Marcellus, like most communities, developed at at the crossroads of
two major transportation routes in Central New York State - Nine
Mile Creek and Seneca Turnpike.
While abundant water and good soil in the area were significant
attractions for settlers in the late 1790s, the water power
provided by Nine Mile Creek, an outlet of Otisco Lake, was equally
important, attracting a variety of individuals who build a
diversity of mills (grist, saw, barley and woolen) on its banks.The
products of these mills attracted even more individuals to the
valley to work in the mills themselves, as well as providing other
services for neighboring farmers.
Following an old Indian trail, a primitive road had been opened
across Onondaga County in the early 1790s and the first settlers
came to Marcellus either on foot or horseback, following that old
trail. Seneca Turnpike was an outgrowth of what came to be known as
the Great Indian Trail, that stretched across the state and became
a major highway for people moving from New England and the settled
east to what was then the western frontier. The settlement that
came to be the Village of Marcellus was located where this highway
of east-west travel intersected Nine Mile Creek.
During the first fifty years of its existence, the community
continued to attract people and industries at a steady pace. As
these numbers increased, more people tended to concentrate in the
valley that would become the Village, living closer and closer
together, in contrast to their rural neighbors. The inhabitants
soon began to realize the need for some sort of organization and it
was out of this urgency that the Village was incorporated in 1853.
During theyears up to 1953, the Village of Marcellus changed and
yet, it remained the same. In 1853, nestled at the bottom of a
valley and surrounded by limestone hills, the sleepy hamlet was a
trading center for local farmers and a crossroads for itinerant
travelers on their way west. By 1953, it was still a center of the
local farm trade, but also a home for hundreds who worked in the
manufacturing of agriculture-related products. Its economy had
changed, but not dramatically.
What had once been a small homogeneous village of about 350 people,
similar to each other in background and customs, had become a
diverse community of almost 1,400 residents from many different
lifestyles. The community was much larger, but the people were
still one, now out of many.
When it became a Village in 1853, a major concern for the elected
Trustees was the animals that roamed the dirt streets that often
turned to mud. By 1953, their main concern was the automobiles that
clogged the macadamized streets that needed constant repair.
Village government had become more complex, yet the problems
remained quite similar in nature.
In the years that followed incorporation, the residents found it
necessary to adapt to many changes in the Village. Many times this
took the form of a reworking, a revision, or a modification -
usually an improvement on what had been.
General
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