During this period the Village began assuming the responsibility for providing improved services and infrastructure.

Several of the earliest improvements were provided by the business interests. In 1883 the first telephone line was connected between the village and Rochester. Not surprisingly in the village, many people objected tot he appearance of the new poles and several were chopped down. The Village contracted with the Despatch Heat and Light Company in 1906 to provide electrical service including arc lights over the main streets. The arc lights replaced hand-lit kerosene lamps. Natural gas service was installed a decade later. In 1926, the Village contracted with Rochester Gas & Electric to install 88 harp lights. These lights remain today along Monroe Avenue and South Main Street.

A series of fires and continuing frustration with public wells led to demands for the establishment of a village water system. After a heated public debate and a close referendum vote, the Village Board approved funding a $14,000 water system. The system included two wells, a 500,000-gallon reservoir, water mains and 24 hydrants. The new hydrants permitted the formation of the Pittsford Hose Company, predecessor of the modern Pittford Fire Department. In 916, the main streets were paved with brick and a storm water system was installed. Construction of sanitary sewers began in the twenties and was completed in the thirties with the construction of the WPA sewer plant. Although small membership libraries had been operated in the Village since the nineteenth century, the present Pittsford community Library was established in 1922 as a Village Library. The library was housed in the Little House on Monroe Avenue between 1923 and 1937. From 1937 to 1974 the library was located in the present village hall.

During the second half of the twentieth century, as the surrounding town evolved from farms to suburbs, the Village underwent enormous changes. This era will be the subject of a future column.

On the occasion of the our 175th anniversary I would like to share a brief summary of the Village's early history.

One hundred seventy-five years ago, our village was experiencing a short growth spurt as a result of the recent completion of the Erie Canal. The village was one of the oldest settlements in Monroe County and was the first village after Rochesterville to incorporate. Although Pittsford's first cluster of buildings was located south of the present village at the Mile Post, settlement soon migrated north to take advantage of the newly opened State Road (now NYS Route 31) and the anticipated opening of the canal. We know that some of the early services provided by the village included a school, a constable and jail, plank sidewalks and crosswalks, the planting of trees, the cutting of excessive weed growth, and the grading of village streets.

After the canal opened the village grew slowly through the remainder of the ninteenth century. The stability of the local economy was assured by the arrival of the first railroad line to the village in 1834.

By the end of the century, the village boasted a cluster of agriculture-related businesses located along the canal and the railroad, a bustling one-block commercial district, six churches, three hotels, a "bowling green" park with drinking fountain, and a brand-new Union Free School building. Ten trains a day provided passenger service to Rochester. The trip took only twenty minutes.