Editing Fairmount, New York (section)

==History==

The Fairmount area was part of the original 108-square-mile [[Onondaga Reservation]] lands which were acquired by the State of New York from the [[Onondaga people|Onondagas]] in transactions that took place between 1793 and 1795. Formerly part of the Town of Onondaga, it was annexed to the town of [[Camillus (town), New York|Camillus]] in 1834.<ref>Chap. 231, Laws of the State of New York. (1834). United States: (n.p.).</ref> Prior to that date, census enumerations for Fairmount were included in the town of [[Onondaga, New York|Onondaga]] census. The name originates from 1798 when engineer and politician [[James Geddes (engineer)|James Geddes]] built his estate, called "Fair Mount" at the intersection of Genesee Road (now West Genesee Street) and Onondaga Road.  The Brockway Tavern building, located on the northwest corner of West Genesee and Onondaga, formerly housed a tavern, motor inn, restaurants and later a funeral home, and now houses a credit union. The house was built c. 1808 and survives as one of the oldest structures in the hamlet.  The oldest house still used as a residence dates from 1876.

Previously known as Tyler or Jeromeville, the area became formally identified as Fairmount when its post office (formerly designated "Tyler") was renamed on January 1, 1846. (This post office was discontinued in 1899.)  Fairmount was also a minor station on the [[Auburn and Syracuse Railroad]] and its successor railroads (including the [[New York Central Railroad]]) from 1838 to the end of the 19th century.  The Fairmount Farm Colony, a working farm for the vocational training of young men with intellectual disabilities, was established by the [[Syracuse State School]] north of the hamlet in 1883. Farmland in the hamlet was developed into residential tracts from the 1890s through the 1990s, with intense residential and commercial development during the 1950s and 1960s. A large area of undeveloped land, formerly used for quarrying and a munitions factory in the 19th and early 20th centuries, borders Fairmount to the south at [[Split Rock, New York|Split Rock]].

The Geddes family's "Fair Mount" mansion was demolished in 1929, although a carriage house from the estate survived until 2014.  Small sections of the estate's stone fences are still standing.

In 2007, Fairmount was 27th on ''[[Newsweek]]'s'' "Best Places to Raise Your Kids" list.