The Holland Land Company was formed in 1796 by Wilheim Willink and a group of fellow Dutch bankers to purchase from Robert Morris a large tract of land in what is now western New York State, an area later known as the Holland Purchase. It consisted of about 3,250,000 acres (13,000 km²) of land from a line approximately 12 miles (19 km) to the west of the Genesee River to the present western border and boundary of New York State. The bankers initially had hired trustees in the United States, because it was not legal at that time for them to directly own the property. Robert Morris, however, prevailed upon the New York Legislature to repeal that ordinance, which it did shortly thereafter. This area of western New York today is sometimes known as Genesee Country to distinguish it from the Finger Lakes region.
A sales office for the Holland Land Coupany was opened in 1801 by surveyor and agent Joseph Ellicott in Batavia where land was sold until 1846 when the company was dissolved. Some plots of land were given to persons upon condition that they establish improvements, such as inns and taverns, to encourage growth. The office still exists and is a museum of the Holland Purchase, designated a National Historic Landmark.
It consisted of about 3,250,000 acres (13,000 kmĀ²) of land from a line approximately 12 miles (19 km) to the west of the Genesee River to the present western border and boundary of New York State.
This area of western New York today is sometimes known as GeneseeCountry or the Niagara Frontier to distinguish it from the Finger Lakes region.
In the GeneseeCountry in the 1820s and 1830s, some 40 hamlets and villages were providing economic services and other community functions for the flood of settlers who were clearing and developing its rich lands.
The GeneseeCountry villages were located and built by enterprising pioneers who seized the opportunity to provide their fellow settlers with taverns, stores, mills, tanneries, and smiths, as well as churches, libraries, and academies to fit their varied tastes.
GeneseeCountry Village was opened to the public in 1976.
Feeds |
Contact