15th Ward: Memories of a Syracuse Neighborhood Transformed
The 15th Ward neighborhood was located between Syracuse’s downtown area and the campus of Syracuse University. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries many people of the Jewish faith were attracted to this area. It rapidly became one of the largest Jewish neighborhoods in the upstate region. Shops and synagogues were in plentiful supply and according to many residents, it was a neighborhood in which “everyone knew everyone else.” The neighborhood began to change in the 1940s and especially the 1950s when many of the Jewish residents began move to the eastern suburbs in the DeWitt area. The 15th Ward gradually became settled by African American people, many of them moved into the neighborhood from southern states. It was a neighborhood where people did not lock their doors at night. The area became a thriving cultural area which included jazz clubs as well as African American churches such as St. Philips which was located at 205 Almond Street, a spot currently occupied by the Renaissance Hotel.
The evolution of the neighborhood coincided with the construction of the interstate highway system as well as the federal urban renewal program. The result of these construction projects had a diminishing effect on the 15th Ward as a family oriented neighborhood. Interstate 81 and the building of Upstate Medical facility required the demolition of many of the homes and businesses in the area. There are many residents still in the Syracuse area who have many fond memories of their time in the 15th Ward. It is to those people that we dedicate this site .
We hope the viewer learns that the 15th Ward neighborhood was much more than a collection of buildings, that it was a living space for a diverse collection of Syracuse citizens who remember the neighborhood as a fine place to live and to raise their families.
