Palmyra () is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in Wayne County, New York, United States. The population was 3,536 at the 2010 census. The village, along with the town, is named after

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

in present-day

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. The village is in the Town of Palmyra. The village is east of Rochester.

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 New York State Route 31 (NY 31) is a state highway that extends for across western and central New York (state), New York in the United States. The western terminus of the route is at an intersection with New York State Route 104, NY ...

. The Palmyra Village Historic District was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

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.NY Canals (Index of Locks)
Retrieved January 30, 2015. 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 Erie Canal (Mud Creek Aqueduct)
Retrieved January 21, 2015. The former Erie Canal Change Bridge #35 (also called Aldrich Bridge), is at Palmyra-Macedon Aqueduct Park. A change bridge allowed

towpath A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, Working animal, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mod ...

s 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.The Erie Canal (Change Bridge #35 - Aldrich Bridge)
Retrieved January 21, 2015.

Place in early Latter-Day Saint History

In 1830 the village was the site of the first publication of the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as ''The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi''. The book is one of ...

at the printing press of local publisher E. B. Grandin. Many other events in the early history of the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by ...

took place in the village and town. The Book of Mormon Historic Publication Site has been maintained by

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

since 1978 as a tourist destination and was restored and rededicated in 1998.

2013 Downtown fire

On May 3, 2013, a fire started by alleged arson destroyed three historic Main Street buildings dating to the village's

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...

era, and water from the firefighting response damaged a fourth. The buildings were condemned on May 7 and were demolished that summer. The buildings had survived proposed demolition during the

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

era of the 1960s. Business owner Mark Crane rebuilt his "Mark's Pizzeria" over several of the building sites, leaving one open for an outdoor seating area.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the village has an area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²), all land. It is at . It is part of metropolitan Rochester, New York. Palmyra village is at the junction of

and New York State Route 21, which are partly conjoined in the village. Palmyra is along the

and is south of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 3,536 people, 1,508 households, and 882 families residing in the village. The population density was . The racial makeup of the village was 96.6%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.9%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.4% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.2% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.1% of the population. There were 1,508 households, out of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.5% were non-families. 33.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.99. In the village, the population was spread out, with 26.7% under the age of 20, 5.7% from 20 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 29.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males. The median income for a household in the village was $39,493, and the median income for a family was $53,221. Males had a median income of $41,322 versus $38,966 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $22,004. About 20.4% of families and 21.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 34.3% of those under age 18 and 15.5% of those age 65 or over.

Housing

There were 1,637 housing units at an average density of ; 7.9% of housing units were vacant. There were 1,508 occupied housing units in the village, of which 789 were owner-occupied units (52.3%), while 719 were renter-occupied (47.7%). The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2% of total units. The rental unit vacancy rate was 10.0%.

Notable person

* E. B. Grandin, publisher of the first edition of the

References

External links

*
Macedon-Palmyra Chamber of Commerce

Historic Palmyra
Historic Palmyra {{authority control 1827 establishments in New York (state) Erie Canal Populated places established in 1827 Villages in Wayne County, New York Rochester metropolitan area, New York Villages in New York (state)