Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hemlock. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1901Honeoye sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hemlock.
The story so far
Hemlock, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hemlock yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Hemlock is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Livonia, Livingston County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, Hemlock had a population of 455. The Hemlock post office has a ZIP Code of 14466 and serves the southeast part of the town of Livonia as well as parts of the towns of Richmond and Canadice in Ontario County.
Its first post office opened in 1895. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 557 to 455 (-18%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Hemlock, 1881–1905
Passages that mention Hemlock, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Livingston County, New York1881 · page 368Read the page →
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Hemlock Lake, a somewhat picturesque little village, is situated in the south-eastern part of the town of Livonia, about a mile from the foot of Hemlock lake. It contains two churches,* four stores, one hotel, two harness shops, a school house and a population of about three hundred. f This place was for a long time known as "Slab City," a nickname derived, presumably, from the lumber
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1687. History of Livingston County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1881 · page 368Read the page →
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Hemlock Lake, a somewhat picturesque little village, is situated in the south-eastern part of the town of Livonia, about a mile from the foot of Hemlock lake. It contains two churches,* four stores, one hotel, two harness shops, a school house and a population of about three hundred. t This place was for a long time known as " Slab City," a nickname derived, presumably, from the lumber
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Livingston County, New York, from its earliest traditions to the present1905 · page 703Read the page →
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In 1806 the nearest grist mill was at Hemlock lake and the nearest store at Lima, and at that time the Conesus people went to a schoolhouse on the road leading to Hemlock lake for religious worship. It was a Presbyterian service. Two years later the Methodists began to hold meetings at private houses. The first school house of the town was of logs, with greased paper for window lights, and a school was opened in it in 1810 by Mary Howe. A. D. Coe said that Andrew and Gardner Arnold opened the first store in town in 1803, and that
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History of Livingston County, New York1881 · page 324Read the page →
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Pulteney had obtained possession, they laid this tract of land out into lots, and numbered them from I to 139, including a tier of lots on the east •side of Hemlock lake that formerly belonged to the town, which were numbered 10 and 20, and parts of lots 30, 39, 40, and 57, which have since been transferred to the county of Ontario. They also laid out part of Hemlock lake into lots, as
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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