Gorham, NY

Gorham is an Ontario County town with 4,130 people at the 2020 census, at the county's southern edge southeast of Canandaigua. Canandaigua Lake marks the western town line, Yates County the eastern line, and the southern boundary meets Yates County as well. The lake is one of the Finger Lakes, and Gorham's shoreline includes the Crystal Beach and Cottage City areas.

The town's name arrived through several earlier versions. The community was organized as Easton in 1797, renamed Lincoln in 1806, and adopted Gorham in 1807 for Nathaniel Gorham, a Massachusetts politician and merchant. Part of the town went to form Hopewell in 1822, while territory along the east shore of Canandaigua Lake was added in 1824. Today, town roads include NY 245, NY 247, and NY 364, with the lake and the southern county line doing as much to define Gorham as any village center. The town's annual marching-band extravaganza is the reason local materials call it the “Bandstand of the Finger Lakes.”