Mexico (village), New York

Mexico, New York
—  Village  —
Mexico, New York Location within the state of New York
Coordinates: 43°27′51″N 76°14′5″W / 43.46417°N 76.23472°W / 43.46417; -76.23472Coordinates: 43°27′51″N 76°14′5″W / 43.46417°N 76.23472°W / 43.46417; -76.23472
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Oswego
Area
- Total	2.1 sq mi (5.5 km2)
- Land	2.1 sq mi (5.5 km2)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	410 ft (125 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	1,572
- Density	735.1/sq mi (283.8/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	13114
Area code(s)	315
FIPS code	36-46811
GNIS feature ID	0957047

Mexico is a village in Oswego County, New York, USA. The population was 1,572 at the 2000 census.

The Village of Mexico is located in the Town of Mexico at New York State Routes 3, 69, and 104.

Mexico is called "Mother of Towns". Taking into consideration the territories of 1792 and 1796 towns were formed in six counties;

Onondaga County	19 towns
Cortland County	15 towns
Oneida County	7 towns
Lewis County	11 towns
Jefferson County	10 towns
Oswego County	22 towns

Thus 84 daughters can claim Mexico as their mother.

History

Mexico, with all the surrounding towns, was originally created from Whitestown, Herkimer County, on April 10, 1792 by the State Land Commissioner. The original organization of Mexico was abandoned for a time. In December of 1794, George Frederick William Augustus Scriba purchsed and patented a large tract of land; subsequently becoming a second Mexico (hence the Village of Mexico, and the Town of Mexico. George Scriba also later opened roads traveling from what is now Mexico Point to present-day Constantia, as well as a highway to present-day Oswego.

Settlers grew quickly in both the Town and Village of Mexico. Thus, the presence of roads, log cabins, frame houses, and businesses. Mexico's early businesses included saw mills, oil-mills, gristmills, asheries, tanneries, blacksmiths, timsmiths, coopers, cheese plants, cloth-dressings, distilleries, shoe-shops, hotels, general merchandise, and jewelers. Lewis Miller invented the spring wagon and the high quality of these wagons made them famous all over the county. Lulu Brown began making pans of baked beans to sell in grocery stores in 1937. They sold so well that her husband Earl and her son Robert E. Brown decided to sell them in Oswego. The business grew and relocated to the second story of the building at the south east corner of South Jefferson and Main Streets. Earl Brown died in 1938 and shortly after Richard G. Whitney joined the firm, forming Brown-Whitney-Brown (BWB). The business has since evloved into the world-famous Grandma Brown's Baked Beans.

With growth disease was prevalent. Between 1812 and 1820 a cholera-like disease spread throughout the region, a fatal form of dysentery, as well as ague and bilious fevers. More than one-half of the settlers lost their lives to these scourges during the first 20 years of the settlement.

In 1813 a system of public schools was established with 14 districts. The number increased to 19 by 1895 as new settlements developed. In 1822 a two story brick school housing grades on the first floor and high school on the second. This was called "The Academy" and was admitted to the state system by the regents in 1833. Mexico was the first school of secondary education to be founded in what is now Oswego County. Mexico was the first school to centralize in Oswego county. This occurred in 1936 when 31 districts in the towns of Mexico, Palermo and New Haven closed to make Mexico Academy and Central School. An elementary school continued in New Haven and Palermo while the rest of the students were bussed to Mexico.

Mexico also played its part in the abolition of slavery. As early as 1835 citizens signed petitions which were sent to Washington requesting the abolishment of slavery. Asa Wing was a prominent speaker who traveled across the state urging voters to pressure their representatives to pass new laws prohibiting ownership of slaves. Starr Clark was leader in the Underground Railroad and was the station master of the area.

The historic core of the village was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 as the Mexico Village Historic District.^[1]

Geography

Mexico is located at 43°27′51″N 76°14′4″W / 43.46417°N 76.23444°W / 43.46417; -76.23444 (43.464173, -76.234643)^[2].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 2.1 square miles (5.5 km²).None of the area is covered with water.

Demographics

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 

External links

• Town of Mexico, Oswego County, NY
• Early history of Mexico village and area