Timeline
Clay, New York Through Time
Key dates and events in the history of Clay, Onondaga County, New York.
c. 1142
The Great Peacemaker, Hiawatha, and Jigonhsasee establish the Great Law of Peace, uniting the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca nations. A solar eclipse during Seneca deliberations is dated to approximately 1142 AD.
Source: Wikipedia, Onondaga people; oral tradition eclipse dating
1654
French Jesuit missionaries discover salt springs around Onondaga Lake, beginning European awareness of the resource that would define the region's economy for two centuries.
Source: Wikipedia, Onondaga Lake
1696
French Count Frontenac leads a military expedition through the Three Rivers confluence into Onondaga territory, demonstrating the strategic importance of Clay's waterways.
Source: Dorothy Heller, Three Rivers Point, Town of Clay website
1722
The Tuscarora Nation, displaced from North Carolina, joins the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, expanding the Five Nations to Six Nations.
Source: Wikipedia, Haudenosaunee
1758-08
Colonel John Bradstreet marches 3,600 men through Clay's territory, camping near present-day Caughdenoy on August 18, before proceeding to destroy Fort Frontenac in Kingston, Ontario.
Source: Dorothy Heller, French and Indian War, Town of Clay website
1759-06-23
General John Prideaux assembles 6,000 men at the three rivers confluence on June 23 before proceeding to besiege Fort Niagara. A fortified supply depot with three storehouses is built at the site.
Source: Dorothy Heller, French and Indian War and Three Rivers Point
1760-07
General Jeffrey Amherst assembles 10,000 soldiers, militia, and Native Americans at Oswego, launching his decisive expedition to Montreal that ends France's North American empire.
Source: Dorothy Heller, French and Indian War, Town of Clay website
1779
George Washington orders the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign, a scorched-earth expedition that destroys at least forty Haudenosaunee towns, burns stored crops, and displaces thousands of Indigenous people.
Source: Wikipedia, Haudenosaunee and Onondaga people
1780
Irish-born Patrick McGee, a prisoner of the British being marched to Fort Oswego, camps at Three Rivers Point and selects the site for his future home -- reportedly while tied to a tree.
Source: Clayton, History of Onondaga County (1878), p. 332
1790-07-03
Revolutionary War veterans draw lot numbers from a ballot box, distributing nearly two million acres of former Haudenosaunee territory across 25 townships including Cicero, which contains future Clay.
Source: CNY History, Revolutionary War Veterans (2016)
c. 1793
McGee builds a log cabin at the confluence where he was once held prisoner, becoming one of the earliest white settlers in the territory. He lives there until his death and is buried on the spot.
Source: Clark Vol. 2 (1849), p. 190; Clayton (1878), p. 332
1798
Adam Coon becomes the second recorded settler in what will become Clay, establishing himself in the northeast corner of the town. Simeon Baker follows on the Seneca River in 1799.
Source: Clark Vol. 2 (1849), p. 190; Clayton (1878), p. 332
c. 1808
A log schoolhouse -- the first in the territory -- is erected at Clay Corners (later Euclid). A teacher named Hall conducts the first classes. Moses Kinne teaches at a second school near the river.
Source: Clark Vol. 2 (1849), p. 192; Clayton (1878), p. 333
1812
A wave of Palatine German settlers -- the Youngs, Wellers, Moggs, Beckers, VerPlanks, and others -- arrive and establish the hamlets of Youngs and Dutch Settlement, bringing farming traditions from the Schoharie Valley.
Source: Dorothy Heller, Clay History from the Beginning
1825
The Erie Canal is completed, connecting the Great Lakes to the Hudson River. Combined with the Oswego Canal (1828), it transforms Clay's economy by providing water routes for salt barrel transport and agricultural products.
Source: Wikipedia, Erie Canal; Bruce (1896), p. 830
c. 1826
An English Evangelical Lutheran society forms near Clay Station, organized by pioneers Jacob I. Young, Jacob Ottman, Richard Hiller, John Ainslie, and others. It becomes the oldest congregation in Clay.
Source: Bruce (1896), p. 830; Heller, Clay History from the Beginning
1827-04-16
The New York State Legislature separates the Town of Clay from Cicero. Named for Henry Clay (the statesman), the town contains fewer than 700 inhabitants. Andrew Johnson is elected first supervisor; Jacob Terrill, first town clerk.
Source: Clark Vol. 2 (1849), p. 192; Bruce (1896), p. 829
1828
The Oswego Canal opens, utilizing the Seneca River along Clay's western boundary. Belgium grows rapidly as a canal trading center with stores, hotels, and blacksmith shops.
Source: Bruce (1896), pp. 830-831
c. 1842
The Erie Canal extension incorporates the Oneida River, giving Clay 26 miles of waterfront for steamboat and barge shipping, but disrupting the seasonal eel migration at Caughdenoy.
Source: Heller, Rites of Spring; Heller, Clay History from the Beginning
c. 1848
Belgium has 160 inhabitants, 28 dwellings, 3 dry goods stores, 4 groceries, 2 hotels, and the 'Oriental Balm Pill' manufactory employing 30-50 workers. The hamlet rivals Baldwinsville in commercial activity.
Source: Bruce (1896), p. 833; Beauchamp (1908) via NYGenWeb
1861-1865
Clay contributes its full quota of men to the Union army. Civil War veterans are later buried at Pine Plains Cemetery and Morgan Cemetery.
Source: Bruce (1896), p. 835; Heller, Clay History from the Beginning
1871-11-09
The Syracuse Northern Railroad formally opens from Syracuse to Sandy Creek, with a Phoenix branch crossing the Oneida River at Three Rivers Point. Clay Station (Cigarville) and Woodard settlements emerge along the lines.
Source: Bruce (1896), pp. 834-835
1889
Fred Barnum creates Barnum's Hotel at Three Rivers Point, featuring shore dinners. The steamer 'Bessie Lang' carries tourists from Phoenix for ten cents round-trip.
Source: Dorothy Heller, Three Rivers Point, Town of Clay website
1892
The town's population stands at 2,498 -- down from its mid-century peak -- as agricultural consolidation reduces the number of small farms. Pioneer industries like lumbering and salt barrel manufacturing have largely disappeared.
Source: Bruce (1896), p. 835
1950
Clay's population stands at 7,001. In the next two decades, postwar suburbanization will more than quintuple it to 36,274 (1970), as highways and affordable land draw families north from Syracuse.
Source: Wikipedia, Clay, New York -- population history
1956
Dom Bruno transforms the Three Rivers property into the Three Rivers Inn entertainment venue. His first headliner is Mae West. The venue later hosts Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin, Jimmy Durante, and Sammy Davis Jr.
Source: Dorothy Heller, Three Rivers Point, Town of Clay website
1988
The 895,000-square-foot Great Northern Mall opens on Route 31, anchored by Sears, Macy's, and other retailers. It becomes the defining commercial landmark of suburban Clay for a generation.
Source: Wikipedia, Great Northern Mall (New York)
2022-10
Micron Technology pledges up to $100 billion over 20+ years for a semiconductor manufacturing complex at White Pine Commerce Park -- the largest private investment in New York State history, with 9,000 manufacturing jobs and 2.4 million sq ft of cleanroom space.
Source: NIST CHIPS; multiple news sources
2022-11-20
The Great Northern Mall closes after 34 years. The Hart Lyman Company announces plans to transform the 895,000 sq ft site into a lifestyle center with apartments, shops, and restaurants.
Source: Wikipedia, Great Northern Mall (New York)
2026-01
Micron Technology breaks ground on its semiconductor megafab at White Pine Commerce Park, beginning construction of the facility that will produce leading-edge DRAM chips for AI, automotive, and computing applications.
Source: NIST CHIPS; news sources