The Amidon Family

The Amidon Family

The Fictional Home of Charlie Amidon

This is the house were the fictional Charlie Amidon lived from late 1906 until early 1925. None of the real Amidon family ever lived here. This site was selected for its story telling convenience due to its closeness to the Salina School, where the real Marguerite Fuller had attended school and its closeness to the 1600 block of North Salina St., where the real Henry King ran a Barber Shop.

Old Salina School

This is a picture of the old Salina School as it appears today. It is no longer used as a school and has been made over into senior housing and renamed the Salina School Apartments. This was the school Charlie Amidon attended briefly before attending high school in the city.

Charlie Amidon's High School

This 1924 map shows the new city high school. Construction began in early January 1901. The students from the old high school moved to the new school on February 12, 1903. Kathie Molloy was a second semester sophomore at the time of the move. Clyde Fuller started high school here in September 1907, but he only lasted one year. Clyde was gone when Charlie Amidon started high school in September 1908; he graduated in June 1913.

This 1924 map shows a section of the city bordered on the west by Onondaga Creek and on the north by West Genesee Street. The "Continuation School" was the high school attended by the area students prior to February 1903. This was the horrible school that he referred to in the story, that was located near the polluted creek that was functioning as the sewer for the city and the gas works that were right behind the school.

Charlie Amidon's Neighborhood

On this 1924 map it can be seen why Charlie Amidon was so upset when he found out where Elwood Davis (The Weasel) was living. It was literally right around the corner from where he had been living from the Fall of 1906 until  early 1925. Amidon was living at what was then 503 Center St. (now LeMoyne Ave.) and Davis was living at 415 Bear St. The Salina Public School across the street from his house is where Charlie went to school until he went to high school in the city of Syracuse. In the lower left hand corner of the map is a portion of Washington Square, which had been the center of the old Village of Salina.

Later Residences of the real Amidon Family

On this 1924 map East Washington Street runs across the top portion and E. Fayette St. runs along the bottom. On the left is Walnut and on the right is Pond St. The real Amidon family had moved to 203 Pond St. by December 1906. Later they lived at 1212 E. Washington Street. As an ironic coincidence, Theodore Faatz and his brother Jay had operated a saloon at 201 Walnut, around the turn of the century.

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