Available October 7, 2025!
It’s been said that East Aurora, New York is straight out of a Hallmark Christmas movie, an observation perhaps given credence after the filming of an actual Hallmark Christmas movie in the village in June 2025. It’s quaint and charming, for sure, but like many small towns, East Aurora has a history of struggles as well as triumphs that have contributed to the community it is today.
Who Put the ‘East’ in East Aurora? is the first in a series of books that bring together nearly 20 years of historian Robert Lowell Goller’s research into the fascinating history of this small town.
Among the more than 30 intriguing questions answered in this first book:
Why is there an East Aurora but no West Aurora?
What made East Aurora’s celebrity horse, Mambrino King, so famous?
Which World Series champion played baseball in Hamlin Park?
How did the Blue Devil become East Aurora’s mascot?
Why is the East Aurora school district “union free”?
How was Vidler’s victorious in the village’s 5&10 rivalry?
In addition to explaining how East Aurora got its name, Who Put the ‘East’ in East Aurora? explores the village’s unique horse history, the development of its schools and parks, the evolution of local shopping, and the harsh realities of discrimination and racism. These are the stories of East Aurora, but they could easily be the stories of any “Hallmark” town.
Published in October 2025 by Upper Sycamore Press.
Robert Lowell Goller 