Described by Quaker Jacob Lindley as an "uncultivated part of nature's garden", Orchard Park has seen many changes in the years since its beginning. The first settlers in today's Orchard Park Township were Didymus C. Kinney, wife Phebe (Hartwell), and family. In October 1803, they purchased land in the southwest corner of the Township and built a cabin where they remained through 1810 (census). Soon, impressions of the area brought a tide of migrating Quaker families from Vermont, eastern New York, and Pennsylvania (a.k.a. Society of Friends). Agrarian Quakers preferred life in quiet communities that were detached from the "corrupting influences" of the larger world. This "uncultivated part of nature's garden" was attractive.

In June 1804, two Danby, Vermont residents, Ezekiel Smith, and Quaker Amos Colvin contracted for the purchase of large tracts of lands located in the same southwest quadrant as the Kinney family. In October of 1804, Quaker David Eddy arrived from Danby, and "reserved" a substantial amount of property for $2.25/acre. This land encompassed roughly 600 acres and included much of present Orchard Park village. David set some of this land aside for his parents, Quaker Jacob and Susannah (Sprague) Eddy, and the rest for himself, wife Hannah (Arnold), and other members of related families. The entire Eddy family played a key role in the early stages of settlement.

In 1804, area surveyor, Joseph Ellicott informed the Holland Land Company, that a road leading from Lake Erie to the Township had been completed. It was to be called the Middle Road, and was later incorporated in Big Tree Road. This would prove to have a large impact on settlement.

In 1804 Obadiah Baker and his wife Anna (Wheeler) arrived from Danby and within a few months sanctioned Quaker Meetings at their home. By 1811 there were over twenty Quaker families, and by 1814 upwards of 25 Quaker families in the community. In December 1811, a half-acre property "with a log house standing thereon" was purchased by Society of Friends "for the sole purpose of building a meeting house thereon". It served as the meeting house until the early 1820s when they built the picturesque meeting house we know today. From all accounts, the original "log house" was the first church structure of any denomination in all of present Erie County.

The pioneer Quakers, surnames among them including Baker, Chilcott, Deuel, Freeman, Griffin, Hall, Hoag, Hambleton, Hampton, Kester, Potter, Shearmen, Sprague, Tilton and Webster coexisted peacefully with non-Quakers in the area and the community thrived. The Quakers established a lending library in 1823 and the non-Quaker families, among them the Abbots, Newtons, Clarks, and Sheldons, established the first public library in southern Erie County in 1824. Many descendents of these early settlers still live in the area today.

The area we now know as Orchard Park Township was originally part of the Township of Hamburgh; the area we know as the environs of the Four Corners of Orchard Park Village became known at an early day as Potter's Corner due to the homesteading of the prolific Quaker Potter family. A decision was made in 1850 to separate Hamburgh's east half from its west half, the new eastern Township to be named Ellicott. This designation lasted for a little more than a year, and was then changed to East Hamburgh. The name Potter's Corners gradually was replaced by Orchard Park, informally, around 1882 when it was noted that the community resembled a park of orchards. The community had been known as Orchard Park for many years before it officially was incorporated in to a village in 1921. Finally, the entire township of East Hamburg became known as Orchard Park Township in 1934, the final "h" of Hamburgh having been lost around the time of World War I.

In the early days on this frontier, responsibility for much of a child's education had to be assumed by the family. From an early age, the chores of the farm and household included a wealth of "hands on instruction". Inventories found in old estate records show that parents owned various school books, and used these to teach their children the basics of reading, writing, arithmetic, and geography. The first common school house that can be documented, District #5 School House, was constructed in the southwest part of present Orchard Park Township (then Hamburgh) sometime prior to March 1820. It was located near the intersection of Bunting and Draudt Roads. Local Quakers were mindful that a "guarded education" for their children was desirable, but a Select School for Friends was not established until December 28, 1825. It was requested at their governing meeting "the privilege of building a school house on the meeting house lot". The concept was approved and a log school was built in early 1826 on the grounds of our still-standing meeting house. David Eddy recalled that its first teacher was Henry Hibbard. It was in existence for only ten years.

In 1854, Quaker John Allen, and wife Chloe, purchased a large tract of land bordering the south side of West Quaker and the west side of South Lincoln Streets. Around 1866 they built a boarding Academy on 3.8 acres of land, a plot which roughly coincides with the site of today's Middle School minus the athletic field. "It was a long, handsome three story building with dormitories and classrooms." In 1869, John and Chloe sold the Academy to the newly formed East Hamburgh Friends Institute for $6427.50. In 1881, a wing of the building and a portion of the land were split off, and deeded to the East Hamburgh's Public School District #6. Within months after that sale, on April 28, 1882, the remainder of the building burned: "the large building at East Hamburgh known as the Quaker Academy caught fire as supposed from a defective chimney and with contents was totally destroyed. Loss and insurance could not be ascertained. The loss, however, is estimated at $10,000." This was the final blow to Friend's endeavors in education locally.

As the community grew, our links with neighboring communities improved. Dirt roads became plank roads in the 1840s, and were gradually upgraded to stone, macadam, and brick, especially after the invention of the horseless carriage. The railroad was extended to Orchard Park in 1883, and a very small wooded depot was built just south of the Thorn Avenue crossing. In 1900, this town of then 800 people saw an electric trolley line established to run between Buffalo and Orchard Park. It was abandoned in 1932, when buses took the trolley's place but not their adventuresome thrill.

No history of Orchard Park can be complete without mention of successful businessman and philanthropist Harry Yates. A Buffalonian, he came to Orchard Park shortly after the turn of the century. He came seeking pastureland for his coalwagon horses who were suffering from sore feet due to cobblestone streets of the city. He was so impressed with our rolling countryside, that he decided to add farming to his business interests, built his home here, and eventually invested in 3,500 acres of land. Ultimately, he created and donated Green Lake (1912) to the community, the adjacent Girl Scout Camp (c.1920) and Yates Park (1942), the site on which the present railroad depot is located including the present library site (1911). He also provided land for the construction of two churches, Nativity of Our Lord Roman Catholic and St. John's Lutheran, and the land for Nativity cemetery.

In the years since our beginnings, Orchard Park has seen many changes, yet we could still be considered somewhat rural with our many farms and expanses of land. We enjoy a superior centralized school system, many cultural opportunities such as the Orchard Park Symphony, the summer Pavilion, and the Quaker Arts Festival, and a generally serene lifestyle. The labors and dedication to duty of all of our pioneers cannot be overestimated. They transformed a vast wilderness into a lovely community. They brought with them an estimable work ethic, a strong sense of fairness, and spirit of community harmony. They also left us a legacy of graceful, functional landmarks built as their residences, churches, and public places. They now speak to us of their culture, lifestyle, and values. Their architectural vestiges give character to our tranquil byways and have served to inspire modern likenesses. Yes, the footprints of our pioneers left an indelible impression on the character of our community, an impression nourished by discerning continued cultivation of "nature's garden" as we look to the future.