The Old Coot goes the wrong way to the past. September 29, 2022

 Old Coot finds magic on Parker Lane’

By Merlin Lessler

 I drove down Parker Lane the other morning. It’s a narrow, one-way street in Owego, NY, well-marked, to keep cars from entering from Front Street. But that’s what I did! I’ve been told by locals, which I’m not, though I’ve lived here for 36 years, that Parker’s Lane wasn’t always a one-way street; you could enter from either end. I just had to see what that was like, so I defied the one-way arrow, and slowly worked my way to Main Street. It was a one block journey, but what a lovely ride.

 I swear it’s a magical port that takes you back in time, like it felt to me when I first wrote about in 2004. I’d defied the one-way sign back then, though on foot and in a swirl of an early morning fog. I swear I saw the shadowy figure of Justice Parker striding from his back door to an awaiting carriage, the outline of horses munching hay in his backyard and foundry workers shuffling to work with tin lunch buckets clutched in their hands. Smoke from ancient chimneys seemed to hang in the air.

 Parker Lane wasn’t always blessed with such a melodic name. In the early 1800’s it was called Camp Alley. Henry Camp owned the corner lot at Main St. where he operated a foundry that was destroyed in a fire. It was rebuilt on Front Street across from what is now the Parkview Inn. The foundry produced engines and machinery that were used in the local steamboats that hauled goods up and down the Susquehanna. It too, caught fire and burned to the ground. The fire spread and destroyed all the houses on both sides of Front Street from the bridge to the alley.

 Nathan Camp, Henry’s uncle, owned the parcel of land that abuts the alley on the west. He too, had an impact on the village, but his contributions were positive.  He started the first library in 1813, and was one of the founders of the Ithaca - Owego Turnpike Company, an endeavor that helped expand trade. He sold that lot in 1829 to Harmon Pumpelly, who built an impressive brick mansion, which still graces the site today. It eventually became the Residence of John Parker and his wife Stella Pumpelly. The street was renamed in Parker’s honor after his death in 1873. He was a 2-term congressman and a Supreme Court Justice. 

 It only takes a minute to walk down Parker Lane, but a minute in this time warp seems longer. You emerge relaxed, calm and ready for the day. A final irony greets you as you exit onto Main St. The street marker for Main, the longest most active road in the village is one foot long; the marker for Parker Lane, the shortest and least used pathway is twice as big. It may be that the hands of the sign maker were guided by a force beyond his control, a force that wanted to remind us that the lane is important too, a connection to the past. Take a minute some time and see if the magic is there for you.