Onondaga County

Facts about Onondaga County

• In the mid-1800’s Syracuse’s second leading industry was cigar production?

• In 1959, Syracuse’s Bristol Laboratories, a division of Bristol Meyers manufactured the first synthetic penicillin?

• President Grover Cleveland lived just outside of Syracuse, in Fayetteville, and used to take dips in Limestone Creek near his house?

• The Literacy Volunteers of America was found in Syracuse in 1962, and has helped thousands worldwide learn to read?

• Syracuse is the host to The New York State Fair, the longest running state fair in the country?

• The first ferris wheel built in the U.S. was constructed in Syracuse in 1848? It was a four-car ride, capable of holding 20 passengers, and was rotated by hand?

• The country’s first drive-in bank window appeared in Syracuse?

• Frank Baum, author of the Wizard of Oz, was from just outside Syracuse in Chittenango, which boasts a yellow brick walkway and yearly parade commemorating the story?

• The Brannock Device, the funny-looking foot measure for determining shoe size, was invented by Charles F. Brannock, a Syracusan?

• A Syracuse native, Milton Waldo Manchett invented the dental chair?

• Syracuse boasts the only upside-down traffic light in the country? It’s located on Tipperary Hill, traditionally known as the Irish section of the city – and the residents there are proud to have the green on top.

• The world’s first “loafer” was patented by Syracuse’s Nettleton Shoe Co. in 1933?

• At one time there were over 50 breweries in the Greater Syracuse Area?

• Syracuse is ranked the 7th best place to live in all the United States?

• The Carrier Dome of Syracuse University is the only domed stadium in the Northeast and the largest structure of its kind on a college campus?