Area 7
— Patrick O'Grady: Sandstone Builder —
Born in 1828 in County Mayo, Ireland, Patrick O'Grady was well known for designing and building some of Medina's finest sandstone buildings. Among others, Medina's First Baptist Church and Bent's Opera House are credited to him. In 1863, the transept of the first St. Mary's church was built- Patrick O'Grady was the architect.
Mr. O'Grady lived in a small sandstone house on West Center Street with his wife, Catherine, and their children. Life was hard for the O'Grady's- in 1885 they lost four of their children within six months to consumption (Tuberculosis). He died the following year in 1886 of the same disease at age 57 and is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery.
True to his calling, his massive family headstone is a work of art in Medina Sandstone.
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First Baptist Church, St. Mary's RC Church and Medina's City Hall are among the many outstanding examples of local sandstone architecture in and around Historic Downtown Medina.
Medina Sandstone was quarried in many locations across Orleans County. Many of the quarrymen were immigrants from Ireland, Poland, England and Italy.
Discovered around the time of the digging of the Erie Canal in the 1820s and accepted as a superlative building material, it was quarried for over a century in Orleans County and shipped world-wide for architectural masterpieces. Find it in Buckingham Palace, Brooklyn Bridge, the NYS Capitol, thousands of homes, and in cobblestone streets. In Buffalo, NY look for it in the H. H. Richardson Complex, St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, and St. Louis R.C. Church among countless other materworks. It has strength and integrity, plus unmatched beauty in many shades.
Interpretive prints and mounting provided courtesy of The Print Shop ? Medina, NY 585-590-9093 ? Designed by Chris Busch, ORG
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