Western New York Heritage

Batavia Celebrates 100 Years

Batavia City Hall proudly displayed 100 years as a city through 2015.

This year's annual Christmas in the City event in downtown Batavia was memorable for more than just the holiday parade and pictures with Santa. The yearlong centennial celebration concluded with the revealing of the legacy wall which will hold the city's time capsule containing pictures, smartphones, and books to help illustrate 2015 Batavia. 

A large sundial sits in the plaza in front of City Hall as the legacy gift from local businesses.

In Austin Park, people gathered to be a part of the "Human 100" photo before gathering along Main Street to watch the holiday parade.

The photo shows the north side of Main Street in the 1920s, when Batavia was in its prime. The winter view is likely similar to the way the community looked when Batavians celebrated the new year and new city charter in 1915.

Image courtesy of the Genesee County History Department

As Batavia looks forward to its next 100 years, revisit the community at the turn of the 20th century with period images such as the above photo in the Old Photo Album in the Fall 2015 issue.