Welcome to the History Corner!
Celebrating the rich history of Port Byron, New York, an old Erie Canal village in the Town of Mentz. This site is dedicated to the legacy and heritage of our community as well as a variety of regional historical tidbits. I hope you enjoy your visit and will stop by again.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

John Cool Post #257

Today my family visited Fort Hill Cemetery to see the burial site of Pvt. Andrew J Bulkley. Thanks to the wonderful maps provided by the cemetery we had no difficulty in finding his burial site. However, he did not have a flag to mark his status as a veteran.

I extend a thank you to the Commander at the John Cool American Legion Post #257 of Port Byron, for donating a flag holder and flag for Pvt Bulkley's grave at Fort Hill. As a Korean War veteran, my father was proud do the honor of placing the flag on his grave. This was also the first time he had visited Fort Hill so we enjoyed a tour on our way home.

We had a pleasant visit with the folks at John Cool Post 257. They are very proud to be the sponsors of the Port Byron Marching Band. I was so pleased to learn that they are behind our Marching Panthers!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Honoring Our Soldiers

Memorial Day certainly is a day of reflection. Port Byron has always been a town to serve our country proudly, both past and present. The many freedoms we enjoy today have been protected by their effort, often at the sacrifice of their own safety.

In honor of Memorial Day, I thought I would compile some information on Port Byron's Lockwood Post Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). Many of the surnames listed still remain active in our community.

The old boys in blue are but a small portion of the brave soldiers from Port Byron.

Partial member list Lockwood Post #175 G.A.R.

The last 3 surviving members of Port Byron's Lockwood Post #175 were Nathan Elliott Jr., August Sweet and Sylvester McChesney:

Read the biographies of the last 3 members

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Section 7 Canal Assignments

I thought readers may enjoy seeing more of the names of locals that were appointed by L.H. King of Port Byron for Section 7 on the Erie Canal.

Newspapers did not always separate workers by title, so did the best I could with the changing format from one year to another. Also, some newspaper dates were very difficult to read. However, it is fun to see the regulars that were appointed.


Section 7 Canal Assignments