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Port Byron in Cayuga County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

A Metaphor for Change

The Canalway Trail

 
 
A Metaphor for Change Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Anton Schwarzmueller, May 16, 2015
1. A Metaphor for Change Marker
Inscription. Lock 52 in Port Byron was a busy place prior to 1917. In the vicinity of the lock, you would have seen a bustling waterfront, with dozens of boats locking up or down the canal. At Tanner's Dry Dock, just up the canal from the lock, canal boats were being built and repaired. Lodgers would be dining at the Erie House near the Dry Docks and captains would be picking up orders from the Lock 52 Grocery. The canal transformed Port Byron from a hamlet into a prosperous village with factories, mills, hotels and restaurants.

The opening of the Auburn branch of the New York Central Railroad in 1841, stimulated growth of other villages at Port Byron's expense. The decline accelerated when the old canal closed in 1918, but competition from automobiles and trucks gave cities like Auburn and Syracuse an overwhelming advantage. Today, Port Byron is a residential community - one with a famous past, and a role call of personalities who helped to build our nation.

Brigham Young in Port Byron. Brigham Young, the future leader of the Mormon Church, lived here in Port Byron for several years in the 1820s. He made his living painting furniture and canal boats, carding wool, and doing carpentry. In 1824, he married Miriam Works and in 1825, they had a daughter. Brigham and Miriam moved to Mendon in 1829, but the house where they lived in Port
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Byron still stands today on South Street.

Young was only just beginning his life; he would eventually build on the foundation begun by Joseph Smith and his Book of Mormon, and establish a commonwealth in the Utah desert where his followers could live in peace. By the time he died in 1877, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which he helped to found, had become a uniquely American religion.

The development of the Mormon Church was part of a broad religious movement known as the Second Great Awakening that was centered in western New York. It sought to redefine religion and spirituality to the new merchantile and industrial America that was taking shape (in large part) because of the Erie Canal. While liberal Protestantism was invigorated by the integration of social concerns, new evangelicalisms like Mormonism also flourished.

[photos] Brigham Young in a photo from the late 1850s after he had become leader of the Mormon Church. Brigham Young rented this house in 1825 after his first child was born. Built in 1818, it stands today on the corner of Pine & South Streets. Young worked at the Park Pail factory as a painted in 1824. By 1829, the building had been converted to Hayden's Woolen Mills. Images: left : Library of Congress; center & right, courtesy of Penny Helzer.
 
Erected by New York State Canals
Left Text image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Anton Schwarzmueller, May 16, 2015
2. Left Text
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Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Churches & ReligionIndustry & CommerceWaterways & Vessels. In addition, it is included in the Erie Canal series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1917.
 
Location. 43° 2.249′ N, 76° 37.154′ W. Marker is in Port Byron, New York, in Cayuga County. Marker can be reached from Utica Street (New York State Route 31) 0.3 miles east of Main Street (New York State Route 38). Marker is in Schasel Park. Is is the south panel of a tri-panel kiosk. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Port Byron NY 13140, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Tanner's Dry Dock (here, next to this marker); The Empire State Trail at Port Byron (within shouting distance of this marker); Village of Port Byron (within shouting distance of this marker); Abraham Lincoln (within shouting distance of this marker); Port Byron (approx. ¼ mile away); Amos S. King (approx. ¼ mile away); Brigham Young (approx. ¼ mile away); Henry Wells (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Port Byron.
 
Lock 52 Grocery Picture on Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Anton Schwarzmueller, May 16, 2015
3. Lock 52 Grocery Picture on Marker
"Looking south at the Lock 52 Grocery at Port Byron c. 1890. The Lock 52 Grocery was built and opened by Stephen Kerns in 1861. The insert postcard shows Lock 52 in operation about 1915."
Brigham Young Text image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Anton Schwarzmueller, May 16, 2015
4. Brigham Young Text
Brigham Young Pictures on Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Anton Schwarzmueller, May 16, 2015
5. Brigham Young Pictures on Marker
Canalway Trail Panel image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Anton Schwarzmueller, May 16, 2015
6. Canalway Trail Panel
General information about the trail, facing the parking lot.
View of Tri-Panel Kiosk image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Anton Schwarzmueller, May 16, 2015
7. View of Tri-Panel Kiosk
Old Erie Canal section in background.
A Metaphor for Change Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Anton Schwarzmueller, May 16, 2015
8. A Metaphor for Change Marker
View towards parking area. Parking area is on the south side of NY Route 31.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on March 5, 2023. It was originally submitted on May 24, 2015, by Anton Schwarzmueller of Wilson, New York. This page has been viewed 381 times since then and 9 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. submitted on May 24, 2015, by Anton Schwarzmueller of Wilson, New York.

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Mar. 19, 2024