River Industries

River Industries. A Place of Industry. , Oswego offered close proximity to raw materials from the interior, a water route to markets of the world, and water power. These assets caused the river banks to become lined with factories, warehouses, and storage buildings. Materials were transferred, products were manufactured, and Oswego merchants prospered., Factories , The Kingsford starch works occupied a large area south of West Albany Street and employed hundreds of people. The rooftop bell that called them to work is now located in Breitbeck Park., Four Centuries of Waterfront Industry , Over time the materials, products, and modes of transportation changed, but the importance of the river and harbor has been the common factor. By 1820, Oswego was the leading distribution center for Salina salt. Innovations in ship propulsion were launched from the harbor, and products are distributed from Oswego around the world., Elevators , Grain was shipped to Oswego from the mid-west, stored in grain elevators for distribution inland, and manufactured into flour by riverside mills., Trestles , Coal was carried from Pennsylvania by rail and transferred to ships on huge trestles that extended into the harbor., Yards , Lumbers was milled, exported, and imported through open yards on piers and even an island in the middle of the river.