These historic sites played an important role in the early days of our town
The Onondaga County Poor House opened on Onondaga Hill in 1827 to care for the county’s destitute which included widows, orphans, the disabled, the sick, the insane, and those suffering from alcoholism. The Poor House later became part of the Onondaga County Home and Hospital, which today is the Van Duyn Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing. Although the original Poor House building was destroyed, the Van Duyn Center and several other buildings on the 145-acre campus remain in use.
In the 1800’s, Split Rock was known for its’ many quarries supplying limestone for the construction of numerous well-known local structures. Many of the workers at the quarries were Irish immigrants. Eventually, the area became part of Semet-Solvay/Solvay Process, whose factories on the Split Rock site manufactured munitions for the allies and the United States during WWI. Split Rock is most famous for the July 2, 1918 TNT explosion that rocked the entire county, killing 50 workers and injuring many more. The Split Rock grounds remain undeveloped, and remnants of the original munitions plant are still standing.
