Oswego, New York, USA
1895 - Oswego

Oswego, a city and port of entry, capital of Oswego co., N.Y., is situated on the S.E. shore of Lake Ontario, at the mouth of the Oswego River, which divides it into two nearly equal parts. Lat, 43°28' N.; lon. 76° 33' W. By railroad it is 35 miles N.N.W. of Syracuse, 243 miles N.W. of New York, and 182 miles W.N.W. of Albany. It is the most populous city on Lake Ontario, except Toronto, Canada. It has a good harbor, which is formed by the mouth of the river, is sheltered by long and costly piers, on two of which light-houses have been erected, and is defended by Fort Ontario. The water in the harbor is from 10 to 20 feet deep. Oswego is the northern terminus of the Oswego Canal, which connects at Syracuse with the Erie Canal, and is connected with New York City by the New York, Ontario & Western Railroad, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, and the Rome, Water town & Ogdensburg Railroad. The latter is now a part of the New York Central system, and is leased to the Central for a term of ninety-nine years from 1890. The site of this city is elevated and moderately uneven, and is bounded on the S. by a bluff or escarpment, which is 160 feet higher than the lake and affords good situations for residences. The streets are 100 feet wide and intersect one another at right angles. Three bridges across the river, one a railroad bridge, connect the eastern and western portions of the city. The principal public buildings are # city hall, of stone, the court-house, the custom-house, and the post-office. A large and elegant hotel has been erected here over a medicinal spring. Oswego contains 22 churches, the Oswego City Library, a high school, the Oswego State Normal and Training School, a public school library, 2 national banks, 2 savings-banks, and printing-offices which issue a weekly, a semi-weekly, and 2 daily newspapers.

There is comparatively little commerce at this port, but it is an important depot for the shipment of coal by lake and rail. Its flour-mills and elevators, once extensive, have mostly been burned down. Within the limits of this city the river has a fall of 34 feet, affording immense hydraulic £ and the fall is distributed by 6 successive dams built y the state for canal navigation. The numerous large lakes of which it is the outlet operate as reservoirs, which prevent extreme variations in the height of the river, so that destructive freshets never occur here. Oswego has several iron-foundries, machine-shops, a match-factory, immense box-shops of the Standard Oil Company, shade-cloth works, cotton- and woollen-mills, and a manufactory of corn-starch which employs nearly 700 operatives and is said to produce 33 tons daily. Pop. in 1880, 21,116; in 1890, 21,842.

Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places ... Joseph Thomas January 1, 1895 J.B. Lippincott

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