Medina Sandstone is one of the hardest and densest sandstones known and is a much sought after building material. [It was used in the construction of Buckingham Palace in England and the Brooklyn Bridge!] Layers of it were deposited in what is now New York State over 400 million years ago and can be quarried along the Erie Canal bed between Rochester and Lockport. Medina Sandstone isn’t cheap but somehow it became the building material of choice for a 1930’s depression era relief program in Hamlin.
In 1935 the young men who were assigned to the Civilian Conservation Corps camp on Moscow Road in Hamlin were given the job of turning a rundown county park along the shore of Lake Ontario into a New York State Park. For six years they mined Medina Sandstone in local quarries, trucked it to Hamlin and cut it up. The young men turned it into three huge buildings (Shelter 1 and 3 plus the concessionaire building), two smaller buildings, thousands of feet of stone walls, bridges, fireplaces, drinking fountains, patios, and walkways. They even turned leftovers, leavings, and mistakes into gravel of different grades for building foundations, driveways and walkways in the CCC camp. Nothing was wasted!
In 2023, two members of the Medina Sandstone Society visited the park to investigate and determine whether or not to induct Hamlin Beach State Park into their Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame. Somehow, the magnitude of the accomplishments of the CCC boys had escaped their attention and they were amazed at what they saw. Shortly after their visit, Hamlin Beach State Park was inducted into the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame!
Ed Evans 2024
