When people think of Upstate New York, specifically Brockport, many things come to mind such as the village, places to eat, or even the bridges. Some may not know that the village houses some of the most fantastical history of Monroe County. In the late 19th century and early 20th centuries, Victorian architecture was the prominent style. It inspired many cities even lots of towns all over the nation until The Roaring Twenties when it was replaced by the Eclectic movement.

This is one of several notable monuments in the Brockport village known as the Morgan-Manning house inspired by a classical style known as Italianate. Its history stretches as far back as 1854 when it was first built and it shows off how savvy Victorians lived in an era that was filled with disease, the ongoing Civil War and religion stretched so far. Brockport is also a part of the Burnover district which includes several counties of upstate and central New York all affected by an over extended welcome of  a new revival of religion. This in turn could have affected the architecture inside the village with its near eerie features.

Even with the Victorian era long since past, at least in terms of architectural integrity, monuments such as the Morgan-Manning house still stand as it was a house lived in by members of the Morgan-Manning family for a century. The last member of the family, Sara Morgan Manning, died in 1964 after a fire broke out inside the house and consumed her at the age of 96.

After all the tragedy the house has suffered through in its many years of standing, it had turned out that Sara left behind her house to the community. And as a result, a group of locals then formed the Western Monroe County Historical Society to help restore the house. Several items of furnishing and many portraits of prominent local residents from the time are currently mounted on the walls as well as the ceilings having been raised. The house has since been added to the National Register of Historic Places back in 1991.

While Victorian style architecture did much to influence the structure of the modern day in different cities and towns, Victorian architecture also influenced fashion that has in turn certainly had a number on the dark fashion sense of today. Luckily for the people of Monroe County a shop does exist where you can buy clothes much similar to the styles Victorians wore back then.

Eclipse Boutique is the store in question. This shop prides itself as being the largest goth shop in Western New York that attracts people from all sides and counties of the state to come in and have a look around. “There was no such thing as fast fashion, but clothes weren’t mass produced,” says Steve Brown, one of the workers at Eclipse. “Maybe as far back as like, Syracuse to Buffalo as far down as supporting, so it’s over a 50 mile radius.”

The type of crowd that Eclipse attracts seems to range from people completely new to the lifestyle of dark Victorian/Goth fashion or those who may be going through a rough time in life and are in need of an outlet to brood. “It brings out people who are Metalheads and Goths” says customer Gavin Podsiadlo. While many see people who dress in this fashion as frightening, many people who dress in Victorian fashion are in fact quite nice people. “A lot of Goths actually are very happy and personable people” Steve Brown says when talking about this.

One key thing about an outfit that ties the entire thing together is the shoes. Eclipse is certainly no stranger to shoe choice as they have an eclectic collection of boots. The design on the boots is reminiscent of what Victorian men and women used to wear on a regular basis albeit with a slightly different theme in mind.

“The boots form the foundation, because it changes your posture. It changes your height, everything about how you carry yourself,” Brown said.

From architecture to fashion and much more, the age of Victorian style is never truly dead in the Village of Brockport. Whether you dress as a druidess or merely glance at it form a distance, there will always be an existence of shadows wherever you shall roam.