Palmyra, New York

Palmyra, New York 06/2022 Palmyra (/ˌpælˈmaɪrə/) is a town in southwestern Wayne County, New York, United States. The population was 7,975 at the 2010 census. The town is named after the ancient city Palmyra in Syria. HISTORY The village was originally called "Swift's Landing" after founder John Swift in 1790, and was incorporated as Palmyra in 1827. By 1900, the village had become a railroad and industrial center. Palmyra was a large part of the underground railroad during times of slavery; it is reported to have helped over 2,000 fugitive slaves escape into Canada. Palmyra claims to be the only city or village in the U.S. to have four churches at a four corner intersection facing each other. It is one of ten places in the world that has four churches on the four corners of two intersecting highways. The "four corners" churches are at the intersection of New York State Route 21 and New York State Route 31. The Palmyra Village Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. It includes the previously listed Market Street Historic District, East Main Street Commercial Historic District, and Zion Episcopal Church. Palmyra is part of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. Erie Canal Lock 29 is behind Palmyra-Macedon Aqueduct Park, just off N.Y. Route 31. It was built around 1914, and has a lift of 16 feet (4.88 m) to the west. Nearby are the remains of the Palmyra Aqueduct (built 1857), also known as Mud Creek Aqueduct. Before the Erie Canal was re-routed, it crossed the top of aqueduct over Ganargua Creek. The former Erie Canal Change Bridge #35 (also called Aldrich Bridge), is at Palmyra-Macedon Aqueduct Park. A change bridge allowed towpaths to switch from one side of the canal to the other. It was first constructed in 1858. The bridge was sold to a local farm in 1915, but later salvaged after flooding in 1996 and reconstructed eight years later at the park. BIRTH OF LATTER DAY SAINT MOVEMENT Palmyra is the birthplace of the Latter Day Saint movement. Founder Joseph Smith, whose family lived on a farm that straddled the line between Palmyra and Manchester, said he had been visited by God and Jesus Christ in 1820, an event known as the First Vision. In 1830 the Book of Mormon was first published in the village of Palmyra by E.B. Grandin, in the present Book of Mormon Historic Publication Site. Beginning in the early 20th century, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began buying and restoring many of the properties in the area associated with early church history. In 1997 the Smiths' log cabin was rebuilt on its original site and in 2000 the church built the Palmyra New York Temple on a portion of the former Smith farm. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmy... #palmyra #newyork #upstateny #thechurchofjesuschristoflatterdaysaints #latterdaysaints #bookofmormon #josephsmith #smalltowns #travel #eriecanal