 "...no man is useless while he has a friend..." Robert Louis Stevenson
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Starring
My Town…
salutes
Syracuse, New York…
…the “Salt City”
on the Erie Canal!
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Salt of the earth…
The first settlers to set foot in the area were French missionaries invited there by the Onondaga Iroquois in the 1600s. Accompanied by a few soldiers and some fur traders, they settled there peacefully for almost two years, Then, one cold March night, they suddenly disappeared into the night spurred no doubt by threats from the neighboring Mohawk tribe. It was almost a century later before settlers returned. When salt was discovered in the nearby swamps, the flow of settlers increased.
 "The Erie Canal" by John William Hill |
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“Clinton’s Ditch”…
The success of Britain’s Bridgewater canal in 1761 gave rise to a plan for a waterway in the Mohawk Valley. It was surveyed in 1784 but met with strong opposition. Then, in 1816, Governor De Witt Clinton resurrected the plan and construction began in July, 1817 to build a canal that would reach from the Hudson River to Lake Erie connecting the great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. But criticism continued and it gathered more steam as unskilled workers slowly dug their way across the landscape. 1000 workers died of swamp fever near Syracuse in 1819. It was derisively called Clinton's Folly or Clinton's Ditch.
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| DeWitt Clinton | " Wedding of the Waters" |
The Erie Canal officially opened on October 26, 1825, and was hailed as the greatest engineering marvel in the world. The first trip was taken on the Seneca Chief from Buffalo to New York City and ended in the “Wedding of the Waters” as water from Lake Erie was poured into the Atlantic Ocean…
Who comes there?"
"Your brothers from the West, on the waters of the Great Lakes."
"By what means have they been diverted so far from their natural course?"
"Through the channel of the Erie Canal."
"By whose authority and by whom was a work of such magnitude accomplished?"
"By the authority and the enterprise of the people of the State of New York."
It was the same year that the Village of Syracuse was officially incorporated.
The Syracuse of yesterday and today…
. The Weighlock Building….
….Yesterday it was where they weighed canal barges to determine the toll charges. By 1905 the building became the canal office and is now the Erie Canal Museum.
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| Syracuse Weighlock Building in 1875... | ..in 1905.. |
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...in 1963 |
..and as it is today. |
. Clinton Square….
….where the Erie Canal ran right through downtown!...
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Clinton Square in 1878... |
...in 1917... |
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..and Clinton Square today! |
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. …while on Washington Street from 1839 to 1936.....
..there was a train that came right through the middle of the shopping district!
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Artist...L. F. Tantillo |
. On Columbus Circle…
… a church will become a hotel!
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St. Mary's Cathedral across the street from... |
...the First Baptist Church that is now
Mizpah Towers and soon a Ramada hotel! |
. Citadel of Learning…
…Syracuse University lost 32 students in the first 9/11 tragedy in 1988 when 32 of its students were killed in the Pan Am 103 terrorist bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland.
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"The Old Row" |
Crouse College Building |
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Hall of Languages |
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. The Landmark Theatre…
….designed by architect Thomas Lamb and christened the Loew’s State Theatre on February 18, 1928 it was built to run stage acts and feature films. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, it is home to the Syracuse symphony, touring Broadway shows and concerts.
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. And some famous people who lived there…
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Gordon MacRae 1921-1986
...born in New Jersey but raised in Syracuse
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Richard Gere 8-31-1949
...born in Philadelphia but raised in Syracuse
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Tom Cruise 7-3-1962
...at 14, he attended a Franciscan seminary!
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Rod Serling 1924 - 1975
The creator of "Twilight Zone"
was born on Christmas Day!
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Rory Cochrane 2-28-1972
He was born in Syracuse
but moved to England when he was 3. |
Jackie Coogan 1914 - 1984
Little "Oliver Twist" grew up to be the
Addam's Family big "Uncle Fester" |
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Jimmy Van Heusen 1913 - 1990
He wrote award-winning movie music with Sammy Cahn!
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Frank Whaley 7-20-1963
Frank is still a fervent New Yorker!
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. Winter in Syracuse can be pretty….and fun… and….oh, well!
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