I was in lovely Warwick, New York in 2015 for a meeting and realized when I was there that I was just down the road from William Seward’s birthplace in Florida, N.Y. As a boy I had been surprised to see a sign on Route 17 pointing the way to Florida. I thought we were pretty far north for a sign pointing so far south. But my dad told me it was for the NY village of that name.
The road leading to Florida is beautiful, if not particularly tropical.
Florida itself is smalltown without being quaint. In fact, while it is a nice place to live, it seems to have little to commend itself for visitors. Down the main street, there is a typical NY yellow and blue historical marker. This one announces that this is William H. Seward’s birthplace. He rose to become part of Abraham Lincoln’s Team of Rivals.
The actual birthplace appears to be in bad condition and heavily altered. It is located at 35 N. Main St. in Florida and a local group is trying to preserve and restore the property. It is located next to Rookie’s Pizza.
The local school is named after Seward’s father:
The Mapes home is below. It has undergone some restoration.
The fact that we’re not quaint is a point of honor. You think quaint is great. But real people aren’t quaint and would never identify that way. Using the word identifies either a tourist or someone with class prejudice. We are a village of labourers, small business people, restaurants, and a school that continues today as a direct result of S. S. Seward.