USA > New York > Onondaga County > Syracuse > From a forest to a city : personal reminiscences of Syracuse, N. Y. > Part 6
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small house on the west side of Salina street; he kep. a boat chained under the bridge, and when he wanted f :. for his breakfast, if he could not take enough from und .: the bridge in front of where the Washington block no. stands, he would unchain his boat and row out to where the Armory is now, and cast his anchor in ten or fifteen feet of water and soon catch a fine lot of fish. It »i: seem very remarkable to many who read these pages that this locality should ever have been fishing ground. Tic topography of South Salina street has been greatly changed from its natural state. Between Jefferson and Onondaga streets the ground was rolling and in some places has been cut down six feet while from the car ...! (including Hanover Square) to Jefferson street it has been raised from three to twelve feet. This part of the early village, was, on account of the swampy nature of the soil after a rain, rendered nearly impassable for per- sons on foot or with teams; the latter if loaded Were often stuck fast in the mud. Kirk's tavern, built on the corner of Fayette and Salina streets in 1826, and other boarding houses in the vicinity were seldom patronized by boarders on account of the mud encountered in going to and from their meals. It is hardly possible to fully describe the muddy condition of the streets before we had sewers and pavements. I am at a loss to account for this when I consider the immense beds of gravel underlying many parts of the city. Syracuse was some- times called the " City of Mal" When the Erie cont was first filled, the water as it came dowing with a rapi: current from the east disappeared as it came to the point
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where the swing bridge crosses Salina street the flow of water was increased to the greatest possible capacity but still it all disappeared in the ground at this point. For a while it was thought that for this reason the whole project would fail from this unlooked for condition. It was discovered that this exceedingly porous condition of the soil was confined to a small surface, and it was obviated by excavating a few feet deeper and filling in with blue clay and hammering it to a hard surface, after which the water flowed onward to Clinton street, when it disappeared again, and the difficulty was overcome in the same way. There is an immense bed of gravel underlying the vicinity of Harrison street, when a little south of this point it suddenly terminates and blue clay to a great depth is found. In fact the geological forma- tion of this whole valley is a mystery. While workmen were boring for salt near Harbor brook they struck a pine log eighty-six feet below the surface ; it was posi- tively certain that the log was found at this depth, but how it came there is a mystery. The strongest salt water is universally found in the lowest deposits of gravel. In the year 1823 Mr. Adams manufactured brick on the west side of South Salina street midway between Jefferson and Onondaga streets and had much trouble in delivering his brick on account of the muddy roads. As the swamps near Fayette Park were cleared up and drained Yellow brook became nearly dry. In the year 1831 John Wall took the contract for one thousand dollars to cut down South Salina street south of Jefferson street, fill the ravine and raise Salina street between Fayette street and the
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canal according to plans and specifications prepared by E. W. Leavenworth. This was the first great tax of the little village and to some it was oppressive. This filling up 'the ravine for the purpose of making the highway level left the lots north from Jefferson street nearly to Fayette street too low to be desirable for dwellings ; a large portion was surrounded with a board fence and occupied by P. N. Rust as a wood yard for the Syracuse House. The side-walk on South Salina street at this point was on a level with this high board fence. About the year 1831 there was a sizeable brick hotel built on the corner of Salina and Fayette streets. The building was after the architecture of those days, with the end walls carried several feet above the roof, its greatest depth was on Fayette street, a wide platform extended across the Salina street front with the entrance to the office and bar-room. In 1845 Mr. Anderson was the proprietor and was very popular for setting a good table for his guests. It was said that a pig baked whole was placed on his table every day for dinner, this dish, nearly obsolete now was very popular then. The pig was slaughtered when about four weeks old, stuffed as we do our turkeys, and baked, then with a cracker in its mouth placed on a large platter and made an attractive appear- ance on the table. The following story is related, the truth of which, however, I cannot vouch for. It was told that a hungry teamster from Cicero, who had driven in with a load of salt bmels inade his appearance here ; being in a great hurry for his dinner, which was not quite ready, he was allowed to go to the dining-room where he
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found nothing on the table as yet but the baked pig, but unobserved he seated himself by this dish and soon de- voured the animal. By this time the waiter made her appearance and enquired if he would have pudding or pie ; he replied he cared for neither, but if they had an- other little hog he would be thankful for it.
East of the hotel on Fayette street were several wooden dwellings built about the year 1828 by the Syracuse Company from the forest trees which were standing on the lots near by. There was but little sawed timber used in their construction, as the trees were hewn into shape with an ax, the lower joists were small straight trees with one side flattened on which to lay the floors. When the Presbyterian society bought the property the hotel was torn down and the wooden buildings were inoved away. One of them is the property of the writer, and is now standing on block 142, South Salina street, and it is thought to be one of the oldest wooden buildings in the city. The present Presbyterian church was completed and dedicated the 24th of November, 1850. There was never a public building erected in Syracuse where greater value was secured for every dollar expended than this church. The building committee was composed of many of the very best men of the place, some of them practical builders and architects themselves. They called to their aid M. Lefever of New York, then the most pop- ular architect in the United States, who furnished the drawings. This elegant edifice was finished at a cost of $40.000, the lot cost $to,coo. Several years later the interior was remodeled with beautiful designs at an addi-
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tional expense of $10,000. At the completion of the spire, appropriate services were held and speeches made. The last stone was placed on the spire by a woman's hand ; she was a daughter of the master builder, and was drawn up in a basket when amid the roar of cannon she placed the last ornament on the tallest spire in western New York. There was, however, a great mistake made in the selection of building material. The red sandstone of which it was constructed was procured at Fulton, N. Y., and experience has proved the stone too soft to en- dure the changes of our climate ; they crumble and chip off, and the once beautiful caps upon the many turrets were soon a shapeless mass of stone but were replaced by a harder material. The cap upon the spire was thought to be unsafe and several years ago the contract was let to remove it. The contractor after lashing his ladders to the spire, failed in courage to ascend to the top and remove the cap, when Wm. Baumgrass (a painter by trade) volunteered, and amid the shouts of a large number of observers, quickly climbed the ladders and broke the stone in pieces with a hammer. Mr. Baum- grass lost his life some years later while performing a much less dangerous feat. While walking on a coping a few inches wide, projecting from the front of a three story building he fell to the side-walk and was killed.
Every citizen owes a debt of gratitude to the public spirited and energetic men who have devoted their energy and ability in beautifying the city with elegant buildings. No man was entitled to more credit in mak- ing South Salina street what it is to day than Henry A.
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Dillaye ; he had built one fine building somewhat remote from the business part of the town, and men had been found to fill up the vacancy with a good class of stores. He resolved to repeat the experiment on a much larger scale. Accordingly he purchased a lot midway between Fayette and Jefferson streets. So intense was Mr. Dil- laye's desire to erect a beautiful and faultless building that he spent a week in the streets of New York and Philadelphia to examine and find something that would satisfy his tastes ; by this course he could see how the building would appear when finished. The building he decided upon was externally highly ornamented; the caps and sills to the windows were cast iron, and the caps were arched and of a heavy and beautiful design in carv- ing. He at once gave an order for castings from the same mould. The building on Salina street was two stories in width, of a great depth and seventy feet in height ; the lower story was eighteen feet between joists, the second fifteen feet. At this time plate glass had not yet been introduced here; this building was supplied with this costly article. The store fronts contained four lights twelve feet in height ; water pipes were carried to every floor that each story could be flooded in case of fire. The store was completed with all the ornamenta- tion of its New York pattern, the brick side-walk was removed and flagstones sixteen feet in width were laid in front of this beautiful structure. On its completion his next work was to build up the remaining vacant lots. His scheme was to find six capitalists who were willing to pledge themselves to each erect a building after a
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uniform plan, and to be called the Washington block. After much perseverance Mr. Dillaye found the parties. One of the gentlemen failed to perform his part of the contract, and rather than have the whole project fail Mr. Alfred Hovey agreed to build two of the stores, conse- quently the six stores were completed. This however did not fill the space between the church and the store first erected. Mr. Dillaye then built the fine store nex: the church and in the year 1857 the space was finally filled by the erection of three stores, Mr. Dillaye building one of the three. Thus it will be seen that Henry A. Dillaye was justly entitled to the credit of building up this part of the street with uniform and stately buildings several years sooner than they would otherwise have been if not for his perseverance in the matter. Unfor- tunately he had hardly time to view with pride and satis- faction the accomplishment of his undertaking. when a fire occurred in the building just completed; he had rented it for a grocery and the occupant had not held possession two weeks before a fire broke out that proved to be destructive ; two or three stores were entirely con- sumed and several others more or less damaged. For- tunately for the owners they were well insured and the stores were soon rebuilt.
In the days of which I am writing building was very different than now. Men with large means were seldom found, and there were no Savings Banks where loans on real estate could be procured An advertisement, " money to lon," would have been a curiosity seldom seen. When Syracuse was chartered a village there were
£
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less than forty banks in the State, and we now have sev- eral men that are worth more money than the capital combined in all the banks of our State at that time. The longest period the banks were willing to loan their money was for ninety days, and it was theit custom every few years to call in their money by refusing to discount. This produced a scarcity of money in circulation, and a panic or a " financial crisis," as it was called was the result, and woe unto the poor fellow whose obligations were due. If he had not the ready money to pay his debts, he must go under. Many a substantial business man failed because money could not be had on the best of security. Under such conditions men were heroes who were willing to take their chances in erecting buildings for a public improvement. Although this elegant block of stores excelled all others in the city at that date, and were soon occupied by the best merchants in the place, yet strange to say in a short time every one failed and all moved out leaving the stores unoccupied, and they re- mained so for years despite every effort of their owners to rent them at a small rent. Becoming so discouraged with their investment they offered them for sale for about what the material would have cost in bulk. Two of them were sold a low as $5.500 each. As time went by and the city grew in population they came into demand mostly for the furniture trade. Mr. Dillaye's beautiful store had been idle for years, when Mr. Durnford offered to rent the upper stories if he would put it in shape for a boarding house. Soon after Fralick & Vedder rented the stores on the lower floor and filled them with an im-
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mense stock of dry goods, and in a few years acquired a good trade, when the thirst for money prompted them to the worst case of arson that ever occurred in our city. The firm opened a branch store in another place and it was reported that they purchased an immense stock of goods, and reshipped them from the store here to their branch store, leaving the Syracuse store and shelves filled with empty boxes. Having the bills to show for a large stock of goods they readily procured the insurance on every dollars worth. When every prepara- tion was completed they fired the store by a trail of cot- ton saturated with kerosene. A tall candle was lighted that would burn until the small hours of the night before reaching the combustible train which was placed in the cellar. These plans were so carefully laid and carried out that the destruction of the building was most com- plete. It would seem to be impossible to find greater evidence of the total depravity of man. To think that there were ever men so completely filled with infamy that they could thus build a fire under eighty innocent sleeping men and women, with an indifference as to how they should escape from being burned alive is too appal- ling to contemplate. As the boarding house became filled with smoke the inmates were awakened barely in time to escape with their lives. Strong suspicions led to a searching inquiry ; the merchants were placed under arrest and one link after another was laid bare until the evidence was so clear that Vedder attempted suicide, but the poison was counteracted by an antidote in time by his physician. He then turned States evidence and thus
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cleared himself, but his partner in guilt was sentenced to Auburn prison for life. Fralick was a man of noble physique and of good address,-in religion a Jew ; quite wealthy, and felt the disgrace most keenly. While in conversation with the sheriff on his way to prison, he made the statement that a Jew was never yet found with- in the walls of a county house, and seldom in states prison. The sheriff replied to this remark that there would be one good representative of his class in Auburn prison within an hour. The prisoner replied that it was not best to " count chickens before they were hatched." When within sight of the prison Fralick was seen to place something in his mouth which was thought to be tobacco. As he stepped into the receiving room of the prison he fell to the floor unconscious and died in a few minutes.
ENCROACHMENT.
Having referred to those enterprising citizens who have been most prominent in commencing a permanent business growth on South Salina street, by the erection of costly and spacious stores, I must reluctantly refer to those who have worked in the opposite direction. A merchant prince may have money sufficient to construct a seventy-five thousand dollar dwelling house on a business street, yet his course will ever be regretted, for he virtually places an obstruction in the way of the car of progress in that direction for a time a least. I think if Messrs. Price & Harwood had erected a fine block of stores on the corners of Salina and Jefferson streets, the space between Jefferson and Onondaga street would have been
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filled twenty years sooner, for these costly dwellings like sentinels, forbade the approach of business in that direction and caused the tide of business blocks and stores to turn into Clinton and Fayette streets. This is to be regretted, as these streets are narrow and not su well adapted. The streets of a city like the people who walk them are sometimes the victims of injustice. No street in our city has suffered greater injury than Salina between Onondaga and Temple streets. For more than forty years there has been a united effort of property owners on the west side of Salina street between these two points to add a part of the highway in front of thei: dwellings to their premises, and since the construction of "The Florence" flats on the corner of Onondaga and Salina streets, it seems that they have completed their infamous scheme to narrow Salina street at this point twenty-nine feet. Having owned real estate on the op- posite side of the street for nearly half a century, I think I have a perfect knowledge of the subject and desire to place myself on record as ever opposing this outrage to the best of my ability. In 1840 some new fences were built north of Adams street that encroached upon a six rod street. E. W. Leavenworth was President of the village and compelled the property owners to set their fences on the line of a six rod street. By referring to the accompanying map it will be seen that the side-walk at that time was much nearer the dwellings on the west side of the street than now. Early in the year 1350. parties north of Adams street again set their fences out, and E. W. Leavenworth placed papers in my hands to
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serve on them for encroachment, and the fences were withdrawn. Soon after there was an effort made to pave the street for the first time, and one of the sharpest con- tests followed that ever occurred in the city over the lines of a street, which finally resulted in advantage to the street stealers; this was due to the great majority in numbers on the west side of the street. On the line of Billings' Park, every resident was in favor of the scheme, as well as north from Adams to Onondaga street, while on the east side Roger Billings owned the corner of Adams and Salina street as his place of business and re- sided on the west side, which placed him actively on the side of plunder. This left but six property owners on the east side between Harrison and Adams street to oppose the strong force on the west, and strange as it may now appear, we could not interest parties above or below these points to assist in keeping the street open to its full width. We knew we were in the right, and like Leonidas would oppose the force before us. We employed the best counsel, every effort by speeches and petitions was made to the Common Council, we stated in the strongest terms the infamous scheme of the street stealers to nar- row for two blocks a great central avenue, miles in extent, from a ninety-nine foot to a seventy foot street. To allow this great disfigurement of a street for no other purpose than to gratify the avarice and greed of a few seemed a crowning absurdity. Every condition seemed to favor the schemers. The elderman of the ward was a shrewd lawyer with vastly more ability than integrity. and was the leading spirit in the council and also a friend
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of Captain Larned. There was one difficulty in the way. The Mayor was E. W. Leavenworth who had on two previous occasions compelled them to toe the line of a six rod street. He seemed to see the matter in it- true light, and was known to be determined the street should not be narrowed, but unfortunately for us he was a candidate for the office of Secretary of State, was opposed by Erastus Brooks and the "know nothing" party, and he felt he needed every vote. It was said that Captain Larned stepped into his office one day and in his usual gruff manner said to him, " Leavenworth ! if you oppose us in establishing a seventy foot street. I w !!! oppose you on election day by making every whiskey barrel in the city a free drinking trough." Whether from this cause or not, Mr. Leavenworth offered no opposition. John Kidder was the City Engineer, he drew a map of the street and a proposed line for narrowing it at Onon- daga street and running to a point at Temple street ; his proposition would establish a seventy foot street between those points, while north and south it would be ninety- nine feet wide. The Common Council decided to adopt this line. With great care I have placed here a copy of the original map drawn in 1859, this will show to the people of to-day and the future, the precise conditions at the time the street was paved. The last move made was to petition the council asking that no permanent line should be established to embarrass any subsequent coun- cil from establishing a six rod street. The subject w.s not further agitated for twenty-eight years, yet those on the east side of the street believed there would come a
MAP OF THE ENCROACHMENT ON SOUTH SALINA STREET, THE DOTTED LINE SHOWS THE NEW LINE OF THE STREET.
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time when justice would be done. In the spring of 1887 preparations were made for the erection of a block of such magnitude on the corner of Onondaga and Salina streets, that this seemed the last opportunity to establish a uniform street six rods wide, as such a structure once completed would be a difficult matter to remove. Several others with myself wrote articles on the subject. At the time of writing my article, I supposed the parties held a good title to about twelve rods south from Onondaga street. One of the writers referred to seemed familiar with the first surveys and maps. By searching the surveys recorded at the County Clerk's office it would be an easy matter to establish Salina street at these points a six rod street. I spent a week in looking up early surveys and maps, and found that an act was passed in 1794 to lay out the Genesee turnpike six rods wide, and sell two hundred a fifty acres of the salt springs reservation to pay the expenses. Abram Walton became the purchaser in 1804. The south line of this Walton tract crossed a little south of the middle of the block between Adams and Onondaga streets. In 1807 the surveyor general directed Moses Carpenter and two other surveyors to lay out a state road six rods wide, north and south from the Walton tract through the state lands to specified points. This road is now Salina street. In 1824 the Syracuse Company purchased the Walton tract and other state lands south of Adams street. This Company employed John Lathrop to draw a map of their lands, and this map shows Salina street a ninety-nine foot street. John Rin- dall Jr. drew a map of the salt springs reservation for the
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state in 1822. This map shows Salina street as a ninety- nine foot street. The west line of Salina street can be established beyond a doubt from three deeds recorded in the County Clerk's office. One of the first deeds from the Syracuse Company conveys one and one-half acres by this description. "A lot in Block 120, north part of the block beginning at the north corner of Green street, (now Onondaga street) and running south on the street leading to Onondaga Hollow, 3 chains, 43 links, thence by a line 67 degrees west, 7 chains 55 links to the bank of Onondaga creek, etc." At this point the banks of the creek were protected by large trees then standing there, establishing the bank as permanent for at least one hun- dred years. It must be apparent to every person that to commence at this point and measure back, on the line indicated, the number of chains and links, would establish the west line of Salina street at this point be- yond all question. This measurement would leave a little more than ninety-nine feet as the width of the street. After becoming convinced of the great amount of evi- dence at hand to establish South Salina street for miles at least a ninety-nine foot street, I called on the Alder- man who was chairman of the committee on streets, with maps and copies of these original conveyances, and in- formed him of my intention to obtain a large number of names of our prominent citizens, petitioning the Council that inasmuch as there had never been a monument placed on the corner of Selina and Onondaga streets. and in consequence of the neglect and indifference of all previous Councils, it was the opinion of many good
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