Back to Homepage New York - Albany Albany - Points of Interest New York - Auburn Auburn - Points of Interest New York - Binghamton Binghamton - Points of Interest New York - Buffalo Buffalo - Points of Interest (Downtown) New York - Buffalo - Points of Interest (Midtown) Buffalo - Points of Interest (Midtown) North Buffalo - Points of Interest (Midtown) East Buffalo - Points of Interest (Midtown) South New York - Elmira Elmira - Points of Interest New York - Ithaca Cornell University - Ithaca, New York Ithaca - Points of Interest New York - New Rochelle New Rochelle - Points of Interest New York - New York City New York City - Points of Interest The New York Public Library Brooklyn Bridge Manhattan West Street and North (Hudson) River Water Front Lower West Side South Street Wall Street District City Hall District Bellevue Hospital Metropolitan Opera House The Empire State Building Downtown to Uptown Brooklyn The Bronx Queens Staten Island New York - Niagara Falls New York - Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie - Points of Interest New York - Rochester Rochester - Points of Interest New York - Saratoga Springs Saratoga Springs - Points of Interest New York - Schenectady Schenectady - Points of Interest New York - Syracuse Syracuse - Points of Interest New York - Troy Troy - Points of Interest New York - Utica Utica - Points of Interest New York - Yonkers Yonkers - Points of Interest New York - Geology New York - Topography New York - Plant and Animal Life New York - Conservation and Recreation New York - Archeology and Indians New York - History New York - History - After the Revolution New York - Transportation New York - Agriculture New York - Industry New York - Ethnic Groups New York - Folklore New York - Religion

New York - Utica - Points of Interest BAGGS SQUARE, junction of Main, Genesee, and Whitesboro Sts., the site of old Utica, was the center of the village until the Erie Canal stimulated growth. It is named for Moses Baggs, who built a log tavern on this site in 1798 and replaced it in 1813 with the Baggs Hotel, which was razed in 1932. In the square is the Proctor Memorial Building (open 9-5 daily), a small one-story structure of early French Renaissance design, constructed of sandstone with a finial surmounting the sloping roof. The building, which contains the records of the Baggs Hotel, was erected in 1933 by Mrs. Thomas R. Proctor in memory of her husband, Thomas Redfield Proctor ( 1844-1920), who bought the Baggs Hotel in 1869 and made it one of the best known hotels in the East. In 1891 he married Maria, daughter of James Watson Williams, Utica capitalist. While on a European trip he conceived the plan of the magnificent park system that he donated to the city. Frederick Towne Proctor ( 1856-1929) came to Utica in 1887 and married Rachel, sister of his brother's wife. The HORATIO SEYMOUR HOME, NW. corner of Whitesboro and Hotel Sts., a severe three-story structure in the post-Colonial style, was built in 1810 and is now occupied by a manufacturing concern. The original Dutch oven and fireplace are intact. Horatio Seymour ( 181086), came to Utica at the age of nine from Pompey, New York. He studied law, represented the county in the State assembly, served as mayor of Utica and as governor ( 1853-5 and 1863-5), and in 1868 was Democratic candidate for President. ST.JOHN'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, SW. corner of John and Bleecker Sts., erected in 1869, a red brick structure in the Romanesque style with twin spires, dominates the downtown skyline. The leaded glass designs of the windows have been copied by other churches. The UTICA CITY HALL, SW. corner of Genesee and Pearl Sts., erected in 1852-3, was designed by Richard Upjohn. The yellow brick building has a sober, Italian-Lombard Romanesque character which contrasts sharply with the English Gothic Grace Church near by, by the same architect. A heavy square tower subdivided by stone string courses dominates the exterior. The interior has been repeatedly altered. GRACE CHURCH (Episcopal), SE. corner of Genesee and Elizabeth Sts., built in 1856-60, was also designed by Richard Upjohn. The entrance tower, added in 1870 by Upjohn's son, Richard M., has a tall stone spire that was rebuilt in 1933 by his grandson, Hobart B. Upjohn. The tower masks the broad reversed gambrel roof. The strong solemn dignity of the exterior contrasts with the richer character of the spacious interior. The nave is roofed with arched timber trusses. The chancel was designed by Richard M. Upjohn in 1890. The ONEIDA HISTORICAL BUILDING, intersection of John and Elizabeth Sts. and Park Ave., constructed of buff brick with steep tile roofs and stepped gable ends, is an excellent example of the Flemish Gothic style. Designed by Richard Morris Hunt, it was donated in 1896 by Mrs. J.Watson Williams, mother-in-law of the Proctor brothers. The building houses a collection of curios, paintings, portraits, and books and manuscripts associated with Oneida County. The RUTGER B. MILLER HOUSE, Rutger Park, Rutger St. opposite John St., designed by Philip Hooker, is a two-story post-Colonial stone house with a three-bay main section topped by a hip-roof, twin end chimneys, and a 'captain's walk.' Begun in 1820 by Judge Morris S. Miller and completed by his son, Rutger B. Miller, about 1830, in its early days the house was called 'Miller's Folly' because of its remoteness from the village of that time. Roscoe Conkling ( 1829-88) bought the house in 1863 and made it his home. Conkling practiced law in Utica, served as mayor, and married Julia, sister of Horatio Seymour. He was elected to Congress in 1858, and while still a member of the House was elected to the Senate. He resigned from the Senate in 1881, together with his colleague, Thomas C. Platt, as a protest against President Garfield's appointments in New York State and sought re-election as a rebuke to the President but was defeated. Conkling regarded political patronage in the State as his preserve, and as political 'boss' looked askance on the civil service reform movement. In 1877 he said, 'When Dr. Johnson defined patriotism as the last refuge of a scoundrel, he was unconscious of the then undeveloped capacities and uses of the word "reform".' The MUNSON-WILLIAMS-PROCTOR INSTITUTE, 312-18 Genesee St., occupies the former homes of Frederick T. and Thomas R. Proctor, yellow-painted brick Victorian mansions with bracketed eaves, set back on carefully landscaped grounds. The collection includes family heirlooms, paintings, and rugs. The institute was incorporated in 1920 but plans for its development were delayed until after the death of the members of the Proctor family, who bequeathed to it their homes and the bulk of their estates. In 1936 the Arts Guild of New York City moved its school to a remodeled garage on the grounds of the institute and, under the name of the School of Related Arts and Sciences, began to offer courses in visual arts, the history and philosophy of art, and comparative symbolism. The FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, SE. corner of Genesee and Faxton Sts., erected in 1922, is a brick structure with limestone and wood trim in the late Georgian Colonial style, with pedimented portico and wellproportioned tower. The BARON VON STEUBEN STATUE, at Parkway entrance facing Genesee St., donated to the city by its German citizens, was unveiled on German Day, August 3, 1914. The sculptor was J.Otto Schwizer. Cast in bronze and mounted on a high granite pedestal, it shows von Steuben in a cocked hat wrapped in his voluminous military cloak. FOREST HILL CEMETERY, Oneida St. at Ballantyne Brae, is the Sacred Stone of The Oneidas, a rounded oblong stone on a threestepped granite base, which is said to have served as an altar formany Indian rites and for the councils of the entire Iroquois Confederacy. According to legend, the stone miraculously appeared in the Oneida village at the foot of Oneida Lake and magically followed the tribe from one settlement to another. In NEW FOREST CEMETERY, Oneida St. at Baker Ave., is the Founder Rathbone Monument, a white granite monument on the highest slope of the cemetery, erected in memory of Justus H. Rathbone ( 1839-88), native son of Utica and founder of the Order of the Knights of Pythias. Impressed by the story of Damon and Pythias, Rathbone set out to induce men to follow their example. In 1864, while working for the U.S.War Department, he organized the first lodge, composed entirely of Government clerks. The UTICA & MOHAWK VALLEY COTTON MILLS, State St. between Court and Columbia Sts. extending to Fay St., represent the consolidation of several mills, the oldest of which was opened in 1848. The company is one of the world's largest manufacturers of sheets and Pillow cases; the plant contains 138,000 spindles and 3,500 looms. The UTICA STATE HOSPITAL , Court St. between York and Whitesboro Sts., opened in 1843, was the first State institution for the insane. The main building was erected under the direction of three commissioners, General Francis E. Spinner, Captain Elam Lynds, and Captain William Clarke. Clarke had built several Utica buildings and is credited with the design, though he may well have had the assistance of a professional architect. The structure, 550 feet long and constructed of gray Trenton limestone, includes a central four-story section of offices, staff quarters, and attic chapel and three-story side wings with self-contained groups of patients' rooms for classification by sex and ailment. The exterior of the building comprises one of the noblest examples of Greek Revival architecture in the United States. The severely plain side wings, broken only by pedimented end pavilions, act as a foil to the august portico of the central block. The six Doric columns, built up of coursed limestone, have eight-foot diameters and are 48 feet high. The grand scale of this remarkable building recalls that other masterpiece of Greek Revival stonecutting, the Schoharie Aqueduct. In 1857 a fire gutted the structure, leaving few traces of the original interior. Dr. Amariah Brigham, the first superintendent of the Utica State Hospital, a pioneer believer in the therapeutic value of manual labor for patients, installed shops for carpentry, shoemaking, tailoring, blacksmithing, and whittling. For a number of years the patients wrote, edited, and printed their own magazine, Opal. Here Dr. Brigham began to publish the American Journal of Insanity, the first periodical in its field. The MASONIC HOME, Bleecker St. near the east city limits, dates back to 1842, when Greenfield Poke contributed SI toward its establishment. In 1889 the Grand Lodge purchased 160 acres and later acquired another 140 acres. The first building was erected in 1893; at present there are 19, arranged in a semicircle. The varied styles of the buildings reflect the changes in architectural taste since the nineties; most prominent are the Romanesque and neoclassic. The children attend the Utica public schools; those that show promise are given a college education. Genesee Street, Utica, New York Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com Utica's Busy Corner, Utica, New York Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com Mann Building, Utica, New York Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com