A spa was opened in 1854, eventually attracted many prominent people to Dansville for the water cure.

[4] He was assisted by his wife, known as "Mother Jackson", and their adopted daughter, Dr. Harriet Newell Austin.

[5][6] According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 2.6 square miles (6.8 km2), all land.

Canaseraga Creek flows northward just west of the village limits; it is a tributary of the Genesee River.

Stony Brook State Park, with waterfalls, hiking, and swimming, is 3 miles (5 km) south of the village.

The airport was opened in 1927, primarily by the efforts of World War I aviator Lynn Pickard.

Founded in 1858 by Dr. James Caleb Jackson as "Our Home on the Hillside",[15] the original building burned in 1882.

A grant from New York State for $2.5 million was approved in January 2008 to renovate the former "Jackson Health Resort".