Before GPS and gas stations, there were muddy turnpikes, bumpy coaches, and taverns where you might hear a ghost story and get a hot meal—if you were lucky.

Join author and history-sleuth Richard F. Palmer for a deep dive into the dusty days of stagecoaches and roadside inns in 19th-century Cortland County. With rare photographs, traveler tales, and tavern gossip, Palmer revives a long-lost era when the mail was slow, the whiskey was strong, and the roads were… questionable.

This fascinating presentation and book signing will explore the quirky and crucial role early transportation played in shaping our region—and all the curious characters it carried along the way.

Palmer is the author of The Old Line Mail: Stage Coach Days in Upstate New York (North Country Books, 2022), a must-read for fans of forgotten road trips and haunted highways.