North Syracuse Village

Onondaga County, New York

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North Syracuse Village Hall is located at 600 South Bay Road, North Syracuse, NY 13212.
Phone: 315‑458‑0900.

Beginnings [1]

The region surrounding the Village of North Syracuse was first settled during the early nineteenth century. Written records indicate that James Millard first settled the area adjacent to the present-day Village in 1810. Prior to this time, the area that is now Main Street served as part of an Indian footpath that extended from Pennsylvania to the St. Lawrence River. The Indian footpath, which was known as the Thousand Island Trail, was later utilized to transport salt from Onondaga Lake to Brewerton as the Onondaga Lake Salt Industry developed. The Salt Road, as it became known, was and continues to be an important transportation corridor. During the middle of the nineteenth century, seasonal conditions prevented the Salt Road from being utilized year round, so plans were made to create the nation's first plank road.

The real beginning of the Village was the activity aroused by the opening of this Plank Road and "Podunk" became "Centerville" in 1896 with two streets running off the Plank Road. The new post office was called the Plank Road Post Office in honor of the novel highway just completed and was located in the Palmer House, which was at 210 South Main Street. The Village retained the name of "Centerville" until about 1880 when citizens requested the Postmaster General to grant a change to its present name of "North Syracuse." The Village of North Syracuse was incorporated on November 30, 1925, an area extending one-mile north, east, south and west from the Village center at Church and Main Street.

Among the first settlers, the Fergerson family located there in 1826. They still occupy the same land located in what is now the village center. Many local streets are named in their honor. On July 18, 1846, the United States' first plank road opened in North Syracuse, primarily for salt transportation. The road cost $23,000, was 16-1/2 miles long and planked its entire length. Thomas Alvord, State Legislator, who later became Lieutenant Governor helped secure the passage of an Act to construct, maintain and collect tolls. There were four tollgates about four miles apart that were operated by the company which was a profitable enterprise for many years. In 1907, an important event affecting the village was the completion of the Syracuse and South Bay Trolley line. This ended the usefulness of the old stagecoach which for many years had carried mail and passengers to and from the City of Syracuse.

  1. Tetra-Tech EM, Inc. for Syracuse-Onondaga County Planning Agency, Onondaga County Multi-Jurisdictional All-Hazards Mitigation Plan, Volume I, 2010.2011, www.ongov.net, accessed June, 2013.

Nearby Towns: Cicero Town • Clay Town • DeWitt Town • East Syracuse Vlg • Geddes Town • Liverpool Vlg • Salina Town • Solvay Vlg • Syracuse City •


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