Central Square's beginnings.......

In 1815 Chester Loomis built the Pudding and Milk Tavern as a stagecoach stop where the old Salt Road (now U.S. Route 11) crossed the Constantia and Fulton Road (now New York State Route 49). The resulting settlement became known as Loomis Corners. Hastings Curtis built a small store in 1820, and soon more homes and businesses developed around a square in the center. The settlement name changed to Center Square, and finally, with the first Post Office in 1822, to Central Square.

Robert Elliot, often called the founder of Central Square, built a wagon shop in 1825. He also developed a cabinetmaking business, a sawmill, and a tannery at the foot of Tannery Hill (now County Route 12 or Mallory Road ). Most of the land in the village was owned by Robert Roosevelt, who lived across from the square in a house ringed with a white picket fence (more recently the house was known as the Birell House)The house was built in 1834 and was known as the oldest house in Central Square until it was torn down in the 1980s to create a parking lot for what is now Fleet Bank.

Over the years sawmills, hotels, harness shops, dry goods stores, feed stores, blacksmith shops and other small businesses appeared. The first school was organized in 1824.

Between 1844 and 1846 the Central and Salina Plank Road ( U.S.Route 11) was built. It was the first plank road anywhere in the United States.

Farms in the surrounding area produced wheat, potatoes, corn, hops, and some tobacco. Dairying became a large industry, and as a result, a cheese factory was started on Factory Street, now called Pleasant Avenue.

In 1869 the railroad came through the town, intersecting at the southern edge of the village. The New York Central ran north/south, and the Ontario and Western ran east/west, turning Central Square into a hub of activity. (The Ontario and Western was taken out of service in 1954, but the rail bed still exists and is used as a recreation trail across the state. The north/south route/currently owned by Conrail, is still in daily use.)

In 1944 the communities of Cleveland, Bernhards Bay, Constantia, West Monroe, Hastings, Brewerton, Caughdenoy and Central Square combined to form the Central Square School District.In 1954 P.V. Moore School was built in Central Square to serve those areas. Later, in the 1960s Millard Hawk School and Central Square Intermediate School were added.

The Village of Central Square was incorporated in 1890. In 1927, the entire village business district was nearly wiped out by a devastating fire, but most of the buildings were rebuilt within a few years.The water tower was built in 1929 and residents no longer had to carry drinking water from a well or use water from cisterns for wash water and cleaning.

In 1963 Interstate 81 was completed with off/on ramps just to the east of the village (on County Route 49).

A sewer plant was constructed and put into service in 1964, and all village homes converted from septic tanks to the new village sewer system. This convenience opened the door for several land annexations to the village, clearing the way for the creation of several major subdivisions and doubling the size of the village from 640 to 1290 acres. In November of 1996 the sewer plant was expanded to accommodate increased and projected growth.

In 1998 the waterlines in the village were replaced, and the village water system was taken over by the Onadaga County Water Authority (OCWA).

If you would like to contribute financially to this project it  can be done through a paypal account or money order.  Email dstevens@incpark.com for more info.  Financial Contributions will be used to purchase historical items, make copies of information etc.

"It is the duty of the present to convey the voices of the past to the ears of the future." -- a Norwegian saying