The Onondaga Lake today is a comeback lake. In the past, it was badly polluted by industry but is now reopening for recreation. The lake has a long history that brought this area riches and fame and put Syracuse, N.Y., on the map, when salt was king – in fact, Syracuse is known as “Salt City.” Gregg Tripoli, executive director of the Onondaga Historical Assoc., shared the story of salt in the region during a tour I went on back in May. There is even a Salt Museum that is part of Onondaga County Parks. Collectors interested in the history of farming would be well-served to swing by this museum if they get the chance to visit this fascinating area. According to Gregg, the area once supplied the nation with 85 percent of its salt. You can see the kettles, wooden barrels, and other equipment used in this fascinating process, which came to an end in the 1920s. The museum, located on the shore of Onondaga Lake, is full of dynamic exhibits and artifacts and constructed from timbers taken from actual salt warehouses. Onondaga Lake contains saline water because it is an inland sea. A historical marker in Syracuse explains the Onondaga Indians, who were the keepers of the council fires for the Iroquois League, lived here. French soldiers and Jesuit missionaries came from Canada in 1654 and in that year, Father Simon Le Moyne discovered salt springs. Salt works were set up in 1788, soon after the first permanent settlement was established. The manufacturing of salt flourished until the 1860s. This provided income to the area because of a tax on the salt. The salt industry gave the name Salina to the original site of Syracuse. One of the ways the salt was produced was by boiling it down from saline water. “Eventually, they ran out of wood,” Gregg explained, “then they went to the solar method. They used salt vats and the wind and sun dried it out.” Once the water dried out, salt was left behind. “The Onondaga Lake was a major supplier of salt during the 1800s. At its peak, they were producing a million barrels a year,” he added. One of the main reasons for the building of the Erie Canal was to transport salt. “The chief engineer was a salt baron,” Gregg said. “Not many people believed in the canal.” To make this dream a reality the builders had to fund it themselves, so they did through a salt transportation tariff. You can learn more about this at the wonderful Erie Canal Museum, which you can find through https://eriecanalmuseum.org The salt industry was not only instrumental in establishing both the Erie and Oswego canals, which connects at Syracuse with Lake Ontario, but the salt also brought money and the railroad, along with other industries. It is interesting to note what industries the salt created: chinaware, alloy steel, automobiles and automotive gears, air-conditioning, typewriters, chemicals, and electronics. During the Civil War, salt played a major role in the Union Army helping the North win the war. According to a film on the Salt Museum website, having the salt gave them the ability to preserve the meat they needed to invade enemy territory and push on southward. After the war, Onondaga Lake became a resort area before industry pollutants made it a superfund cleanup site. Today the lake is the center of new economic development. Gregg said there is work on a documentary about the lake, so keep a watch for more on this fascinating story of salt and Syracuse. And to learn more about the lake and museum, visit www.onondagacountyparks.com/parks/onondaga-lake-park/salt-museum Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication. Learn more of Cindy’s finds and travel in her blog, “Traveling Adventures of a Farm Girl,” at http://travelingadventuresofafarmgirl.com |
