If anyone is qualified to write about the history of Eastwood, it’s Margaret McVicker.

She was born and raised in the Caleb Avenue home her father built in 1920; it’s where she and her husband raised their own daughter, too, and it’s where Margaret still lives today.

Having spent her 87 years in the neighborhood, Margaret felt the “village within the city” deserved to have its distinct history documented, from 1790 when it was a Revolutionary War land grant to John Salisbury up to the present.

It took her five years to research and write, but the book was finally printed in May. Margaret had it printed in time for the Eastwood High School alumni clambake, where she sold 100 copies. More than 500 copies have been sold now, and the book is on it’s eighth printing.

“It took a long time, a lot of research that had to be done,” Margaret said.

She had some help from Bill Goodwin, a fellow Eastwood resident and part-time staffer at the Onondaga County Public Library Central Branch. “It was an effort to consolidate much that had been written, plus more information, all in one publication to preserve it for posterity.”

Copies have been shipped throughout the states, and into Canada and even Australia, mostly to former Eastwood residents,

Margaret said.

She’s selling the book herself – you can’t find it in shops or online – for $15 plus $3 for shipping. Contact Margaret at 463-4372 or [email protected] to order. Planning to give a copy as a holiday gift? Order soon to make sure you receive it in time!