Lyons, NY

Lyons is a Wayne County hamlet and census-designated place on the Erie Canal and Clyde River, east of Rochester. It grew from a settlement called The Forks, became a village in 1854, and now serves as the county seat's government center even though the village government ended in 2015. New York Routes 14 and 31 meet south of the hamlet, while the canal and river keep the town's older transportation story visible.

Downtown Lyons gathers the Wayne County courthouse and offices, Central Park, the 1856 Wayne County Capitol and Old Jail Museum, the Hotchkiss Peppermint Oil Museum, the Ohmann Theatre, and the historic churches and post office that line the center. Peppermint Days nods to the crop that once made Lyons known for essential-oil distilling, and the canal parks and farmers market keep the waterfront in the current calendar. Lyons is a canal town with a county-seat role, a railroad-and-water past, and a compact center where museums, local government, and everyday errands share the same streets.