History The town of Palmyra was created in January 1789. It was developed from land obtained in the Phelps and Gorham Purchase in 1788 on mounds left from the prehistoric Adena Culture. The land currently known as Wayne County was purchased by General John Swift and was originally known as Swift's Landing. Soon after settlement started the town became the District of Tolland. In January 1796 the official name "Palmyra" was proposed and adopted from the ancient city Palmyra in Syria reportedly to impress a new school teacher. The town had a population of nearly one thousand people by 1800. The village of Palmyra was incorporated in 1827. Palmyra began to prosper when the first newspaper of Wayne County, the “Palmyra Register” printed its first issue in 1817 giving the community an inexpensive means of communication and with the governor’s decision to build the Erie Canal. Palmyra had been a large part of the Underground Railroad in the mid 1800’s and by 1900 it had become a railroad and industrial center. Palmyra Activities and Traditions There are plenty of opportunities to engage in Palmyra with a variety of activities and traditions through the year.  These would be Hill Cumorah Pageant, Palmyra Canaltown Days, Palmyra Pirate Weekend, Curling on the Canal, Trick or Treat on Main Street, Holiday Open House, Palmyra Farmer’s Market, Movies-in-the-Park, Community Garage Sale, Summer Concert Series, Historic Palmyra Cemetery Tour and the Wayne County Fair. Community Organizations Those wishing to serve on a civic organization have many choices such as;  Palmyra-Macedon Rotary Club, Palmyra-Macedon Lions Club, Palmyra-Macedon Kiwanis Club, The Green Angels, VFW, American Legion.  There are also opportunities to serve on the boards of our Community Library, Palmyra-Macedon School, and Community Center to name a few. Economic Climate The Palmyra area (which includes Macedon) encompasses approximately 70 square miles in southwest Wayne County. These towns are basically "bedroom" communities for Rochester as many residents live here and work in Rochester for Kodak, Xerox, PayChex, University of Rochester including Strong Hospital and the Wegmans Food Store chain. Major industries in the Palmyra-Macedon area include Garlock Packing Co., Berry Plastics, Unique Automation, and JRLon.  There are also several machine shop operations which employ 10-20 employees and service the larger industries in Monroe County/Wayne County area.