There is also a Town of Fulton in Schoharie County, as well as a Fulton County in New York.

Fulton is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 11,855 at the 2000 census. The city is named after Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat.

The city of Fulton is located in the western part of the county.

A branch of Cayuga County Community College is in the city, located in the shell of a former Jamesway department store.

Wal-Mart recently opened a Supercenter just outside the city limits in Granby. Building of the hotly-contested store was temporarily halted in early 2007 after the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation refused access to the area in order to preserve nesting wildlife during the Spring season.

Local radio station B104.7, which is currently the top ranked radio outlet in Central New York is licensed to Fulton.

History

The city of Fulton is a community in two parts. The area on the west side of the Oswego River was formerly known as "Oswego Falls" recognizing the nearby rapids on the river. It was one of the first regions settled in the original Town of Granby. Settlement commenced in two west-side locations, the "Upper Landing" and the "Lower Landing."The community was incorporated as a village in 1835. In 1902, the Village of Fulton and the Village of Oswego Falls merged, and was chartered as the City of Fulton.

American Woolen Mills, a large textile firm located on the west bank of the Oswego River providing uniforms and other supplies for the US Army in both World Wars. Many early Polish immigrants lived in simple company housing and shopped at the company store during this time period. The factory-owned housing was eventually sold to the employee-occupants. Another large industry located on the west side of the river bank and using the force of the river water to power manufacturing equipment was the Foster Knife Works. Besides Poles, the west side of the river was also settled with a sizable community of Italian immigrants as well as Czechoslovakians, Syrians, and other Eastern European nationalities.

The area on the east side of the Oswego River was originally a part of the Township of Volney. Over time the east-side developed in both industry and commerce. In its prime, the east-side had a large downtown area ("The Dizzy Block") with over a hundred stores and shops. Several factories were located along the river (to make use of the rapidly flowing water for power to operate) both to the north and the south of the downtown area. Some of the industries located here included Hunter Arms, Hunter Bicycle, Sealright-Oswego Falls Corporation (paper and plastic coated packaging), Dilts-Black Clawson,(a paper machine manufacturing company), a number of flour mills including Arrowhead. There were also paper and other manufacturers including Velvet Paper, Volney Felt Mills, Armstrong Cork, Container Corporation of America, and many more. The east side of the river was settled by the English and Irish in greater numbers. However, the Swiss, Scottish, French and other Northern and Western Europeans also settled here.

In 1826, construction of the Oswego Canal began, and it was completed in 1828. It eventually became a part of the N.Y.S. Barge Canal System, as an extension of the original Erie canal.

When Peter Cailer Kohler [later Nestlé, S.A.] began chocolate production in the United States, Fulton became home to the first U.S. chocolate manufacturing facility. Many Swiss, skilled in the art of making chocolate, followed the company to Fulton and settled here. Many of their descendants still live in the area. However, in 2003, after more than 100 years in Fulton, the company closed the factory citing the costs to restore and update the old location were out of reach. Factory employees hung the Nestlé company flag outside the factory upside down the day the closing was announced by company officials.

Since the closing of the Nestlé plant, investors from Côte d'Ivoire have purchased the chocolate factory and are attempting to reopen it as 'New York Chocolate and Confections Company'. However, as of May 2009, plans for the chocolate factory to re-open have not yet fully materialized (although some new equipment has been purchased and installed.) [19146]

The Miller Brewing Company operated a plant in the Town of Volney, (just outside of Fulton city limits) from the mid 1970's until its closure in 1994. The former plant was partially retrofitted and was used for a short time as an ethanol production facility. Unfortunately, the retrofit design only permitted limited production. In 2008, the owners of Northeast Biofuels filed for bankruptcy and tried to file appropriate legal documents and other paperwork to reorganize and complete the retrofit. Agricultural supplies on hand were sold to other vendors to prevent spoilage and to maintain the facility. The staff were laid off. In May, 2009, the facility was sold at auction. The successful buyer was the large oil refiner and petrochemical company, Sunoco, Inc. of Philadelphia, PA. Current plans call for the retrofit to be completed and return to production of biofuels. The anticipated date of reopening has yet to be determined.

The industrial nature of the small city led to a very stable workforce for many years. In fact, during the Great Depression of the Early 1930s, the New York Sun newspaper (NYC) wrote a lengthy article describing Fulton and its residents. It was headlined as, "Fulton, the City the Great Depression Missed."

During a May 2009 Common Council meeting, it was disclosed that the City of Fulton is exploring the possiblity of merging with the neighboring towns of Granby and Volney to create one larger city.

Geography

Fulton is located at (43.319878, -76.413224).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.8 square miles (12.3 km²), of which, 3.8 square miles (9.9 km²) of it is land and 0.9 square miles (2.4 km²) of it (19.75%) is water.

Fulton is located on the Oswego River, Erie Canal, and borders Lake Neatahwanta. The city straddles the border of the Town of Granby and the Town of Volney.

Fulton is located near Lake Ontario and receives significant "lake-effect snow" fall in excess of a 100 inches per year. [19147]

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,855 people, 4,923 households, and 2,973 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,102.9 people per square mile (1,198.2/km²). There were 5,501 housing units at an average density of 1,439.8/sq mi (556.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.80% White, 0.74% African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.88% from other races, and 0.85% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.92% of the population.

There were 4,923 households out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were married couples living together, 15.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.6% were non-families. 33.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.2% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 16.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 89.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,054, and the median income for a family was $38,655. Males had a median income of $35,665 versus $23,102 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,133. About 15.1% of families and 19.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.6% of those under age 18 and 12.7% of those age 65 or over.

Notable natives and residents

• John H. Emerick
• Rob Schremp player for the New York Islanders

References

External links

• City of Fulton
• Early history of Fulton, NY