Monthly Archives: July 2011

Strategically situated on the Oswego River where it empties into Lake Ontario, the city of Oswego, New York was originally a small, frontier community that often was a battleground as the French and English forces fought to control the fur trade in colonial days. The port community provided the most economical route to and from New York City, connecting by water, the vast regions drained by the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. So important was it that even after the United States won its independence the British were slow to leave the area until 1796. Oswego was then able to proceed with its commercial development, though interrupted briefly by the War of 1812. The community’s economic growth boomed in the 1820s and 1830s. It was helped along by the building of a number of canals Continue reading →