Carlyle Newcomb, prominent Rochester attorney (1880-1965).

“In August 2000, while visiting with County Legislator Pete McCann, I had the pleasure of looking at some old papers belonging to his family. Among old Newcomb papers, an envelope surfaced with the inscription: ‘negatives Hilton, N.Y. 1900.’ Pete loaned them to me for further investigation -- they turned out to be very fragile Kodak negatives taken prior to 1903. The subjects were various Main Street, Hilton scenes,” says David Crumb.

“These photos undoubtedly were taken by Pete’s maternal grandfather, William V. Newcomb, longtime mayor of Hilton, and well known businessman. Mr. Newcomb took the photos when he was about 18 years old, in 1903, and captured an early parade going through the village along with many of the hamlet’s original 19th century buildings which are no longer in existence.”

“After having the fragile negatives developed and seeing the excellent results, we felt they were too good not to share with the general community. Mary Townsend, village historian, will be presented with the original negatives and a copy of each for her files, and they will be available then for community use when appropriate.” Several of the photos are shown here.