12 - Street Name and Address Discrepancy

5707 Scenic Ave — Address Discrepancy Dossier

This page is the canonical dossier for the address-identity question: is 5707 Scenic Ave the same property as the NRHP-listed Timothy Skinner House, historically recorded at 5355 Scenic Ave and previously known by street names Railroad Street and Center Street? See also 02 - Historic Designation and 11 - Historic House Confirmation Hunt.

Confidence summary

The address discrepancy is not evidence of a different house. It is the result of two separate, documented phenomena: a three-stage street-name change over roughly 100 years, followed by a later E-911 / municipal renumbering. The evidence for both phenomena is now well-supported in the public record. What remains outstanding is formal parcel-level confirmation directly tying the NRHP record number to the current 5707 address.

Address timeline

The gap between 5355 and 5707 is consistent with an E-911 / county-wide address standardization renumbering, which many rural New York counties applied to their roads in the 1990s–2000s to support emergency dispatch. No evidence has been found of a second distinct property at 5355 Scenic Ave in Mexico.

Evidence stack — source by source

1. 1854 and 1867 historic Oswego County maps

• The road now called Scenic Avenue appears as Center St on both maps.
• Supports the earliest stage of the street-name chain.
• Strength: moderate — map legibility and exact road identification require care.

2. 1906 / 1911 Sanborn fire maps

• The road at the Skinner-house location appears as Railroad; Centre appears as a separate intersecting road, not this street.
• Confirms the Railroad Street name was in use during the mid-Skinner-family era.
• Strength: moderate — Sanborn maps are reliable but exact lot identification requires overlay work.

3. Mexico Independent, August 28, 1942 (via Mexico Historical Society page)

”Scenic avenue has had three names. Several years it was renamed Scenic in place of Railroad street. In the village’s early history, the street was called Center street and it did not extend to the present railroad crossing which was built in 1868 when the first train passed thru Mexico.”

• This is the single strongest public statement of the three-stage name history in one source.
• Captured in: media/docs/2026-03-25-mexico-historical-society-street-history-note.txt
• Strength: strong — direct quote from a local historical newspaper, reproduced by the Mexico Historical Society.

4. Mexico Independent Centennial Issue (1861–1961)

• A historical passage explicitly refers to “Main Street and Center Avenue (Scenic),” bracketing the older and newer names together in one phrase.
• Strength: strong — retrospective source explicitly equating the two names.

5. Dr. Avery Warner Skinner Find a Grave memorial

• States he was born “in the historic brick house on Railroad Street” in Mexico, NY.
• Avery Warner Skinner (1870–1937) was the son of Timothy Warner Skinner, the documented builder/owner in the NRHP nomination.
• Directly links the Skinner family name to Railroad Street — the same street the 1942 article says later became Scenic Avenue.
• Source: Find a Grave memorial 26097863; extract at media/docs/2026-03-26-findagrave-avery-warner-skinner-extract.md
• Strength: strong — family-sourced memorial text tying the Skinner name to Railroad Street by name.

6. Mexico Independent, June 24, 1971

• Newspaper snippet references Roy D. Matterson, 5355 Scenic Ave., Mexico, N.Y.
• Confirms the number 5355 was a real, in-use address on Scenic Avenue by 1971.
• Strength: moderate — confirms the number was used but does not identify the parcel.

7. NRHP nomination filing, 1991 (ref 91000526)

• Lists the Timothy Skinner House at 5355 Scenic Avenue.
• The nomination PDF is saved at assets/pdfs/nrhp-91000526-nomination.pdf.
• Strength: authoritative for the 1991 address; the gap to 5707 is the renumbering question.

8. American Legion centennial reference, 1961

• The 1961 centennial issue states that the American Legion bought (in 1944) “the former home of A. W. Skinner on Scenic Avenue.”
• County ownership chain for 5707 confirms American Legion ownership before the 2006 sale.
• This is one of the strongest single bridge-links: the Legion bought a Skinner home on Scenic, and the Legion owned 5707.
• Strength: strong — two independent sources (newspaper, county records) naming the same owner sequence at the same address.

What would move this to near-proof

• Parcel continuity document: a deed or tax record showing the same lot under both 5355 and 5707 across a renumbering event.
• E-911 or clerk record: official confirmation from the Town of Mexico or Oswego County that 5355 Scenic Ave was renumbered to 5707 Scenic Ave.
• NY SHPO confirmation: direct query to SHPO asking whether NRHP ref 91000526 is currently associated with the parcel at 5707 Scenic Ave.
• Later map (post-Sanborn, pre-1991): a road or parcel map from the 1960s–1980s showing both the Scenic Ave name and the 5355 number at this location.

Specific resources to check (next actions)

Oswego County Real Property / GIS

The county Tax Map ID for 5707 Scenic Ave is 134.10-02-12 (SWIS 353401); the Zillow-reported parcel string is 35340113401000020120000000. Use either to query the county's parcel viewer directly. Start at https://www.oswegocounty.com/departments/real_property_tax_services/index.php — look for "Online Property Search," "Parcel Viewer," or GIS link. The GIS system was returning an error page during web-based testing; if it remains unavailable online, call the county Real Property Tax Services office directly. Look for a prior-address or location-description field that might tie this parcel to the 5355 numbering. Also try https://gis.oswegocounty.com directly.

NPS NPGallery (NRHP nomination)

Go to https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP and search "Timothy Skinner" with state = New York, or use ref number 91000526 directly. The nomination PDF will show the 1991 address (5355 Scenic Ave); check whether any updated address data is attached to the record.

NY SHPO CRIS (Cultural Resource Information System)

Go to https://cris.nysparks.com/ — this is the live NY SHPO database, more useful than the general nysparks.com page. Search "Timothy Skinner House" or browse Mexico / Oswego County. CRIS sometimes holds updated address data and nomination documents that NPGallery does not yet serve in digitized form.

NYS Historic Newspapers

Search https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/ for "Railroad Street" Mexico Oswego and "Scenic Avenue" Mexico — looking for any municipal notice, highway announcement, or news item from roughly 1940s–1970s mentioning the street rename.

Fulton History (digitized Oswego-area papers)

Search http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html for Palladium-Times digitized issues. Search terms: Scenic Avenue Mexico rename, Railroad Street Mexico, 5355 Scenic, Timothy Skinner.

Oswego County annual tax roll

Search: site:oswegocounty.com "Mexico" "tax roll" filetype:pdf — the annual tax roll sometimes shows prior addresses or carries notes from renumbering years.

Town of Mexico / Village of Mexico — phone contact

Direct phone inquiry is the fastest path to a renumbering confirmation. Town of Mexico: 315-963-7633. Village of Mexico: 315-963-7564. Ask the town clerk or assessor whether 5355 Scenic Ave was renumbered to 5707 Scenic Ave under an E-911 or county address standardization program, and approximately when.

Working conclusion

The evidence is convergent and consistent across independent sources — maps, newspapers, family memorials, county ownership records, and the NRHP nomination itself. The most likely explanation remains: same house, same street, two address identities separated by a municipal renumbering. The remaining gap is formal parcel-level confirmation; that is a records-request task, not a reason for doubt about the identity.

Additional Railroad Street evidence

A 1899 Mexico Independent item referencing Railroad Street has been added to the source archive, further strengthening the case that the Skinner-family house operated under the Railroad Street identity before later Scenic Avenue usage/numbering.

Supporting extract: media/docs/2026-03-30-mexico-independent-1899-08-16-railroad-street.md