Approach our community from almost any direction and you’ll notice signs encouraging you to “Lock into an Experience.” An obvious allusion to the location of Lock E-24 in the New York State Barge Canal system, the slogan was coined in the year 2000 to promote the resurgence of historic downtown Baldwinsville. Long before “locking into an experience,” this place enjoyed a different distinction. But, we’ll have to go back a bit further in time to find its former claim to fame.
In 1941, the Onondaga County Park and Regional Planning Board issued a booklet listing the local properties of the Onondaga County Park System. It stated that the “Lysander Plantation north of Baldwinsville comprises 50 acres of land, which were formerly owned by the State of New York and were used as a public dump. The plantation was deeded over to the county in 1930 for a nominal sum. It contains about 60,000 evergreen trees of various species and these have made a remarkable growth.” Unfortunately, the plantation was repossessed just 12 years later.
Following the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war on the U.S. by Germany in December of 1941, Congress passed The War Powers Act. In the spring of 1942, the U.S. Army exercised eminent domain over an 8,000-acre area in the northeast corner of Lysander for the manufacture of ammonium picrate or “Explosive D,” the active ingredient in armor-piercing artillery shells. In addition to the 50-acre Lysander Plantation, this 8,000-acre area consisted primarily of a number of small, family farms.
In March of 1942, the federal government evicted as many as 250 farm families from this area, bounded roughly by Route 31, River, Smokey Hollow and Lamson roads. Known first at the “Baldwinsville-Phoenix Army Purchase Area,” and then the “Lysander Ordnance Works,” locals eventually labeled it “The Project.” After the end of the Second World War, about 5,000 acres of The Project were sold to investors or returned to the original owners, who had first rights of refusal. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the N.Y.S. Urban Development Corporation transformed about half of this 5,000-acre parcel into the “Lysander New Community,” known today as Radisson. But, what became of the other 3,000 acres in The Project?
By March of 1946, the federal government classified the status of these 3,000 acres as “standby.” Included in this parcel was the original Lysander Plantation acquired by Onondaga County in 1930. A local paper described this 50-acre plot of pines in June of 1946: “A ‘swath’ of the young trees were taken down along one side for road construction and there was some damage to one spot caused by an experimental explosion, but otherwise the plantation is unmarred and the trees have made satisfactory growth during the years that it was under government control.” Later that year, the newspaper’s editorial staff strongly advocated for the creation of a wild game preserve.
“No other section of the country has more possibilities for development of outdoor life of all kinds than Central New York. We have plenty of lakes and streams, a growing amount of woodland and enough open land not suitable for farming to assure an adequate wildlife population .establishment of a game refuge in the Baldwinsville area would prove beneficial in adding to our stocks of game birds and small animals. Refuges assure them of a place in which to breed and nest without disturbance, with additions to the wildlife crop spreading out beyond the confines of the refuge as the population becomes too great for the amount of feed available .cooperation between farmers and sportsmen is needed to assure that grain will be left in the fields for feeding the birds .If the conservation department goes thru (sic) with the project, it will add another asset to Onondaga County’s many.”
In 1947, New York State got the county’s 50 acres back, and much more. It acquired the northwestern-most 2,500 acres of The Project to establish a game sanctuary. Its success was proven the next year, when a local paper reported that the game there included a herd of 40 deer, multiplying mink, and one old moose. Known first as the N.Y.S. “Conservation Commission Game Sanctuary,” the D.E.C. later named it the “Three Rivers Game (Wildlife) Management Area.”
The Messenger later reported, “The game management area offers numerous benefits to local residents. It provides lands for hunting and trapping, ponds for fishing, a field house for camping and secluded areas for nature observers. Of more importance to wildlife, it provides a refuge for animals and makes possible the operation of a waterfowl and migratory game bird production program. A part of the area is also used for field dog trials .”
The N.Y.S. Bird Dog Association, founded in 1949, held its first field trial here in 1950, which later became the National Pheasant Shooting Dog Championship. In 1952, Three Rivers began hosting three more events, including the National Open Pheasant Dog Championship, the American Field Pheasant Dog Futurity and the National Amateur Pheasant Dog Championship.
Because the country’s four field trial championships for pheasant dogs all relocated to the Three Rivers Game Management Area, the Gazette & Farmers’ Journal announced on Sept. 26, 1957, that Baldwinsville had been named the new “Pheasant Dog Capital of the World.” This news prompted the local Chamber of Commerce in September of 1964 to add the line “World Pheasant-Dog Capital” to all of its signs leading into the village of Baldwinsville. Although it’s not clear when or why some of these field trial championships left Three Rivers for greener pastures, the signs stayed up for at least 25 years. As usual, I decided to investigate a bit further. Next week, read the conclusion to “Pheasant Dog Capital of the World.”
Looking Backward will appear in the Messenger every other week, as long as there are stories to tell. If you have questions about this story or suggestions for future ones, including any local historical images or information, please contact me via e-mail at [email protected].
The awarding of the National Pheasant Dog Shooting Championship trophy at Three Rivers Game Management Area on Oct. 2, 1955. Pictured at the old NYS Department of Conservation office on the east side of Sixty Road (the current one is on the west side) are (from left) Henry Berol, Elmer Trew, Albert Pilon, Frank Ash, Gail Hamilton, Kenneth Lorch, Mrs. Berol, Robert Hapgood, Jr. and Claude Crawford. According to contemporary sources, a group consisting of Trew, Pilon, Ash, Lorch, Hapgood and Crawford, along with William Brown, editor of American Field Magazine, and Monte Lass, field marshal of the National Open Pheasant Dog Championships, was instrumental in bringing all four national pheasant dog championship field trials to Three Rivers. Trew was from Baldwinsville, Ash was from Fulton and Lass was from Oswego.
