Many thanks and appreciation to Rose Hanington for her time and efforts in transcribing the Organization's history of the City of Oswego, NY.

The Richardson Residence

 One of the safeguards of the city is its model Fire Department, well equipped with modern apparatus. The Department is on a permanent and call basis and comprises four companies. Oswego is justly proud of its paid Fire Department, and due to it, this city is one of the few cities, which the Board of Underwriters give an exceptionally low rating. The present Department was organized June 6, 1876, when the old Volunteer Department passed into history. The head of the Department, Chief Robert G. Blackburn, is a born fireman and has been a member of the paid Department since its organization. He rose from the ranks to the position he now occupies, and many of the recent improvements in the Department are to his credit. The Oswego Fire Department, under its present management, is one of which the city can well afford to boast.

 The city is well-policed, the Department being on a permanent basis and under Civil Service. The force comprises fourteen members and its personnel is credible. James, Doyle, the present Chief of Police, was appointed April 10, 1886, and is an efficient officer. William Richardson, who is Police Captain, has been in the service since 1887. No department of the city government is better conducted than the Police Department and its affairs are in expert hands. The cost of maintenance in 1905 was $20,000.

 The first Court House of Oswego was commenced in 1818, but was not completed until 1822, although it was a simple wooden structure. The basement of the building served as a jail also for many years. In 1858 the Board of Supervisors appropriated $30,000 for a new Court House. This structure, one of the most imposing in the city, is beautifully located in the East Park, surrounded by neatly kept and terraced lawns. It is build of Onondaga limestone, the main part being 50 by 66 feet in size. In 1891, extensive alterations were made in the building by order of the Supreme Court. The interior was remodeled and the whole Court House refurbished at a cost of $10,000, making it, as it now stands, one of the best appointed Court Houses in this section of the State.

 For research, reference, and general information, Oswego furnishes more than 15,000 volumes. The City Library was founded in 1853 by Gerrit Smith, of Peterboro, N.Y., who gave in cash $30,000 for its erection and maintenance. The present edifice was erected in 1855 and $17,000 was expended in its construction. The same year the Legislature granted the Library a charter. It has an annual income of $500 from Gerrit Smith's bequest, which sum is used to purchase new books year by year. The Public School Library contains 6,749 volumes and nearly 9,000 volumes were circulated in 1905. The Librarian in charge is Robert Seeley Kelsey.

 For complete equipment with modern appliances, making possible the most systematic methods in caring for the various records of the county, the County Clerk's Office is a model of perfection. The building was completed in 1895 at a cost of $65,000 and is the pride of the city and the county. There is no finer similar building in any county in the State. In this building are quartered the County Clerk, County Treasurer, Justice of the Supreme Court, District Attorney, County Judge, Surrogate and the Board of Supervisors. William E. Lewis fills the office of County Clerk and Edgar E. Frost is Deputy.

 The care of the sick and unfortunate has been given special attention by the public-spirited and benevolent citizens of Oswego. The City Hospital, first in importance of all charitable institutions in this city, has performed its good work through the generosity of the charitable public. All persons, regardless of sex, age, color or religious belief, are freely admitted, subject to the rules. By far the largest number of persons treated since the opening of the Hospital in 1884 have been beneficiary cases. The trustees have recently purchased the Hunt property at the corner of West Sixth and Bridge Streets and a modern new hospital has already been planned.

 Other worthy institutions are: St. Francis' Home and Orphanage, conducted by the Sisters of St. Francis; the Oswego Asylum, and the Home for the Homeless, a home for indigent and aged women.

The Sloan Residence

The Tonkin Residence

(pages 75-83)

Source:  Oswego Yesterday & Today, A Souvenir of the Celebration of Old Home Week and of the Garrisoning of Fort Ontario, published under the auspices of The Chamber of Commerce, Oswego, NY, 1906.