A factory was built on Fairport’s Parce Avenue, less than twenty years after the close of the Civil War. It started out as a shoe factory. Later, agricultural implements and pulleys were built there. However, people who have spent a lot of time in this community simply know it as “the can.” It was here that the American Can Company produced cans for food and beverages, employing generations of Fairport and Perinton residents.

This presentation will trace the history of the factory from its beginning, culminating in the present day, with thriving businesses located in what is now known as “the Cannery.”

Bill Poray has been the historian for Perinton and the village of Fairport since 2013. He has had a lifelong interest in history, especially local history, sparked by school social studies teachers and his own family’s involvement in the Civil War. A retiree of General Motors, Rochester Operations, Bill helped to secure and preserve the site’s historic artifacts. He has also been a Trustee of the Perinton Historical Society for many years, and was a commissioner of the Fairport Historic Preservation Commission since its inception in 2007 to 2012. As municipal historian, he researches local history, leads tours, provides presentations on numerous topics, and meets with hundreds of schoolchildren each year on field trips and school assemblies

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