USA > New York > Oneida County > Utica > Outline history of Utica and vicinity > Part 9
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The common council has control of the city's finances, and is responsible for the general good order and for im- provements.
THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE.
(The Mayor.)
At the head of the government is the mayor, who is elected for two years. In his annual message to the com- mon council the mayor makes a statement of the finances of the city and its general condition and needs, with such recommendations as seem to him proper. The ordinances and resolutions of the common council are subject to his veto, but that body may within twenty days after such veto override it by a two-thirds vote of all its members. The mayor has a vote in the common council only in case of a tie vote in the election or appointment of officers or committees. All deeds and contracts made by the city are signed by the mayor and city clerk.
The mayor appoints the following officials : The city surveyor, who has charge of public works and improve- ments ; the board of police and fire commissioners, which
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THE GOVERNMENT OF UTICA.
attends to the protection of the city; the town auditors; and nominates the board of health, which controls the san- itation of the city. Being thus the head of those depart- ments of work which most closely touch the lives of the citizens, he is in large measure directly responsible for the welfare of the city. This concentration of power is the advantage of giving the mayor the appointment of minor officers.
ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT.
City Clerk, appointed by the common council for three years.
Treasurer, elected for a term of two years. The treas- Laws of N. Y., urer may appoint an assistant treasurer. 1897, Ch. 733.
CORPORATION COUNSEL.
A lawyer appointed by the common council who holds office at its pleasure.
CITY SURVEYOR.
Appointed annually by the mayor ; makes plans, specifi- cations, and estimates for proposed improvements, and superintends improvements ordered by the common coun- cil.
BOARDS.
A Board of Assessors, which consists of three members who must be electors and freeholders in the City. The term of office is three years, one assessor being elected an- nually. They determine and assess value of all property, real and personal, in the city, and make assessments for lo- cal improvements.
A Board of Health, appointed by the common council on nomination of the mayor, under a law of the State. 1885, Ch. 270. There are six members, two being appointed annually ; Chs. 146, 309. Ibid., 1888, term of office, three years. The mayor is ex-officio a mem-
Laws of N.Y., 1897, Ch. 738.
Laws of N. Y.
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OUTLINE HISTORY OF UTICA AND VICINITY.
ber of the board and its president. This board appoints a health officer, and milk and meat inspectors. It also acts as registrar of vital statistics.
A Board of Charities, which is composed of six com- missioners, one being elected each year and a second one appointed by the board of town auditors, the candidate receiving the second highest number of votes being the ap- pointee. This results in a bi-partisan commission. This commission fills the office of overseer of the poor. It has charge of the city hospital, appointing its physician and keeper.
A Board of Town Auditors, appointed by the Mayor, comprising four members, one being appointed each year, and the four selected in equal numbers from each of the two leading political parties. Term of office, four years. It audits all claims against the town of Utica, such as the payment of election officers and poor expenses. For all purposes except those provided for in the charter, the city of Utica is regarded as one of the towns of Oneida County.
A Board of Police and Fire Commissioners. This board, four in number, is appointed by the mayor. Two members are appointed from each of the two principal po- Charter, Ap. III. litical parties of the State, one member annually. It has Laws of N. Y., the oversight of the police and fire departments ; as, the 1874, Ch. 314. organizing of fire companies, appointing a chief engineer, chief of police, and policemen.
Laws of N. Y., 1888, Ch. 420.
A Police Matron is appointed by the Mayor, pursuant to State law. She holds office until removed.
The Commissioners of Common Schools, or Board of Education, consists of six members, two being elected an- nually. Term of office, three years. This board has the power to establish common schools as the need arises, and has the supervision and control of the schools and school property. It determines, subject to statutory limitation,
Charter, Secs. 125, 126, 136, 137.
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THE GOVERNMENT OF UTICA.
what sums are necessary for defraying the expenses of the schools. By custom, not however unbroken, the Commis- sioners are chosen in equal numbers from each of the two leading political parties.
Thus these last four Commissions are bi-partisan, by law or practice.
Commissioners of Deeds, nine in number, appointed by Laws of N. Y., the common council for two years. They take acknowl- 1894, Ch. 88. edgments and administer oaths.
An Examining and Supervising Board of Plumbers and Laws of N. Y., Plumbing, appointed by the Mayor, pursuant to statute. 1892, Ch. 602.
A Board of Civil Service Examiners, appointed by the Laws of N. Y., 1884, Ch. 410. Mayor, pursuant to statute.
A Sealer and Examiner of Weights and Measures.
A Keeper of the City Clock.
A City Scavenger and a City Sexton, appointed by the Common Council.
The Common Council may also appoint fence viewers, pound masters, messengers, and janitors.
WARD OFFICERS.
Aldermen, (see Common Council), Supervisors, Consta- bles and Collectors.
The Supervisors represent the city in the Board of Su- pervisors. They are the legislators of the county, fixing the amount of the yearly tax, and in general administering county affairs.
CITY JUDICIARY.
The City Court, a court of record of civil and criminal jurisdiction. It has cognizance of minor offenses.
Its officers are a City Judge, elected for four years, a Charter, pp. Special City Judge, elected for three years, and a Clerk, 153, 167. appointed by the City Judge, to hold office during his pleasure.
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OUTLINE HISTORY OF UTICA AND VICINITY.
Justices of the Peace, two, elected for four years. They try civil cases in the city.
The following officials are required to give bonds : Treasurer, Corporation Counsel, Clerk, City Surveyor, Collectors, and Policemen, the amount being determined by the Common Council.
TAXES AND INCOME.
" Taxes are portions of private property which a gov- ernment takes for its public purposes."
Taxpayers in the city are subject to state, county and city taxes. Of these the city tax is by far the largest. In addition to the general city tax, property owners are also assessed for local improvements. These assessments are called special taxes. Churches and other property ex- empted by law from general taxation are subject to spe- cial tax on the principle that all property benefited should bear its share of the cost. The paving fund is both a gen- eral and a special tax; one-third of the cost of paving being a tax on the city, while two-thirds is assessed on the prop- erty fronting the pavement. The city spends money for administering the government, for schools, paving, police and fire expenses, water, public improvements, lighting streets, interest, etc. It derives its income from direct taxes, licenses, fines, and excise moneys.
PRIVILEGE TO BORROW.
State Consti- tution, Art. VIII., Sec. 10.
The city may borrow to an amount which, including ex- isting indebtedness, shall not exceed ten per cent. of the assessed valuation of the real estate subject to taxation.
CITY BONDS.
When it becomes necessary, by reason of the vote of electors or in the discretion of the Common Council, to
Fiske's Civil Gov't, p. 3.
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THE GOVERNMENT OF UTICA.
make local improvements in the city for which no pro- vision is made in the charter, the city may, with the con- sent of the State legislature, borrow the necessary amount by the issue and sale of the corporate bonds of the city. These bonds are executed by the Mayor and Clerk, under the corporate seal of the city, and specify the improvement for which they are issued.
FRANCHISES.
A municipal franchise is a privilege granted by the Com- mon Council to a person, firm, or corporation, by which such person, firm, or corporation is permitted to make use of the streets, subways, or other parts or divisions of the city, to his or their benefit. The franchises commonly granted are the privilege of running street railways, water-mains, electric light and telephone wires on, through, or under the streets of a city.
The city does not operate any of these properties or plants. It is not uncommon, however, for cities to do so. In 1896 New York city received $7,000,000. from its water-works, ferries, docks and other franchises. Paris Wilcox's Gov't, pp. 55, received in 1894 from gas and transportation street fran- Study of City chises $4,000,000. Philadelphia receives from street car 60. franchises $180,000. annually, and the city owns its gas supply. The city of Glasgow owns tramways, water and gas works.
Utica does own and control a subway for electric wires, reaching from Bagg's Square to the City Hall. In this it may require the wires to be placed.
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OUTLINE HISTORY OF UTICA AND VICINITY. CITY OFFICERS.
Spaces to be filled in by the Reader.
Mayor.
Name,
How Chosen,
Term of Office,
City Clerk.
Name,
How Chosen,
Term of Office,
Treasurer.
Name,
How Chosen,
Term of Office,
Corporation Counsel.
Name,
How Chosen,
Term of Office,
123
THE GOVERNMENT OF UTICA.
City Surveyor.
Name,
How Chosen,
Term of Office,
Board of Assessors.
Names,
How Chosen.
Term of Office,
Board of Health.
Names,
How Chosen, Term of Office,
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OUTLINE HISTORY OF UTICA AND VICINITY.
Board of Charities.
Names,
How Chosen,
Term of Office,
Police and Fire Commissioners.
Names,
How Chosen,
Term of Office,
Police Matron.
Name, How Chosen,
Term of Office,
125
THE GOVERNMENT OF UTICA.
Commissioners of Common Schools.
Names,
How Chosen, Term of Office,
Town Auditors.
Names,
How Chosen, Term of Office,
City Judge.
Name, How Chosen, Term of Office,
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OUTLINE HISTORY OF UTICA AND VICINITY.
Special City Judge.
Name,
How Chosen,
Term of Office,
WARD OFFICERS.
Aldermen.
Names, First Ward,
Second Ward,
Third Ward,
Fourth Ward,
Fifth Ward,
Sixth Ward,
Seventh Ward,
Eighth Ward,
Ninth Ward,
Tenth Ward,
Eleventh Ward,
Twelfth Ward,
Thirteenth Ward,
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THE GOVERNMENT OF UTICA.
Fourteenth Ward,
Fifteenth Ward,
How Chosen,
Term of Office,
Supervisors.
Names, First Ward,
Second Ward,
Third Ward,
Fourth Ward,
Fifth Ward,
Sixth Ward,
Seventh Ward,
Eighth Ward,
Ninth Ward,
Tenth Ward,
Eleventh Ward,
Twelfth Ward,
Thirteenth Ward,
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OUTLINE HISTORY OF UTICA AND VICINITY.
Fourteenth Ward,
Fifteenth Ward,
How Chosen,
Term of Office,
XV. GEOGRAPHY.
" Man is, where he lives."-A. P. Brigham.
U ITICA is situated on the Mohawk River, in the south- eastern part of Oneida County, very near the geo- graphical center of the State of New York. The E. and F., p. o. Figures of latitude is approximately 43° 06' N., and the longitude U. S. Weather Bureau, 1894. 75° 13' W. of Greenwich, and 1° 49' E. of Washington, the Nautical Al- latitude of the Litchfield Observatory at Clinton being manac. 43° 03' 17".o N. and the longitude from Greenwich + 5 hrs. I min. 37.34 sec. (=75° 24' 20". II W., and from Wash- Report N. Y. State Weather ington -o hrs. 6 min. 34.65 sec. (= 1° 38' 39".75 E.). The Bureau, 1896. Bulletin No. 5,
average elevation of the city above sea-level is 500 feet. 410 U. S. Geol. feet is the altitude of the Utica station on the N. Y. Cen- Survey. tral Railroad.
In general, Utica is bounded on the north by Marcy and Deerfield, separated from them by the Mohawk River, though at North Genesee Street the line now runs 2,000 feet north of the river ; on the east by Frankfort, Herkimer county ; on the south by New Hartford, Pleasant Street, formerly called Slayton's Bush Road, Atlas of marking the boundary line at Genesee Street ; and on the west by New Hartford and Whitestown, the short bound- ary line (a single line for both towns) crossing the Belt Line Street Railway at Champlin Street. Two stones marking the county line will be found on the River Road, just east of Turner Street. The arrow on the upper sur- face of that at the right of the road indicates the direction of the boundary, and points to one of the natural land- marks of this boundary, namely, the large, well-shaped
Oneida Co.
9
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OUTLINE HISTORY OF UTICA AND VICINITY.
maple standing on the grounds of the Masonic Home. This tree throws its shadow in the morning in Oneida County, and in the afternoon in Herkimer County.
Revised Char- ter, Title I. SI, ; s amended b §1, Ch. 387, Laws of 1875, and Ch. 92, Laws of 1891.
The details of the boundaries of the city will be found in the municipal charter. They may be understood by reference to the maps in the Atlas of Utica and in the Atlas of Oneida County.
Atlas of Utica. Atlas of Oneida County.
The city is set aslant to the points of the compass. This is partly because of the irregular course of the Mo- hawk, which was of great importance to Utica in early days.
L. M. Taylor in Trans. O. H. S., 1885-6,
The many irregularities in the ground-plan of the city are due to the fact that the ideas of individual owners, rather than any general central plan, were followed in lay- ing it out. Greater regularity prevails in the more recent streets. The city would have been more convenient and beautiful if all the cross streets had led into the main thor- PP. 39, 40,41, 44. Oughfare directly. A glance at the map of the city will show that there are in many cases bends or elbows just before streets enter Genesee Street. By this device, good corner lots on Genesee Street were secured, to the detri ment of the city as a whole.
Maps in Atlas of Utica.
Only one street, Albany, runs at all nearly north and south ; and only one, Park Avenue, runs nearly east and west. These are probably the two streets which are com- monly thought of as most eccentric in their course.
Genesee Street, the main artery of the city, has a direc- tion northeast by southwest. It crosses, at an angle, the Erie Canal, which traverses the city from southeast to northwest on a line generally parallel with the tracks of the Central Railroad; and, after crossing, also at an angle, the West Shore tracks a little beyond the limits of the city, it is continued through the village of New Hartford. Park Avenue, State Street and Washington Street join Genesee
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GEOGRAPHY.
Street at acute angles, giving beautiful vistas and forming with it pleasant " squares."
The city is traversed by four creeks, all tributary to the Mohawk, and by a stream which marks a part of the Maps in City course of the old Chenango Canal, and which flows into Directory. Nail Creek near the power house of the Belt Line Com- pany. Reel's Creek, entering the Mohawk from the north, is the stream which has formed the beautiful Deerfield ravine, about 60 feet deep at the highest part, a little be- low the waterfall. The three creeks which traverse the larger part of Utica and flow into the Mohawk from the south, were once prominent in the topography of the town, but now are often concealed, running in sewer-pipes and under cul- verts and buildings. In the outskirts of the city, and in the country near by, these and the small streams tributary to them have made attractive ravines, usually shaly. Such is Cascade Glen, a little southeast of Utica, with Butter- in Trans. O. H. A. P. Brigham milk Fall at its head, and Horseshoe Fall in the lateral S., 1887-9, P.105. ravine. This has been made by a tributary of Starch Factory Creek. Halleck's Ravine, in New Hartford, is another spot of marked natural beauty. Through it flows a stream tributary to the old Chenango Canal. Other examples are "Sulphur Spring Glen" (which is the valley of the Starch Factory Creek at about the east end of Blandina Street, and now known as "Beech Grove"), and "The Gulf," formed by Ballou's Creek, which was, within the memory of some now living, as beautiful as any of these.
Of the three creeks above mentioned, the most eastern is Yahnunsaga, or Starch Factory Creek, so named from a starch factory which was built upon its banks in 1807. It has its origin above the Graefenberg reservoir. Directory,1893. Map in City It flows under the canal, the River Road, and the Central's 255. Pioneers, p. tracks, and into the Mohawk in the eastern part of the city, about opposite the northern end of Ontario street.
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OUTLINE HISTORY OF UTICA AND VICINITY.
M. H., p. 189. Pioneers, p. 5. M. H., p. 17.
Ballou's creek, named from one of the early settlers, rises above the old reservoir at Pleasant Street, and forms on parts of its course a deep gulf, which crosses all the streets leading eastward from Genesee Street, and is bridged on Rutger Street by a wide viaduct. In the man- ufacturing portion of the city, this gulf was formerly "lost in the sluggish waters of the Big Basin." The Basin was con- structed on the Erie Canal in 1828 and 1829, as an expected aid to the business prosperity of Utica. The mouth of Bal- lou's Creek, where was once the lagoon that defended Fort Schuyler, was dug out and docked up, the culvert by which it had formerly flowed under the canal was stopped, the Basin bridged at Broad Street, and water let into it from the Erie Canal. It extended nearly up to Rutger Street. But it was not a success, and after the original connection with the canal was stopped, was gradually filled up. The waters of the creek flow through the narrowed Basin into the Erie Canal just east of Third Street, and are now rep- resented between the canal and the river by an overflow weir from the lower bank of the canal, which enters the river a little west of the foot of Third Street.
Nail Creek was so called in the early days of the settle- ment. A doubtful tradition accounts for the name as due to a "dog nail factory " once situated on its bank. The proprietor of this factory had taught his two dogs to move the wheel which blew the bellows. But nails had been previously manufactured on the edge of the creek, and there is also a story that a wagon loaded with nails was overturned in it during the War of the Revolution. This creek is artificially fed with springs in the town of New Hartford, and flows through the western part of the city parallel with the disused Chenango Canal. It is deepened and widened for manufacturing purposes on the property of the Globe Woolen Company, which owns the water-
Jones'sAnnals, P. 493. Pioneers, p. 100.
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GEOGRAPHY.
right. Soon after crossing Court Street it disappears from the surface into a newly constructed sewer, flows in pipes beneath St. Luke's Hospital, and does not re-appear until it has been carried under the Erie Canal, when it continues its course to the Mohawk, which it enters opposite Haak Street.
The Erie Canal is twice fed in this county ; first at Rome, with the waters of the Mohawk, and also through the Black River Canal, with waters from the Forestport res- ervoir, which in turn are obtained in part from the Black River, but principally from several Adirondack lakes ; and second, at Oriskany, with the waters of the Oriskany Creek, which, after turning many wheels in manufactur- ing towns to the south, and after traversing Pleasant Val- ley at Summit Park, flows here into the Mohawk.
Another tributary of the Mohawk from the south is the Sauquoit Creek, which enters the river between Yorkville and Whitesboro, after having fallen 1, 014 feet in seven- A. P. Brigham in Trans. O. teen miles and having been used for manufacturing pur- H. S., 1887-9, poses at 141 factories. It is a tributary of this creek P. 118. which has formed the picturesque Rogers's Glen at Wil- lowvale.
Utica was built upon a side hill. The upper parts of the city were reasonably dry, except in the vicinity of fre- quent springs. On the western side were gullies and sand L. M. Taylor in Trans O.
hills. (See IX.). The lower parts of the city stand upon H. S., 1885-6, land originally swampy. There was a narrow gravelly ridge P: 37. running parallel with the river, and a second slighter M. H., p. 18. ridge at right angles to it extending a short distance up the hill. With this exception, all was marsh. The Mohawk is here a slow-moving river, laden with soil, and winding, willow-bordered, through broad grassy meadows, dotted here and there with spreading American elms. These meadows, "the Flats," are subject to overflow in spring,
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OUTLINE HISTORY OF UTICA AND VICINITY.
A. P. Brigham in Trans. O. H. S., 1887-9, pp. 114, 115.
Map of F. K. Baxter, C. E., Directory, 1893.
especially when the ice is breaking up. Hence the fertility of the alluvial fields. But as these floods are a serious inconvenience, the city gave much consideration during the years 1887-1891, to plans for straightening the course of the Mohawk at a line about that of the present northern limit of the city at North Genesee Street. It was believed by many that such straightening would enable the river to clear so rapidly of blocks of ice as to avoid floods, and would reclaim land for manufacturing purposes. The cost would be excessive for the removal of one bend, "the Ox-bow." Less attention has been given recently to this plan because of the surveys made by the national and state governments working together towards the con- struction of a possible ship canal from the Atlantic to the Great Lakes, over the route marked out by nature through the Mohawk valley and Lake Oneida.
Viewed from the Deerfield Hills, to the north of the city, Utica appears "a city set upon a hill;" and from this fact of its topography came the Indian name U-nun-da-da-ges, "Around the Hill," which has place upon the seal of the municipality. The rising grade of the New York Central road as it approaches the city from the east is very marked, and the streets running toward the south seem to slant continuously upward. If, however, one mount the hill east of Forest Hill Cemetery, the city seems to nestle in a long and well wooded valley, rimmed about by a distant bowl of blue hills.
State Museum Bulletin, Vol. 4. No. 19, P.134. A. Guyot, quoted in Rep't. N. Y.
Bureau, 1896, P. 417.
The State of New York, in the main an elevated region, has yet many physical diversities. A very re- markable feature is the deep transverse cut which forms the valley of the Mohawk River and of Oneida Lake, open- State Weather ing a channel from the low country of the Lake region to the Hudson Valley, and thus dividing the Southern or Ap- palachian from the Adirondack upland. Oneida County, the
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GEOGRAPHY.
central county of the State, is traversed from east to west by this broad valley, and contains the watershed between its two divisions, the "carry " of the early boatmen, which separates the Mohawk system from Wood Creek and is the E. and F., p. 9. summit between the Hudson and the Great Lakes. The (Quoted rom State Gazet- county contains 1,215 square miles. It is irregularly teer ) heart-shaped in outline, the right lobe lying on the foot- W. L. Ralph and E. Bagg, hills of the Adirondacks, the left on Oneida Lake, and the in Trans. apex far down upon the Appalachian plateau, toward the p. 101. O.H. S., 1885-6, head waters of the Susquehanna. Therefore the streams of the county flow to all points of the compass, those of the Black River system to the north, those of the Oneida system to the west, those of the Mohawk system to the east, and the Chenango and Unadilla to the south.
The fording place on the Mohawk which determined the location of the settlement of Old Fort Schuyler, (see I. ), is due to the trend of the hills away from the river at this Pioneers, p. 6. point on both sides. Thus, through the gateway of Utica, E. and F., p. 257. the fertile valleys of the river and of its tributary creeks, with the background of highlands which includes some of the most productive land in the State, were made accessi- ble to the pioneers of the region.
That the character of the soil and climate is not wholly unlike that of the Adirondacks is shown by the character of the fauna and flora. (See XVII. and XVIII.).
The average temperature of the upper Mohawk valley is 45°, very nearly the average temperature of the State for the year. Utica is on the eastern border of the Lower Rel.Humidity, Lake Region, and in the summer has the same tempera- VII. P. 22, Table ture. In winter, the temperature is considerably below Rep't. N. Y. Weather that of the Lake Region, partly because Utica is exposed Bureau, 1896, to northerly winds that have not passed over Lake Ontario, and partly because, being in a deep valley, it is subject
PP. 439, 440, 445.
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OUTLINE HISTORY OF UTICA AND VICINITY.
to local cooling by a nocturnal downflow of cold air from the hills on all sides.
The mean cloudiness of Utica is excessive, 6.4 on the scale of 10., as great as that of Oswego, on Lake Ontario, Rel. Humidity, and greater than that of towns on the New England coast. p.23, Table IX. The cloud envelope serves as a blanket to the earth, so Ibid., p. 12. W. L. Ralph and E. Bagg, in Trans. that the temperature is more uniform than it otherwise would be, and the humidity less. And yet the tempera- O.H. S., 188g-6, ture is extremely variable, especially in winter, changes of PP. 101, 102. 60° F. often occurring within 24 hours ; and the humidity is very great, the air being always more nearly saturated than that of Oswego.
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