Fayetteville
New York
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Town of Manlius
The Town of Manlius was officially created on March 5, 1794 by the New York State Legislature. It was one of the original 11 towns in Onondaga County that stretched in those days from the Madison/Chenango county line west to Geneva and from Lake Ontario to the southern tip of Seneca Lake, four times the present size of Onondaga County. The names of Manlius residents are the first on the petition to create the new county and Manlius residents were among the earliest county officials elected.
At that time, the Town of Manlius was much larger -- including all of today's Town of Manlius plus all of the Town of DeWitt, the eastern half of Syracuse, most of the Town of Salina, and some of the Town of Onondaga.
Into this frontier moved many veterans from the American Revolution. Four men settled on lots they received from the state as a reward for military service, while most sold their bonus rights to others.
As the Town approaches the 21st century, it has three villages within its borders. Manlius, granted powers of self government in 1813, was the first village in Onondaga County, reflecting its prominence as a commercial center on the important east-west turnpike road which is today's Route 173. Fayetteville, influenced by the commerciall traffic of the Erie Canal, became a village in 1844. Minoa, where the railroad provided the principal economic base, was organized in 1913. Both Manlius and Fayetteville have Historic Districts on the National Register.
The Town's two major school systems -- Fayetteville-Manlius and East Syracuse-Minoa -- resulted from the consolidation of village and rural districts in the early 1950s,
The pioneers in the Town of Manlius were impressed by the rich fertile fields and tall forests they found here. Despite the fact that the Town more than doubled its population between 1960 and 1994, about half of the Town's 67 square miles remain zoned agricultural.
The oldest landmarks in the Town of Manlius are both within Green Lakes State Park. The lakes are the remnants of an ancient waterfall of the last ice age 12,000 years ago. Because of their unique qualities, Round Lake and the pristine forest surrounding it, are on the National Register of Natural Landmarks.
At that time, the Town of Manlius was much larger -- including all of today's Town of Manlius plus all of the Town of DeWitt, the eastern half of Syracuse, most of the Town of Salina, and some of the Town of Onondaga.
Into this frontier moved many veterans from the American Revolution. Four men settled on lots they received from the state as a reward for military service, while most sold their bonus rights to others.
As the Town approaches the 21st century, it has three villages within its borders. Manlius, granted powers of self government in 1813, was the first village in Onondaga County, reflecting its prominence as a commercial center on the important east-west turnpike road which is today's Route 173. Fayetteville, influenced by the commerciall traffic of the Erie Canal, became a village in 1844. Minoa, where the railroad provided the principal economic base, was organized in 1913. Both Manlius and Fayetteville have Historic Districts on the National Register.
The Town's two major school systems -- Fayetteville-Manlius and East Syracuse-Minoa -- resulted from the consolidation of village and rural districts in the early 1950s,
The pioneers in the Town of Manlius were impressed by the rich fertile fields and tall forests they found here. Despite the fact that the Town more than doubled its population between 1960 and 1994, about half of the Town's 67 square miles remain zoned agricultural.
The oldest landmarks in the Town of Manlius are both within Green Lakes State Park. The lakes are the remnants of an ancient waterfall of the last ice age 12,000 years ago. Because of their unique qualities, Round Lake and the pristine forest surrounding it, are on the National Register of Natural Landmarks.