Sunrise and Sunset in Oneida, NY

Olive Ruby Henty (ORH) spent the majority of her life in Oneida, NY. She was born there on May 4, 1892, and died there June 1, 1973. She lived there with her husband for many years and taught in the Oneida public school system.

Oneida is a small city of approximately 11,000 people located in Madison County in central New York state. It is located midway between Syracuse and Utica and takes its name from the Oneida Indian Nation, which is a member tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy. The city itself “began” in 1818 with the founding of a small store along an Indian trail by a man named Van Epps. It was flourishing by 1848 as the Oneida Community, a religious and social commune. The Town of Oneida was established in 1896, when ORH was four years old, and in 1901 it was chartered as the City of Oneida.

By the time ORH moved to Boston to attend Simmons, Oneida was a railroad and manufacturing center. The Erie Canal also had a presence in the city. During both world wars, the City of Oneida provided manpower and supplied large quantities of materials.

By the 1960s, Oneida faced drastic economic changes. The canal and railway traffic had ended, and when the New York State Thruway was planned, it bypassed Oneida. Many of the city’s manufacturing plants closed, and small farms in the area disappeared. The population hit its peak in 1970.

Today, Oneida is the only city in Madison County. Many of its residents commute for work to either Syracuse or Utica.

Sources

Oneidacity.com. (n.d.). Welcome to Oneidacity.com: Our history. Retrieved November 24, 2007 from http://www.oneidacity.com/ourcommunity.htm