How a Stranger sees Pompey Hill
Thursday, October 31, 1895, The Fayetteville Recorder, Fayetteville, NY
“Leaving Jamesville and proceeding to Pompey Hill the traveler goes toward the clouds at a rate of about 200 feet per mile. Indeed, it is all the way up hill. He passes through a fair farming section, which grows better as he approaches Pompey Village. The farms around Pompey Village are well cultivated and fenced with neatly built stone walls. There is no spot in Onondaga county where the sun rises earlier or sets later than on Pompey Hill, and if our theologians have properly located Heaven, the denizens of Pompey Hill sleep several hundred feet nearer that desired haven every night than their more unfortunate brethren, living in altitudes nearer the sea level. Pompey Hill, although a summer resort of some note, ignores such modern conveniences as railroads, electric lights, telegraphs and sidewalks, and contents herself with a park and a telephone office. The stage arrives and departs regularly, bringing to this veritable summer paradise the news from the world below.
“Pompey Hill has three churches and three hotels. The Catholic church is in charge of Father Simmons. Rev. Brown preaches for the disciples, and Rev. Bell is pastor of the Presbyterian church.
“The churches are well attended and their pastors well paid. The leading hotel is in charge of W. A. Kinney, who also keeps a meat market. Mr. Kinney keeps a good country place and is a genial, companionable host, who looks carefully after the wants of his guests. His terms are moderate and within the reach of a purse of modest proportions. He has been here seven years. Daniel Ryan is proprietor of a saloon and hotel, and has been here eight years. C. A. Petra is proprietor of the “Hill Top house,” which is open only during summer for the accommodation of summer boarders.
“Jerry Conan came here from Lafayette four years ago and engaged in the dry goods and grocery trade. His is the only dry goods house in Pompey, and his trade is large and lucrative, as by fair dealing and small profits he hopes to increase his trade.
“J. V. Butts is found at the old stand where he has been seventeen years, selling groceries, boots, shoes, hardware and provisions.
“Jeremiah Whitmore is one of the oldest business men in town. His blacksmith shop in the Mecca where all pilgrims go who wish anything in the line of horse shoeing, or general repair work. He has stood the blasts of eighteen winters on the hill of Pompey.
“It seems strange that there should be any need for the services of an undertaker in Pompey, as the extreme healthfulness of the place banishes the thought of sickness, death, the grave and a judgment to come. But in spite of this fact Mr. E. L. Wheeler has lived here five years and pursued the honorable and necessary calling of an undertaker. His services are frequently in demand, and his reputation as an honorable and skillful undertaker and embalmer has passed beyond the confines of his own village.
“The Sketch would be more imperfect still, should be omit to mention the village postmaster, notary public and dealer in stationary, W. M. butler. He has one of the coziest offices to be found in Onondaga county, and he is giving the people of this place excellent service as a postmaster.”
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| The Village of Pompey today |
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1874 Map of the Village of Pompey. Living next to
the Presbyterian Church, on the west side of Lot 65 is J.
Carroll. Meanding through the lower portion of the village map
is a small stream labeled the “Headwaters of the Susquehana
River.” In Lot 9 is the source of this river – a small natural
spring. This mighty river begins in a village that was once a
very important village in Onondaga County. From Onondaga County 1874, New York. Published by Walker Bros. & Co. in 1874
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Copyright © 2006 - Michael F. McGraw
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