Don’t plan a visit to Wyoming, New York if you’re looking for fast food restaurants and mega-malls. If four lane highways and taxi cabs are your pleasure, this town is definitely not for you. However, if you enjoy a leisurely stroll down quiet village streets and pleasant conversation with shopkeepers, make plans soon to visit the historic “Gaslight Village” of Wyoming, NY.

With more than seventy buildings on the National Historic Register and its streets illuminated by the original gas street lights, a trip to Wyoming imparts the feeling you’ve taken a gentle step backward in time, and that’s precisely the way this community intends to keep it.
The village is nestled in the heart of Middlebury township, so-named by the Vermont pioneers who began settling the area in 1802. The township is subtly dominated by gentle, rolling hills and dotted with small fields so reminiscent of a Yankee countryside. Agriculture is the region’s major industry, with tourism a close second. (Some savvy farmers are combining the two, hosting `agri-tours’ of their state-of-the-art dairy farm operations!)

Less than an hours’ drive from both Buffalo and Rochester yet distant enough to be remain untainted by urbanization, Wyoming indeed resembles New England both in its built environment and its surrounding landscape.

An architectural tour of Wyoming can be made on foot, as this tiny village is comprised of only a few streets. The predominant architectural styles are Federal and Greek Revival, with a concentration on the small and picturesque. Glance in any direction from the center of town and you’ll see gingerbread a-plenty!

The influence of notable Buffalo landscape architect Bryant Fleming is visible throughout the village. Mr. Fleming, who founded the landscape architecture program at Cornell University, either built or made additions to many of the significant homes in Wyoming, including the glorious Hillside Inn.

Built as a “Water Cure” establishment in 1851, Hillside later became summer home to a prominent Kentucky family. A daughter, Lydia Avery, who attained national prominence as a patron of the arts and humanities, eventually gained title to the property. Hillside developed into a private summer colony for many celebrated writers, painters, actors, dancers and musicians of turn-of-the-century America, who shared their talents with villagers in exchange for summer residency. Today, this classic revival mansion and its 48 acres of serene, natural splendor are once again being shared with the outside world as “Hillside Inn, Circa 1851 Ltd.”

Hillside is only one of several gracious buildings in Wyoming which remains open to the public. The local bank is located in an 1860’s brick building, which harkens back to the buildings of the Old West. The original Wyoming Fire Hall (circa 1902), was built and donated to the village by Lydia Avery’s sons. In that
same year, Lydia donated the stately, sophisticated Wyoming Village Hall, in celebration of the Centennial of Middlebury. It is now a multipurpose community center, with a lecture hall, library, meeting rooms and a large natural science collection donated by Lydia’s second husband, Dr. Henry Ward.
The Middlebury Academy is another treasured historic landmark located in the Village of Wyoming. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, the Greek Revival style structure was erected by the citizens of Wyoming in 1817 and was the first high school in the Holland Purchase. The Academy offered co-educational and non-denominational classical studies to the youth of Western New York until 1912. It is now a museum and home to the Middlebury Historical Society. The museum contains local archives, history exhibits, agricultural tools and a Native American collection.

Each year in late September the entire community joins in a grand celebration of the bountiful harvest, known as the AppleUmpkin Festival. Villagers roll out the welcome mat to thousands of people over festival weekend. The proceeds of this annual event are donated back to the community, providing improvements and beautification for all to appreciate. Festival-goers can enjoy live music, which plays non-stop in three locations around the village, or take in the village-wide arts & crafts show, strolling entertainers and scrumptious indigenous foods, like Wyoming’s famous Apple Sausage, available only at festival time and only in Wyoming. A high-quality antique show takes place in the Village Hall, and the Wyoming Hook & Ladder Company hosts a Chicken Barbeque on Sunday! As an added bonus, take a driving tour of the beautiful Dale Valley, including a stop at the state’s smallest Post Office in Dale, NY.