Utica is located dead center in the middle of New York state. Central New York has a proud, but distant, history of innovation and leadership. In the pre- and post-Civil War era, many of the major social reform movements began in Central New York, including abolition, temperance, women's rights, labor unions and even offbeat communes. Later, during the industrial boom from the 1880s to World War I, men from Utica became major political players, such as U.S. senator, national Republican boss and author of the 14th Amendment, Roscoe Conkling; Democratic presidential nominee Horatio Seymour; Vice President James Sherman and Secretary of State Elihu Root.

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(5/14/2009)