Syracuse, New York
Syracuse (/ˈsɪrəkjuːz, ˈsɛr-, -kjuːs/ SIRR-ə-kewz, SERR-, -kewss)[3][4][5] is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a metropolitan area of 662,057,[6] it is the fifth-most populated city and 13th-most populated municipality in the state of New York.[a]
This article is about the city in the state of New York. For other places sharing the same name, see Syracuse (disambiguation).
Syracuse
1825
1847
25.64 sq mi (66.41 km2)
25.06 sq mi (64.90 km2)
0.58 sq mi (1.51 km2) 2.15%
380–440 ft (116–135 m)
148,620
5,930.80/sq mi (2,289.88/km2)
413,660 (US: 102nd)
2,291.3/sq mi (884.7/km2)
662,057 (US: 91st)
738,305 (US: 72nd)
Syracusan
UTC−4 (Eastern Daylight Time)
36-73000
0966966
Formally established in 1820, Syracuse was named after the classical Greek city Syracuse (Siracusa in Italian), a city on the eastern coast of the Italian island of Sicily, for its similar natural features. It has historically functioned as a major crossroads, first between the Erie Canal and its branch canals, then of the railway network. Today, the city is at the intersection of Interstates 81 and 90, and its airport is the largest in Central New York, a five-county region of over one million inhabitants.
Syracuse is the economic and educational hub of Central New York. It hosts a number of convention sites, including a large downtown convention complex, and is home to prominent institutions such as Syracuse University, SUNY Upstate Medical University, SUNY ESF, and Le Moyne College.
French missionaries were the first Europeans to come to this area, arriving to work with and convert the Native Americans in the mid-17th century. At the invitation of the Onondaga Nation, one of the five nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, a Jesuit priest by the name of Simon Le Moyne, accompanied by soldiers and coureurs des bois, including Pierre Esprit Radisson, set up a mission, known as Ste. Marie de Gannentaha on the northeast shore of Onondaga Lake.
Jesuit missionaries reported salty brine springs around the southern end of what they referred to as "Salt Lake", known today as Onondaga Lake in honor of the historic tribe. French fur traders established trade throughout the New York area among the Iroquois. Dutch and English colonists also were traders, and the English nominally claimed the area, from their upstate base at Albany, New York. During the American Revolutionary War, the highly decentralized Iroquois divided into groups and bands that supported the British, and two tribes that supported the American-born rebels, or patriots.
Settlers came into central and western New York from eastern parts of the state and New England after the American Revolutionary War and various treaties with and land sales by Native American tribes.[7] The subsequent designation of this area by the state of New York as the Onondaga Salt Springs Reservation provided the basis for commercial salt production. Such production took place from the late 1700s through the early 1900s. Brine from wells that tapped into halite (common salt) beds in the Salina shale near Tully, New York, 15 miles south of the city, was developed in the 19th century.[8][9] It is the north-flowing brine from Tully that is the source of salt for the "salty springs" found along the shoreline of Onondaga Lake. The rapid development of this industry in the 18th and 19th centuries led to the nicknaming of this area as "The Salt City".
The original settlement of Syracuse was a conglomeration of several small towns and villages and was not recognized with a post office by the United States Government. Establishing the post office was delayed because the settlement did not have a name. Joshua Forman wanted to name the village Corinth. When John Wilkinson applied for a post office in that name in 1820, it was denied because the same name was already in use in Saratoga County, New York.[10] Having read a poetic description of Syracuse, Sicily (Siracusa), Wilkinson saw similarities to the lake and salt springs of this area, which had both "salt and freshwater mingling together".[11] On February 4, 1820, Wilkinson proposed the name "Syracuse" to a group of fellow townsmen; it became the name of the village and the new post office.[12]
The first Solvay Process Company plant in the United States was erected on the southwestern shore of Onondaga Lake in 1884. The village was called Solvay to commemorate the inventor Ernest Solvay. In 1861, he developed the ammonia-soda process for the manufacture of soda ash (anhydrous sodium carbonate) from brine wells dug in the southern end of Tully valley (as a source of sodium chloride) and limestone (as a source of calcium carbonate). The process was an improvement over the earlier Leblanc process. The Syracuse Solvay plant was the incubator for a large chemical industry complex owned by Allied Signal in Syracuse. While this industry stimulated development and provided many jobs in Syracuse, it left Onondaga Lake as the most polluted in the nation.
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; the Century Motor Vehicle Company; the Smith Corona company; and the Craftsman Workshops, the center of Gustav Stickley's handmade furniture empire.
On March 24, 1870, Syracuse University was founded. The State of New York granted the new university its own charter, independent of Genesee College, which had unsuccessfully tried to move to Syracuse the year before.[13] The university was founded as coeducational. President Peck stated at the opening ceremonies, "The conditions of admission shall be equal to all persons... there shall be no invidious discrimination here against woman.... brains and heart shall have a fair chance... "[14] Syracuse implemented this policy and attracted a high proportion of women students. In the College of Liberal Arts, the ratio between male and female students during the 19th century was approximately even. The College of Fine Arts was predominantly female, and a low ratio of women enrolled in the College of Medicine and the College of Law.[14]
The first New York State Fair was held in Syracuse in 1841.[15] Between 1842 and 1889, the Fair was held among 11 New York cities before finding a permanent home in Syracuse. It has been an annual event since then, except between 1942 and 1947, when the grounds were used as a military base during World War II,[15] and in 2020, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of the racial incidents happening all over the country during the 1919 Red Summer, on July 31, 1919, there was a violent riot between white and black workers of the Syracuse Globe Malleable Iron Works.
Syracuse is home to the only "green on top" traffic light. The "green on top" traffic light was installed in 1928 as a result of local youths throwing rocks at the "British red" light that was originally on top. These locals became known as "stonethrowers" and the neighborhood now has the Tipperary Hill Heritage Memorial on the corner of Tompkins Street and Milton Avenue to commemorate this history.[16]
World War II stimulated significant industrial expansion in the area: of specialty steel, fasteners, and custom machining. After the war, two of the Big Three automobile manufacturers (General Motors and Chrysler) had major operations in the area. Syracuse was also headquarters for Carrier Corporation, and Crouse-Hinds manufactured traffic signals in the city. General Electric, with its headquarters in Schenectady to the east, had its main television manufacturing plant at Electronics Parkway in Syracuse.
The manufacturing industry in Syracuse began to falter in the 1970s, as the industry restructured nationwide. Many small businesses failed during this time, which contributed to the already increasing unemployment rate. Rockwell International moved its factory outside New York state. General Electric moved its television manufacturing operations to Suffolk, Virginia, and later offshore to Asia. The Carrier Corporation moved its headquarters out of Syracuse, relocated its manufacturing operations out of state, and outsourced some of its production to Asian facilities. Although the city population has declined since 1950, the Syracuse metropolitan area population has remained fairly stable, growing by 2.5 percent since 1970. While this growth rate is greater than much of Upstate New York, it is far below the national average during that period.
The Syracuse Community Grid project is a 2023 highway teardown project taking place in Downtown Syracuse, with the goal of improving the city.[17]
Winter in Syracuse
Assumption Church
First Baptist Church
The City of Syracuse maintains over 170 parks, fields, and recreation areas, totaling over 1,000 acres (4.0 km2).[85] Burnet Park includes the first public golf course in the United States (1901) and Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Other major parks include Thornden Park, Schiller Park, Sunnycrest Park, Onondaga Park and Kirk Park. There are 12 public pools, two public ice rinks (Sunnycrest and Meachem), and two public nine-hole golf courses (Burnet and Sunycrest Parks) in the city. Onondaga Park, located in the historic Strathmore neighborhood, features Hiawatha Lake, and a beautiful gazebo, often used for prom photos and wedding shoots.
Right outside the city proper, along the east side and north end of Onondaga Lake, is Onondaga Lake Park. The adjacent Onondaga Lake Parkway is closed to vehicular traffic several hours on Sundays during the summer months, so it can be used for walking, running, biking, and rollerblading. During the holiday season, the park hosts Lights on the Lake, a two-mile (3.2 km) drive-through light show.
Interstate 81 runs north–south through Syracuse, and provides access to Canada, Pennsylvania and points south. Its downtown portion is extremely narrow, only consisting of four lanes and few onramps. The highway was known as the Penn-Can Expressway when first built, leading to the Penn-Can Mall and other similarly named developments. It will soon be rerouted to follow I-481's route around the city instead of going through downtown. The current route will be redesignated as Interstate 81 Business.[94]
Interstate 90, signed as the New York State Thruway within New York State, runs east–west, just north of the city. It is a toll highway that provides access to Rochester, Buffalo, Albany, and the north–south (Interstate 87) part of the Thruway leads to New York City.
Interstate 690 runs east–west through the city, and provides access to Interstate 90, as well as to Syracuse's northwestern and eastern suburbs. A spur off I-690 directly west of the city, NY 695, provides freeway access to the southwestern suburbs. It meets Interstate 81 in downtown Syracuse in a highly complex and incomplete intersection. Most of its routing through the city directly replaced the former elevated rail lines of the New York Central four-track mainline, a fact quite notable by the city's former main rail terminal, where the freeway spans the width between the terminal and its outermost platform. In 1981 artist Duke Epolito erected sculptures of "passengers" on the single remaining passenger platform. The piece is entitled "Waiting for the Night Train."[95]
Interstate 481 forms an eastern loop around the city and continues to the northwest as NY 481 to Fulton and Oswego, on the shore of Lake Ontario. The highway was built to provide rapid access to eastern suburbs after the affluent community members in Manllius and Fayetteville squashed the original design to extend Interstate 690 to serve the eastern suburbs. The highway is soon to be replaced in designation by Interstate 81.[94]
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Fuzhou, Fujian
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Taiz
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Tampere
Syracuse's sister cities are: