Gorham Is the Bandstand of the Finger Lakes With an Older Easton Past

Gorham carries two town stories at once. It has a Canandaigua Lake edge, a Yates County line on the other side, and a broad stretch of Ontario County ground between them. The town also calls itself the Bandstand of the Finger Lakes, tied to its annual marching-band extravaganza.

The older civic story gives that label some depth. Gorham was created in 1789. Its history then runs through East Town in 1796, Easton organization in 1797, a change to Lincoln in 1806, and the Gorham name in 1807. That is a lot of civic naming for a place many travelers may treat as quiet lake-country space.

The hamlet stories add more texture. The town history names early settlers, post offices, old hamlet names, and a Gorham Pioneer Cemetery. Gorham hamlet was once called Bethel, while Rushville grew out of the older Federal Hollow name before becoming an incorporated village.

That mix is easy to miss from the road. The bandstand name makes Gorham sound neighborly and a little ceremonial, while the lake edge keeps the town tied to the wider Finger Lakes landscape.

Gorham’s charm is modest, which is part of the point. A bandstand identity, a lake border, old hamlet names, and a 1790s civic story give the place a center of gravity without making it pretend to be a resort town.