Syracuse, New York, USA
1854 - Syracuse

Syracuse, a flourishing city of Central New York, and capital of Onondaga county, is situated on the S. end of Onondaga lake, and on a creek of that name, 148 miles by railroad W. by N. from Albany, 80 miles E. by S. from Rochester, and 35 miles S. S. E. from Oswego. Lat, 43° 4' N., Ion. 76° 12' W. The site is nearly level. The city is regularly laid out, with wide, straight streets crossing each other at right angles. The principal avenues of business are lined with handsome blocks of brick and stone buildings. The city contains a public hall, which will seat 2500 persons, and is one of the best in the state. The situation being more central than that of any other large town in New York, nearly all the state conventions of the political and other associations are held here. The principal hotels are the Globe Hotel, the Syracuse House, and the Onondaga House. There are 4 Roman Catholic, and 19 Protestant churches, mixing which are 4 remarkable for architectural beauty, erected at a cost of $125,000. Eight handsome buildings have been erected for the public schools, at an aggregate expense of $30,000. The city contained, July, 1852, 8 banks, with an aggregate capital of $885,000. The public press consists of 4 daily and 6 weekly news papers, besides several monthly periodicals. Some of these are devoted to religious and literary subjects.

From its position, Syracuse enjoys great facilities for trade. The Erie canal, completed in 1825, passes through the central part of the city, E. and W., and is inter ceded at right angles by the Oswego canal, extending northward to Lake Ontario. The Central railroad of New York, forming the great thoroughfare from Albany to Buffalo, here divides into two branches, one leading directly to Rochester, and the other pursuing a more circuitous route via Auburn and Geneva. The Oswego and Syracuse railroad, and the Syracuse and Binghamton railroad, also terminate at this place, connecting it with the towns indicated by their names. Two other railroads are projected to Sackett's harbor and to Newburg. Plank-roads diverge to various points in Onondaga, and in the adjoining counties. Here terminates the long level of the Erie canal, 69 1/ 2 miles in length.

Syracuse is remarkable as the seat of the most extensive and valuable salt manufactories in the United States. The land containing the saline springs is owned by the state, and is leased free of rent, to be used only for this manufacture. The wells are dug and the water pumped at the expense of the state, and the manufacturer pays a duty of 1 cent per bushel. Originally the duty was 12 1/ 2 cents; then for many years prior to 1846 it was 6 cents per bushel. Some of the wells are sunk to the depth of 400 feet. Fine salt is prepared by boiling, and coarse by solar evaporation. In 1850 the number of manufactories of salt in this vicinity was 102. The whole quantity produced in 1851 was stated at 4,614,117 bushels ; and in 1853 it amounted to more than 5,000,000 bushels. An experiment has recently been made, by the order of the secretary of war, for the purpose of testing the relative value of the Onondaga and Turk's island salt, the result of which proved that the salt of home manufacture was fully equal to the foreign. Syracuse also contains a variety of other manufactories, the most valuable productions of which are machinery, steam- engines, farming implements, stoves, woollen goods, paper, leather, and flour.

History. - The township of Salina, in which Syracuse was situated, was formed in 1809. A post-office was established here in 1820, prior to which time the place was called Cossit's Corners, and then Corinth. In 1820 the village contained 3 stores, 2 taverns, and 250 inhabitants. On April 13th, 1825, it was incorporated as a village, and in 1848 as the city of Syracuse, including the contiguous village of Salina, situated on the margin of Onondaga lake, about 1 mile N. from the centre of the city. Salina village was incorporated in 1824. It appears that the growth of this town was never more rapid than at the present time. Pop. of Salina township in 1 840, 11,013, of whom 6500 were in Syracuse; in 1850, 22,271 ; in 1853, estimated at 27,000.

A New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States: Giving a Full and Comprehensive Review of the Present Condition, Industry, and Resources of the American Confederacy ... Thomas Baldwin (of Philadelphia.) Joseph Thomas January 1, 1854 Philadelphia : Lippincott, Grambo & Company 1854.

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