Town of Torrey 175th Anniversary Time Capsule Reception & Display
Town of Torrey 175th Anniversary Time Capsule Reception & Display
Dresden, New York, Town of Torrey - The Time Capsule and its contents honoring the 175th Anniversary of the founding of the Town of Torrey will be on display during a brief celebration and reception, announced the Commemoration Committee that organized the community-wide event.
The Town of Torrey Time Capsule Reception and Celebration will be held on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, from 5:00-7:00pm at the Dresden United Methodist Church community room. That evening visitors can also enjoy the final concert of Dresden’s “Music at the Gazebo” series featuring Madelyn Rose from 6:00-8:00pm. The two events are free, open to the public and located immediately across the street from one another in the Village of Dresden at the corner of Main and Cornelia Streets. (A short program with brief remarks will be made at 5:30pm.)
When opened in 2051, the 200th Anniversary of the Town of Torrey’s founding, the contents of the Time Capsule collected over the past six months will offer the next generation a dynamic glimpse of life in our community over the past 175 years. Nearly 1,000 items will be included in five separate albums or notebooks, including more than two dozen engaging contributions from area businesses and organizations.
Along with Town records such as budgets, listings of the town supervisors and other officials, are plans, maps, newsletters and two proclamations from the Town of Torrey Board and Yates County Legislature. Copies of noteworthy newspapers and magazines highlight current trends in tandem with a massive photo album with more than 250 photos of present times and many historic images drawn from various resources.
The Time Capsule will be buried in the Washington Pavilion Park on Main Street in Dresden. This is the site of the old Dresden Train Depot, which is directly across the street from the Dresden Hotel, now owned by Pete and Maeve Chapman, the founders of the popular Smokin Petes Barbeque located on Route 14. Historic images of the old Dresden Train Depot and the Dresden Hotel with its new owners are included in the Time Capsule Photo Album.
Other Time Capsule features:
- 25 Questions Initiative started with Penn Yan Academy third graders who will be in their early thirties when the Time Capsule is opened. We welcome everyone to submit their own 25 answers to the Time Capsule at the August Reception.
- Two bottles of wine from Anthony Road Wine Company and Bravery Winery
- An Abtex Deburring brush sample
- A variety of imprinted hats, T-shirts, brochures, menus and marketing materials from numerous Town of Torrey companies and organizations.
- An old flip phone and an early iPhone
- A local wine glass and pint glass
- Limited edition lithograph poster of “Seneca Lake Enjoy the Ride”
- Additionally, all the notebooks were purchased from Penn Yan’s popular second hand store, the Once Again Shoppe, for less than $10.
“We will be asking visitors to the Time Capsule Reception to sign their name on the exterior of the PVC tube,” Grant Downs, co-chairman of the Commemoration Committee said. “We can’t guarantee those signatures will endure the test of time -25 years underground- but we are confident that contents inside will give future generations an exciting opportunity to connect with the past and build their own camaraderie in 2051, as this project has done for us today in 2026. We are grateful to all those who participated.”
In 1851, the Town or Torrey was formed from parts of Milo and Benton and was named after Henry Torrey, supervisor of Potter and chairman of the Yates County Board of Supervisors at that time. Despite being the first area to be settled in the Finger Lakes region by European colonists in 1788, the Town of Torrey was the last of Yates County's nine townships to be officially formed.
The village of Dresden lies entirely within the Town and the two municipalities form a single district allowing the town clerk to serve as Registrar of Vital Records for both. The Town of Torrey includes nine miles of Seneca Lake’s scenic western shore with farms and vineyards constituting over 72% of the land area featuring an increasing emphasis on organic and sustainable farming practices. Dresden hosts the downstream terminus of the Keuka Outlet Trail, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Yates County. The Town of Torrey population is 1,300 and the land mass covers 40 square miles.
For further information, contact Grant Downs at gjdowns1946@gmail.com or Donna Rae Sutherland at draesutherland@gmail.com.
Click here to access the Town of Torrey webpage featuring over 30 links to historical information.
