Question: Location names can change over time. Today we reference “the Four Corners,” more precisely described as the intersection of Oswego and Genesee streets. When this photo was taken area residents spoke of “North Side Four Corners” and “South Side Four Corners.” This view shows South Side Corners in 1905. Can you name the location? Five years later the three buildings seen here would no longer be in place. Can you identify any of them? Do you know where they were in 1910?
Last week’s answer: If you are a good detective, you may have figured out that the site in the photo from last week was on East Genesee Street with the intersection of Lock and Albert Palmer Lane in the middle. The gas station on the left is now a Sunoco. On the right is a gas station that has been converted to the China King Restaurant. The two houses on the right beyond that no long exist. In the middle of the picture is the current location of the Mavis Discount Tire/Cole Muffler Station at the corner of East Genesee and Salina streets.
The construction in the foreground is the beginning of our current 20,700 square foot public library, which was completed by October 1995. It’s hard to believe that it was over 20 years ago.
The library has come a long way from its 1948 beginning in a converted trolley station on the site of the current Key Bank, to a renovated house 17 Charlotte St. in 1956, and the old Woolworth’s Store at 43 Oswego St. in 1975.
The library has changed dramatically over the years. The first library was open 21 hours a week, had 3,023 items in its collection (pretty much limited to books), 776 borrowers and a budget of $3,931.72. Currently it is open 3,270 hours a year and has 174,253 items in its collection with much more available through OCPL, the county-wide system. There are 18,235 active card users. There is a wide variety of different kinds of media currently available that didn’t exist in the ‘40s.
As in the past, residents have the chance to show their support for this wonderful institution by voting on next year’s proposed budget from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. April 19. Voting takes place at the library. This year’s budget is $1,605,800. It is anticipated that this will not result in an increase in the tax rate.
The first reader to correctly identify the photo was Mike Mazoway.
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.
