Battle of New Orleans.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

A History of Syracuse's Arsenal

Fllowing up on yesterday's story from  Rootsweb.ancestry.com "The Arsenal in Onondaga County" by Pamela Priest.  Many photos and postcards of the structure accompany the article.

In 1808, an act was passed authorizing the New York governor to deposit 500 stand of arms to protect the frontier and to provide a suitable place to store them.  In 1809, Cornelius Longstreet deeded land to the state to be used for the arsenal.  He was the father of Cornelius T. Longstreet, the builder of Yates Castle.

The two and a half story building was erected in 1810 and made out of Onondaga limestone from quarries at the House family farm.  Two huge wooden cannons were placed on the roof to state its purpose.

During the War of 1812, Nicholas  Mickles was commissioned by the government to cast shot and shell for the Army and Navy which was stored at the arsenal before being sent to Sackett's Harbor and Oswego.

The arsenal was abandoned in 1815 and the last time it was used was during the Civil War when General John A. Green of the state national guard stored arms there.

The More You Know.  --Brock-Perry

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