Question: This identification badge was worn by the many workers who were employed by a very important facility during World War II. Where was the facility? What was its function? Do you recognize the employed pictured here?
Last week’s answer: The year was 1910 and the photographer was in front of 36 Syracuse St. facing south when taking last week’s mystery photo of Syracuse Street. What appears to be a lane or a driveway to the right of the two gentlemen is actually Grove Street. A street sign is mounted on a large tree behind the man on the left.
Ten years earlier the Gazette had reported that “the two mammoth oak trees at the east end of Grove Street are being removed. The stately monarchs are not lowered without expressions of regret and yet they had outgrown their early environment and were encroaching upon the highway.” Syracuse Street was only 16 feet wide and would not be paved until 1922. Paving of the village side streets began in 1935.
The two story brick house beyond Grove Street is 42 Syracuse St., then the home of Mrs. Frances Talmadge, widow. Across the road, partially hidden by the mass of trees, a set of steps and some porch pillars are visible. They mark the entrance to 43 Syracuse St., the home of Erwin E. Wells, a prominent tobacco farmer. Wells’ large farm stretched easterly to the river and almost to Downer Street on the south. Today the Wells home is the rectory of St. Mary’s Church.
Utility poles, many of which stand yet today, line the street. An electric street light is hanging over the road. The network of wires strung through the tree tops also provided telephone service and electricity for the trolley that connected Baldwinsville and Syracuse. Its tracks are obscured by the muddy roadbed.
It was an era of transformation. Lock 24 was under construction. Houses and buildings were being moved. Homes went up along Syracuse Street to the south. Street names were changed. Bisdee Street became Lower Grove; Greenwich Street became Lower Downer Street.
The Gazette and Farmers’ Journal reflected the changing times. Ads and announcements varied from “Blacksmith shop opened on South Side, on Water street. Horse shoeing, woodworking and repairing done promptly. New customers will be appreciated, also old ones returning. Lester & MacDonald” to “Learn Automobile Engineering – Be a Chauffeur, Demonstrator, Auto Salesman or repairman – Baldwinsville Auto School, Baldwinsville N.Y.” and “Spitting in public places sows disease and creates a harvest for the ‘grim reaper.’”
The huge old trees that lined the main streets and entrances to the village would soon be removed while streets were widened as gas powered vehicles replaced horse drawn conveyances.
Maureen Bordwell correctly identified Grove Street in a comment on Facebook.
Email your guess to [email protected] or leave a message at 315-434-8889 ext. 310 with your guess by noon Friday. 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 newspaper, along with another History Mystery feature. History Mystery is a joint project of the Museum at the Shacksboro Schoolhouse and the Baldwinsville Public Library.
