Finger Lakes history · regional story
Developing historyA short railroad to the Conesus Lake steamers
Local histories describe Lakeville as a place where a railway trip could continue on the water.
Research status
This history is still developing.
Parts of this account remain unresolved. Here is what the sources support, what is uncertain, and what we are looking for next.
About this review. Written and source-checked with AI assistance under an owner-authorized editorial process. This is not a personal review by Riley or an independent historian. Sources and unresolved questions are listed below; corrections are welcome.
- What the records establish
- Two local institutions describe the rail-to-steamer connection. Jackson supplies a dated railroad chronology; the historical society preserves the broader excursion picture. This is an attributed account, not a reconstruction from company books and passenger tickets.
- What remains uncertain
- The underlying charter, first operating notices, vessel registers and timetables haven't been checked for this story. Exact vessel ownership, schedules, fares and passenger totals remain open. No present-day train service, boat access or park facility is being described.
- What we are researching next
- There is a specific archival lead: the Pennsylvania State Archives finding aid lists Conesus Lake R.R. Co. minute books for 1882–1930 in Manuscript Group 300, series 300m.65. The listing has been checked; the volumes themselves have not. They are the next place to investigate decisions about the line, its financing and its relationship with the Erie system.
For a visitor headed to Conesus Lake, arriving by train didn't always mean arriving at the shore. In Ted Jackson's history for the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum, customers of James A. McPherson's lake excursions could reach Livonia Station by rail but still needed transportation down to the lake.
Jackson describes local businessmen securing a route between Lakeville and Trew's Switch. His account dates the Conesus Lake Railroad Company's incorporation to May 10, 1882, and the opening for business to August 3 that year. A steamboat dock was built too. The short railway and the landing formed a connection between the larger railroad and lake travel.
The Livonia Area Preservation and Historical Society describes the excursion traffic that followed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: people arriving by train at Lakeville and boarding steamers for destinations around the lake. Its account names the MacPherson, Conesus and J. A. Ritz. It doesn't give a separate operating calendar for each vessel, so those names shouldn't be read as a fleet running together on one particular day.
Sources
- Ted Jackson, “Erie Railroad Rochester Division: Chapter Two”, Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum, posted August 25, 2020, section headed “Coneseus Lake Railroad,” paragraphs about McPherson, incorporation and opening. Historical dates are attributed to this synthesis.
- Livonia Area Preservation and Historical Society, “Lakeville & Conesus Lake”, second narrative paragraph, excursion trains and steamers. Publication date not stated; accessed October 22, 2026.
- Pennsylvania State Archives, MG-300 finding aid, section C, “Conesus Lake R.R. Co. Minute Books, 1882–1930,” series 300m.65. A catalog listing, not an inspected minute book.