Historic Route 20 Info Center

Now Open

17 Bridge Street – Seneca Falls, NY

Hours

  • Monday – CLOSED
  • Tuesday 11-5
  • Wednesday 11-5
  • Thursday 11-5
  • Friday 11-7
  • Saturday 10-5
  • Sunday 11-5

If you are traveling through Seneca Falls at a time we are not open, please contact us and we can attempt to make arrangements to meet with you. For specific Historic Route 20 info, such as planning, interviews or a meeting we suggest an appointment to ensure our staff if available to assist you.

We are located inside of Local FLX


Press Release

June 18, 2022 

The Historic Route 20 Association Inc., (Historic Route 20) is pleased to announce its relocation to Seneca Falls in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State.

The nonprofit aims to raise the profiles of the communities along the original 1926 alignments of US Route 20 -the longest highway in America from Boston to Newport, OR.  In 2021, the organization successfully obtained a State Historic Auto Trail designation across Iowa’s old Route 20 and has been leading efforts in other states such a Massachusetts and Oregon.

The organization has been working with the City of Canandaigua and other villages across the route in New York to gain support for a legislatively designated Historic Auto Trail.  This designation would allow for signage to be placed on the state highways. Wayfinding signage indicating the original Route 20 is important to draw people back into the downtown areas like Auburn, Geneva and Canandaigua which have all seen bypasses built and those like Waterloo and Geneva where the highway has remained unchanged.

While 5 & 20 is the popular route across the northern Finger Lakes, the organization looks at the whole of the route which is 3365 miles long. A small town of 200 may have hard time attracting visitors but when you connect it along one route, you are bridging all the communities, small businesses, historic sites and more into one travel destination.

“When many think of the great American road trip, Route 66 come to mind first”, but Farr likes to reiterate that “most of what can be seen on Route 66, can be seen on Route 20 and Route 20 is still continuous across the country”.

The organizations new headquarters will be located at 17 Bridge Street in Seneca Falls, within the newly established Local FLX shop. Historic Route 20 and will operate an information center complete with maps, guides, and items pertaining to Route 20.  An open house is scheduled for July 15-17 (Convention Days).

Historic Route 20 is a 501-c-3 not for profit organization and relies on donations, grants and memberships for its operations. Information can be found at the organization’s website www.historicroute20.org/visit/

Contact Info:   Bryan Farr – President & Founder  | 617-733-5796  | info@historicroute20.org

4 thoughts on “Historic Route 20 Info Center”

  1. Hi Bryan , we live in the uk and are planning a full rt20 roadtrip in the next couple of years , we drove rt 66 in 2019 before covid 19 hit the world. We would appreciate any info you could send us and advise if there are any rt 20 travel guides /maps /apps that would help with planning and driving , also any info on where to stop overnight etc. Hopefully we will stop at the information centre that is being set up in seneca falls when we are on route but as much info that we can gather whilst we are planning our trip would be of great help .
    Many thanks

    Reply
  2. I wanted to come down to the info center to get information about my trip on Route 20 next year. I plan on leaving Boston Mass on July 1st. I will be riding my motorcycle with my GSD on the back.

    Reply
  3. I have lived in towns on or right near Highway/Route 20 (or 20A) in both NW Ohio [Wauseon] and NW Nebraska [Crawford and Chadron]. In fact, my father was born in Burlington, Ohio (near Archbold and Wauseon), baptized, and now is interred mere yards off Route 20. My brother and I were each baptized at St. James Lutheran Church there. I now have a regular Commentary/Miscellaneous column in the Crawford (Neb.) Clipper/Harrison Sun weekly newspaper, and presently my column is devoted to an evolving fictional story of a guy traveling from Crawford, Neb. to Boston on Highway 20 so he can publish a coffee table book about the entire highway and its environs — which will later involve him driving each mile on Route 20 from Crawford to Oregon. Surprises and excitement abound as he makes the trek. I’m literally writing the story from scratch every week, chapter by chapter. I love Route 20, and the Historic Association does a spectacular job of keeping its spirit alive!

    Reply

Leave a Comment