65 Center Street

The original part of this house was probably built about 1840 by Amos Hendee, a lawyer who later moved to Avon.  He sold the house to Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Curtis in 1872. Josiah Curtis conducted a coal and lumber business at the Depot. They made extensive repairs to the house and in 1879 built a large barn on the property. Dr. Herbert Schmitz purchased the house in 1882. Dr. Schmitz was head of the Science Department at the Geneseo Normal School for 18 years. In 1887, he sold this house to the Presbyterian Church for use as a parsonage and erected a new dwelling for himself on Prospect Street. 

Edward J. Forbes, a prominent building contractor, purchased it from the Presbyterians in 1909.  In 1935 a bad fire started in the attic, burned a large hole through the front gable, the roof over both sections and the attic itself. Repairs were made.  Mrs. Forbes died in 1943 and Mr. Forbes in 1945 at age 93. In 1950, their heirs sold the house to Victor McKeown.