Rushville, NY

Rushville is a village in the Finger Lakes region of New York, divided between Potter in Yates County and Gorham in Ontario County. The 2020 census counted 651 residents. It sits between Canandaigua and Seneca lakes, with the West River flowing southwest through the village toward Canandaigua Lake. That two-county arrangement is part of daily geography: streets, churches, town lines, and services cross a boundary that most local errands ignore. Yates County lists Rushville among its four incorporated villages.

The place was first called Federal Hollow, a name tied to early Federalist settlers and the river valley. Elias Gilbert arrived in the early settlement period, built a sawmill, and is remembered as one of its first settlers. The village took the name Rushville in 1818, honoring physician and founding father Benjamin Rush, and incorporated in 1866. Today its old hollow, river, and Finger Lakes farm country keep the village connected to a much wider landscape. Rushville is a small New York village whose unusual county line, watercourse, and early sawmill story are visible in the town’s map.