Penn Yan and Keuka Lake

By Charles R. Mitchell

Penn Yan and Keuka Lake share a history that is rich in architecture, industry, and tradition. Penn Yan was established in 1833 as a village on the edge of New York's Keuka Lake; the unique name was chosen because the first people to settle in the village were comprised of Yankees from New England and Pennsylvania. The town's name is just on e of the many distinctive aspects of Penn Yan and Keuka Lake's intriguing past; the town has long had a commercial district, much of which occupies the historic district today. Still standing in the historic district are many of the elegant houses that were constructed in the nineteenth century, reflecting a time when Penn Yan experimented with several architectural styles. Mills, railroads, and steam boat businesses once thrived throughout the area.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781439631706

Charles R. Mitchell

Charles R. Mitchell, author of two other Arcadia books (Penn Yan and Keuka Lake and Hammondsport and Keuka Lake), is a professional photographer. He is associated with the Oliver House Museum in Penn Yan. Kirk W. House, a former teacher and school administrator, is directorcurator of the Glenn Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport. His writings have appeared in numerous aviation and general-interest publications. He is a historian member of the OX-5 Aviation Pioneers.

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People

Introduction

The histories of Penn Yan and Keuka Lake are tied together not only by geography, but also by commerce. Native Americans were the first to use the lake as a means of transport; it was not until the 1830s that area settlers began to use the lake for transportation. The opening of the Erie Canal provided western New York with inexpensive access to the outside world. This event coincided with the introduction of grape farming and the wine-making industry. By the time trains and highways had replaced canals and steamboats, people had the leisure time to begin to explore Keuka Lake’s relaxed atmosphere, its beauty, and its recreational fishing.

Today, tourism has become one of our major industries. People from throughout the world visit our area to enjoy our wines, our hospitality, and the beauty of Keuka Lake. Historic Penn Yan is both the physical and spiritual heart of the Keuka Lake region.

My approach to this book has been from the perspective of a photographer. I first selected the images, then wrote the text. Because I chose my images for their aesthetic value, the history may not be complete, but I trust it is accurate. The time period covered begins at the advent of photography in this area, around 1850, and concludes with the 1960s.

The photographic images were primarily selected from four sources. The majority comes from the collection of the Oliver House Museum, with the remainder contributed by the Keuka College Library, the Birkett Mills, and the archives of my business, The Photographic Center. Whenever possible, the photographs were made from the original negatives or glass plates. Occasionally copies of originals were used. It was necessary in only a few cases to make second-generation copies.

I am indebted to a few people for their help and encouragement: Idelle Dillon and the board of directors of the Oliver House Museum; Sue Walker, library director at Keuka College; and Elliott Vorce, for suggesting this project and for his proofreading. My greatest indebtedness is to my wife, Melissa, for her assistance with the layout and for taking up the slack while I worked on this book.

One

Penn Yan

Penn Yan received its unique name in 1808 as a compromise between the founding factions: Penn was selected to honor the Pennsylvanians and Yan, the Yankees. Local legend has it that after this agreement was reached the entire population seated itself under a large oak and consumed copious amounts of malt liquor.

Many of the early settlers came to the area after the Revolutionary War. Soldiers who traveled through the Finger Lakes with the Clinton-Sullivan Expedition told others about the beautiful area. One large group came as followers of Jemima Wilkinson, a religious mystic, known as The Publick Universal Friend.

Penn Yan is located on the north end of the main branch of Keuka Lake, an important waterway that provided both transportation and power. Mills along the outlet from Keuka into Seneca Lake provided Penn Yan with much of its early commercial viability. The lake and the outlet supplied navigable waters to import raw materials, and export the mills’ production along with agricultural products.

The photograph above shows the east side of Penn Yan’s Main Street in 1858.

This silver albumen print was taken in 1870 from the yard of the Mansion House where the Knapp House now stands. The wooden bridge, replaced in 1884, has a sign relating the penalty for speeding. Note that the White Mill is set back farther from the road than the mill in the foreground. The carriage on Water Street is Bill Hittle’s hack. Upstream, to the right, is the wooden towpath bridge damaged by the spring floods.

The west side of Main Street in 1868 had wooden sidewalks and awnings. The Armstrong and Gage Hardware building was built in 1840, destroyed by fire in 1985, and then rebuilt. This has been the site of a hardware store continuously from 1862 until the present. In both this silver albumen print and the one above, a photographer in Penn Yan was enough of a curiosity to draw a crowd.

This silver albumen print probably dates to the 1850s. It shows Penn Yan from the east and was taken near what is now Hamilton Street. A number of substantial structures can be seen along Main Street and also in the Head Street area (now North Avenue), which was the site of the earliest village settlement.