Question: In 1956, it was deemed that the bridge shown on top could not accommodate the increased traffic on that highway. The photo on the left shows the temporary walkover used while the bridge was being constructed. The one on the right is just before completion. Do you know where that was and can you identify the building on the left in the last picture?
Last week’s answer: This photo, taken in 1905, shows the intersection of Water and Syracuse streets, the business center of the south side, hence the name “South Side Four Corners.” The photographer was standing on Water Street facing east toward the river. In 1870 a devastating fire had wiped out 13 buildings in this area, including those housing Baldwinsville’s emerging star industry, Heald & Sisco, soon to be known as Morris Machine Works.
While the pump company rebuilt on the north side, new enterprises sprang up from the ashes, including those in the photo.
At the far left, the northwest corner of the intersection, once stood the popular Lafayette Hotel, another victim of the fire. Isaac Dixon purchased the lot, erected a two story frame structure, and established a grocery business on the main level. In 1903 his successor, Arthur W. Tappan & Co., sold to W.W. Perkins, owner at the time of the photo.
The large structure seen in the center was the mainstay of the South Side Four Corners. The northeast corner had been occupied by a hostelry since 1831 when Walter D. Herrick built the Exchange Hotel. Ownership soon passed to the McCabe family who held the property for several generations. The McCabes rebuilt after the fire. In 1899 the new facility was named the Quinlan House. By the time of the photo it had also been known as the Hoffman Hotel and was currently called the Van Buren Hotel. No matter its name, the facility continued to be a popular place for banquets, parties, and other social events as well as political meetings. A white and green structure with many chairs on its verandas, it invited folks to sit, watch others coming and going, and share the latest news.
At the far right, the southeast corner, is a large two story frame building housing a blacksmith shop and carriage building business, another post-fire enterprise. This operation was owned by Joseph Fugett, a former slave who had come to Baldwinsville under the patronage of Dr. James Kendall, Civil War surgeon and humanitarian.
The railroad spur running down the center of Water Street serviced industries along the Seneca River, including Mack-Miller Candle Company and Kenyon Paper Mill. The trolley tracks on Syracuse Street connected Baldwinsville with Syracuse.
In 1905 this was the heart of the South Side Four Corners. Three years later this same site was chaotic and gritty, the scene of the single largest construction project in the village’s history. The new Erie Canal, commonly called the Barge Canal, was coming through.
A lock was needed to bypass the Seneca River dam. It would cut through the heart of the South Side Four Corners. Eminent domain prevailed. The entire north side of Water Street had to go.
The Van Buren Hotel was moved to Marble Street to the site of a former cheese factory. No longer the center of activity, it dwindled, finally turned into a tenement, and was demolished in 1973.
Fugett had moved to his farm in Waterloo two years earlier. His building had been well used and was now “rickety.” It was demolished.
The grocery store was moved kitty corner to 23 Syracuse St., the site of Fugett’s once-thriving business. The site was large enough for the grocery store with room left over on the north side. Grocery business was continued there by successors Baker & Tappan, followed by Harris’ Red & White. Mom-and-pop stores gave way to supermarkets; in 1982 Noble’s Flower Gallery took over the building.
The Flower Gallery has since moved to larger quarters at 93 Syracuse St. Today the lone survivor of the South Side Four Corners remains vibrant in its latest role. Floral fragrances have given way to mouthwatering aromas as Dawn Custer and crew welcome diners at her popular Canal Walk Cafe.
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.
