by Old Mentz | Dec 2, 2018 | Uncategorized
Every so often, E-Bay will offer up an interesting historical item that helps to tell a story about Port Byron. So when this ad from the Plastic Boats, Inc of Port Byron showed up, I had to purchase it. The ad must have been cut out of a motor boating magazine and a...
by Old Mentz | Nov 10, 2018 | Uncategorized
When Veterans Day comes about, I like to feature on the Lock 52 Historical Society Facebook page a couple images of a group celebrating Peace or Armistice Day. These were found in the collection of materials that came from the old Port Byron Telephone Company, and...
by Old Mentz | Aug 22, 2018 | Uncategorized
My previous post about Ruth Cushman and her son Oliver was just the beginning of a adventure of sorts that would lead to the discovery of a new unknown portrait. Yes, it’s one of those stories historians hope for as we pull the backs off frames looking for clues to...
by Old Mentz | Aug 12, 2018 | Uncategorized
It is likely you have heard, sang, or hummed the old song “Fifteen Miles of the Erie Canal”, with the famous refrain “Low bridge, everybody down; Low bridge, for we are a coming to a town.” The Thomas S. Allen tune was written around 1911 about the time when the era...
by Old Mentz | Jul 16, 2018 | Uncategorized
(This is a slightly expanded version of what will appear in the Citizen.) Last month I wrote about the death of Ethen Akin, and his possible relationship to the Mount Pleasant Cemetery. This month, I wanted to write about his life. Ethen was born in 1779 in White...
by Old Mentz | Jul 8, 2018 | Uncategorized
By Anita Messina Bill Pilgrim is remembered as Port Byron’s Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals, as president of the Port Byron School Board, as a friend with a great sense of humor. But not many knew he was the holder of nine patents, each responsible for an...