Aurora Town Historian

10/16/2026

Thanks to The Buffalo History Museum and the Roycrofters At Large Association (RALA) for the invitation to present "Who Were (And Are) The Roycrofters?" at the museum earlier this month, in honor of the Roycrofters At Large's 50th anniversary.

A special 50th anniversary exhibit, "Carrying the Craft Forward," opens tonight at the History Museum and will be on view through May 9: https://roycroftartisans.org/event/opening-carrying-the-craft-forward-the-roycroft-renaissance-at-the-buffalo-history-museum/. Be sure to check it out!

10/15/2026

CHRISTMAS VIEWS FROM RIX JENNINGS...Our newest featured exhibit opened this week outside the Historian's Office at the Aurora Municipal Center, and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Rixford Upham Jennings (1906-1996) grew up on The Roycroft Campus, where his father, Walter Jennings, was a skilled silversmith. After several years of study at art schools, he entered the animation school at Walt Disney Studios in California and worked on the films “Dumbo” and “Fantasia.” After moving back to East Aurora in the early 1950s, Mr. Jennings became one of the region's most prolific artists. In addition to his renowned watercolor landscapes, he designed numerous logos for local organizations, and he sketched and painted hundreds of East Aurora scenes. He also designed countless covers for Buffalo Spree magazine, as well as the giant murals in the hallway of the Town of Aurora Municipal Center.

His family’s recent donation to the archives of the Aurora Town Historian’s Office of original sketches and paintings inspired this exhibit, which will be rotated every few months with different themes to highlight Mr. Jennings’ life and career. This first chapter of the exhibit, "From the Studio of Rix Jennings: Christmas Views," includes a selection of his holiday-themed works and will be on display through January 8.

This and other historical exhibits, located outside the Historian’s Office at 575 Oakwood Ave., and presented in collaboration with the Aurora Historical Society New York, may be viewed during regular Municipal Center hours, Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

For more information about the life and career of Rix Jennings, visit https://www.meibohmfinearts.com/artists/details/58.

10/14/2026

EAST AURORA CANCELS HALLOWE'EN...In 1924 and 1925, in the days before trick-or-treating was part of the holiday, the Village of East Aurora sponsored outdoor Halloween festivities, which included a costume parade down Main Street and a street party on South Grove Street. However, this small notice in the East Aurora Advertiser 100 years ago announced that the 1926 Hallowe'en night festivities were cancelled. No reason was given for the cancellation, but it might have had something to do with Hallowe'en falling on a Sunday that year or simply a lack of planning, because the "Hallowe'en frolic" resumed in 1927.

Meanwhile, the Methodist-Episcopal Church (which later became Baker Memorial United Methodist Church) held a Hallowe'en Masquerade.

(Article and advertisement from the October 28, 1926 issue of the East Aurora Advertiser, preserved in the archives of the Aurora Town Historian's Office).

10/12/2026

RESEARCHING YOUR HOUSE AND PROPERTY...The Aurora Town Historian's Office has received a number of inquiries recently from residents researching the history of their properties. Here's an excerpt from our Frequently Asked Questions brochure about the ways your property's Search and Title can be useful in your research. (Please remember that this document relates to your land, so just because it goes back to the early 1800s doesn't mean your house is that old.)

For more information about the services available in the Town Historian's Office, visit www.townofaurorany.gov/departments/historian.

10/09/2026

BREAKING NEWS...As the East Aurora Advertiser was going to press 100 years ago this month, the editors received word via telephone of a car accident near Batavia involving prominent East Aurora women. Two of the women died from their injuries.

(From the October 14, 1926 issue of the East Aurora Advertiser, preserved in the archives of the Aurora Town Historian's Office).

10/08/2026

MAMBRINO KING...A recent donation to the archives of the Aurora Town Historian's Office included this cover of the November 14, 1885 issue of Harper's Weekly, which featured four of the prize winners the National Horse Show in New York. East Aurora's Mambrino King, top right, was among them.

Cicero Hamlin, who operated his world-famous horse farm on the western end of the Village of East Aurora, purchased Mambrino King in 1882. Deemed the "handsomest horse in the world" by a French government commission, Mambrino King was raced as a trotter but earned fame more as a sire of several champions. The horse died in December 1899. A grave marker stands on the southeast corner of North Willow Street and Parkdale Avenue.

10/07/2026

VIDLER VILLAGE...With the upcoming dedication of the new playground at Parkdale Elementary School, we continue our look back at previous playgrounds at Parkdale. In 1985, the playground area outside the school was dedicated to Virginia Vidler. An owner of Vidler's 5 & 10 , Mrs. Vidler also served as Aurora Town Historian from March 1, 1974 until her death on December 21, 1986. The schoolyard has continued to be known as "Vidler Village" even after the 1985 wooden playground was replaced.

We can't help but notice how far graphic design has come in 41 years! Check out these posters from 1985 and today!

East Aurora Parkdale PTO

10/06/2026

10/05/2026

PARKDALE PLAYGROUND, 1980...With the upcoming dedication of the new playground at Parkdale Elementary School, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at images of previous playgrounds at Parkdale. These images, from the school's 25th anniversary booklet in 1980, show students on two of the more popular pieces of playground equipment at Parkdale at the time. Who remembers the "Swiss cheese" wall and the spider?

East Aurora Parkdale PTO