Palmyra

Palmyra, NY
43 04.01 N 077 13.54 W

This morning we encountered hoards of bicyclers.  There are 500 of them. They are riding 400 miles on the Cycling The Erie Canal Bike Tour.   We exchanged waves and greetings  The best part is that they led us to a delightful stop here in Palmyra.

For some reason I had the false idea that Palmyra was a rural crossroads with nothing.  How wrong I was.  We went ashore and started walking up the street.  Along came a group of the bicyclers led by a dynamo woman named Diana.  Diana said, "Hey! Are you two looking for the museums?  Follow me."   We did and boy were we glad.   Diana took us on a tour of the old Phelps General Store.

Wow what an experience.  Once again we felt that we were transported back to the 19th century.  This was no artificial reproduction, as found in today's big city museum.  This was reality.  Here's how it is described on the web site.

The museum "where time stands still," has served the needs of Palmyrans and Erie "Canawlers" as a boarding house, tavern, bakery, and general store since its construction in 1826. Proprietor William Phelps completed renovations to the store by 1875, subsequently left untouched by his son Julius, who locked the doors in 1940, leaving a curious retail time capsule for you and your family to explore. Upstairs you’ll visit the elegant Phelps’ family home with post-Civil War furnishings and Victorian splendor, unspoiled by electricity or indoor plumbing, where Sibyl Phelps resided until her passing in 1976! The haunting presence of the Phelps’ 108 year legacy remains to this day.

I felt that Sibyl Phelps must have been one of our relatives.  Not true, but it could have been.  Because of the peculiar life style of this family, the 19th century remained alive and kicking until 1976.  Therefore, what is left for us to view today (after great labors by Palmyra volunteer restoration workers) is much fresher and more authentic than anything else we've seen.   

It reminded me greatly of my Aunt Matt and Uncle Duck.  Have I ever blogged about them?

Next we moved on to the Print Shop Museum, the Palmyra Historical Museum and the Alling Coverlet and Quilt Museum.  Wow, a quadruple whammy of great places.   

Since our tours were guided, I could not take as many pictures as I did in the Medina RR Museum.  Also, I used up the lithium batteries in our camera the other day.  Still I managed to get some pictures with the Droid   To see the slide show, look here.

We also learned a lot of history.   It is much more than a canal town and the home of Joseph Smith when he founded the Mormon religion.   Palmyra has a long, varied and rich history.  I had no idea.   Libby recognized one family name.   Leonard and Clarissa Jerome were Palmyrans and the grandparents of Winston Churchill.   Libby remembers Jenny Jerome from our high school days who was a descendant of that family.

Still more good things today.  After the museums, we went to "The Publication Site."  That is where The Book of Mormon was first published.  They have a book store there and a visitor's center where great numbers of Mormons come to visit every day.  We went in the book store and said that we were visiting by boat, and that we would like to see the pageant tonight, and was there some way we could get a ride to Hill Cumorah, 8 miles away.  A man overheard us.  He was Lt. Col. Sherman L. Fleek, Command Historian, US Military Academy, West Point.   The colonel was an author there for a book signing.   He said that he too wanted to see the pageant and offered to drive us there tonight.  Oh boy.  I"l blog about the pageant tomorrow.