WEST MONROE, NEW YORK
History Summary
The earliest history of West Monroe starts with the area in 1788 where the Oneida, Onondaga, and Cayuga Indian tribes made a treaty for land which would ultimately become Oswego County, reserving one half square mile for every six miles for fishing the North shore of Oneida Lake.
In 1789, all other lands of Oswego County were state owned and were offered as bounty lands. West Monroe is situated on land purchased by John and Nicholas Roosevelt, who sold it to George Scriba, hence everyone who has a deed in that area is described as “Scriba’s Patent”. This included land from Chittenango Creek, the Southeast shore of Oneida Lake, West and North to Constantia along the East part of Parish ending West of Hannibal and Lysander. Two years later, separated from the Town of Mexico, the first town in the County of Oswego. George Scriba settled in Rotterdam, now Constantia, with West Monroe, originally named Delft, for the city in Holland, in 1806. In 1808, Rotterdam, Delft, and Breda, now Hastings, were separate from Mexico also. West Monroe was incorporated in 1839, originally named Monroe after the President James Monroe, but there were two other towns in New York State with that name, so the US Post Office changed it to West Monroe because it was geographically further West than the others, and this change did away with confusion about mail deliveries.
SCHOOLS: The first school in West Monroe was built by George Scriba and the first teacher was Caroline Barnes. It was located at the Munger home site next to where the NuMart store on Route 49. West Monroe had eight district schools, Lower Road, Mud Settlement, Whig Hill, Ostrum, Green, Nutting, Toad Harbor, and Union Settlement. These schools existed until the Centralization of schools was instituted in 1954 into the Central Square School District.
CHURCHES: a Presbyterian Church was located on Whig Hill Road, the Free Will Baptist Church was across from the present West Monroe Historical Society, the United Methodist Church is presently on Route 49, its original location. The Presbyterian and the Baptist are gone now, the Baptist being torn down, and the Presbyterian burned. The newest church is the New Life Church that is located on Route 49.
POST OFFICES: The Post Offices have had several locations through history in the town. The C.D. Davey home, Jewel store, Dave Store, Town Hall, next to the Methodist Church, a mobile unit in the NuMart lot, and the present on built new on State Route 49.
GRANGE HALL: The #735 was established over 100 years ago and is located on Route 49, where the historical society is now housed. It served originally as a bar, dances were held there, plays, community dinners were held as well as wedding receptions. It even served as a temporary home for a burned out family. Wax and sawdust was used on the floors for dancing with live music. Most social events were held at churches and the Grange, as most residents of the town were farmers, and people did not travel far for entertainment. Farm families helped one another with crops, barn raisings, quilting bees, as well as assisting one another in times of birth, deaths and marriages, and illnesses.
HOTEL: Deacon Smith built the first hotel in West Monroe, later purchased by Eleazor Slocum in 1812, who also was a tax collector, Justice of the Peace, Town Clerk and Town Supervisor. The hotel burned in 1954, and was located on Route 49 on the Northeast corner of County Route 11.
OCCUPATIONS: Most people living in West Monroe were farmers raising animals and crops, and were self sufficient people. But there were fishermen, carpenters, teachers, coopers, butchers, blacksmiths, mill wrights, loggers, and business owners. Crops included, hay, straw, oats, wheat, hopes(used for making beer), corn, chickens, hogs, cattle, horses, oxen, Oxen did the work before the invention of tractors.
Early businesses in West Monroe were, the milk station, creamery, blacksmiths, coopers, silo factory, hotels, stores and the railroad. The O&W Rail station took the milk, cheese from the local factory, fruits and vegetables to New York City and other destinations. It also delivered passengers along the way to all the towns along the Northshore.
Presently businesses in West Monroe are varied, including boat liveries, marinas, grocery stores, gas stations, collision repairs, used cars, golf courses, storage units, landscapers, bait shops, dog groomers, florists, gift shops, produce shops, blueberry growers, hairdressers, surveyors, and construction business, trucking, and retail shops, along with many in home cottage industries.
GOVERNMENT: town officials have been elected and put in place since the 1839 incorporation of the town of West Monroe. Records are preserved back to 1896. In 1980, Arlene Caiella was elected as the first woman town supervisor in West Monroe and in Oswego County, serving until 1989. Gary Ross is the present supervisor, recently replacing retiring Erny Manchin.
FIRE DEPARTMENT: Land for the present West Monroe Volunteer Fire Department was donated by Claude Miller of West Monroe, and he also lent $10,000 personally to start the project. The first fire truck was located at the town hall, then moved to the new location. The first rescue truck was donated by Jim Cunningham in memory of his father-in-law, Roy Munger. They celebrated 25 years of service to the community in 2001.
New developments in the town include many farmlands being turned into housing tracts, as with the decline of farms, residents have become home owners in the bedroom community for workers using I-81 to travel to their jobs. Most recently a WalMart was built in nearby Central Square.
Roads are now all paved, instead of gravel roads of the past. Land known as the Carlton Spooner farm, East of the Cemetery in West Monroe will be developed in the next few years with businesses and homes. Electric lights came to West Monroe in 1938, telephones came in 1945, roads in the town were named in 1952, and in 1969 street lights were put up at intersections. In 1970 New York State took over land on the left side of Toad Harbor Road for a wild life area. In 1974, house numbers were assigned for fire and ambulance service.