Years Ago in History

By CiNDy BELL ToBEy

10 Years Ago – July 3. 2013

Erieville Eagle Scout Sam Medbury has recently completed a scout project to restore the former water tank site on the defunct Syracuse & Chenango Valley Railroad line in Erieville. The project included site clean-up, restoration, sign replication and the erection of a new information kiosk. The Syracuse & Chenango Valley Railroad, completed in Earlville in February 1873, provided Syracuse with a vital link to the coal fields of Pennsylvania and also offered welcomed rail service to the upland communities of Madison and Onondaga counties. The scout project is on the site of the railroad’s 50,000 gallon water tank. Built in 1894, the tank replaced an earlier one near the depot to the north.

6 Years Ago – July 5, 2017

For many native to the Manlius area, the opening of Sno Top each year signifies the end of the often harsh Syracuse winter and the beginning of warmer weather. And soon, the business will celebrate 60 years of providing sweet treats to generations of families. Sno Top was built in 1957 on a parcel of property owned by Wilbur Chapman, in front of the Manlius Mart which was built behind the area of Sno Top. The Chapmans owned the ice cream business for a number of years, then it passed through the hands of several other families before being purchased by Vince and Kathy Giordano in 1974. The shop was built in the “Dairy Queen” style, with a sloped roof and sign on top. Vince said Sno Top was built identical to the North Pole ice cream shop in Chittenango, which still stands today. Vince was interested in purchasing Sno Top because he had a background working at the ice cream stand in Suburban Park.

4 Years Ago – July 3, 2019

On June 1 Cazenovia’s BSA Troop 18 competed in the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology’s (MOST) 17th annual CNY Rocket Team Challenge. The team won first place in the junior section and the award for Best Performing Recycled Rocket. Held at Syracuse University’s Skytop Field from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., the event saw nearly 500 students who competed at the junior level (grades four through eight) and senior level (grades nine through 12). They were judged on launch trajectory, rocketry knowledge, launch performance and other criteria. The team included Adam Tunnicliff, Micah Hamm, Zander Hollman and Kylie Belden.

2 Years Ago – July 7, 2021 com

On June 30, a severe thunderstorm resulted in major damage at a number of locations in Cazenovia, including Lorenzo State Historic Site and Cazenovia Rowing Club’s home base at the south end of the lake. Located at 17 Rippleton Road, Lorenzo is the 1807 Federal style home of Holland Land Company agent and Cazenovia founder John Lincklaen. According to Michael Roets, Lorenzo lost numerous trees in the storm, and many others sustained damage that will likely lead to their demise and necessary removal. Most of the affected trees were 100- plus years old. The most significant tree on the property to sustain major damage was the “President Grover Cleveland’s Tree,” a white pine that stood in the grove to the west of the mansion’s front lawn. “Lorenzo resident Charles Fairchild served as secretary of the treasury for President Cleveland in the 1880’s and when the president and his wife visited the Fairchilds at Lorenzo on July 18 and 19, 1887, the president planted this tree,” Roets said.

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