Question: Baldwinsville is very fortunate to be the home of the oldest community theater company in the state. This year the Baldwinsville Theatre Guild is celebrating their 75th anniversary. This photo is from 1993. Do you know any of the people and what musical they were performing? This year the same very popular show is being reprised. If you act fast, you can probably obtain a ticket. It opens this weekend. Watch next week for identity of the performers.
Last week’s answer: The location of last week’s photo was Syracuse and Water Street, sometime between 1886 and 1890. We know that because the S&B (Syracuse and Baldwinsville) Railroad only existed during that time. The businessmen who organized it wanted a more central location than the Lackawanna station over by Spruce Street for getting the goods from the mills and tobacco farms to market. This railroad only went from Baldwinsville to Amboy with the depot located across from Morris Machine Works on East Genesee Street. The Amos and Frazee mills and several tobacco warehouses were located nearby. The abutments in the river east of the main bridge are from that railroad. The track traversed Water Street from the Mack-Miller Candle Company by the cemetery to the bridge and central depot. Unfortunately for the businessmen, it was not successful.
It may seem odd that a train could be on Water Street, as today it certainly is not wide enough. Why is that? Well, in 1907, the state started digging the Barge Canal. On Nov. 7, 1907, the building in the background, often called the “Brown Building,” was moved on rollers a short distance westward because of the raising of the approach to the new bridge over the canal. The spot it once occupied in now vacant. It should be noted that this was the first building lot south of the river laid out and sold by John McHarrie Jr. in 1827. It was purchased by Amasa Scoville, the same man who in 1832 built the first Seneca Hotel on the northwest corner of the Four Corners. For many years, Seth Brown operated a woodworking business, making cabinets, coffins and other wooden articles. It is said that the Lakeside trolley had their ticket office there for a short time.
Back to the canal and Water Street — the lock chamber sets where the north side of Water Street was then located.
The tall steeple in the background is the Baptist Church. It was designed by noted architect H. N. White and constructed in 1871.
Mike Noble phoned in with our first correct answer, identifying the rail line and the reason the photo couldn’t be recreated.
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.
