William Seward’s Birthplace in Florida NY Photo Tour

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.

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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.

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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.

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Seward was born in Florida on May 16, 1801 and lived there as a boy. His father was a landowner and doctor and he owned slaves. William Seward would become New York’s senator and governor and served as Lincoln’s Secretary of State. He held the same office under Johnson and was responsible for the purchase of Alaska.

The local school is named after Seward’s father:

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Next to the school is a bust of William Seward designed by Daniel Chester French, the sculptor of the statue in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Please note that this is the only photo on this page not taken by me.
On the property where Seward’s birthplace is the site of the home of Captain William E. Mapes of the 124th New York State Volunteers, The Orange Blossoms. The house there now was built by the Mapes  family in 1887. According to the local group trying to preserve the site, the original Seward home was taken down by the Mapes so they could build their house, and then partially reconstructed behind the Mapes home.

The Mapes home is below. It has undergone some restoration.

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The Mapes home had been used as a funeral parlor throughout the late 20th Century and was in stable condition. Recently the same group that is trying to save the Seward Birthplace has been working on preservation of the Mapes House.
All color photos taken by Pat Young except for the photo of the bust.
To see more sites Pat visited CLICK HERE
Below is a map of the site from the Homestead group:
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Author: Patrick Young

2 thoughts on “William Seward’s Birthplace in Florida NY Photo Tour

  1. 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.

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