Manlius Village Historic District


The Manlius Village Historic District is a historic district on the east side of the village of Manlius, in the town of Manlius, New York, about 9.5 miles from the downtown of Syracuse.
The village was bypassed by later transportation—Genesee Street/Route 5 which took a flatter course to the north, the Erie Canal which generated growth of Syracuse, railroads, and the NYS Thruway in the 1950s—and "thus retains much of the flavor of the turnpike era to which this small Onondaga County village owes its existence."
The historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The district includes four churches and one commercial block building on the western edge of the district. "The district does not include the downtown commercial area of Manlius because a number of fires, remodellings, and demolitions have infringed on its visual continuity."
Most of the 50 contributing buildings in the district are single family homes. Most of the buildings are on Seneca Street, part of the old Seneca Turnpike, or one block north on Pleasant Street.
The district, which comprises a three-block area, includes several buildings dating from approximately 1813, when the village of Manlius was incorporated, as well as buildings constructed later in the 19th century and a few 20th-century buildings. It includes Greek Revival and Italianate architectural styles.
A first wave of construction in the village was around its incorporation in 1813. The Christ Episcopal Church, Smith Hall, and other buildings that still survive in the district were built during that time. Smith Hall, built during 1813-16, was expanded in 1824 to include a third floor meeting room for the Masons. The "lodge room still has murals depicting symbolic Masonic scenes; these are said to have been painted early in the nineteenth century by an itinerant painter by the name of Fish. The paintings were later covered by wallpaper and were rediscovered in 1902." The buildings at 105 North Street and 112 Franklin Street, both pictured, are residential examples of structures built during the first wave of construction, and are also two of the five buildings in the district to be adorned with pilasters.
Greek Revival was a predominant architectural style in a second wave of building in the 1830s. 311 Pleasant Street, pictured, is an example of this style in a residential structure. Later construction included the bandstand in Academy Park on Seneca Street in the 1880s and First Baptist Church on North Street in 1929, both pictured.
Beginning at the East side of the district on Seneca Street, the properties in the district are as follows:
Then, turning right on Franklin Street are:
Then, at Pleasant Street, beginning to the left and continuing to the right in an easterly direction are:
At Pleasant and North Street, turn right onto North Street:
First Baptist Church, neo-Federal style brick church, built in 1929, at the corner of Pleasant Street
Returning to Pleasant Street and continuing East are:
Turning right on Clinton Street is:
All photos in this article are from December, 2009, unless otherwise noted.