Nestled between the Genesee Valley to the east and the Niagara Frontier to the west, Genesee County has been called "America's First Frontier." In the years following the War of Independence, pioneers used the area as a meeting place to trade with settlers and Native-Americans from the west. As it was then, Genesee County is still a central location for your next meeting or event. It is conveniently located within a half-hour drive from two international airports. A major interstate providing easy access runs through the heart of the county.

The "Mother of Counties," Genesee County was formed in 1802 to serve the growing population of Western New York. In 1802, its borders stretched from Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario and from the Genesee River to Lake Erie. From 1807 until 1841, Genesee County decreased in size as other Western New York counties were formed.

Famous people have called Genesee County home. Captain William Morgan, whose disappearance in 1826 led to the formation of the Anti-Masonic Party, lived in Batavia at the time of his abduction. Civil War General, Ely Parker, military secretary to Ulysses S. Grant, was born on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation in 1828. Another Civil War General, Emory Upton, was born in West Batavia in 1839.

Business meetings of national importance have been conducted in Genesee County. In the 1850's, Dean Richmond of Batavia worked on the consolidation of many small railroads. The consolidated railroads became the New York Central Railroad. Richmond served as its first vice-president and later its president. In 1897, Jell-O® began in the kitchen of LeRoyan Pearl B. Waite. He sold the formula to local businessman Orator T. Woodward for $450 in 1899. Woodward and his son, Ernest, built it into America's Most Famous Dessert, and Jell-O® was made in LeRoy until 1964.

Welcome to Historic Genesee County!