The Seneca Turnpike-- Part 2

On March 22, 1799, the New York legislature passed a law for a public road from Fort Schuyler (Utica) to Canawaugus on the Genesee River and was called the Great Genesee Road.  Then it was extended to Buffalo.

By the end of the 18th century, parts were still rough and much of the construction was outsourced to private companies. 

On April 1, 1800, the Seneca Road Company was chartered and became the Seneca Turnpike, charging tolls along its 157 miles.

Brock-Perry

War of 1812 Landmarks in Central New York-- Part 2

**  Lake Ontario made Central New York a strategic area and much fighting took place there: Fort Ontario in May 1814, Sackett's Harbor in May 1813 and the Battle of Sandy Creek in May 1814.

**  In Auburn, at 187 Genesee Street (between Seymour Library and Schweinfurth Museum) there were barracks used by soldiers going between Fort Ontario and Buffalo.

**  A Route 5 historical marker on Quality Hill in Lenox shows where mounted troops practiced.

**  The State Arsenal, at the corner of Seneca Turnpike and South Salina Street in Syracuse, stocked munitions such as flints and muskets.  This is the story that got the last several posts started.

Brock-Perry

War of 1812 Landmarks in Central New York-- Part 1

From the May 28th Syracuse Post-Standard.

**  The Seneca Turnpike (looks like I am going to have to do some research on this road) was the main east-west roadway in the area.  Soldiers heading for Fort Niagara marched west.  Captured British and Canadian prisoners would be marching east to prison camps at Albany.

**  A small cemetery off Seneca Pike (across from Upstate University Hospital at Community Green has the graves of two soldiers who died of illness while marching along the turnpike.  (This would be where the two captains I mentioned yesterday were buried.)

**  Armaments were made at a small foundry, Onondaga Furnace.  After the war, it made stoves and kettles for the salt industry.  Its site is now Syracuse's Elmwood Park.

Brock-Perry

Only War of 1812 Relics Remaining in Onondaga County, New York

From Rootsweb Ancestry.com.

Besides the arsenal, there are two graves and a monument at the top of the West Seneca Turnpike Hill.

One is the grave of Captain Benjamin Brand of the U.S. Light Artillery who died October 14, 1813, in Onondaga Hollow as his company was marching through the village.  He was from Virginia.

The other grave is that of Captain Henry Crouch who died in the spring of 1814.

I'm going to have to do some research on this Seneca Turnpike because of its 1812 connection, plus I am a big old road fan.  Before these recent articles, I'd never heard of it.

I didn't read anything about a War of 1812 monument of the hill, however.

Brock-Perry

Syracuse's 1812 Remnant

From the May 6th Syracuse (NY) Post "Future uncertain for ruins of stone arsenal built in Syracuse for War of 1812" by Dick Case.

Syracuse's only remnant of the War of 1812 is hidden in a grove of trees off East Seneca Turnpike.  The Onondaga Arsenal is crumbling.  Only one section of its limestone walls, the northeast corner, remain standing.  The rest has fallen or been pulled down.

It is located behind Tim Ryan's home on Arsenal Drive and he is one of only a few in the area who even know about it.  He and his son have spent the past five years excavating the hidden basement in what had been a three-story building.

Lucy House lived in it (called the "Cannon House) until she died in 1971 at the age of 102.  No one knows who owns the property.  The Syracuse Assessment commission says the 1.5 acres is "a vacant parcel of land" and $14,500 tax is owed on it.

Of Course.  --Brock-Perry