OSWEGO

county, north-central New York state, U.S., bordered by Lake Ontario to the northwest and the Oswego and Oneida rivers and Oneida Lake to the south. Other waterways include the Salmon and Little Salmon rivers and the New York State Canal System and its constituent Erie and Oswego canals. Most of the county consists of lowlands, except for the northeastern corner, which rises into a plateau region. The county is dotted with swamps and stands of oak and hickory trees. State parks are Selkirk Shores and Battle Island. When white explorers arrived in the region, it was inhabited by Onondaga and Oneida Indians, tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy. The county was established in 1816, its name derived from an Iroquoian word meaning pouring-out place (i.e., a river mouth). Oswego, the county seat, developed as a major port city with the opening of the Oswego Canal (1828), the New York State Barge Canal (1918; now the New York State Canal System), and the St. Lawrence Seaway (1959). The State University of New York at Oswego, which began in 1861 as a teacher-training college, also is there. Fort Ontario (built 1755; rebuilt 1759, 1839) is a state historic site. Other communities include Fulton, Phoenix, Pulaski, and Mexico. The main economic activities are manufacturing and retail trade. Area 953 square miles (2,469 square km). Pop. (1990) 121,785; (1996 est.) 125,446. port city, seat (1816) of Oswego county, north-central New York, U.S. It lies along Lake Ontario at the mouth of the Oswego River, 35 miles (56 km) northwest of Syracuse. The name derives from the Iroquoian Indian word osh-we-geh, meaning pouring-out place (i.e., a river mouth). It was the site of two forts that were strategically important during the French and British colonial wars. A British and Dutch fur-trading post, founded there in 1722 and fortified (1727) as Fort Oswego, was the western terminus of the water route connecting the Mohawk and Hudson rivers with Lake Ontario. The second fort, Ontario, was built in 1755; it was destroyed by the French in 1756, was rebuilt in 1759, and was ceded to the United States in 1796 by the British, who recaptured it in the War of 1812. Reconstructed in 183944, Fort Ontario is now a New York state historic site and museum. Permanent settlement of the site dates from 1796. The opening of the Oswego Canal in 1828 (linking Lake Ontario to the Erie Canal) stimulated Oswego's commercial growth, but by the 1880s railroad competition had practically killed the port and forced the city to industrialize. The easternmost U.S. port on the Great Lakes, Oswego was revived when it became the northern terminus of the New York State Barge Canal system (completed 1917 and now called the New York State Canal System). With the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959, Oswego became a world port, handling principally cement, salt, potash, wood pulp, limestone, aluminum ingots, and grains. The city's varied manufactures now include recycled aluminum, corrugated paper, wire, tool and die products, processed foods, wood veneer, and fabricated metal products. Major nuclear power installations at nearby Lycoming make the area an important source of electric-power generation for upstate New York. The State University of New York College at Oswego originated in 1861 as a normal (teachers') school. Inc. village, 1828; city, 1848. Pop. (1990) 19,195; (1998 est.) 18,054.