Syracuse, New York

Syracuse is an American city in Central New York. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 147,306, and its metropolitan area had a population of 732,117. It is the county seat of Onondaga County and the economical and educational hub of Central New York, a region with over a million inhabitants. Syracuse is also a relatively large convention city, with a downtown convention complex and the Empire Expo Center directly west of the city, which hosts the annual Great New York State Fair. Syracuse was named after the original Syracuse, a city on the eastern coast of Sicily, Italy, which shares some similarities with this one, including a formerly-important salt industry and a neighboring town of Salina.

History

The Syracuse area was first seen by Europeans when French missionaries came to the area in the 1600s. A group of Jesuit priests, soldiers, and coureurs des bois (including Pierre Esprit Radisson) set up a mission on the southwest shore of Lake Onondaga at the invitation of the Onondaga Nation, one of the five constituent members of the Iroquois confederacy.

Related Topics:
French - 1600s - Jesuit - Pierre Esprit Radisson - Lake Onondaga - Onondaga Nation

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The mission was short lived, as the Mohawk Nation hinted to the Onondaga that they should sever their ties to the French, or the Onondaga's guests would suffer some horrible fate. The men in the mission caught wind of this and somehow left under cover of a cold night in March. Their entire stay was less than two years.

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After the Revolutionary War, more settlers came to the area, mostly to trade with the Onondaga Nation. Salt was discovered in several swamps in Syracuse, which brought more settlers to the area, and eventually gave the city the nickname "Salt City".

Related Topics:
Revolutionary War - Salt

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The original settlement went through several name changes until 1824, first being called Webster's Landing (1786), then Bogardus Corners (1796), Milan (1809), South Salina (1812), Cossits’ Corners (1814), and Corinth (1817). The U.S. Postal Service rejected the name Corinth upon its application for a post office, stating there was already a post office by this name in New York. Due to similarities such as a salt industry and a neighboring village named Salina, the name Syracuse was chosen, after Syracuse, Italy.

Related Topics:
U.S. Postal Service - Village

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In 1820, the Village of Syracuse was officially incorporated. Five years later, the Erie Canal, which ran through the village, was created. In 1839, Syracuse merged with the nearby Salina to become the city of Syracuse. The opening of the canal caused steep increase in the sale of salt, not simply due to the improved and lower cost transportation, but because the canal caused New York farms to change from wheat to pork, and curing pork required salt. As salt production climbed, the processing became increasingly mechanized, and local industry became more generalized; population grew to 22,000 by 1850, from 250 in 1820.

Related Topics:
1820 - Erie Canal - 1839

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As Syracuse grew in wealth and sophistication, it became a hot spot for the growing abolitionist movement. On October 1, 1851, a freed slave known only as "Jerry" was arrested under the Fugitive Slave Law. The anti-slavery Liberty Party was holding its state convention in the city, and when word of the arrest spread, several hundred abolitionists broke into the city jail and freed Jerry. The event came to be known as the Jerry Rescue. During the Civil War, Syracuse was also a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Related Topics:
Abolitionist - October 1 - 1851 - Fugitive Slave Law - Liberty Party - Civil War - Underground Railroad

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The salt industry declined after the Civil War, but a new manufacturing industry arose in its place. Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, numerous businesses and stores were established, including the Franklin Automobile Company, which produced the first air-cooled engine in the world, and the Craftsman Workshops, the center of Gustav Stickley's handmade furniture empire.

Related Topics:
Civil War - 1800s - 1900s - Gustav Stickley's

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Syracuse University was chartered in 1870 as a Methodist-Episcopal institution; it has grown from a few classrooms located in downtown Syracuse into a major research institution.

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Many of Syracuse's landmark buildings were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s, and several new museums and government buildings were built. Syracuse's population peaked at 221,000 in 1950. In the 1980s, many immigrants from Africa and Central America moved to Syracuse, under the auspices of several religious charities. However, these new Syracusans could not compete with the flow of residents out of Syracuse to either its suburbs or out of state due to job loss.

Related Topics:
1950s - 1960s - 1950 - 1980s - Immigrant - Africa - Central America - Suburb

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The manufacturing industry in Syracuse began to falter in the 1970s. Many small businesses went out of business during this time, which contributed to an already increasing unemployment rate. Nevertheless, Syracuse metropolitan area population has remained stable, even growing by three percent since 1970.

Related Topics:
1970s - Unemployment rate

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