Tag Archives: Yates County

Penn Yan — A Place to Ride the Storm

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Last week in this space we took a look at the Pulteney Square Historic District in Hammondsport. (A moment of bragging… the folks pulling the nomination together asked me to take photos of the Square to support their nomination. Mission accomplished!)

*So this week I thought it would make sense to take a trip to Penn Yan and look at Keuka’s OTHER large district on the National Register of Historic Places, at the OTHER end of the lake.

*PENN YAN HISTORIC DISTRICT: THE HISTORY Penn Yan’s district is huge, with 210 historic buildings covering 65 acres. Ever since Yates County was created, Penn Yan has been its seat. And while industry, transportation, and tourism have all been tremendously significant here, Penn Yan still wears its 19-century mantle as a courthouse town… medium in size, conscientious in demeanor, well aware of its past without being marooned in it.

*Grand homes, once-proud hotels, busy commercial blocks, elegant churches, and dignified public buildings all welcome the visitor to Penn Yan. White encroachment started with followers of frontier prophetess Jemima Wilkinson, back when this ground was still in Ontario County (and Ontario itself was still very sketchy).

*The magnet for settlement was Keuka Outlet, the stream that drains Keuka Lake into Seneca. Water power was the name of the game, and mill wheels were soon turning all along the flow.

*THE VISIT. Right in Penn Yan itself you can walk the Keuka Outlet Trail, seeing the old industrial buildings from the river side. This includes the huge Birkett’s Mills, making buckwheat for 220 years. In fact, it runs 16 hours a day when it’s NOT busy, and it’s one of the world’s biggest buckwheat suppliers.

*You can pick up the Outlet Trail on either side of the stream and cross to the other via footbridge. Looking UPstream (toward the lake) you can see the area where the steamboats docked through much of the 19th century, bringing in grapes and wine to be shipped out via rail or canal, and taking out summer visitors who spent the season at hotels or resorts along the lake.

*Where the Trail passes under the Main Street bridge, you can find flight of steps up to street level. Wander across the bridge, look both ways along the Outlet and both ways up and down the street, and you can get some sense of how the town developed.

*Being a hub of lake, canal, rail, and highway travel… plus a courthouse town… demanded LOTS of hotel space… like the gigantic Knapp Hotel, with facade sprawling across two streets. Walk farther up Main to find the 1913 Colonial Revival post office. Another block or two and you’ll find Penn Yan Methodist church, “the castle on the corner” with its breathtaking 1899 stonework and rocket-ship steeple.

*The hotel, the post office, and the church are all signs of growing prosperity roughly between the Civil War and Prohibition. Oliver House (1852) is home to the Yates History Center. Keep walking and you’ll pass the contemporary-style 1959 Presbyterian church and the public library. The oldest section (1905) is one of two Carnegie libraries in the five-county region.

*Past the library is the white-columned Yates County Courthouse, anchoring what’s technically ANOTHER historic district. Many folks won’t consider old courthouses to be worth much more than a glance, but step into the green space in front, and spend some time by memorial after memorial to Yates County folks who went to our country’s wars. During one of those wars, in the 1940s, Arch Merrill wrote that Penn Yan was a good place to ride out the storm. I’d say he had it right.

The Little Land Between the Lakes

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Yates County has shoreline on Keuka Lake… and Seneca Lake… AND Canandaigua Lake. How cool is that?

It’s never had a magnet attraction like Watkins Glen State Park, or Watkins Glen International, or Corning Museum of Glass. But all that lakefront means that Yates gets plenty of company anyway, all summer long.

There’s a long-standing story that Red Jacket, the charismatic Seneca leader, was born in the Penn Yan area, where we even find Red Jacket Park. And we know that his mother lived nearby at the end of her life, but actually no one knows where Red Jacket was born.

Sullivan’s invasion rampaged through the region in 1779, killing and burning indiscriminately. Some of the first Europeans to muscle in permanently were followers of pioneer prophetess Jemima Wilkinson, the “Publick Universal Friend.” They came to Torrey in 1778, but later moved the center of their community to Jerusalem. Claiming to be (or at least, to have) a divine spirit, she ruled her flock imperiously until she “left time” in 1819, after which her following withered away.

They had worked hard and well, though, and Penn Yan grew largely from their labors. Lying at the foot of Keuka Lake, it became a busy transshipping town. By 1833 a canal, and then later a railroad, connected with Dresden (still in Yates) on Seneca Lake, and thence to the Erie Canal system and the entire world. Penn Yan and Hammondsport (in Steuben County) became rivals (sometimes friendly), but neither could get along without the other. Each was a vital link in Keuka’s transportation chain.

Yates was set off from Ontario County in 1823, and uninspiringly named for the governor who signed the enabling act. The county later gained land from Steuben, but lost to Tompkins and Seneca.

There are nine towns in Yates County (Starkey, Barrington, Torrey, Milo, Benton, Potter, Middlesex, Italy, and Jerusalem), including four incorporated villages, (Penn Yan, Dresden, Rushville, and Dundee). Branchport and Bellona are unincorporated communities.

Penn Yan is the largest town, the county seat, and a fun place to visit. The county fairgrounds are here, and Main Street is a good place to stroll and shop. There’s a “new book” store (Long’s Cards and Gifts) and two used book stores. Millie’s Pantry offers lunches and gifts, with proceeds making sure children get enough to eat.

Yates County History Center has, among other things, notable Jemima Wilkinson memorabilia, including her coachee (a cut-down carriage – she liked her comforts). Penn Yan also has a movie theater and a very nice Carnegie Library (one of very few in the region). This library has recently undergone significant renovations, though it still retains space for buggy parking. Branchport recently completed a brand-new library, plus there’s a library in Dundee and reading centers in Rushville and Middlesex.

Jerusalem is home to the dramatic Keuka Bluff, that high formation that juts out into the lake to form the East Branch and West Branch, both of which lie largely in Yates. The Bluff is home to Keuka Lake State Park and also to the jewel-box Garrett Chapel, a beautiful stone structure hidden in the forest overlooking the East Branch.

Yates County has two weekly newspapers (the Observer and the Chronicle-Express), not to mention Keuka College (founded 1890) and a public-use airport. As traditional family farms have gone out, conservative “plain-dress” anabaptists have moved in. It’s no surprise that vineyards line much of the lakeshores. The wonderful Keuka Outlet Trail stretches from Penn Yan on Keuka Lake to Dresden on Seneca.

Yates is a small county, and sadly easy to overlook. Lacking a magnet attraction it’s not necessarily the place people visit for short stays. But people make homes there. And they stay the summers. The little land between the lakes is not Brigadoon. But in the depths of World War II Arch Merrill observed that Penn Yan was a good community – the kind of place where you could ride out the storm.

Cruisin’ to Penn Yan

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Friday night (June 19) is Cruisin’ Night in Penn Yan. They close off Main Street – roughly from the post office down to the bridge – and they PACK the street with vintage cars. It is seriously cool! Crowds wander up and down, admiring the vehicles and visiting with the proud owners. People find cars they remember excitedly from their youths… and cars they WISH they remembered from their youths. The stores and shops and restaurants are open, and all you need is adequate weather (forecast looks good!) to have a terrific time.

What will you find besides cars? Well, there are three bookshops in Penn Yan. Long’s Cards and Books is a delightful independent bookseller – the only one I know of in a three- or four-county area. Books’ Landing (used books) has recently moved from the corner by the bridge to more spacious quarters farther up Main Street. Belknap Books, almost across from Long’s, is also for collectors and used book enthusiasts. I once found (and bought) a volume from the Tom Corbett, Space Cadet series, complete with dust jacket.

Farther up Main Street, outside of the Cruisin’ Night space, is the Penn Yan Public Library, which has recently been going through renovations. I hope that those renovations preserve the dedicated parking for buggies, which is the only one I know of in the area. The original portion of the library was donated by Andrew Carnegie, and you can borrow books with a card from most of the Southern Tier System libraries.

Next door to the library is the Yates County courthouse (Penn Yan is the county seat), with its green space of war memorials.

Back a little toward the shopping district is the Yates County History Center with its twin facilities, the Oliver House Museum and the Underwood Museum. Also on site is the carriage house with pioneer prophetess Jemima Wilkinson’s coachee, the 1790s version of a really hot ride.

There are several eating places down in the Cruisin’ Night area, from sit-down dining to pizza and lunch counters. The Pinwheel Market & Cafe by Milly’s Pantry (typically open until 4) serves sandwiches, desserts, and such, in the process raising funds “so children won’t go hungry.” President Obama honored founder Milly Bloomquist with the Presidential Citizens Medal for her decades of labor on behalf of children.

A few steps off Main Street, the Penn Yan Diner is a vintage manufactured diner, in keeping with the cruisin’ theme. There are other eateries, including fast food chains, a few blocks away.

Formerly down by the diner, and now up on Main Street, is the Arts Center of Yates County, with changing exhibits and other activities all year long in its gallery. Main Street also has retailers from hardware to drug store to antiques to electronics.

Since 1990 or so the Penn Yan area has been home to increasing numbers of conservative “horse and buggy” anabaptists, especially Groffdale Mennonites. Some of them operate Main Street farm stands on summer Saturdays, plus an annual relief sale at Penn Yan’s Yates County Fairgrounds.

Of course, Penn Yan is also noted for the lake, and for the Keuka Outlet Trail. I can’t make any promises as to what will be open during Cruisin’ Night, but I can promise that Penn Yan is a great place to visit. Maybe we’ll see you there.

Milly’s Pantry — “Shop Where it Matters”

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We like Penn Yan. We like its three book stores (two used, one new) and its library, its friendly historic Main Street which in season has a sidewalk farmer’s market. We like the buggies, the library, and the Outlet Trail, plus its location on the lake. We like the numerous eating places, and the growing number of art venues. And we often find ourselves stopping in to the Pinwheel Market and Café.
Sometimes we have a quiche or a sandwich for lunch, or a cold soda in summertime. When we stopped on the day of New Year’s Eve we got hot chocolates — a dark rich chocolate that took some time and effort to make, rather than just being dumped out of an envelope from a box bought in the supermarket. It’s a quiet, welcoming spot to stop. It has free wi-fi. There are pies and pastries. The Pinwheel Market offers gifts by a hundred local artists and artisans, and interesting foodstuffs.
All of which may seem nice, but pretty much par for the course. But — every ten dollar purchase feeds a child for a weekend.
Pinwheel Market and Café is operated by Milly’s Pantry, named for Milly Bloomquist, who served for thirty years as the Penn Yan school nurse. For half a century she’s been a driving force to enlist volunteers and deliver help. She developed Help for the Needy and Christmas for the Needy. So tireless and so sustained has her work been that two years ago President Obama honored her in a White House ceremony, presenting Camilla Bloomquist with the Presidential Citizens Medal.
In 2008 all of this caring took on a new dimension, with formal not-for-profit organization, a board of directors, and, a year later, purchase of the Odd Fellows hall as a home for the market and café — plus class and meeting and party space on the upper floors.
This is all good from the point of view of the visitor or customer. But more to the point is what Milly’s Pantry is accomplishing. According to the 2013 annual report, this includes:
*Over 500 backpacks with kid-friendly foods distributed at Yates County schools EVERY FRIDAY, so kids in need won’t need to go hungry over the weekend.
*650 backpacks of teacher-requested school supplies issued every August… plus some supplemental materials through the year.
*Eat Smart New York — an eight-week program in collaboration with Cornell Cooperative Extension, teaching participants how to prepare healthy meals on a low income. Participants help plan and prepare the meals, and each family gets the ingredients needed to do it again at home.
*Milly’s Pantry Cooking Classes — a program soon to start that uses the second-floor commercial kitchen to teach middle and high schoolers how to plan, shop for, and prepare nutritious meals.
Notice that whenever possible these programs train and empower recipients, helping them to maximize what they’ve got to work with. Notice too that while half or more of Yates County students qualify for free or reduced price meals, only about half of THEM get help from Milly’s Pantry — AND not all the students who are eligible are actually signed up for free or reduced price meals in the first place. So despite the staggering amount of work these volunteers and their supporters are doing, the unmet needs are still huge. Food insecurity is deep, not just in Yates County but throughout our region.
Milly’s Pantry has a simple driving idea: So children won’t go hungry. They rely on gifts (PO Box 734, Penn Yan, 14527), or drop in the next time you’re in Penn Yan. It’s worth the stop — on many different levels.
Milly's Pantry

The Way We Worked

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Last week we looked at the makeup of Keuka Lake towns back in 1835, and in 1860, thanks to statewide gazetteers published in those years. This week I thought we’d get a handle on how people live and worked in those days.
Farming and herding were overwhelmingly how people supported themselves, AND it’s the main thing that the gazetteers take notice of.
For instance, in 1835 the six towns had 13,194 cattle; 4275 horses; 53,674 sheep; and 13,445 swine. To look at it another way, the total human population (13,418) stood comfortably between the populations of swine and cattle, but was dwarfed by the flock of sheep.
This isn’t surprising, considering that many people, even if employed off the farm, still maintained some livestock as a sideline or for home consumption. It would be interesting to know how those cattle broke out — how many each for beef, draft, and dairy.
In most cases, any of the Yates towns beat each of the Steuben towns for numbers. Milo and Jerusalem usually took the lead, suggesting that local prosperity gravitated to the railroad, the Outlet and the canal.
The 1860 report covers the same categories, but this time distinguishing “working oxen and calves” from “cows.” Town by town breakdowns give us the bushels of grain produced (winter and spring), tons of hay, bushels of potatoes, bushels of apples, pounds of butter, and pounds of cheese. There’s no report on grape or wine production, each of which was just getting started in a big way. The Pleasant Valley Wine Company, for instance, was just incorporating, but for all anybody knew back then, this would prove to be just a flash in the pan. Ohio’s nascent industry had just been wiped out in a blight (which left winemakers available for jobs in the Finger Lakes).
The report DOES tell us about yards of domestic cloth produced, with a high of 846 in Urbana and a low of 230 in Barrington. Cloth production reverses the pattern of livestock and population; any of the Steuben towns tops any of the Yates towns.
While the facts-and-figures reporting is pretty straitjacketed, the 1860 gazetteer permits itself a little more latitude in the descriptive section. Urbana is “noted for the production of a superior quality of fine wool,” and “finely adapted to the culture of the grape.” Jerusalem “is well adapted to both pasturage and tillage.”
Perhaps without recognizing their significance, the gazetteer compilers take haphazard note of other forms of commerce. Milo has two newspapers and a bank. Urbana has “several manufacturing establishments.”
They wake up a little to the significance of transportation, noting a daily line of steamers between Penn Yan (in Jerusalem) and Hammondsport (in Urbana), along with a storehouse at Gulicksville landing in Pulteney. Penn Yan “is an important station on the Elmira, Jefferson & Canandaigua R.R.,” but there’s no mention at all of the Crooked Lake Canal, not even thirty years old and already overshadowed by the train. Hammondsport will not have rail service (the B&H, connecting it to Bath) until 1878.
While the 1860 gazetteer still makes no mention of grapes, an 1868 directory shows 110 vineyards in the Town of Urbana alone! Wayne has 10, and Pulteney 31… in fact, grapes were said to be the first thing Pulteney residents ever found to justify the taxes on their land. Oddly, the Pulteney folks are almost always described as “grape growers,” rather than vineyardists.
Many of these vineyards are small, and many owners were also farmers, lawyers, or ministers. But the wineries wrought radical change in Keuka’s economy and environment — in less than a decade.