Editing Rome, New York (section)

==History==

===Oneida Carrying Place===
Rome was founded along an ancient Native American portage path known as the ''[[Oneida Carry|Oneida Carrying Place]]'', ''Deo-Wain-Sta'', or ''The Great Carrying Place'' to the [[Iroquois|Six Nations]] (Iroquois), or the ''[[Haudenosaunee]]'' in their language. These names refer to a [[portage]] road or path between the [[Mohawk River]] to the east, which flows east to the [[Hudson River]],and [[Wood Creek]] to the west, which flows into Oneida Lake and, eventually, Lake Ontario via the Oneida and Oswego Rivers. Now located within the modern Rome city limits, this short portage path was the only overland section of a water trade route stretching more than 1,000 miles between Lake Ontario and the lower Hudson. Travelers and traders coming up the Mohawk River from the Hudson had to transfer their cargo and boats and transport them overland between 1.7 and six miles (depending on the season) to continue west on Wood Creek to Oneida Lake which was drained by the Oswego River that ultimately flowed into Lake Ontario. This ancient trade route joined the [[Great Lakes]] and Canada via the [[Mohawk River]] to the [[Hudson River]] and the Atlantic Ocean.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

[[File:Rome, N.Y. LOC 75694841.tif|thumb|[[Perspective map]] of Rome with list of landmarks from 1886 by [[L.R. Burleigh]]]]
During the [[French and Indian War]], the North American front of the [[Seven Years' War]], this region was the scene of much fighting. The [[British Empire|British]] colonists had erected several small forts to guard the Oneida Carrying Place and the lucrative fur trade against French incursions from Canada; however, a combined French regular army, Canadian, and allied Native American force overwhelmed and massacred a British force here in the [[Battle of Fort Bull]]. Later in 1758, after several abortive attempts to fortify the area, the British sent a very large force to secure the Oneida Carry and build a stronger rampart complex, which they named [[Fort Stanwix]].{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

Following their defeat by Britain during the war, the French ceded their territory in North America east of the [[Mississippi River]] to the British. The British signed the [[Treaty of Fort Stanwix]] in 1768 with the Iroquois, under the terms of which they promised to preserve areas west of the [[Appalachian Mountains]] as an Indian reserve and to prohibit American colonial settlement.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Marshall | first=Peter | title=Sir William Johnson and the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, 1768 | journal=Journal of American Studies | publisher=Cambridge University Press | volume=1 | issue=2 | year=1967 | issn=0021-8758 | jstor=27552784 | page=149 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/27552784 | access-date=2024-12-28 | archive-date=December 28, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241228041226/https://www.jstor.org/stable/27552784 | url-status=live }}</ref> The treaty has also been described as "the last desperate effort of the British to create order west of the Appalachians.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Campbell | first=William J. | title=Converging Interests: Johnson, Croghan, the Six Nations, and the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix | journal=New York History | publisher=New York State Historical Association | volume=89 | issue=2 | year=2008 | issn=0146-437X | jstor=23183446 | page=128 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/23183446 | access-date=2024-12-28 | archive-date=December 28, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241228041226/https://www.jstor.org/stable/23183446 | url-status=live }}</ref> The British were unable to enforce their promise, as American colonists continued to move west of the Appalachians, causing conflicts with native tribes. The British abandoned Ft. Stanwix after that war; it deteriorated and was eventually torn down, its parts and materials used by settlers for other structures.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23134667 | jstor=23134667 | title=Documents: The Mohawk Valley in 1791 | last1=Horton | first1=John T. | journal=New York History | date=1941 | volume=22 | issue=2 | pages=208–213 | archive-date=January 16, 2019 | access-date=September 11, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116101413/https://www.jstor.org/stable/23134667 | url-status=live }}</ref>

===Revolutionary War and Fort Stanwix===
[[File:Fort Stanwix, Rome NY - interior.jpg|thumb|right|View of the stockade and Fort Stanwix reconstruction completed in 1976 (based on 1758 and 1776 structures) |alt=Photograph of a grassy field and a log stockade. The tops of log buildings are visible behind the stockade.]]
At the outbreak of the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], [[Continental Army|American Continental]] forces took control of the [[Fort Stanwix]] site, rebuilding and improving the fort. The installation survived a siege by the British in the [[Saratoga Campaign]] of 1777, and it became renowned as "the fort that never surrendered". Patriot militia, regulars, and their [[Oneida Nation]] allies under the command of Col. [[Peter Gansevoort]], successfully repelled a prolonged siege in August 1777 by British, German, Loyalist, and Canadian troops and warriors from several Native American nations, all commanded by British Gen. [[Barry St. Leger]]. The failed siege, combined with the battle at nearby [[Battle of Oriskany|Oriskany]] as well as the battles of [[Battle of Bennington|Bennington]], and [[Battle of Saratoga|Saratoga]], thwarted a coordinated British effort to take the northern colonies. Following this success, the Americans were able to gain alliances with France and the Netherlands, as both countries were becoming more confident that the rebels had a chance to win.

After the repulsion of the British at Fort Stanwix, bloody fighting erupted along the American northern frontier and throughout the Mohawk Valley. There were heavy losses for both American settlers and the people of the [[Iroquois|Six Nations]], as each side made retaliatory raids against the other in a round of violence. Because many of the Oneida were fighting with the rebels and against the four nations allied with the British, especially the Mohawk and Seneca, the Iroquois had members attacking each other, which they had avoided doing earlier in this century.

The Americans used Fort Stanwix as the primary staging point for attacks against British loyalist units and their [[Haudenosaunee]] allies. The [[Sullivan Expedition]] of 1779 was launched from here as a scorched earth campaign against villages of [[Iroquois]] nations that were allied with the British. Commander [[George Washington]] ordered the campaign in retaliation for the fierce frontier attacks in New York, such as the [[Cherry Valley Massacre]] by Loyalist irregulars led by [[Mohawk nation|Mohawk]] Chief [[Joseph Brant]] and [[John Butler (pioneer)|John Butler]]. The Sullivan campaign destroyed nearly 50 Iroquois villages and their food stores, leading to starvation of many people of these nations during the following winter. Many Iroquois went to Upper Canada for refuge but struggled with starvation there, too.

The American forces abandoned the fort in 1781. After the war, as the area became settled, pioneers took materials to use in constructing their own homes and barns. They built the Rome Canal along Wood Creek, to connect it to the Mohawk River and enable continuous passage by water from Lake Ontario via the Mohawk and Hudson rivers to [[New York City]].

After completion of the [[Erie Canal]] in 1825, development of Rome increased. The city became an industrial and trade center in the western Mohawk Valley. The fort site was reduced to a mound of dirt, with bushes and grasses growing over it. During the [[Great Depression]] in the early 20th century, Congress passed the Fort Stanwix Act of 1935 to establish the fort as a [[National Monument]] because of the site's historic importance. The site was administered by the [[National Park Service]] (NPS).

In 1973, the NPS began reconstruction of Fort Stanwix, based on historical evidence related to 18th-century construction and occupation. It was completed in 1976.<ref name="site">{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/fost/historyculture/index|title=A Historic Site for All Time. "Fort Stanwix National Monument: History and Culture." |work=National Park Service|date=8 February 2014 |access-date=25 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302013830/http://www.nps.gov/fost/historyculture/index|archive-date=2014-03-02|url-status=dead}}</ref> The fort is operated by the National Park Service as a museum. On July 2, 2005, the Marinus Willet Center opened on the grounds of the monument. It provides audio-visual programs to orient visitors, as well as secure storage space for the museum's collection of artifacts and related historic materials.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fort Stanwix National Monument: Marinus Willett Center Opens to the Public|work=National Park Service|date=July 14, 2005|access-date=25 February 2014|url=http://home.nps.gov/fost/parknews/marinus-willett-center-opens-to-the-public.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713130117/http://home.nps.gov/fost/parknews/marinus-willett-center-opens-to-the-public.htm |archive-date=2014-07-13 }}</ref>

===Commercial growth: Erie Canal===
The critical east/west American trade route through the frontier was improved by construction of the [[Erie Canal]]. On July 4, 1817, construction on the canal began in Rome. The Erie Canal reaches a summit in Rome, attaining an elevation of 420 feet.<ref name="k936">{{cite journal | last=Schoff | first=Wilfred H. | title=The New York State Barge Canal. Part II | journal=Bulletin of the American Geographical Society | publisher=[American Geographical Society, Wiley] | volume=47 | issue=7 | year=1915 | issn=0190-5929 | jstor=201433 | pages=498–508 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/201433 | access-date=2024-12-28}}</ref> The first phase was completed in 1825, connecting the [[Hudson River]] by waterway to the [[Great Lakes]]. It resulted in an increase in trade and traffic between communities around the Great Lakes and New York City, stimulating development all along the route.

===First Cheese Factory===
In 1851, [[Jesse Williams (cheesemaker)|Jesse Williams]] founded the first cheese factory in the United States at Rome.<ref>{{cite news |title=Is One Museum Honoring Cheese Really Enough? |first=Danny |last=Hakim |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/10/nyregion/10cheese.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 10, 2006 |access-date=2012-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213144153/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/10/nyregion/10cheese.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |archive-date=December 13, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> Williams also developed the process used today for large-scale cheese manufacturing.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Fort Stanwix Administrative History: Executive Summary|work=The Public Historian|volume=31|number=2|year=2009|pages=71–78|access-date=25 February 2014|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/tph.2009.31.2.71|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909000209/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/tph.2009.31.2.71 |archive-date=2018-09-09 }}</ref> Fifteen years later, New York State had about 500 cheese factories operating in a similar fashion.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Oxford Companion to Cheese |first1=Catherine |last1=Donnelly |page=766 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2016 |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-companion-to-cheese-9780199330881 |access-date=2025-03-25 }}</ref> During the later 19th century, there were numerous dairy farms in the area and throughout the Mohawk Valley. Many shipped their milk and cheese to customers in New York City.

===Copper City===

During the Industrial Revolution, Rome became known as the “Copper City,” as its metal industries produced approximately 10 percent of all copper in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Our History|url=https://romenewyork.com/our-history/|work=Rome New York|access-date=November 25, 2024|archive-date=July 17, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240717204538/https://romenewyork.com/our-history/|url-status=live}}</ref> 

The City of Rome was incorporated in 1870.

[[Revere Copper Company|Revere Copper Products, Inc.]], founded in Rome during 1928 and 1929, is one of the oldest manufacturing companies in the United States.<ref name="reverecopper">{{cite web|url=http://www.reverecopper.com/|title=Home &#124; Revere Copper|publisher=reverecopper.com|access-date=2014-12-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209162315/http://www.reverecopper.com/|archive-date=2014-12-09|url-status=live}}</ref> It developed from a series of mergers between several companies, including [[Revere Copper Company]] located in [[Canton, Massachusetts]]. The first president of [[Revere Copper Company|Revere Copper Products, Inc]], [[George H. Allen]], was formerly the president of Michigan Copper and Brass Company,<ref>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,732056,00.html | magazine=Time | title=Business & Finance: Mergers: Oct. 22, 1928 | date=1928-10-22 | access-date=2010-08-10 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121014220/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,732056,00.html | archive-date=2010-11-21 | url-status=dead }}</ref> which was one of the companies included in the merger. The early history of Revere Copper Products, Inc is detailed in the book ''Copper Heritage: The Story of Revere Copper and Brass, Inc.'' by Isaac F. Marcosson. At one time, 10 percent of all copper products used in the United States were manufactured in Rome.

===Cold War to present day===
[[Griffiss Air Force Base]] in Rome was open from 1942 to 1995, when it closed as part of the [[Base Realignment and Closure]] process. It remains home to [[Rome Laboratory]], which is now part of the [[Air Force Research Laboratory]], and to the [[Eastern Air Defense Sector]]. Some of the land that formerly made up the land has been redeveloped: [[Rome Free Academy]], the city's public high school, moved onto former base land in 2002. Its airstrip is now part of [[Griffiss Airport]].

[[Woodstock 1999]] was held in Rome, at the former Griffiss AFB site. The three-day rock festival was held over the weekend of July 23–25, and drew a crowd of about 200,000 people. Cable network [[MTV]] covered the concert extensively, and live coverage of the entire weekend was available on [[pay-per-view]]. The festival featured acts including [[Metallica]], [[Kid Rock]], [[DMX (rapper)|DMX]], [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]], [[Rage Against the Machine]], [[Korn]], [[Limp Bizkit]], [[Alanis Morissette]] and [[Wyclef Jean]]; early reviews for many of the acts were positive. Critics particularly praised performances by [[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]], [[Jamiroquai]], [[James Brown]], [[Sheryl Crow]], and [[Rage Against the Machine]]. However, the festival ended in a riot, with bonfires being lit in the crowd, brawls with police, and looting.<ref>{{cite web | last=Wartofsky | first=Alona | title=Woodstock '99 Goes Up in Smoke | website=Washington Post | date=1999-07-27 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/july99/woodstock27.htm | access-date=2024-07-17 | archive-date=June 28, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628203058/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/july99/woodstock27.htm | url-status=live }}</ref>

During the [[September 11 attacks]],  Boston Center contacted the [[Eastern Air Defense Sector]] in Rome at 8:37 AM. This was the first report of a hijacking that reached [[NORAD]] on that day.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

[[File:First Presbyterian Church collapse.jpg|thumb|First Presbyterian Church of Rome after sustaining tornado damage.]]
On [[List of United States tornadoes from June to July 2024#July 16 event|July 16, 2024]], a high-end [[Enhanced Fujita scale|EF2]] [[tornado]] struck Rome, causing widespread power outages and property damage.<ref name="q237">{{cite web | title=Public Information Statement, Binghamton NY, 736 PM EDT | publisher=National Weather Service | date=2024-07-18 | url=https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&issuedby=BGM&product=PNS&format=CI&version=2&glossary=0 | access-date=2024-07-18 | archive-date=July 18, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718024956/https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&issuedby=BGM&product=PNS&format=CI&version=2&glossary=0 | url-status=live }}</ref> The tornado touched down just north of the [[Erie Canal]], passed through the center of Rome, and lifted up on the far side of [[Griffiss Air Force Base]]. A decommissioned [[B-52]] on display near the airport was moved nearly 25 feet off its platform. Among other heavily damaged structures, two churches were heavily damaged, losing their steeples and having their roofs collapse. Many brick structures collapsed. States of emergency were declared by the city, county, and state governments.<ref name="y276">{{cite web | first=Patrick |last=Smith| title=One dead as storms cause devastation and leave thousands without power in upstate New York | website=NBC News | date=2024-07-17 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/one-dead-storms-cause-devastation-leave-thousands-power-upstate-new-yo-rcna162263 | access-date=2024-07-17}}</ref>