draws on place](../places/fairport-museum.md)