Fulton in 15 Objects
Fulton in 15 Objects: Publishers Note
From the Publishers Office
I am a Beatles fan. Always have been. In fact, the first album I bought, with my own money, was the Beatles White Album. A few years ago, when Brian Southall published his book, The Beatles in 100 Objects: The Story of the World’s Greatest Rock-and-roll Band Through the Items They Used, Created, and Inspired, I had an idea. To tell the story of, our community, using objects.
The Oak Street School
The Oak Street School, located at 205 Oak St. in Fulton, is a two-story red brick building trimmed in cast stone designed by architect J. Mills Platt between 1913 and 1914. It served as Fulton’s Jr. and Sr. high school, offering classes for grades 6-12 until it closed in the 1970s after a new middle school and high school were built a few blocks away. The Fulton City School District used the building for storage for several years, until it was sold to the Fulton Community Development Agency for $20,000 in 2000. The FCDA managed to appropriate the funds necessary to renovate the building and turn it into senior apartments in 2004 featuring 12 handicapped accessible units. The total cost to convert the building was recorded at $1.9 million. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
The Fulton Public Library
The Fulton Public Library is a historic library building located at 160 S. First Street in Fulton. It is a masonry structure built in 1905–1906 in the Beaux Arts style. The building is built on a steeply sloped lot and is two stories at street level and four stories behind. It was designed and built with a grant provided by the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, as one of 3,000 similar libraries constructed between 1885 and 1919, as well as one of 107 in New York State. Carnegie provided $15,000 toward the construction of the Fulton Library. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
Fulton War Memorial
The Fulton War Memorial is a gable roofed, steel-truss cinder block building located at 609 W. Broadway state Route 3 in Fulton on the West side of the city. The memorials are located in front of the building in an area made up largely of dedicated red bricks from local residents and businesses. Placed in the center of the dedication is a large stone memorial, surrounded by various flags with smaller plaques dedicated to each American involved war in a semi-circle around the outside perimeter. The main stone monument has inscribed on its face: “Dedicated to the veterans of all wars who made the supreme sacrifice so that the rest of could be free.” It was dedicated to the public on August 19, 1995 by the Fulton Veterans Council and then presiding Mayor, Donald W. Bullard.
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Presented by Cayuga Community College
Nestle's and The Nestle Crunch Bar
According to “Nestle: How Sweet it Was,” a book by Jim Farfaglia, Switzerland’s Nestle Company began searching for a location to build its first milk processing plant in the United States in 1898. Upstate New York’s bountiful dairy farms sealed the deal for a factory in Fulton.
Soon another Swiss company requested space at the factory to produce a confection that had taken Europe by storm: the milk chocolate bar. Over the next century, factory technicians invented classic treats including the Nestle Crunch Bar in 1938 and Nestle Quik powdered chocolate milk mix in 1948.
The Fulton Mill/American Woolen Mills
The Fulton Mill, later renamed American Woolen Mills, a large textile firm, was located on the west bank of the Oswego River from 1859 to 1956. Mill No.1 was built by owner Erastus Kellogg with family money and manufactured uniforms and other cloth-related supplies for the U.S. military in the Civil War and later, both World War I and World War II. Another building known as Mill No. 2 was built in 1869. The Oswego River afforded the mill hydropower after the construction of the dam near the upper bridge. Factory employees lived in simple wood-framed housing on company property. The American Woolen Mills closed the Fulton operations in the mid 1950s. The buildings were demolished in the summer of 1962.
Mural at the Fulton Post Office
The historic post office in Fulton houses an example of New Deal artwork in this oil-on-canvas mural entitled “Father LeMoyne Trying to Convert the Indians on Pathfinder Island.” Painted by Caroline S. Rohland, this painting was installed near the ceiling in the inner post office lobby in 1942. It still resides there overlooking the daily customers who visit the post office. Kelly LaPage, Fulton postmaster said the mural is the subject of many school field trips and on those days she acts as host to answer questions from the students about its history and significance.
Fulton's Mount Adnah Cemetery
According to its website, Fulton’s Mt. Adnah Cemetary was founded On June 2, 1851 and is a perfect example of a 19th century- designed landscape rural cemetery. The word Adnah is of Syrian derivation and translated to English means “rest, or “repose., thus “Mount of Repose, ” a peaceful, beautiful place where friends and relatives rested. It is the burial place for many of Fulton’s most important people, a number of whom played a significant role in the expansion of Fulton and the immediate area. The cemetery's website states the possible founder to be Dr. Moses Linley Lee, a physician and civic leader in the 1850”s. The final resting place in non-denominational.
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The Lower Bridge (Oneida Street)
Before the turn of the century, on either side of the Oswego River sat two separate communities, Fulton on the east shore, and Oswego Falls on the west shore. Ultimately, two bridges were built to connect the neighboring towns and later, in 1902, the community became one — Fulton. The first Lower Bridge was made of wood and sat very low to the water, unlike today’s concrete bridge complete with fencing on both sides for safety. According to the book “Fulton and the Oswego River,” by the Friends of History in Fulton (2001), in the 1800s a fire broke out on the east side of the bridge and to keep the blaze from spreading to the west side, the bridge was sawed in half.
Foster Brothers Knife Works
For 100 years, from 1878 to 1979, Foster Brothers Knife Works, located at 43 W. First St. in Fulton, was a respected business employing over 135 workers in the community. The company was nationally known for its finely crafted cutlery marketed to restaurants, factories and butcher shops, as well as tool and work knives for businesses. It was founded by Frank and Allie Foster. They discovered a way to temper steel for the machine knives so commonly used in the paper mills powered by the Oswego River. To achieve the durability and finely honed edges that made the knives so popular, they bought the best steel they could find and hammered it, heated it and hammered it again, always by hand. What they had discovered was even the best steel had to be toughed to give it Foster Brothers quality.
Downtown Fulton’s Dizzy Block
From the early 1900s to the 1960s, a section of downtown Fulton was known as the “Dizzy Block,” where South First Street, Oneida Street, South Second Street, and Cayuga Street formed not only a popular shopping destination, but also a social gathering spot. According to Tom Brown, president of the Friends of History in Fulton, it was the place to go to see and be seen. Brown said for entertainment, his mom would park the car on one of the corners and just watch the people go by. According to Brown, there were dozens of merchants in the area, making it the place Fultonians went to buy clothes and shoes, have lunch at Woolworth’s, get ice cream, and visit gift shops. The idea was that as you walked around the block, it made you dizzy.
Falley Seminary
The Fulton Female Seminary was incorporated by the New York State Legislature May 25, 1836, and admitted by the Regents Feb. 5, 1839. The first principal was Lucy Maynard Salmon. The seminary’s name changed to Fulton Academy in 1842, and in 1849 it became the Falley Seminary of the Black River Conference. Then on March 5, 1857 it merged and became the Falley Seminary. It served as a preparatory school for girls attended by locals and out-of-area boarding students. Later it served as a post-secondary seminary of the Presbyterian Church and after that, of the Methodist Conference.
Hunter Arms Factory
Hunter Arms operated a factory in Fulton beginning in 1889, producing high-quality shotguns. The most famous of these were the L.C. Smith shotguns, known for their simplicity and durability. Near the turn of the century, Hunter diversified and developed electric fans with a cast iron body, real teak blades and an oil-bath lubrication system. The Hunter Original Fan gained popularity in overhead use after electricity was developed. The company produced some of the first bicycles beginning in 1898, stemming from the “velocipede” design produced years earlier in Europe. While the bicycles and shotguns are no longer in production, the ceiling fans have become one of the most recognized names in the ceiling fan industry. The Fulton factory closed after a section of the factory’s first floor collapsed in 1949.
The John Wells Pratt House
The John Wells Pratt House, built in 1861 and located at 177 S. First St. in Fulton, was once the home of John Wells Pratt and his wife, Harriett. J.W. Pratt was a canal boat manufacturer, real estate mogul and banking officer. Members of the family lived there for generations until 1975. The house was purchased by a fast food restaurant with the intention of tearing it down. However, the city of Fulton and concerned residents rescued the local landmark from the wrecking ball. The Historical Society of Fulton, which later became Friends of History in Fulton N.Y., was established. Today the Pratt House serves as a Fulton museum. According to pratthousemuseum.org, the Pratt House was listed on the National and State Register of Historic Places in 2000.
The Fulton Savings Bank
According to the Friends of Fulton History and Fulton Savings Bank, the bank is the longest-serving financial institution in Fulton, having been established on Sept. 25, 1871. Its first location was a rented room at the northeast corner of South Second and Oneida streets. It was founded by a group of civic-minded leaders of the community to receive deposits from local tradesmen, clerks, mechanics, laborers and factory workers. By 1911, Fulton’s prosperous industrial growth allowed the bank to establish the building residents know today at 75 S. First St. During the Great Depression, Fulton’s high level of industrialization kept the bank solvent. In 1947 the bank began to offer home loans to GIs returning from World War II. In 1998, Fulton Savings Bank initiated its first scholarship program to people wanting to attend SUNY Oswego and Cayuga Community College. In 2021 the bank celebrated its 150th anniversary.
The Fulton Post Office
The Fulton Post Office was built between the years of 1912-1915 and enlarged to the building we know today between 1936-1938. The two-story, limestone facade building was designed by the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department, with James Knox Taylor the supervising architect. The lobby features the oil on canvas mural “Father LeMoyne Trying to Convert the Indians on Pathfinder Island,” by Caroline S. Rohland in 1942, which was included in this series earlier. According to the National Register of Historic Places, the Fulton Post Office was placed on their list in 1989.
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