History & Location
Ontario County Four Seasons Local Development Corporation is an organization formed at the recommendation of a group of tourism industry representatives assembled by Ontario County Board of Supervisors to address the opportunities for economic development through tourism. The original group was named the Ontario County Tourism Board. Upon their own recommendation, in February of 1983, the Tourism Board was dissolved, and the Ontario County Four Seasons Local Development Corporation was formed as a not-for-profit local development corporation for the purposes of “publicizing the advantages of Ontario County as a tourist destination.”
In June 1984 with funding from Ontario County, the organization hired Valerie Knoblauch as President and the program of work was established with an office at 248 South Main Street, Canandaigua. The organization was commonly referred to as the Ontario County Tourism Bureau.
Finger Lakes Visitors Connection has been designated the official tourism promotion agency for Ontario County since 1986.
In November of 2000, the d.b.a. A Finger Lakes Visitors Connection was adopted in response to consumer recognition of the Finger Lakes brand identity and confusion with the name Ontario as the internet was developing and being used for search purposes. At this time, the organization was housed at 20 Ontario Street, within the county complex.
In May 2003, the corporation purchased an 1884 Victorian house at 25 Gorham Street and moved its offices there in August. Commonly referred to as “the Visitors Connection” or “Finger Lakes Visitors Connection” the organization’s primary funding source had changed to a dedicated occupancy tax in 2002, the program of work also expanded to include hospitality services and product development.
The Finger Lakes Visitors Connection office is located at:
19 Susan B. Anthony Lane,
Canandaigua, NY 14424
Finger Lakes Visitors Connection office is located just behind the Ontario County Courthouse.
If you are coming to visit us from Gorham Street, it is on the south side of Gorham Street and is the first brick house on the right as you enter off of Main Street Canandaigua. You'll see the sign. If you are looking for us from the south (heading north), take a left hand turn onto Ontario Street and then an immediate right on turn on the one way street, Susan B. Anthony. You'll see our small driveway there and you can temporarily park there to visit us. There's plenty of parking at the county municipal parking lot too, just circle our building and park there.
On May 30, 2003, Finger Lakes Visitors Connection purchased the building at 19 Susan B. Anthony Lane (formerly 25 Gorham Street). The building has a long and varied history, since its completion in 1884!
The House At 19 Susan B. Anthony Lane
House history by Marjory Perez
The House at 19 Susan B. Anthony Lane (formerly 25 Gorham Street) in the village of Canandaigua, New York, was built in 1884 by Willet M. and Anna (Godfrey) Spangle. Mr. Spangle, a prominent and enterprising clothing merchant, and his wife had purchased a small lot at the corner of Gorham and Susan B. Anthony Lane (formerly Court Street) from the heirs of James McEnnally.
The property had once been part of the large holdings of Nathaniel Gorham. The Spangles chose the popular Queen Anne style of architecture for their two-story brick home. Queen Anne buildings, which became an architectural fashion in the 1880s and 1890s, are distinctive for asymmetrical construction, two-story bays, large panes of window glass surrounded by smaller panes of colored glass, steeply pitched hipped roofs using shingles to create unique designs, and wrap around porches.
Features of note are the intricately carved fireplace with ceramic tiles, the well-preserved woodwork, brass hardware and arched windows, and the handcrafted newel post at the base of the gently curved stairway. The House is typical of the more restrained versions of Queen Anne found in the villages and cities of the northeast. The House at 19 Susan B. Anthony Lane has only had six owners in its history.
The Spangle family lived in this home until 1936. Upon the death of Willet Spangle, the home was sold at public auction to Spencer Sutherland, who in turn sold it in 1947 to Guy and Minnie Baldwin. Lucile Lake, daughter of Guy and Minnie Baldwin, who inherited the property in 1957, sold the house to a law firm in 1991. The downstairs became law offices, and the upstairs was a residence. On May 30, 2003 the tourism promotion agency, Finger Lakes Visitors Connection, became the sixth owner of the house at 19 Susan B. Anthony Lane.