Wayne County and the Burnt-Over District

Museum of Wayne County History, 21 Butternut St., Lyons.  The new exhibit, "Wayne County and the Burnt-Over District" is on display in the Changing Exhibition Room until August 7, 2010.  Wayne County is unique in that many religions and religious movements had major connections to the area and three can even call Wayne County their birthplace:  Mormonism, Modern Spiritualism and the Neversweats.  This exhibit examines this part of the "Burnt-over District" a term coined by Charles Grandison Finney who in his 1876 book Autobiography of Charles G. Finney referred to a "burnt district" to denote an area in central and western New York State during the Second Great Awakening.  The name was inspired by the notion that the area had been so heavily evangelized during antebellum revivalism as to have no "fuel" (unconverted population) left over to "burn" (convert).  For more information call 315-946-4943 or check out the website, www.waynehistory.org.