The Village of Dansville, NY was founded in 1795 and named after Daniel Faulkner, an early settler. Dansville is surrounded by wooded hills and fertile farmlands in a valley that is part of the Genesee River watershed. Less than an hour’s drive south of Rochester, Dansville is located at the western end of the Finger Lakes region of Western New York. The population is approximately 6000, and has grown in size little during the past century. Yet Dansville boasts light and heavy industry, an airport, and one of the best community hospitals in New York State.

Dansville has an unusually rich history. Seneca Indians farmed, hunted and fished here for centuries before the arrival of European settlers. It was in Dansville that Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross. In 1858 a water cure enterprise was established which rivaled the health resorts of Europe and attracted such luminaries as Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, and Horace Greeley.