Hamilton White House

Infobox_nrhp | name =Hamilton White House
nrhp_type =


caption =
location= 307 S. Townsend St., Syracuse, New York
lat_degrees = 43
lat_minutes = 2
lat_seconds = 52.9
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 76
long_minutes = 8
long_seconds = 43.88
long_direction = W
locmapin = New York
area =
built =1845
architect= Unknown
architecture= Greek Revival
added = July 20, 1973
governing_body = Private
refnum=73001238cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The Hamilton White House is a historic home in Syracuse, New York.

References

The house, Greek Revival in design, was build by and for Hamilton White, Esq circa 1840/42, and occupied by him in 1843. Many believe the unknown architect and builder was the same person who built the Moses Burnett House in 1842, later to become the Syracuse Century Club building, due to similarities in structure and style.

Mr White, b. 1807, lived at the White House until his death in 1865; his family remained until 1911/12. The house is the last of a number of national historic landmark residential structures, in original construction and exterior, remaining in the immediate downtown city vicinity, along the city's Fayette (later, Fireman's) Park. In 1976 it was purchased by an investment group and converted into business offices.

The White family was prominent in central New York. Hamilton White was the third son of John (also referred to as Asa) White, a farmer and gristmill owner in Homer, NY. White became a lawyer, farmer, investor and businessman, moved to Syracuse after a legal apprenticeship in Buffalo, with his wife Sarah Randolf Rich. Together, they raised five children. White founded the Syracuse Bank, the Syracuse Course Salt Company (Syracuse was a principal supplier of salt in America), and was trustee for and investor in both the Erie Canal and the New York Central Railroad, as well as numerous commercial businesses, some of which he founded.

He was a leading philanthropist supporting community, religious and civic organizations. Today, Syracuse's local United Way leadership campaign, the Hamilton White Society, is named for the family's philanthropy and community development support. Developed in 1988, HWS is the UW model for leadership in small and medium-sized communities.

Most prominent of the five children, Hamilton Salisbury White (1853-1899), was also a lawyer, real estate owner, investor, businessman, volunteer fireman and city fire commissioner. He is best remembered for founding his own professionally-paid fire company and subsequently recognized as the first 'professional' fireman in the world. Among his many contributions to safety and equipment design, White is also acknowledged for first initiating the concept of "response time" into firefighting and life-saving safety.

As a child, as early as age four, White boarded his pony cart in the family stables (located behind the house), rushing out to watch the volunteer fireman of the city; he was much taken by their efforts and those efforts shaped his future life.

[Syracuse in the 1850s was the twelfth largest community in the US, originally grew from its salt industry, and later grew from its location on the Erie Canal, and one of the few that was not an ocean-port location at that time. Like all cities, it was manned by volunteer firemen] .

After graduation from Cornell University (his uncle, Andrew Dickson White, was Cornell's first President) White returned to Syracuse, developed the city's first public fire alarm system (copied after Ithaca's mechanical system) and built his firehouse location at the former 400 Genesee Street, close to the family house. Here, he boarded and trained the paid company, provided all their equipment and support, and educated the firemen in building construction/structural design, fire science and basic chemistry, since many fires where chemically-based.

He is credited with re-designing the fireman's 'turnout suit', creating the house's second-floor dormitory, the firehouse 'fireman's pole' to allow easier access to the engine from the dormitory sleeping quarters, integrating the world's first alarm system into the firehouse, as well as numerous other safety aspects.

He integrated the alarm system into the door-gate using counterweights to lower the horse collars, also counterweighted the sheets and blankets into the dormitory fly-space (the reason early firehouses had high ceilings), lined horse stalls with carpeting, and provided a library as well as a custom carved pool table for the men's recreation. He continually focused on the men's education and continual improvement in what he visioned as a 'science'.

He challenged his company (mostly second non-inheriting sons of farmers) to arrive to a reported fire site before he could ride to the location, usually under five minutes.

Ironically, White died in 1899 fighting the downtown Dawson's Drugstore fire - most probably from a heart attack induced by toxic fumes emitted from burning chemicals stored in the rear of the structure.

The White family remained in the house until 1911; the property sold out of family ownership in 1912 and later belonged to a neighboring church and various businesses. Detailed information on both the house and White family is available in the Onondaga Historic Association.

The park across from the house (Fireman's Park, but know by its original name of Fayette Park) was used to fence in farm animals for the several park side residences. It was later converted to a city park and is today site for a number of statues and monuments to fallen firefighters, including the Hamilton White Monument, designed by Gail Sherman Corbett and built in 1904. Sherman, a native Syracusan, was one of the first, independent female architects and designers in the US.

Other prominent family members included: Horace White (NYS Senator, Lt. Governor, Governor), Howard Ganson White (Syracuse Standard newspaper founder/publisher), Adelaide, wife of Hamilton S (singer, inventor), Hamilton Howard White (founder of the Hamilton White Insurance Company, real estate), Kathrine Cook White (pioneer radio broadcaster), Andrew Dickson White (US Ambassador, Cornell University's first president), Andrew White Swift (painter), Andrew White Swift II (news critic), Ernest I White (Syracuse University Law Dean) Hamilton White Wright (travel writer, playwright, first US/European amateur golf champion) and Hamilton S White, Esq (lawyer and managing director of Syracuse law firm Hancock & Estabrook, LLC).

The family owned a number of historic landmarks: The Hamilton and Horace White Memorial Building (1876), the current Chimes Building, the White House/Farm (later, Onondaga Golf and Country Club and the Lyndon Golf Courses in neighboring Dewitt), five historic mansions along Syracuse's prestigious James Street and neighboring Fayetteville, and numerous commercial properties throughout Syracuse.

At his death in 1899, Hamilton Salisbury White also left his widow 46 residential properties, many believed to be designed or rebuilt by renowned architect Ward Wellington Ward and other prominent local architects. White bought these properties from fire victims, rebuilt them at personal cost, allowed the victim families' life-use (free of rent) until they could (in turn) repurchase their rebuilt homes, at cost, or until they chose to move into other quarters.

External links

* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.ny1045 Hamilton White House: 1 photo] , at Historic American Building Survey