This web site is a continuous work in progress. The history of our beloved little city is vast and remarkable.
Please leave any comment{s} or suggestions you may have to make this web site even more enjoyable and entertaining to all visitors.
I can only hope you have and will continue to enjoy this journey through time as much as I enjoyed producing it.
Kindest regards,
Michael J Colasurdo and Family
Very nice presentation and a great tribute to our home town! Well done, well done indeed, Mike! May God bless you and your wonderful family always. It was a great pleasure to grow up with you, Tye and all in the Colasurdo Family in “The Flats!” Grif
So excited about this website. Can’t wait to soak up as much history as I can regarding my hometown. Oswego has been home to my entire family tree since they all arrived from Ireland. Thank you for your great effort!
Richard “Dick” Van Gemert says:
September 20, 2011 at 9:44 am
I am a 76 year old “historian” who has been recording all of the data I could locate for vessels along with maritime and military history of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River over the past 55 years. I am hoping to soon publish this work before my time runs out. It encompasses around 2,500 pages of text with about 500 pictures, drawings, prints, etc.
I accidentally stumbled upon your site when surfing in the early morning hours of insomnia. Although most, if not all, of the data in your site was already known to me, I nevertheless enjoyed it immensely. It is amazing that no matter how much one gets of this subject, when you truly love maritime history, you just never can get enough. I praise those, such as yourself, who record as much as possible of the history of our great land. Thank you for being a part of those who carry on this tradition.
Again may I thank you and Richard Palmer (the most productive historian I know) along with all the others who have preserved our heritage by keeping this subject fresh and available. Keep up the good work as I love what you have done.
Dick Van Gemert
Truly awesome! Thank you for your hard work and dedication. Wonderful site and amazing history. mquonce@gmail.com
My great Uncle Wilbur Pidgeon did extensive research on the shipwrecks in the lake. He was a shipping captain and later moved to Cleveland Ohio. Upon his death, his wife (Eva Magner) gave all his research to the Oswego library.
THIS IS A FANTASTIC , THOROUGHLY ENJOYABLE AND WONDERFULLY RESEARCHED WEBSITE AND GENEROUSLY DELIVERED TO THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
In 1947-1951+ The old and new forts were used to house veteran families who paid a very reasonable rent. The Safe Haven museum was a Post Office during those years where the housing occupants could pick up their daily mail.
I stumbled upon your site while researching my Coleman family’s old home and history in Oswego. I looked through all of the photos that you have posted in the Historic Pictorial Journey! Just wanted to say thank you for sharing and taking the time to maintain your site!
I, having lived in Fort Ontario I 947 as a SUNY student, particularly liked th info about J fenemore Cooper. I am looking forward to reading more historic offerings of the site.k
There some pictures on your great site, I can share some information about. Would you be interested?
Also grew up in Oswego in the 1950’s and remember Cahill’s on a Friday. Don’t know where the haddock came from but not fished out of Lake Ontario. Haddock is a salt water fish. Wonder where Cahill’s boat went to?
What a great historical resource for those who still live in this unique city, but also for those of us that have moved away. I’m glad I now live at my small farm in N. Texas but I’m more pleased that I grew up in Oswego.
Very nice work on the layout and total website design.
What a wonderful site, and a great presentation of the history of Oswego. Beautifully brought together in an easy to find format! Great job Mike!
Also, I just have to have one of your shirts for the Light House Tours~ they are fantastic!
Congratulations on your wonderful Oswego website ! It was a joy to explore. I grew up in Oswego in the fifties and sixties, as well. Hewson and Myrtle Matott were my beloved grandparents and lifetime Oswego residents. Grandad owned and operated Matott’s Bakery on West First Street for years, before selling the business to my Dad, Max Hopkins. Gram was organist and choir director at First Methodist Church for over forty years.
I vividly remember accompanying my beloved Grandad to the racetrack out on 104 West to watch trotters and pacers being exercised there. Little did I know then that yrs later I would be riding horses there when the college bought it and made riding available to Campus School students and college students.
I have some very old photos in my albums and I would be happy to email them to you if you would be interested. Just a few, but interesting, perhaps.
Thank you again for the wonderful gift of your historical website to those of us who treasure our Oswego heritage.
I really enjoyed reading your book “When We Had It Made” along with this entire website filled with old historical Oswego photos. Unfortunately, many photo’s may never surface, (or were never taken) of many places that would also contribute to this preservation of Oswego history. “The Variety Five & Dime Store” on West 1st. Street that burned down in the late 60’s/early 70’s would be one such example, or perhaps the location of Skillian’s corner store near Montcalm Park, or even where Lynche’s Drugstore was located as another example.
As a suggestion, maybe you could add to your site additional pages such as “The 50’s”, “The 60’s”, “The 70’s” with names of business’s that once existed AND approximately where they were located on a city map, or simply supply the information in text. I can think of about 100 off the top of my head, if you wanted to include places like Nick’s Resturant, or Tendal’s Steak House. While historically perhaps much less significant, they were nonetheless part of Oswego history at one point. Possibly a combined effort by your readers who still remember similar places could supply you with such information to share and preserve before they get lost in time forever. After all, can we really just forget that Mulcahey’s ever existed in the 50’s, or that it was later called Jack’s in the 70’s? Just something to ponder. Thank-you for all your time and effort into doing what you are doing, and thank-you for your service as well in the military.
Hello Michael,
Since You ahve a number of pictures related to ship building, I thought I would share the following. I was told by a friend of mine, John Heretyk, that the fastest crossing of the Atlantic ocean by sail only, was accomplished by a ship constructed in Oswego.
Subject: The original normal school
Hello Mr. Colasurdo,
I found out the original location of the Oswego Normal School. It was located on Seneca St. between W 6th and 7th Sts. You can see it if you go to the New York Public Library Digital Collections and seach for Oswego NY maps. You can find it on a map labeled “Part of Ward 1 (Plate S.)
Best regards.
Doug
I just took your photo journey for the first time and the memories came back .I lived in Oswego from 1938 to 1946. My father worked for the P G & E. I attended Fitzhugh Park. I was saddened to see many of the fine old buildings had been torn down. I did manage to get into the Richardson Theater during its demolition. Of course, nobody knew about that at the time. I worked the studios in Hollywood for many years and knew some old actors that actually played in that theater. Thanks for the good memories.
On E. 3rd St., beside the now Colonial laundromat, & Cayuga, was once a large building. I wonder if it was a factory and what the history behind it was. I still see the remainders of a driveway and cement slab.
Could you please tell me?
Especially enjoyed the section about 1906, the year my mother was born on 198 W Seneca St.!
Love this page!!!
-AND-
Noticed a picture of 2 storefronts that was captioned “No Date. No Address”. One store was McMurrich Co. and the other was Zoni Brothers. Did a little research and found an old ad in the Palladium Times from 1967 that stated Zoni Bros. store location was at 142 West 2nd Street. Figured I’d pass this on.
Again… Love This Page!!!
Lovely Site! Thank you for putting it together.