History · Sunset Bay

Sunset Bay’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Sunset Bay. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Sunset Bay is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Hanover in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, Sunset Bay had a population of 470. Sunset Bay is adjacent to the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation. On the reservation, adjacent to Sunset Bay, was previously home to a community of approximately 80 non-native residents who leased vacation homes. The Seneca Nation in 2012 declared the longstanding presence of the non-native residents an "illegal occupation" and drove them out of Sunset Bay.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 660 to 470 (-29%). Half of its homes were built before 1959.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Sunset Bay yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

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The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sunset Bay’s history is told.

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By decade

Sunset Bay, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

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Sunset Bay

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/19 · 2025-01-01