Question: Baldwinsville has a way of celebrating winter. We’ve recently had the annual Big Chill and have been “blessed” with more than enough snow! Shown here is a float from a parade held in the 1980s that depicted a much-loved pastime of days gone by. Do you know what that sport was? Why was the parade being held? Can you identify the people with the float?
Last week’s answer: The wall in the photo once separated the brick building located at 16 to 20 Oswego St. from the waters of the Baldwin Canal. In 1965 the Baldwin Canal was filled in and walkways and parking lots took its place. Last week’s mystery photo was taken in 2018; the photographer was facing south while standing in what had been the bed of the old Baldwin Canal.
The cobblestone wall is a section of the foundation of the block that today houses Hills, Farnham and Hills Insurance Co. and Baker Real Estate Co. Originally a pretentious three-story building, the Marvin-Wilson Building was erected in 1850 and was the first brick commercial edifice built in Baldwinsville. It offered three retail spaces on the first floor, six office spaces on the second floor and a meeting hall with a capacity of 500 people on the top floor. The building was hailed as milestone in the development of the newly incorporated village.
The brick came from the Hax brickyard on East Oneida Street, the location of today’s school bus garage. Cobblestones were plentiful, having been left behind by glacial action in the northeast some 12,000 years ago. Experienced stonemasons were also readily available having come to New York by the hundreds to work on construction of the Erie Canal.
Built by Henry Marvin and George Wilson, Jr., the structure was almost fully rented before it was even completed. One of its first tenants was the village itself, which rented a portion of the basement to be used as the village lock-up.
The third floor echoed with political speeches, dance music, entertainment and the chatter of women doing soldier relief work during the Civil War. Its use as a center for war rallies and relief efforts earned it the name Union Hall.
Following more than 120 years of heavy use, a rear section of the worn landmark collapsed in 1964. Working from the interior, a new roof was constructed over the first floor and the upper floors were then removed. Bricks from the demolition were used as fill for its neighbor, the old Baldwin Canal, which had deteriorated into little more than a swale with stagnant water. Hand in hand, the two formerly celebrated landmarks passed into history in 1965.
Contact Editor Sarah Hall at [email protected] or leave a message at 434-8889 ext. 310 with your guess by 5 p.m. Friday (please leave the information in the message; we are not generally able to return calls regarding History Mystery responses). If you are the first person to correctly identify an element in the photo before the deadline, your name and guess will appear in next week’s Messenger, along with another History Mystery feature. History Mystery is a joint project of the Museum at the Shacksboro Schoolhouse and the Baldwinsville Public Library.
