Our unseasonable temperatures gave us a good reason to go for a drive and to visit the city of Auburn, NY. Auburn is a city in Cayuga County and has a population of 27,687. It sits at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of our beautiful Finger Lakes. Historically, it is one of most interesting of places to visit and has produced some notable inventors, contributors to our social growth and understanding, and some national statesman.
Downtown Auburn is like most Upstate, NY cities on a Saturday; the lights are on but where are the people? My first objective was to visit the Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce located at 2 State St. to gather a little information, but they are closed in January and February which are normally the coldest and least attractive months for visitors.
As I looked to the east along East Genesee Street, I couldn’t help but notice several beautiful buildings and also a very large sign advertising Genesee Beer. I do not know the significance of this sign but this picture comes up when you Google Auburn, NY (click here). While the streets and sidewalks were mostly deserted of people, I took a few pictures from Wegmans parking lot located on East Geneesee Street. I didn’t even notice the Wegmans building from the street, but the parking lot was filled with cars and people doing their weekly grocery shopping. Apparently not all of the commercial retail business has been lost in the Downtown Area.
Going west on Genessee Street, we located the Cayuga Museum of History and the Case Research Lab Museum. Now that’s a fantastic looking piece of property listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, but sorry to say, closed on Saturdays and Sundays in January and February! Mr. Theodore Willard Case was one interesting person. He invented the technology to add sound to movie film in 1924 and became a very wealthy man! The Case family had a summer home on Owasco Lake which they named Casowasco. After Mr. Case died, his wife donated the property to the Methodist Church and is now being used and enjoyed by thousands of Methodist folks as a camp and summer retreat under the same name.
Why in Auburn, NY? Why Not?