History is alive and well in Port Byron. The Old Mentz Heritage Center has successfully moved into the former Penny Saver building. This new location will allow for better preservation of its collections and provide additional space for expanded services to the community. Congratulations to all who contributed to this well-executed transition.
The village of Port Byron will be hosting "The History of the Hamlet of Centerport" at the village hall at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 17. While this was originally planed to be part of the Kilmer program presented last year at the Samuel Center for Canal History, there鈥檚 a much larger story to be told. Centerport was an old canal village that extended from the bend at the Snook farm to Route 31 and phased out of existence with the closing of the canal and inability to compete with the expanding villages of Weedsport and Port Byron. She hasn鈥檛 given up her secrets easily, but her story is worthy of remembrance. It鈥檚 hard to believe that so much could happen in a village less than half a mile in length!
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Dawn Roe
In my search, I stumbled onto a name I was not expecting. The Port Byron Chronicle published on July 18, 1914: 鈥淐harles Borden has purchased the Kilmer property and is making repairs in and about the place. Mr. Borden is quite the artist at beautifying home grounds, also he has shown good taste in making other selections, especially so in his recent choices. She looks good to us.鈥
The Aug. 1, 1914 edition reported: 鈥淢r. and Mrs. Borden were pleasantly surprised last Friday evening when home folks assembled on the lawn of the Devore home where Mr. and Mrs. Borden were spending their honeymoon. Every available old pail, pan and can were thumped and pounded and banged, also horns were blown. It was not a horning, Oh no, just a little noisy time. The gentlemen were treated to cigars and the ladies to candy. When the first act was over, all repaired to the bridge where dancing was indulged in. Who will be the next to call forth such delightful sounding demonstrations? Bachelor girls, get ready.鈥
Dr. Charles A. Borden, circa 1927, at Ponca City, Oklahoma.
Charles was the son of Dr. Charles A. Borden, a distant kin of the infamous Lizzie whose story was featured in 水果派AV on Dec. 4, 2023. The double Borden murder case followed his father for most of his life, but thankfully the stigma weaned for his children. Centerport welcomed the newlyweds with open arms. They stayed for a few years before moving to Fulton. I鈥檓 sure the spirited honeymoon party was hard to top!
Please join us at the village hall on May 17 to learn more about Centerport. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 just a street, it was a place鈥, said fellow historian Joni Lincoln of Conquest when sharing history tidbits with her. I couldn鈥檛 have said it any better.
