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Lancaster in Erie County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Town Line, N.Y.

 
 
Town Line, N.Y. Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 19, 2017
1. Town Line, N.Y. Marker
Inscription.
N.E. corner of the intersection was a school. In the summer of 1861 this mainly German Community voted 85 to 40 to secede from the Union. It was rumored that many men left to join the Confederacy. On October 1945 President Truman advised Town Line to vote on rejoining the Union. In 1946 Town Line voted 90 to 23 to rejoin.

Donated by Order of the Southern Cross, S.C.V., U.D.C. and M.O.S.B.

 
Erected by Southern Cross, S.C.V., U.D.C. and M.O.S.B.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Government & PoliticsWar, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Former U.S. Presidents: #33 Harry S. Truman series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1861.
 
Location. 42° 53.456′ N, 78° 34.761′ W. Marker is in Lancaster, New York, in Erie County. Marker is on Broadway (U.S. 20) 0.1 miles west of Town Line Road, on the right when traveling west. Marker is located in a parking lot on the north side of the highway. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 6518 Broadway, Lancaster NY 14086, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Secession & Reunion (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Site of First Grist Mill
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(approx. 3.7 miles away); Marilla Veterans Memorial (approx. 3.7 miles away); The 150th Anniversary of the Start of the Civil War (approx. 3.7 miles away); The Willis Hotel (approx. 3.7 miles away); Marilla World War Honor Holl (approx. 3.8 miles away); Members of the United States Armed Forces (approx. 3.8 miles away); The Blacksmith Shop (approx. 3.9 miles away).
 
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Town Line, N.Y. in the Civil War
 
Also see . . .
1. Town Line, New York. Oral lore says that in 1861, 125 men supposedly gathered in an informal meeting and passed by 85 to 40 a resolution to secede from the United States. Because Town Line was never an incorporated municipal entity in the first place and had no well-defined boundaries, the resolution had no legal effect; neither the Confederacy nor the Union ever formally recognized the action. Several members of the German-American community fled to Canada; five residents crossed the Mason–Dixon line to fight with the Confederates in their Army of Northern Virginia, and twenty residents fought for the Union Army. Town Line held a ceremony on January 24, 1946, to "rejoin" the Union, along with a vote (overseen
Town Line, N.Y. Marker (<i>wide view; looking west along US Highway 20</i>) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 19, 2017
2. Town Line, N.Y. Marker (wide view; looking west along US Highway 20)
by Hollywood celebrity Cesar Romero) in which the residents voted, 90 to 23, to rescind the old vote. (Submitted on June 18, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 

2. Upstate town touts role as "last holdout of the Confederacy". Townsfolk gathered at the local schoolhouse just after war broke out. After a rowdy discussion, they voted 80 to 45 to secede from the Union, signing a declaration on a sturdy wooden desk that is a treasured town artifact. Shortly after, five local men headed south and joined the Confederate Army. “The country was literally coming apart at the seams. And the seams tore much farther north than most people realize. It didn’t stop at the Mason-Dixon Line." But locals are still unsure why Town Line, just minutes from Canada, took such a dramatic step. The town supported Abraham Lincoln for president the year before, and residents were mostly German immigrants, without connections to the American south. (Submitted on June 18, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on June 19, 2018. It was originally submitted on June 18, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 443 times since then and 37 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on June 18, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 29, 2024