Batavia has historic places like the Holland Land Office Museum and the New York State School for the Blind. United Memorial Medical Center, the county’s only hospital, and Genesee Community College, the area’s only higher-education facility, both are based in Batavia. There’s a small, general aviation (or “private”) airport, a VA hospital, and the Buffalo Federal Detention Center, which is adjacent to the airport and has provided jobs and allowed the airport to expand in recent years. One of the largest yogurt-manufacturing plants in the country broke ground in Batavia in 2012. The Thruway passes just north of Batavia, which is just about halfway between Buffalo and Rochester. Darien Lake Theme Park, which has dozens of amusement rides, a water park and concerts, is only 15 miles west.

Local Museums/Landmarks
The Holland Land Office Museum is a National Historic Landmark on West Main Street. It was built in 1810 as the last office of the Holland Land Company, which owned almost all of what is today western New York. From this building, surveyor Joseph Ellicott presided over the survey, sale and settlement of land. The museum has exhibits about the history of the company and the region. The Soldiers’ Monument, erected in 1919 to honor the area’s Civil War veterans, is at the intersection of Main and Ellicott streets in the heart of downtown. The New York State School for the Blind opened in 1868 in response to the men blinded in the Civil War.