It encompasses Palmyra's commercial, civic, religious, and residential core.

Most of the buildings were built between about 1830 and 1890, and is representative of a quintessential canal town in New York State.

It includes the previously listed Market Street Historic District, East Main Street Commercial Historic District, and Zion Episcopal Church.

Notable buildings include the Village Hall (1866-1868), Griffith Block (c. 1893), First National Bank (1925), bandstand on the village green (c. 1906), First Methodist Church (1866-1867), Western Presbyterian Church (c. 1832), First Baptist Church (1871), St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church (1859-1870s), Alexander McKachnie House (c. 1830), Garlock Office Building, Sherburne Ford building (c. 1910), Palmyra Elementary School (1924), the Carlton Rogers House (1850s), and the Floral Hall (1856).

[1] On May 3, 2013, a fire started by alleged arson destroyed three historic Main Street buildings dating to the village's Erie Canal era, and water from the firefighting response damaged a fourth.