Near Westside, Syracuse

The Near Westside is one of the oldest Syracuse neighborhoods. In the early 1900s there were many wealthy families, including the Mayor of Syracuse, living along West Onondaga Street in many very large homes. A beautiful fountain with many statues was located at Onondaga Circle, the junction of West Onondaga Street and Delaware Street. Streets like Delaware Street were lined with large elm trees and stately homes.

The Near Westside neighborhood is bounded by Erie Boulevard on the north, Bellevue Avenue on the south, South Geddes Street on the west and Midland Avenue on the east.

In 1850, the district south of West Fayette Street and west of Oswego Street to Tully and Geddes streets, at that time farmland, was known as The Patch for the patchwork of farms that were scattered over the landscape. The patchwork grew large and soon spread over the whole territory, however, the neighborhood in the Near Westside never outgrew the name for many years.

Along the western border of the neighborhood, there were a multitude of factories that employed local residents such as Franklin Automobile Company, which produced luxury air cooled cars from 1904 to 1934 and Lipe-Rollway Company, a manufacturer of gears. The main hub of industry started at South Geddes Street, not far from where the George Fowler High School and City Hardware of Calley's United Appliance reside today. Additionally, at the turn of the 19th century, there were typewriter factories, machinery factories and a large railroad yard along West Fayette Street that provided jobs to the residents of the neighborhood.

Irish families who settled in the neighborhood were attracted to St. Lucy's Catholic Church.

In August, 1872, a committee from the parishes of St. John the Evangelist and St. Mary's Church called on the Rt. Rev. John J. Conroy, bishop of Albany, New York and secured his consent to form a new parish west of Onondaga Creek.

The committee consisted of John J. Lynch, Francis Connelly, Lawrence Ryan, Hugh A. Duffy, Thomas F. Delany, Charles McFall, Nicholas Joy, Patrick Slattery, William Michels, Thomas Kendricks, John Heimick and Francis Murphy. They were authorized to begin the work of organization and proceeded to purchase land and contracted Patrick Cummins to build the church.

The Rev. John J. Kennedy (born September 4, 1844) was the first pastor of the new church. He was sent there in September, 1872 and chose the name for the church after, St. Lucy, the virgin martyr of Syracuse, Sicily. The church was designed by famous Syracuse architect, Archimedes Russell.

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Wikipedia