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Welcome to the Lansing Historical Association Web Site!

The earliest settlers in Lansing resided in Onondaga County in the Town of Milton.  In 1808 the name Milton was changed to Genoa and in 1817 the Town of Lansing was set off from Genoa under the act that created Tompkins County.  The first settlers to arrive in Lansing came in the year 1791 from the Border Settlements of the Minisink Valley of New York and Pennsylvania.  Others also arrived from New Jersey, Connecticut, and other areas of New York and Pennsylvania.

Because of General Sullivan’s Expedition in 1779 there were no Indians in this area and after the land was divided into 100 Military Lots, settlers were anxious to settle this fertile land of the lakes.  They came by land route from the south and water route from the north, traveling in the winter when the waterways made frozen roads and the forest undergrowth was at a minimum.  Grist mills, saw mills, clothing mills, blacksmith shops, and tanneries soon provided services to the early farmers.

The ensuing 200 years have seen Lansing change from a town of many small, self sufficient hamlets to an area which depends on several large shopping districts in the incorporated Village of Lansing in the south of the town.  The northern part of the town still has many prosperous farms, but many of the residents work in industries in and outside of the town, and at Cornell University, Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community College.

LHA Spring Program

Salt, Boats and the Erie Canal

Presented by Donna Scott
Friends of Salt Point & Lansing Historical Association

Wednesday, March 13, 2024 at 7:00
Lansing Town Hall

Salt from the 425 million years-old deposits half a mile below the earth’s surface has been harvested from brine well refineries (table salt) and a few deep mines (rock salt) around New York from the early 1800s to the present. Salt was transported to market first by early rough roads and for decades by boats on lakes, rivers, and the first two iterations of the Erie Canal.

Ithaca and other places became boat-building centers that provided various kinds of boats for transport of goods via Cayuga and Seneca Lakes to the Erie Canal and points beyond. What do we know about boat transport of our local salt products?

How did the third and much-improved Erie Canal (Barge-1918) compete with railroads and later, over-the-road trucks, to carry salt to various markets? 

Come find out on Wed., March 13 at 7:00 PM at Lansing Town Hall.


[Program publicity poster]

Donna ScottDonna Scott
Donna Scott is a Director of the Friends of Salt Point and a life member Lansing Historical Association. Retired from Cornell University, she has many interests including the history of bicycle development, old houses, and salt production in Lansing and New York State. She is also an officer in the Funeral Consumers Alliance of the Finger Lakes and a member of the Cayuga Bird Club. She lives at Kendal at Ithaca and previously lived on Lansing Station Road in Lansing. 

Photo: Gail Cashen


Winter, 2024 Newsletter Available

In this Issue [PDF version]:

Winter 2024 Program

Salt, Boats and the Erie Canal

Wednesday, March 13, 2024 at 7:00 PM

Lansing Town Hall

Presented by Donna Scott

World War II Letters To Soldiers
Lansing Historic Houses: The Barr Cottage

Mailing List Update

Please Update Our Mailing Lists

If you need to update your contact information, please write to us at PO Box 100, Lansing, NY 14882 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You may also use Google Forms to update this information.

Thank you very much!