Sodus Bay is unusual among large bays in the United States in that it never developed a large city on its shore. All the advantages of good transportation and commerce were there. In the 1870s, a proposal was put forth for such a city to be created and the architectural plans were drawn up. The proposed city would have stretched from about where Arney’s Marina is today south through the present golf course and almost to where Alasa Farms is now. It was not to be and the City of Sodus Bay became the City That Never Was:
In 1880, Benjamin R. Rogers created plans for a “City of Sodus Bay,” to include a large hotel, for which only the foundation was laid. Having financial difficulties, Rogers abandoned the project. Dr. Anthony Walton Evans acquired the property, and left it to his daughter, Countess Anna E. von Hemert. The property became known as the Blackmar Farm. During the early 1900’s, the Lyons and Sodus Point Railway Company tried to secure a right-of-way through the Blackmar Farm to construct a rail line, steamboat dock, and coal trestle. The railway company was unsuccessful, however, in securing right-of-way easements from the countess. It was not until after her death that Blackmar Farm was sold. In 1922, the incorporation of the Sodus Bay Heights Land Company became the genesis for what was to become a great housing and recreational expansion on Sodus Bay.
Above information taken from the book, Great Sodus Bay by Rosa Fox, 2016
Ypu can click on the link below and use the + and – buttons to zoom in and out to better view the proposed city:
Proposed City of Sodus Bay
