History · Syracuse

Syracuse has 124 places on the National Register

More historic than 98% of U.S. towns · #61 of 758 in New York. What drives it

Dated to 1848 (Wikidata), with 43% of its homes built before 1940 and 19 historic districts holding 4,037 contributing buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, the census since 1850, and every listing on the Register.

1848founded

124on the National Register

43%homes built before 1940

4old photos & papers

29famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Syracuse’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Syracuse began

When was Syracuse founded?

1848

Syracuse dates its founding to 1848 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1850.

First census: 22,271 in 18502020 census: 148,620178 years

How historic is Syracuse?

A⁺

More historic than 98% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1807.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Syracuse’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Syracuse is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #61 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.

A⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Syracuse’s overall grade.

Founding era1848, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 194043.1% of homes (±1.5) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%A⁺National Register124 listings, 4,037 historic buildings, 276 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4A

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 98%

NewerOlder

New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 92%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Syracuse ranks #30 on History.

New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Syracuse’s 276 sits above most of its state (85% of New York towns have fewer) while its 4,037 historic buildings outnumber those of 100% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1848.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share (±1.5 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Syracuse’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Westcott-University Neighborhood Historic District takes in 2,611 historic buildings.Landmarks on the Register124 places on the National Register.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18955 editions of the USGS map, 1895 to 1973. Watch Syracuse change.

★ What stands out · On the National Register

124 listings protect 4,037 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed

124

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

4,037

each building in a district counts

first listed

1971

Syracuse Savings Bank

BuildingsDistrictsSites

Architectural styles listings

Arts and Crafts24

Colonial Revival13

Tudor Revival9

Neo-Classical6

Late Victorian6

Second Empire5

Syracuse Savings BankGothic

Weighlock BuildingBuilt 1962

Onondaga County Savings Bank BuildingBuilt 1867

Gere Bank BuildingBuilding

Third National BankHigh Victorian · Built 1885

White Memorial BuildingGothic

Grace Episcopal ChurchEnglish Gothic

Central New York Telephone and Telegraph BuildingEarly Renaissance

All 124 listings

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Help out

Start Syracuse’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Syracuse’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewUS 1859 Syracuse NY Drugs Medicines Dye…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

The story

How Syracuse came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Syracuse.

Read it all →

Syracuse lies at the heart of the homeland of the Onondaga, the central nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. According to Haudenosaunee tradition, the Confederacy was founded on the shores of Onondaga Lake more than a thousand years ago, when the Peacemaker and Hiawatha persuaded the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca to end their wars and accept the Great Law of Peace. There the Peacemaker planted the Tree of Peace, and the Onondaga leader Tadodaho agreed to preside over the Grand Council of 50 chiefs. Because of their central location, the Onondaga became the Confederacy's Firekeepers, hosting the Grand Council, holding 14 of its 50 seats and occupying the center of the Hiawatha Belt, the wampum belt that records the union.

ChaptersHaudenosaunee homeland and early settlement Erie Canal and reform era (1820s–1870)Industry and immigration (1870s–1945)Urban renewal and the 15th Ward (1945–1970)Deindustrialization and renewal (1970–present)

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Syracuse, 1807 to 1962

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1807Post officeThe Salina post office opens
1840In the archiveUS 1859 Syracuse NY Drugs Medicines Dye Stuffs Advertising Cover front
1848
FoundingSyracuse is established
1849Post officeThe Onondaga Valley post office opens
1867BuiltOnondaga County Savings Bank Building is built
1871In the archiveSyracuse by Moonlight title QS:P1476,en:"Syracuse by Moonlight "label QS:Len,"Syracuse by…
1871Post officeThe Salina post office closes
1873BuiltHall of Languages, Syracuse University is built
1885BuiltThird National Bank is built
1890Post officeThe Eastwood post office opens
1895On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1899Post officeThe Onondaga Valley post office closes
20th century
1919Post officeThe Eastwood post office closes
1924Born hereRod Serling is born here
1928Born hereCarl Woese is born here
1942Born hereRobert F. Engle is born here
1950CensusPopulation peaks at 220,583
1962BuiltWeighlock Building is built

By decade

Syracuse, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1840s to the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1840s–1870s4 items

US 1859 Syracuse NY Drugs Medicines Dye Stuffs Advertising Cover front

1840sUS 1859 Syracuse NY Drugs Medicines Dye Stuffs Advert…

Robinson's Onondaga temperance house, corner of Church and Salina st's, adjoining Empire block, Syracuse - Chase

1847Robinson's Onondaga temperance house, corner of Churc…

Syracuse by Moonlight title QS:P1476,en:"Syracuse by Moonlight "label QS:Len,"Syracuse by Moonlight "

1871Syracuse by Moonlight title QS:P1476,en:"Syracuse by …

1875Celia Burleigh c1875

On the map

Syracuse on the map, 1895 to 1973

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Syracuse. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1895Syracuse sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Syracuse.

Every building

Syracuse, building by building, 1892

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Syracuse fire insurance map, 1892, sheet 2

1892Sheet 2 of 88

Edition

Sheets

+87 more at the Library of Congress

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewUS 1859 Syracuse NY Drugs Medicines Dye Stuffs Advertising Cover front, 1840s

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Syracuse’s page.

Retake this view · +15

People over time

Syracuse, census by census

Peaked at 220,583 in 1950; 148,620 people lived here in 2020.

18 censuses, 1850–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Syracuse’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

29 famous people were born in Syracuse

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Tom CruiseAmerican actor and film producer · b. 1962

Robert F. EngleAmerican economist and Nobel laureate · b. 1942

Carl WoeseAmerican microbiologist · b. 1928

Rod SerlingAmerican screenwriter · b. 1924

Bobcat GoldthwaitAmerican comedian, actor, film director and scr… · b. 1962

Eric CarleAmerican author and illustrator for children · b. 1929

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Salina

1807–1871

Onondaga Valley

1849–1899

Eastwood

1890–1919

18001910today

Hamlets and corners on the map

EastwoodSkytop

Gone or out of use

Archbold StadiumlocaleBrighton TheatrebuildingEckel TheatrebuildingGlobe TheaterbuildingKeith's TheatrebuildingMacArthur StadiumlocaleParamount TheaterbuildingRiviera TheatrebuildingSaint James SchoolschoolSaint Patricks Schoolschool

9cemeteries and burying grounds inside Syracuse

First WardMorningsideMount SinaiMyrtle HillOakwoodOnondaga ValleyRose HillSaint AgnesWoodlawn

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Onondaga3 historic placesB⁻Geddes2 historic placesA⁻DeWitt2 historic placesB⁺Salina3 historic placesB⁻Solvay2 historic placesB⁺Lyncourt1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town East SyracuseIts storyB⁻WestvaleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town NedrowIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town GalevilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Syracuse’s history

What year was Syracuse founded?

In 1848, according to Wikidata. Syracuse’s post office opened in 1807, and the census of 1850 counted 22,271 people here.

How does Syracuse rank for history?

Syracuse is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #61 of 758 in New York. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Syracuse?

124 listings: 103 buildings, among them the Syracuse Savings Bank (listed 1971, the first), 19 historic districts with 3,893 contributing buildings, and 2 sites. 4,037 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Syracuse?

43% of Syracuse’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1948.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (124), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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