Question: This is a photo of a marker dedicated to the Baldwin Power and Navigation Canal. As you can read, it was erected by the Beauchamp Historical Club in 1968. Several years ago, at the start of the renovation of what is now the Baldwin Canal Park, it was removed and stored in the highway barn. It recently has been put back in place. Can you find it? Also how much do you know about that very important first canal in Baldwinsville?
Last week’s answer: The picture from last week can be a puzzling one. It should be obvious that there is a bridge crossing a body of water. Is it Baldwinsville? Yes! If you follow local history at all, you should be able to recognize the double truss bridge that was the third bridge to cross the river. It stood from 1837 to 1900. One puzzle is that in the foreground there is no Barge Canal. Remember, that did not arrive until 1908. The large building in the back right is the Amos Mill, which was located in the present Baldwin Canal Park. The building on the left with all of the windows was the J.C. & J.C. Miller Knitting Mill. That stood west of the Baldwin Canal Bridge (the bridge you can walk under).
By now, you should realize that the picture is facing north — what are the two steeples?! This image was done after the present Presbyterian Church was erected in 1865. That’s the steeple on the left. The steeple on the right is the former Union (Presbyterian) Church that once stood on the corner of Oneida and Oswego Streets. When the Presbyterians no longer needed it, the building was bought by O.B. Herrick, who had it moved complete with the steeple to 50 Oswego St. It became known as Herrick’s Hall, a very popular theater and meeting hall.
In 1881, Hiram Howard purchased Herrick’s Hall and the Oswego Street lot with the intention of designing and erecting a modern opera house. This became known as the Howard Opera House. Herrick’s Hall was sold to Upson and Fairbanks, who took off the steeple and moved it to the railroad depot, placed it on a track siding and converted it into a tobacco warehouse. It burned in 1910.
The Messenger received its first correct answer this week from Donna Freyleue: “This picture shows the view from the south side of the village across the river and up Oswego Street,” she wrote in an email. “The steeple on the left is the First Presbyterian Church and the one on the right is Herrick’s House, the former Presbyterian Church that became an opera house when the current church was built, and was replaced in 1881 by the Howard Opera House.”
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.
