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city in and county seat of Oswego County, New York, United States
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Oswego ( oss-WEE-goh, Onondaga: Deyoʼswé·geʼ ) is a city in and the county seat of Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 16,921 at the 2020 census. Oswego is situated at the mouth of the Oswego River on the southeastern shore of Lake Ontario in Upstate New York, about 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Syracuse and 74 miles (119 km) east-northeast of Rochester by road. The city promotes itself as "The Port City of Central New York".
The first European settlement at Oswego was a British trading post established in 1722, and it was first incorporated as a village in 1828 before becoming a city in 1848. British forces briefly captured the city during the War of 1812, but were defeated nearby later that same month. The canalization of the Oswego River was a major boon to Oswego, attracting settlement and investment; this was later bolstered by its status as a rail hub for much of the 19th and 20th centuries, though this status had begun to decline by the 1940s. During World War II, Fort Ontario was the site of the only Jewish refugee camp in the United States. Today, the city's economy is primarily based around manufacturing and services.
Oswego is governed by a mayor, currently Republican Rob Corradino, and a city council. The city is located within the Syracuse metropolitan area, and is also inside Syracuse's broader media market. It is bordered by the towns of Oswego, Minetto, and Scriba to the west, south, and east, respectively; and by Lake Ontario to the north. Oswego Speedway is a nationally known automobile racing facility. The State University of New York at Oswego (SUNY Oswego) is located just outside the city in the town of Oswego, on the shores of Lake Ontario, and is a major force in the area.
The British established a trading post in the area in 1722 and fortified it with a log palisade later called Fort Oswego, named after the native Iroquois place name "os-we-go" meaning "pouring out place" (Onondaga: Deyoʼswé·geʼ ). The first fortification on the site of the current Fort Ontario was built by the British in 1755 and called the "Fort of the Six Nations".
Fort Ontario was destroyed by the French upon capturing it in the Battle of Fort Ontario, during the French and Indian War. Construction of a second British fort began on the same site in 1759, but Fort Ontario was only used as a cannon emplacement. During the American Revolution, the British abandoned the Fort, and in 1778, American troops destroyed it. In 1782, the British reoccupied Fort Ontario, and didn't forfeit it to the U.S. until 1796, thirteen years after the cessation of hostilities in the Revolution.
During the War of 1812, a weaker American garrison at Fort Ontario was overwhelmed by superior British forces in order to stem the flow of supplies from the interior of New York state, but were later defeated near Oswego later that month. Throughout the 19th Century, the U.S. military maintained a presence at Fort Ontario.
Oswego was incorporated as a village on March 14, 1828, and the Oswego Canal, a branch of the Erie Canal, reached the area in 1829. The city was incorporated in 1848. When the city incorporated, its area and population were removed from the figures reported for the towns.
In the 1850s, at the height of a popular water-cure movement occurring in the United States, in turn stimulating growth, Oswego was the home of the Oswego Water Cure establishment, which Stonewall Jackson reportedly visited in August 1850.
Oswego is home to the Port of Oswego and once was a hub for several major railroads: the New York Central Railroad (NYC), the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) and the New York, Ontario and Western Railway (O&W). Railways operated a coal trestle for fueling steamships at the Port of Oswego. Into the mid-1940s, the DL&W had daily passenger service from Hoboken, through Binghamton, to Syracuse ending in Oswego. The New York Central last had passenger service between Oswego, Fulton and Syracuse in 1951. Former NYC and DL&W passenger stations remain, as does a NYC freight station. Nothing remains of the O&W, which was abandoned in its entirety on March 30, 1957. The tunnel from the former O&W is used as a rail trail.
Fort Ontario was built between 1839 and 1844. Major masonry improvements to the forts outer wall were undertaken, but left incomplete when Congress canceled its funding in 1872. By 1901, the old fort was abandoned.
The 2nd Brigade of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division called Fort Ontario home until the brigade was deactivated on June 1, 1940. During World War II it was used for interning Jewish refugees from Europe (see section below).
In 1946, the fort was transferred to the state of New York. At that time, it was used to house veterans and their families during the post-war period. Development of the fort as a historic site began in 1949, which included the "Safe Haven Museum".
Today, Fort Ontario is being restored to its 1867–1872 appearance. Costumed interpreters recreate the lives of the officers, men, and civilians who garrisoned the fort in 1868–1869.
In 1944 amidst World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established a camp at the fort for survivors of the Holocaust.
The fort was used as Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter also known as "Safe Haven", home to approximately 982 Jewish refugees, survivors of the Nazi Holocaust, from August 1944 to February 1946. This was the only attempt by the United States government to shelter Jewish refugees during the war.
Approximately 1,000 refugees were transferred to the fort from the Ferramonti di Tarsia, a concentration camp in Cosenza, Calabria, Italy. The refugees came from 18 different European countries.
The refugees were placed behind barbed wire, and given no official status, having been required to sign papers accepting their eventual return to their home countries in Europe at the end of the war. Due to political pressure, President Harry S. Truman allowed them to apply for citizenship.
The camp comprised 200 buildings of converted army barracks. The site is now the Safe Haven Museum.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.2 square miles (29 km2), of which 7.7 square miles (20 km2) is land and 3.6 square miles (9.3 km2) (31.76%) is water.
Oswego is located on the southeastern shore of Lake Ontario at the mouth of the Oswego River, approximately 35 miles north of Syracuse and 69 miles east of Rochester. The elevation is 298 feet above sea level. The nearest city is Fulton, located south of Oswego and north of Syracuse.
As Oswego is located on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario, in the center of the Snowbelt, the region often sees prodigious lake effect snow accumulations. Oswego is one of the snowiest towns in America, with some winters totaling over 300 inches. In 2007, Oswego gained national attention when approximately 130″ (slightly less than 11 feet) of snow fell in a two-week timespan. This broke the record of the Blizzard of 1966, which blanketed the city with 102″ of snow. As a result of this storm, the school district closed all facilities for a week, effectively shifting the planned winter holiday.
Oswego has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) bordering on a hot-summer climate (Köppen Dfa) characterized by cold, snowy winters and warm, often humid summers, typical of the Interior Northeast; it experiences four distinct seasons, and is located in USDA hardiness zone 6a (average extreme annual minimum temperature of −10 to −5 °F (−23 to −21 °C). The city is known for typically experiencing exceptionally snowy winters, with an average seasonal snowfall of 140.1 inches (356 cm); this is owed primarily to its prolific lake-effect snowfall. Lake-effect precipitation, which begins as rain when the season kicks off in September or October, also contributes to Oswego's autumn precipitation maximum, unusual in this part of North America and typically experienced on the west coast of continents. Occasionally, nor'easters also contribute to the city's snowfall, as do Alberta clipper systems.
Lake Ontario also provides significant temperature moderation, allowing for slightly warmer winters and cooler summers than locations a few miles inland; during the transitional seasons, these differences can occasionally be dramatic. As a consequence of this moderation, 90 °F (32 °C) days are quite rare in Oswego, and the city has never recorded a temperature reaching 100 °F (38 °C). The lake's cooler temperatures also inhibit thunderstorm development into midsummer, though storm activity increases into August and even through early fall as the lake warms, as do precipitation and relative humidity. During the fall, lake moderation often extends the growing season by days or sometimes even weeks compared to more starkly continental inland locales.
NY 481 (from I-81) runs north–south to Oswego from Syracuse and Fulton. NY 104 runs east/west from Rochester to Oswego.
Central New York Regional Transportation Authority provides service within Oswego and connections to Fulton and Syracuse. Oswego County Public Transit provides service between Oswego and smaller communities in Oswego County.
As of the 2020 census, Oswego had a population of 16,921. The median age was 37.7 years. 20.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 18.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 92.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.6 males age 18 and over.
99.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.9% lived in rural areas.
There were 7,206 households in Oswego, of which 24.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 32.6% were married-couple households, 23.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 33.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 37.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 8,324 housing units, of which 13.4% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 11.9%.
As of the census of 2010, there were 18,142 people, 7,486 households, and 3,896 families residing in the 8,258 housing units in the city. The population density was 2,343.4 inhabitants per square mile (904.8/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 94.1% White, 2.3% African American, 0.1% Native American, 1.5% Asian, .6% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.1% of the population.
The median income for a household in the city was $39,867, and the median income for a family was $57,324. Males employed full-time, year-round, had a median income of $50,074 versus $33,211 for similarly situated females. The per capita income for the city was $21,139. 24.2% of the population and 14.4% of families were below the poverty line.
The city is governed by a mayor, currently Republican Rob Corradino, and a board of seven aldermen who are elected from the city's seven wards. Recent previous mayors include Republican Billy Barlow, Democrats Tom Gillen and Randy Bateman, and Republican John Gosek.
In September 2005, Oswego Mayor John Gosek was arrested by the FBI and state police in a sting operation outside of a motel near Syracuse after allegedly giving a woman $250 to arrange a sexual encounter with two 14-year-old girls. The arrest came after a three-year investigation that led to charges of the mayor using his city-issued cell phone to "persuade, induce, entice and coerce an individual under the age of 18 years to engage in sexual activity". The charge alleged that Gosek used his phone as interstate commerce for the purposes of illegal sex and falls under a federal law that is commonly known as the Mann Act. Gosek's term wasn't due to expire until 2007, but he resigned from office five days after his arrest.
In March 2024, the City of Oswego, prior mayoral administration and recent mayoral administration Rob Corradino and Common council members, voted and overrode the assessment process, raising the City of Oswego residential property assessments to address a budget shortfall. Properties owners expressed frustration at a council meeting, with some noting that their taxes had doubled or nearly tripled.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Oswego, New York”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.