SYRACUSE. The fourth city in population of the State of New York, and the county-seat of Onondaga County, 148 miles west of Albany and 149 miles east of Buffalo (Map: New York, D 2). It is situated at the mouth of Onondaga Valley, 35 miles south of Lake Ontario, in an amphitheatre of hills.
Syracuse has superior facilities for transpor tation, steam railroads entering the city from ten directions, and canals from three. The Erie Canal, which pierces the heart of the city, gives water communication with Lake Erie :Ind the Hudson River, and thence with tidewater, and the Oswego Canal with Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence. All the steam railroad lines centring here are of two systems, the New York Central and Hudson River and the Lacka wanna. The street railway system comprises 65 miles of track, and reaches all sections of the city. It is practically under one management.
The chief residential streets are profusely shaded, presenting a park-like appearance. Syra cuse has forty-five public parks, ranging from small plots at street intersections to Burnet Park, on a hillside to the west, with more than 100 acres. Lincoln Park, a wooded height of 20 acres on the eastern border, commands the most extensive and picturesque of the city and its surroundings. The State Fair, under the pices of the State Agricultural Society, is per manently located in Syracuse. The State an nually appropriates a large sum for the support of the fair.
The buildings of Syracuse University (q.v.) crown a commanding elevation and are among the most imposing edifices in the city. Other prominent public buildings are the city hall, the new high school, costing $400.000, the Carnegie Library, the county court-house, the Federal Gov ernment building, the State Asylum for Feeble :Minded Children, the County Orphan Asylum, the Old Home, and the four hospitals. The Carnegie (public) Library contains 60.000 volumes, and the Court of Appeals Law Library, belonging to the State, 10,000 volumes. The city also maintains a Museum of Fine Arts. The On ondaga Historical Society is (1904) to erect a building for its own use.
Industrially, Syracuse is fourth among the cities of the State, its establishments in the census year 1900 having $31,358.000 invested capital, and a production valued at $31,948,000.
The leading manufactures are men's clothing, foundry and machine shop products, iron and steel, malt liquors, iron and steel pipe, typewrit ers and supplies, boots and shoes, agricultural implements, flouring and grist mill products, and furniture. The city is noted for the manufac ture of typewriters. The Onondaga Salt Springs, belonging to the State, are on the borders of Onondaga Lake. The manufacture of salt, from the brine pumped out of the springs, was for merly the main industry, and is still of impor tance. The Solvay Process Works. manufacturing
soda ash and other products. and employing some 3000 men, are just outside of the city limits on the west. With its many and varied manufac tures, the city has a large wholesale and export trade.
The government is vested in a mayor and com mon council, elected every two years. The comptroller and treasurer are chosen at the same time. The mayor appoints the heads of departments, including the city engineer, corpora tion counsel, and commissioners of public works, public safety, and charities. The schools are un der the control of a board of education elected on a general ticket. In maintenance and operation the city annually expends about $2,000.000, the principal items being: schools, $350,000; police department, $140.000; fire department, $1S0, 000; and lighting, $122,000. There are 45 miles of paved streets, principally of asphalt; 100 miles of sewers; and 161 miles of water .mains. The water sy%tem is under municipal ownership and control. The water is obtained from Skan eateles Lake, 18 miles distant, and is conveyed by gravity to the city through 36-inch pipes. The plant cost $5,000,000. The water department in 1902 netted the city a profit of $40,000.
Population, in 1850. 22.271; in ISO, 2S.119; in 1870, 43.051: in 1680, 51.792; in 1890, 88,143; in 1900, 108,374. • The territory in which Syracuse is situated originally belonged to the Onondaga Indians. It was visited by the Jesuit missionary Father Isaac Jogues as early as 1642. By treaties in 1778 and 1795 the State bought a large tract con taining the salt springs and formed from it the `Onondaga Salt Springs Reservation,' parts of which were subsequently sold to individuals. Syracuse proper was first settled about 1S05 and was of little importance until after the com pletion of the Erie Canal, its population in 1820 being only 250. Until named Syracuse in 1819 it was known successively as South Salina, Bo gardus's Corners, Cassitt's Corners, and Milan. It was incorporated as a village in 1825, and in 1S47 absorbed Salina and was chartered as a city. It was prominent for its abolitionist senti ment preceding the Civil War. and was one of the chief stations on the Railroad' (q.v.). Here on October 1, 1849, occurred the famous 'Jerry Rescue,' which did much to crys tallize abolitionist sentiment in the North and arouse the animosity of the Southern planters. In 1S87 the villages of Geddes and Danforth be came a part of Syracuse, and in 1892 some fur ther additions were authorized by the Legisla ture. Consult Bruce, Memorial History of ',Syra cuse (Syracuse, 1891).