Question: This History Mystery came about because of a question asked of one of the historians. Why is there a sign at the intersection of East Oneida and Mechanic Streets that says Tannery Creek? Where did the name come from? Was there ever at tannery in Baldwinsville?
Last week’s answer: Last week’s photo showed the Dewitt C. Turner residence at 8 Virginia St. shortly after it was built in 1886. The wooden plank sidewalk was in the midst of being installed. Nine years later “new Portland cement” sidewalks would grace the front of the property.
Associated with the Fuller and Bliss Sash and Blind factory, D. C. Turner was also an entrepreneur. Real estate and property development were among his many interests.
At the time of the Civil War, Virginia Street was only one block long, from Canal Street north to Elizabeth Street. The east side of the block backed up to the J.J. Kaulback property upon which sat a tannery, a noisy and odiferous manufacturing concern. The tannery business declined after the war and Virginia Street’s residential appeal grew.
Turner began purchasing lots and erecting modest houses on Virginia St. around 1870. Local news paragraphs in the Gazette and Farmers Journal note his activities with references such as “building a new house just south of the one he built in the summer,” and “adding a second story to one of his houses on Virginia Street.” In 1885 the newspaper reported that Turner was “building a neat little Queen Anne house on his vacant lot on Virginia Street.” Turner engaged local contractor Stephen J. Lonergan to build and remodel his houses.
Turner and his wife had only one child, Jeanette (Nettie). The family was active in social and civic affairs. A Republican, Turner was also politically involved. He also served several terms on the local board of education and was active in the Methodist Church. His wives (he was widowed in 1884 and remarried) and daughter were part of Baldwinsville’s social set. The Gazette carries frequent reports of their excursions, guests, parties and events.
In 1891Turner’s daughter became a high profile B’villian when, at the age of 21, she opened “Nettie J. Turner, Millinery,” a hat shop in the Kendall Block, across from the Village Hall. The building itself was fashionable with large display windows and an ornate wrought iron balcony extending across the facade. The shop interior was lavishly outfitted and weekly display ads in the Gazette appealed to women of all ages and budgets.
In 1905 Nettie sold her business to Syracusan Phyllis Noerr and the Baldwinsville shop closed. The enterprising young businesswoman had used her childhood nickname, Nettie, as her professional name and “Jeanette” faded into relative obscurity. “Nettie” remained in the newspaper social columns and ultimately was used in her obituary and on her gravestone.
At their No. 8 Virginia St. residence, D.C. Turner continued to remodel. Additions were constructed, bay windows were added, porches were built and modified and systems were modernized.
Both Dewitt and his wife Mary Jane passed away in the summer of 1921. Nettie never married and remained in the house until shortly before her death at the age of 78. In the intervening years she also made modifications to the structure, including removal of a large two-story addition on the home’s north side.
Jeanette “Nettie” Jane Turner passed away May 6, 1949. She is buried in Baldwinsville’s Riverview Cemetery in the Turner plot alongside her parents, Dewitt C. and Jane Tottle Turner, and her step mother, Mary Jane Palmer Turner.
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, 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.
