I was moving some books and files into the historian’s office at the Village Hall and was elated when Bob Lathan said that he had the original blueprints. He left them on my desk and although they are pretty fragile, we will be able to make copies and preserve the originals. The blueprints are signed by the famous Rochester architect, Claude Bragdon.

The story of Bragdon and the Municipal building goes back to 1912. The firehall on Bank Street had burned down. Cora Woodward, Orator’s widow, wanted to build a new municipal building on the corner of Clay Street and West Main. There would be room for the Town and the Village and the fire department. In January she wrote a letter to the Mayor and said that she would hire Claude Bragdon, the well-known Rochester architect to draw plans for the new municipal building. She had already met with him, and he would be willing to meet with the Village Mayor and the Town Supervisor to go over the details for the new building. The LeRoy Gazette included the “blow by blow” description of the meetings. I asked Trish Riggi at the Library to search through the newspapers to see . . .