Penfield began as a milling town in the early 1800s, evolved into a farming community by the 1850s, and grew into one of Rochester's finest suburbs in the 1900s. Within the pages of Penfield are stories of founder Daniel Penfield and why, as a successful merchant and landowner, he left eastern New York to settle in an uninhabited wilderness; of twelve-year-old "Little Nellie" Williams, who operated the town's newspaper during the Civil War; of Almon Strowger, the inventor of the dial telephone switch; and of Timothy and Lydia Bush, direct ancestors of President George W. Bush. One of the only remaining mud houses in New York State still stands in Penfield; it and many other early structures are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.