Penn Yan tour highlights village history

PENN YAN--The Yates County History Center sponsored a guided walk down Penn Yan's historic Main Street Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16 and 17. Executive Director John Potter led the tour, highlighting many significant details of several buildings located in the village. This included a strip of large residences known as "Mansion Row," which runs from 158 through 166 Main St. The Fox Inn is part of this group and was built around 1820 by William M. Oliver and was named after four generations of the Fox family who lived there from 1888 to 1988. The Edson Potter House is adjacent to it, built in 1880, followed by the David B. Prosser House that was built in 1871. The Polly Lawrence House is the blue house that was built around 1826, while the 1825 Ira Gould House underwent several changes and additions throughout the years to get to its current state.
In addition to the structures that still exist, Potter also detailed some structures that have been lost to history. For example, Potter noted the building that currently serves as the county courthouse was the original location of Caroline Underwood's house. She was a well-known local teacher who was born in 1902. Underwood originally wanted her Liberty Street home to be turned into a public history museum upon her death, but once the house was torn down to expand the county offices, the museum was later opened at 107 Chapel St.