So Much to see in New York’s Fair City

Don’t Accuse Syracuse of Being Dull

Whether you pronounce it Seer-accuse, Sarah-cuse, or Sir-Accuse, New York’s fourth largest city and home of the annual state fair is worth a visit. Many traces remain of the city’s extraordinary legacy as pre-Civil War America’s largest provider of salt (!), a commercial hub at the crossroads of the railroads and Erie Canal, an important depot on the Underground Railway. Pack up and spend a few days exploring the town. Here are some goals and distractions:

Downtown Syracuse is rich in monumental architecture

WALK THE CITY TOUR

The Downtown Committee’s easy to follow walking tour leads you past 71 historic sites and buildings. Happily Syracuse has preserved several monumental edifices from its Erie Canal boom years. The monumental Carnegie Library, the clock-crowned Gridley building, the Romanesque style Neal and Hyde Building, the Art Deco masterpiece National Grid building are not to be missed. Murals in the M&T Bank and the stately furnishings of the Bank of America are reminders of the days when monumental banks were built to impress their clients.

Quaint storefronts in Syracuse’s Armory Square

Art Deco masterpiece National Grid building
Classic Carnegie Library Building

GAWK AT A PUBLIC PALACE

Back before television, theaters were considered public palaces, and the Landmark in Syracuse took that theme to heart. The term “ornate” doesn’t begin to describe the flourishes and embellishments that make the structure itself almost overshadow the Broadway shows that come to play on its stage.

Extraordinary interior of the Landmark Theatre

Elaborate trims ornament the interior

ICE SKATE ON THE ERIE CANAL

Eventually the Erie Canal was diverted north, but the original waterway still ran through town. A section of it has been transformed into a skating rink — winter only, of course. But all through the year, visitors can learn about the canal-that-made-New-York-City-great in the Erie Canal Museum installed within a building where the boats once came through to be weighed and levied for taxes.

Erie Canal boat model displayed in the museum

HONOR OUR VETERANS

Within the noble architecture of the Onondaga County War Memorial, exhibits commemorate each of America’s wars and the names of all local veterans line the walls. During the season, the building’s area hosts home games of the Syracuse Crunch ice hockey team and soccer’s Syracuse Silver Knights.

Exhibits chronicle America’s wars

Walls are lined with veterans’ names

FIND THE MISSING BUILDING

From a certain angle, the back of the Jefferson Clinton Hotel appears to be missing. Stand near the corner of for a glimpse of what appears to be only a facade. Just steps away in the other direction, stop by the memorial to the original Shot Clock, invented here, which transformed the game of basketball.

Whoops — where’s the rest of it

A downtown shot clock honors the original

OBEY THE WORLD’S ONLY “IRISH” TRAFFIC LIGHT

Descendants of the Irish immigrants who helped build the Erie Canal still populate Tipperary Hill. When the first traffic light was installed with British “red” on top they soundly objected and demanded a change. Still hanging over Tomkins Street is the world’s only “green-on-top “go light.”

Irish residents demanded the green light should be on top

PRACTICE YOGA IN A MUSEUM

I.M. Pei’s first museum design, the Everson, is a work of art in itself. Besides admiring the exhibits, join the class practicing Yoga within one of the gallery rooms.

Everson Museum by I.M.Pei

Yoga classes are held in a museum gallery

CLIMB THE WALL

Even adults are welcome to try out the climbing wall at MOST, the Museum of Science and Technology which is housed in a former armory. Other exhibits — the Earth Science Discovery Cave, the Biomechanics of Nature’s Machines, Energy Powering Our Future — also appeal to adults as well as children.

Climbing the wall at MOST

Exhibits in the Earth Science Discovery Cave

SAVOR LOCAL FARE

Up on the wall is a certificate naming Dinosaur Bar-B-Que “Best Ribs in the World,” and they truly are overwhelming.

Renowned BBQ ribs

EXPERIENCE AN HISTORIC HOTEL

Local owners have spent $76 million rescuing the 1924-vintage Hotel Syracuse from decay and potential demolition and transforming it into the Marriott Syracuse Downtown. Check in at the registration desk under a mural of scenes from the city’s history, peek at the “Four Seasons” ceiling painting in the Persian Room, take the elevator up to the 10th floor to see the magnificent chandeliers, columns, arched windows, and sky scene ceiling in the fully restored Grand Ballroom. Faucets on the wall of the ground floor bar are reminders that the room was formerly the hotel’s barber shop. Renowned local firm Stickley & Audi created custom furnishings found throughout.