Rochester’s rise to dominance was hardly a foregone conclusion. A number of would-be rivals sprouted up around the region, vying with equal temerity to become successful centers of civilization in a vast frontier territory. Although they have faded from popular memory, accounts of alternative settlements areas like Frankfort, King’s Landing, McCrackenville, and Deep Hollow are no less meaningful for having been eclipsed by Rochester. Their stories are recovered in “The Lost History of the Settlements along the Genesee and the Beginnings of Greece.”