Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I once briefly dated an old school, 100% Italian girl from Upstate NY a while back, this was like 25 years ago, she took me to an area in NY where her grandparents lived, I didn't remember it until now. I went through some older photos (the kind taken with an actual camera) and saw that it was an area called "Pifford". Never heard of it then, and still know nothing about it.
But I do remember literally everyone I met was Italian. Mostly older folks and it was very rural at the time, but there was a drag strip near there and a bunch of guys named Sal and Tony were racing cars, and even some local radio stations played Italian music. Literally everyone was a mechanic or a plumber. Or maybe it was her small circle. Very strange. Nice people, very welcoming, the wine flowed IIRC. I wonder what its like there now....
I once briefly dated an old school, 100% Italian girl from Upstate NY a while back, this was like 25 years ago, she took me to an area in NY where her grandparents lived, I didn't remember it until now. I went through some older photos (the kind taken with an actual camera) and saw that it was an area called "Pifford". Never heard of it then, and still know nothing about it.
But I do remember literally everyone I met was Italian. Mostly older folks and it was very rural at the time, but there was a drag strip near there and a bunch of guys named Sal and Tony were racing cars, and even some local radio stations played Italian music. Literally everyone was a mechanic or a plumber. Or maybe it was her small circle. Very strange. Nice people, very welcoming, the wine flowed IIRC. I wonder what its like there now....
It looks like this is due to the salt mines in the area and Retsof(Foster backwards, which was the last name of the founder), was a company town that used Italian labor. Both Retsof and Piffard are in the town of York in Livingston County south/SW of Rochester. Some information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retsof,_New_York https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piffard,_New_York
A few other Upstate company towns that used a lot of Italian labor are Solvay just west of Syracuse(Solvay Process/Allied Chemical), Endicott west of Binghamton(Endicott-Johnson Shoes, IBM) and Lackawanna just south of Buffalo(Bethlehem Steel). Solvay has a relatively big Tyrolean Italian population. Endicott’s North Side is also known as a Little Italy. Lackawanna’s SW portion is where the Italian population has historically been concentrated.
There’s also East Rochester, with its historical Italian population and forming as a railroad town.
Also, salt mining appears to have been an industry that Italians worked in, as Watkins Glen is another community with a salt mining industry and a known Italian community.
Some worked as farm workers in places such as Canastota; Wayne County communities such as Clyde, Lyons, etc. Later, some Italians would recruit black farm workers to those communities. For instance, I personally know of some that worked for the Rapasadi family in Canastota, which is known for its muck lands/Onion farms.
For suburbs, look north of Buffalo and Syracuse, west of Rochester, pretty much any around Utica, Endicott/Endwell area west of Binghamton; Rotterdam east of Schenectady and parts of Colonie in between Albany and Schenectady, among others.
Places like Herkimer(South Side), Geneva(East Side next to black and Hispanic areas of that city), Auburn(West Side in between areas of black and Slavic(Polish/Ukrainian) populations, Oswego(West Side of Oswego River around Canale’s and Vons’s)/nearby Fulton(has/has an annual Italian festival), Watertown(West Side around Breen Street, many send or sent their kids to Immaculate Heart Central) and Cortland(around St. Anthony of Padua church) are some smaller villages/cities, among others, with visible Italian communities/neighborhoods.
So, that should give people places to look into.
You’ll also have certain surnames that are pretty big in some places like Tarolli in Solvay, Alteri in Watertown and Amsterdam, Carnicelli in Auburn, etc.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 08-13-2022 at 12:43 PM..
Yeah, I didn't realize it was that close. Dang it. I drove through Geneseo last fall but I was going back to NJ from Rochester on 390. I went through Geneseo to get lunch. I would have gone through that area if I remembered where it was.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckhthankgod
It looks like this is due to the salt mines in the area and Retsof(Foster backwards, which was the last name of the founder), was a company town that used Italian labor. Both Retsof and Piffard are in the town of York in Livingston County south/SW of Rochester. Some information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retsof,_New_York https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piffard,_New_York
A few other Upstate company towns that used a lot of Italian labor are Solvay just west of Syracuse(Solvay Process/Allied Chemical), Endicott west of Binghamton(Endicott-Johnson Shoes, IBM) and Lackawanna just south of Buffalo(Bethlehem Steel). Solvay has a relatively big Tyrolean Italian population. Endicott’s North Side is also known as a Little Italy. Lackawanna’s SW portion is where the Italian population has historically been concentrated.
There’s also East Rochester, with its historical Italian population and forming as a railroad town.
Also, salt mining appears to have been an industry that Italians worked in, as Watkins Glen is another community with a salt mining industry and a known Italian community.
Some worked as farm workers in places such as Canastota; Wayne County communities such as Clyde, Lyons, etc. Later, some Italians would recruit black farm workers to those communities. For instance, I personally know of some that worked for the Rapasadi family in Canastota, which is known for its muck lands/Onion farms.
For suburbs, look north of Buffalo and Syracuse, west of Rochester, pretty much any around Utica, Endicott/Endwell area west of Binghamton; Rotterdam east of Schenectady and parts of Colonie in between Albany and Schenectady, among others.
Places like Herkimer(South Side), Geneva(East Side next to black and Hispanic areas of that city), Auburn(West Side in between areas of black and Slavic(Polish/Ukrainian) populations, Oswego(West Side of Oswego River around Canale’s and Vons’s)/nearby Fulton(has/has an annual Italian festival), Watertown(West Side around Breen Street, many send or sent their kids to Immaculate Heart Central) and Cortland(around St. Anthony of Padua church) are some smaller villages/cities, among others, with visible Italian communities/neighborhoods.
So, that should give people places to look into.
You’ll also have certain surnames that are pretty big in some places like Tarolli in Solvay, Alteri in Watertown and Amsterdam, Carnicelli in Auburn, etc.
Interesting. Must be a fair amount of blonde and red-headed Italians there then!
^all good info for anyone looking. I did a deep Ancestry dive, and traced all the names and addresses of my grandparents / great grandparents from Upstate. You have to pay for it but its well worth the money if people are interested in genealogy.
Anyone can do this, and once you climb down the rabbit hole it all connects and gets more interesting. The nice thing about Upstate is many of the addresses shown in 1900-1950 census tables, those homes are still there. The streets are still the same. Churches/ even businesses are often still present. This doesn't happen in many other areas. Even when I traced my other sides NYC roots, most of the homes are long gone.
I've even seen many of my family named scattered in these areas. It a fun thing to do if people are interested in "genealogy tourism" and doesn't cost that much.
Also, add in newspapers.com for a more complete picture. Can't believe how much stuff I've discovered between those two sites (Ancestry owns both, and I'm not affiliated with either just making a suggestion)
Yeah, I didn't realize it was that close. Dang it. I drove through Geneseo last fall but I was going back to NJ from Rochester on 390. I went through Geneseo to get lunch. I would have gone through that area if I remembered where it was.
Interesting. Must be a fair amount of blonde and red-headed Italians there then!
^all good info for anyone looking. I did a deep Ancestry dive, and traced all the names and addresses of my grandparents / great grandparents from Upstate. You have to pay for it but its well worth the money if people are interested in genealogy.
Anyone can do this, and once you climb down the rabbit hole it all connects and gets more interesting. The nice thing about Upstate is many of the addresses shown in 1900-1950 census tables, those homes are still there. The streets are still the same. Churches/ even businesses are often still present. This doesn't happen in many other areas. Even when I traced my other sides NYC roots, most of the homes are long gone.
I've even seen many of my family named scattered in these areas. It a fun thing to do if people are interested in "genealogy tourism" and doesn't cost that much.
Also, add in newspapers.com for a more complete picture. Can't believe how much stuff I've discovered between those two sites (Ancestry owns both, and I'm not affiliated with either just making a suggestion)
Okay, so I left Westchester, NY and my Turco's (now Uncle Giuseppe's Marketplace), DeCicco's, and A&S Pork Store. I'm in Williamsburg VA which surprisedly has an Italian population. Who knew? And, a number of Italian-Americans here are from Rome, NY.
So I suggest looking into Rome, NY or come on over to Williamsburg, VA!
Okay, so I left Westchester, NY and my Turco's (now Uncle Giuseppe's Marketplace), DeCicco's, and A&S Pork Store. I'm in Williamsburg VA which surprisedly has an Italian population. Who knew? And, a number of Italian-Americans here are from Rome, NY.
So I suggest looking into Rome, NY or come on over to Williamsburg, VA!
Interesting...Rome does have a Little Italy along East Dominick Street and has a recent history of having mayors of Italian descent. 4 of the last 5 mayors have been of Italian descent/have Italian last names since 1992. https://romenewyork.com/past-mayors/
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
