The Girls of Le Roy

Downtown Le Roy, NY

In this small town in upstate New York, there are still no answers to what caused the mysterious tics to hit the teenage girls, but there are plenty of possible theories...none of which are yet proven or dis-proven.


I have been following this story since it broke, and since my last blog post, there has only been one decent article that I found in the New York Times. Here, the reporter did her research, but it left me with more questions than answers as she has brought up some unknown issues that haven't been mentioned previously.


Some history:

Located on the eastern border of Genesee County, LeRoy is one of the most picturesque communities in upstate New York. Firstsettled in 1797, the community is nestled along the beautiful Oatka Creek.  The tree-lined streets are lined with stately Victorian homes which provide numerous bed and breakfast retreats in a quiet setting, only half an hour from Rochester and less than an hour from Buffalo. A variety of restaurants provide a wide range of family dining.  LeRoy is conveniently located at the intersection of Routes 5 and 19, only three miles from exit 47 of the New York State Thruway and the 490 expressway into Rochester.  Known as the birthplace of Jell-O, LeRoy is also the home of the former Ingham University, the first chartered university for women in the United States. The history of LeRoy is preserved and exhibited at the LeRoy Historical Society, which also maintains the Jell-O Gallery, devoted to the history of America’s Most Famous Dessert.

Wikipedia adds:

Prior to its incorporation in 1834, the first settlements in the village were to the east of the present village site. 

The village was an early center for the manufacture of patent medicines by companies such as S. C. Wells & Co. and household chemicals. Products produced in Le Roy included Mustarine, a patent mustard-plaster compound, and Rough On Rats, a rodent poison. Earliest businesses in the village are the Bank of LeRoy (founded 1834, now Bank of America) and the Gazette-News newspaper (defunct 1993). Le Roy is the birthplace of Jell-O. 

Le Roy holds the Oatka Festival every summer, the tradition originating in 1989. This festival includes celebration of the rich culture and history of of the local area with vendors and several of local businesses and restaurants participating each year.
The Keeney House, Machpelah Cemetery, Le Roy House and Union Free School, U.S. Post Office, and Marion Steam Shovel are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In the New York Times article...the fact that there may still be contaminated soil that was never dealt with all those years ago...makes you wonder even more if there is an environmental problem.


I won't keep you...the article is a lengthy one...but well worth reading.

What Happened to the Girls in Le Roy