In the late 1800s, Syracuse's population was growing and people moving into the city needed water. They first used wells and springs, but with a higher demand, a more stable supply was needed. In this edition of Your Hometown, Alana LaFlore explains how Woodland Reservoir became a key part of the city.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- With a booming population in the 1800s, Syracuse's water supply needed to get organized. And that's when Syracuse Water Works formed.
The private company used an old reservior on Onondaga Hill to bring water from the Onondaga Creek, but it wasn't the cleanest.
"One of the biggest challenges besides cleanliness was having enough water pressure," said Dennis Connors, curator of history at the Onondaga Historical Association. "There's a number of stories about fires in the 1850s and 60s and 70s where the fire department didn't have enough water pressure in the system to fight big fires. So there started to be more and more agitation into the 1870s and 1880s to get a better water system."
Because Syracuse Water Works was reluctant to make those improvements, the city bought them out.
Skaneateles Lake was chosen as the new water source thanks to its clean quality. It's location was ideal, as it is higher than the city of Syracuse, making for easy, efficient flow.
But in order to transport that water, the Woodland Reservoir had to be constructed, along with a pipeline.
"The pipeline was quite a challenge in itself because even though Skaneateles is higher than the reservoir -- it's not straight even," said Connors. "There were gullies and valleys and they had to get the pipe up and over stuff."
The reservoir was constructed largely by Italian immigrants and African-Americans who moved to Syracuse from the south. They set up camps at the reservoir, and lived there until it was completed, with some staying in the city.
After about four years of work, the Woodland Reservoir opened in 1894.
"It certainly helped health," said Connors. "There are statistics that show the number of waterborne diseases dropped as soon as they opened the Woodland Reservoir because the city residents were now drinking cleaning water. Also of course, it helped in the growth of industries. Because different industries that needed access to good supplies of water now had access to a steady source of water. So the Woodland Reservoir was significant not only as an engineering accomplishment bringing water some 20 miles from the lake - but it really helped the economic growth of the community."
Now, with arguably one of the best views in the city, the Woodland Reservoir is a place where people come to enjoy the scenery, go for a run or walk, enjoy picnics and spend time with friends. Traditions that have been around for years.