Geneva Historical Society

Geneva lies in the heart of the Finger Lakes region at the top of Seneca Lake, which is important to the community for both transportation and leisure. With more than two hundred vintage images, Geneva presents a well-researched overview of the town's past, from its settlement in the 1790s to 1940. Pictured are some of the architectural gems that became the cultural cornerstones of a thriving place-the Smith Opera House, the Richard Upjohn-designed Blackwell House and St. John's Chapel on the Hobart & William Smith campus, as well as some of the remarkable people who lived here: Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman in the country to receive a medical degree; Henry McDonald, one of the first African American professional football players; Arthur Dove, America's first modernist painter; and Joseph Swift, the first graduate of West Point.