150 Years Ago
June 20, 1866 — We learn that the residence of H. Ten Eyck, Esq., was entered by burglars on Friday night last. Mr. Ten Eyck was absent from home and the presence of the burglars was first discovered by a lady inmate of the house. She awakened the family and the depredators fled, leaving behind them a considerable amount of booty which they had gathered together. No trace has been discovered of the rascals.
125 Years Ago
June 18, 1891— The drouth in this section is broken for the present. Last week just as we were going to press, a copious thunder storm passed over this place, giving a much needed relief to the dying vegetables. Thursday night it rained several hours, and pretty effectually wet things down. Tuesday noon we were visited by one of the most terrific thunder storms ever known in this vicinity. The rain came in solid sheets, while the wind raised havoc with shade trees. Lightning struck in many places in this vicinity, but so far as we are able to learn, without serious damage. At the Remington farm, wind tore out the bridge connecting two of the barns, and the same gust continuing on, unroofed another barn standing a little to the east. At Walter Jackson’s, lightning struck one barn three times, thus falsifying the old adage that lightening never strikes twice in the same place.
100 Years Ago
June 22, 1916 — Indians are happy at the Onondaga reservation. The 17-year-locusts have arrived. The Indians gather large quantities of the insects, pull off their heads and legs, fry ‘em and eat ‘em. Legends have it that the locusts are sent every seventeen years as a reward for good Indians.
A well-dressed man wearing cuff links set with diamonds, was found on a recent morning picking grass and digging in the mud on the muck lands between Chittenango Station and Lakeport. The fellow, who gave his name as Charles Cusick, evidently a Pole, was badly demented. He was taken into custody and sent to the Wampsville jail for medical treatment.
50 Years Ago
June 23, 1966 — Editorial: Shopping Centers-Good or Bad? Continued growth of the Town and Country Shopping Center poses some hard questions for merchants in the “down-town” area. In most urban areas, from small villages to major cities, the growth of shopping centers on the outskirts often breaks out into open warfare, with city fathers-often deans of the central shopping area-passing restrictive ordinances to prevent, when possible, the “outsiders” from expansion.
The usual result is that the downtown merchants adopt the old adage that, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Branch stores of the central stores spring up in the shopping centers and everyone, apparently, is happy.
Cazenovia presents a classical example of the forces that result in suburban shopping centers. The village is, for practical purposes, full: there is no readily available room for addition of new business firms. Zoning regulations, designed to preserve the colonial flavor of the area, also serve to restrict more business growth. Finally, the lack of parking area, the bugaboo of all built-up areas, is also a restrictive factor.
It is time for all Cazenovians, both Village and Town, to begin thinking aloud, if not actually planning, for the flood of homes and subdivisions that will spread this way from Syracuse during the next 20 years. The pressure to ease zoning ordinances will become almost overwhelming during this period. Shopping centers will almost certainly surround the village on all sides. The “Outsiders” will certainly take over political control of the county, the town and the village. Their tolerance for local atmosphere, history and traditions is likely to be minimal.
In the place of the neon jungles of most shopping centers, the Town and Country Shopping Center is attractive and geared to the general atmosphere of the area. It might be well for area businessmen to plan participation in such efforts, rather than to wait for the city developers to come in with only the ambition to make a quick buck.
The cut-rate drugs, the surplus sales specialists, the discounters are coming. We can forestall them if we are first to fill the needs of this growing area.
Years Ago is compiled by Erica Barnes. She is a contributing writer for The Cazenovia Republican with a degree in history and communications from Flagler College. She compiles the column from the archives of the Cazenovia Public Library. It is written in the style of the time.
