SYRACUSE 



5671 



SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY 



150 miles east of Buffalo. Various branches of 

 the New York Central and the Delaware, 

 Lackawanna & Western railways enter the city. 

 Through the Erie Canal, which pierces the city 

 from east to west, there is water communica- 

 tion with the Hudson River and Lake Erie, and 

 through the Oswego Canal, with Lake Ontario 

 and the Saint Lawrence River. Six interurban 

 lines operating from the city afford additional 

 passenger and freight service. The population 

 increased from 137,249 in 1910 to 155,624 in 

 1916 (Federal estimate), and the city ranks 

 fourth in size in the state. The area exceeds 

 seventeen square miles. 



Syracuse is built largely on silt brought down 

 from the Onondaga Valley, and the profuse 

 growths of trees and shrubbery give the broad 

 streets of the residential district a parkllke ap- 

 pearance. The recreation grounds of the city 

 cover about 300 acres; the largest of these is 

 Burnet Park (123 acres). There are several 

 squares in the city, Clinton Square and the one 

 facing the county courthouse being especially 

 attractive. Syracuse is the home of the state 

 fair, which is held under the auspices of the 

 State Agricultural Society. The Onondaga In- 

 dian Reservation is south of the city. 



Buildings and Institutions. Onondaga lime- 

 stone, found in immense quantities in the vi- 

 cinity, is largely used in building, and the city 

 has many examples of modern architecture. 

 Noteworthy structures are the Federal building, 

 the city hall, the courthouse, the state armory 

 and a number of fine bank and office buildings. 

 The most notable institution for advanced 

 learning is the Syracuse University (which see), 

 founded in 1870. Other institutions are Travis 

 Preparatory School, Saint John's Academy (Ro- 

 man Catholic), Saint John's Military School 

 (Episcopal) and a Carnegie Library containing 

 150,000 volumes. The Court of Appeals Law 

 Library, which belongs to the state, has over 

 35,000 volumes. There are also a Museum of 

 Fine Arts and the Onondaga Historical Society. 

 Syracuse is the see of a Roman Catholic bishop. 

 Of the eighty churches in the city the First 

 Presbyterian is the most noted. The benevo- 

 lent institutions include the Good Shepherd, 

 Saint Mary's and Saint Joseph's hospitals, a 

 home for aged women, orphan asylums and a 

 state institution for feeble-minded children. 

 The Onondaga Penitentiary is at James ville, 

 five miles southeast of Syracuse. 



Commerce and Industry. Formerly the pro- 

 duction of salt was the leading industry of 

 Syracuse, and it maintained more than half of 



the population. Of late years Warsaw, N. Y., 

 and Manistee, Mich., have taken the lead in 

 salt production, and the Syracuse industry is of 

 secondary importance. One of the leading 

 manufacturing establishments is the factory of 

 the Solvay Process Company, where about 

 3,000 men are employed in making soda ash, 

 bicarbonate of soda, caustic soda, tar, ammonia, 

 carbolic acid, picric acid and coal-tar products. 

 The brine used by this company is brought 

 through iron pipes from wells twenty miles 

 south of the city. This plant is probably the 

 largest of its kind in the world. The city is an 

 important center for the manufacture of auto- 

 mobiles, agricultural implements, clothing, fur- 

 niture and chinaware. About 15,000 people are 

 engaged in the metal works, about 5,000 in the 

 manufacture of chemicals and about 5.000 in 

 the textile and clothing factories. The export 

 trade is large. 



History. The territory around Syracuse was 

 formerly cwned by the Onondaga Indians. In 

 1778 the state bought, by treaty, a large tract 

 of land which contained the salt springs, and 

 formed what was known as the Onondaga Salt 

 Springs Reservation. The settlement of the 

 city began in 1805, and it was known as South 

 Salina, Bogardus* Corners, Cossitt's Corners 

 and Milan, until it was named Syracuse, for the 

 ancient city in Sicily. In 1825 it became a vil- 

 lage; in 1847 it annexed Salina and was char- 

 tered as a city. Its area was enlarged by an- 

 nexation in 1887 and again in 1832. 



SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY, a coeducational 

 institution under the direction of the Method- 

 ist Episcopal Church, founded at Syracuse, 

 N. Y., in 1870. It has a number of imposing 

 buildings, and its campus of nearly 100 acres is 

 on an elevation commanding a superb view. 

 The university includes the college of liberal 

 arts, the college cf fine arts, the college of 

 medicine (successor to the Geneva Medical 

 College), the college cf law and the college of 

 applied science, the teachers' college, the col- 

 lege cf agriculture and the New York Schocl of 

 Forestry. There are also maintained a school 

 of oratory, a library school, a school of pho- 

 tography and a summer school. The univer- 

 sity athletic field covers five acres; on it is 

 one cf the finest stadiums in the United States, 

 with a seating capacity of 23,003. The library 

 of over 99,000 volumes includes that of the 

 noted German historian-, Leopold von Ranke, 

 which was purchased in 1887. The faculty 

 numbers about 315, and the student enrolment 

 is over 4,000. 



