Once upon a time… a little hamlet was formed. Surrounded by lush wilderness and accessible only by dirt roads (muddy in the spring, dusty in the summer and deep with snow in the winter), Houghton Creek was beautiful but isolated. As time went on, the creation of the Genesee River canal provided accessibility for commerce and growth. It brought goods and passengers on horse-drawn canal boats and captained by canal boatmen. The mile-long strip of land from the north end of the hamlet to the south, dubbed Jockey Street, was THE rendezvous spot for pleasure seeking and horse racing. Bets were made, horses were raced and money was won (and lost).

In the midst of the Jockey Street days, revivals and callings led to the establishment of a Church, a Seminary (later Houghton Academy) and then a College. Answered prayers took a town known for sinful pleasures to a town of piety. 150 years or so later, the owners of Jockey Street Coffee Roasters, seeking God's direction for their own lives, looked around to see again the potential of this great area for commerce and growth - needing only some people to take the chance, this time with God's intended plan in mind. Jockey Street Coffee Roasters pays homage to those raw days, not for their grit, but for the perspective in how we have been developed and how we are continuing to be refined, as people and as a community. We are honored to find ourselves in God's unfolding story.