Village of Jordan Documents

The Village of Jordan, located within the Town of Elbridge, was first settled in 1797 as a farming community, though it wouldn't incorporate formally until 1835, as part of the Central New York Military Track program.  It is located on the western edge of Onondaga County and had the Erie Canal going through the middle of it from 1825 until the opening of the Barge Canal in 1917.  During the period of the Erie Canal, Jordan was a bustling center of business and commerce as goods come through the village both along the canal and from the Villages of Jordan, Elbridge, and Skaneateles located south of the Town of Elbridge.  Jordan also had a significant African-American population from the 1850s to the 1930s and involvement in the Abolition Movement.  At the end of the Erie Canal period (1910-1920) the City of Syracuse had grown to a significant size with a lot of population and industry.  The city tapped into the water supply of Skaneateles Lake, causing the water level of Skaneateles Creek, which ran through the villages, to drop dramatically in water-level causing factories and waterwheels to stop functioning.  This coupled with the transportation lines, decline of the Erie Canal, and railroad centralization caused the local manufacturing and businesses to leave the area to consolidate in the City of Syracuse.  Finally, with the closure of the Erie Canal in 1917 Jordan experienced a continuous decline in population and business until it became the small rural community of today.  This is reflected in the records of the Minutes kept by the Village Board of Trustees.  These records and the 1898 Enumeration (census) gives insight into an Erie Canal village and its transition into a small rural community once the Canal was closed, as well as African-American history, agricultural history, modernization, and the effects of changing cultural norms and movements on local villages.