GETZVILLE, N.Y. — What’s in a name? In part one of this series, we shared the history of town and city names across the state. Many are Greek and Roman mythological names; others are meant to compliment the land that makes them up. Now, we’re heading to Getzville. It's a place that is uniquely New York.

It is the only Getzville in America. It’s also stood the test of time and remains a hamlet. This story starts at the Skinnerville Cemetery.

What You Need To Know

  • Getzville is a hamlet in the Town of Amherst

  • Its post office and volunteer fire company are two reasons it has stood the test of time

  • Many of the firefighters are generations volunteering

“There are still family members with that name that bear Getzville, 'Getz,' said David Morales, public information officer for the Getzville Fire Company. “And also here  I can see a number of other names that are firefighter related, Stahl, Muck and Mislin. These are all guys who are still serving.”

The Getzville Fire Company is a volunteer force that’s always been at the heart of the community.

“It was where people came together,” Morales said. "In one of the old previous fire halls, there was a dance hall upstairs.”

The fire company is 107 years old this year.

“Around 1917, a local farmer had one of his buildings burned down," said Morales. "He was not happy with the length of time it took for the local fire companies to get there. So he called a meeting at a local tavern. His name was George Wolf.”

It’s a big reason why the hamlet hasn’t dissolved into the town of Amherst.

“There are firefighters who serve here to this day today that have ancestors, that the streets are named after them,” Morales said. “The Canandaigua Niagara Falls Railway had a single track that ran through Getzville, and it was so small and insignificant that it got the nickname The Peanut Line."

It did eventually come with a nutty snack. But where did the name Getzville come from and why was it so prominent?

“Like most of this area, Getzville, the land that became Getzville, was part of the Holland Land Purchase at the turn of the 19th century,” said Carrie Stiver, the executive director of the Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village.

Stiver says it took about two decades for Getzville to get its start. Then in the 1850s, it was named.

“[It was named] when the Getz brothers Jacob and Franklin established their cooperage and stave factory,” Stiver said.

That building stands today in its original location, off that Peanut Line. Other historic buildings are resettled at the heritage village.

“George Hoover was the first postmaster of Getzville,” Stiver said.

But Hoover’s hands did a lot more than deliver mail. He changed farming into how we know it today.

“George Hoover was really one of the first people to take advantage of building these larger sort of industrial-scale farms and agricultural concerns after the development of the Erie Canal,” Stiver explained.

The canal, which turns 200 this year, then shaped today's communities.