The Original Salina Free Library

This is the only picture found so far, that shows the building that housed the original Salina Free Library. The quality and the resolution of the picture is not very good but the word Library can be made out on a sign in the lower left hand corner of the picture. It was a gas station that was rented for $7 per month, starting in October 1941. The abandoned gas station was located on the southeast corner of LeMoyne Street and Boulevard St. It is now the location of Dr. Leo Baum's former office and home, that was moved there from its previous location on the southeast corner of Brewerton and Matty Ave., sometime after 1969. The picture itself has a bit of a history. I originally found it on the Internet back in 1997, as part of a Mattydale history project by some students at Roxboro Elementary School. I printed out a copy of the page containing this picture and saved it in a folder. Of course, nowadays it's common knowledge that printouts aren't necessary, the Internet isn't a fad and it's not going away anytime soon. Anytime you want it - "just Google it," said the youngster who wasn't even born in 1997. Well, my young friend, Google came up dry, the site is gone and even the Way Back Machine could only retrieve the page, without the picture. The manila folder backup system saved the day, and now for better or worse, the old Salina Free Library picture rides the Internet once more.

This is a 1951 aerial photo of Mattydale. Entering diagonally from the lower left hand corner of the photo is Brewerton Road. LeMoyne Ave. is the wide road running vertically through the middle of the picture. Running parallel and adjacent to LeMoyne Ave. is LeMoyne Street, This was the original LeMoyne Ave. and was also the State Road, known as the Salt Road; it the oldest road in the area. At the tip of the triangle former between Brewerton Road and LeMoyne Ave., is the Mattydale Shopping Center, that was built in 1949. Running east and west, along the southern boundary of the Shopping Center in Boulevard Drive. At the southeast corner of the intersection of LeMoyne Street and Boulevard Drive is the gas station that housed the original Salina Free Library.

Notes on the “History of the Mattydale Free Library”

Revised: March 7, 2015

This document details the early years of the movement in Mattydale to establish a community library. The author of the document was listed as Mr. Fred Bauer who was one of the five original trustees, elected when the Library Association was formed on September 23, 1941. He was also elected as the Chairman of the Board of the Association and his wife as the secretary. It is suspected that his name appeared on the paper because of his position as chairman. Mrs. Bauer, who had been a member of the original Library Committee since its formation in 1940, was probably the actual author of the document.

Paul Bauer, Fred’s son, found this document in 2005 when they were emptying out the family home at 330 Kirsch Drive, getting it ready to sell. He donated the document to the Salina Free Library. He sent me a copy of the document in March 2015.

There is no date on the document, but there is a statement in the text of the document that helps determine its earliest possible date. In describing the donation of a lot, by Mr. & Mrs. John Kirsch, the document contained the following: “This lot, at 105 West Molloy Road, Mattydale, is the location of our present library.” The library building wasn’t acquired and reassembled on the West Molloy lot until 1947. This would indicate that the history document was written after 1947.

The history ends, at the bottom of the third page, by summarizing the state of affairs of the library at the end of December 1942. If the document was written post 1947, which appears to be the case, then it would seem that some pages might be missing. Or perhaps, since this was labeled a “History” and not a “Report,” it was written to document the library movement only through its first full year of operation.

The History of the Mattydale Free Library - Fred Bauer

NOTES:

[1942-06-19] - Salina Free Library acts as a station for sugar rationing cards. The Syracuse Journal, Syracuse, NY, Friday, June 19, 1942.

[1946-02-06] - "Benefit Party Will Aid New Library Fund," The Post Standard, Syracuse, NY, Wednesday, February 6, 1946.