Tully is a
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
in
Onondaga County, New York
Onondaga County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 476,516. The county seat is Syracuse, New York, Syracuse. The county i ...
, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,676. The name of the town is derived from the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
orator
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
. The town is on the county's southern border, south of
Syracuse.
History
Tully was within the former
Central New York Military Tract, an area which the federal government reserved to use for granting plots of land as bounty and pay to soldiers and veterans for their service during the
American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
. The surveyors were responsible for naming the areas. One of the assistant surveyors, being a classical scholar and professor at Kings College (Columbia), assigned names from Roman generals and statesmen, and Greek men of letters. Tully is derived from the middle name of Marcus Tullius Cicero.
This area had been occupied for centuries by the
Onondaga people
The Onondaga people (Onontaerrhonon, Onondaga language, Onondaga: , "People of the Hills") are one of the five original nations of the Iroquois, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy in the Northeastern Woodlands. Their historical homelands are in ...
, one of the first Five Nations of the
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
Confederacy, or ''
Haudenosaunee
The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
''. As four of the six nations were allied with the British during the American Revolutionary War, the Onondaga and others were forced to cede their land to the United States after the war. Much was sold and granted to settlers and speculators, and European Americans began to flood into western New York.
The first European-American settler was Andy Tucker, who built a log cabin in 1795. The first town meeting was held on April 4, 1803, when the town was formed from part of the
Town of Fabius. The
Town of Otisco was partially formed from part of Tully in 1806. When Cortland County was established in 1808, Tully lost its southern parts to the Towns of
Preble and
Scott in the new county. In 1811, more land was taken from Tully to form the
Town of Spafford.
In the late 19th century, the town began to attract more tourists, especially during the summer. Tully Lake Park was developed and the first cottage, a part of the hotel were erected on Tully Lake in 1889. Other cottages and villas were built so that fifty occupied sites by the end of the century. In 1892 the Central New York Assembly established Assembly Park on the east side of the lake. It became the site for annual sessions of an educational nature, similar to those at the celebrated
Chautauqua, New York
Chautauqua ( ) is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town and lake resort community in Chautauqua County, New York, Chautauqua County, New York (state), New York. The population was 4,009 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Cha ...
, which is situated on the lake of that name.
In 1998,
Aldi
Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...
opened a regional distribution center in the town on
NY-281, off of
Interstate 81
Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 40, I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee, Dandridge, Tennessee; its nort ...
.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (1.56%) is water.
The southern town line is the border of
Cortland County.
Interstate 81
Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 40, I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee, Dandridge, Tennessee; its nort ...
,
U.S. Route 11, and
New York State Route 11A are north–south highways which pass through the town.
New York State Route 80 is an east–west highway.
The celebrated Tully Lakes, forming an unbroken chain of natural water gems, consist of
Tully (Big), Green,
Crooked, Jerry's and Mirror Lakes, of which the first named is the largest and most prominent.
Demographics
As of the
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 2,709 people, 1,030 households, and 744 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,139 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.23%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.44%
Black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.22%
Native American, 0.59%
Asian, 0.22% from
other races, and 1.29% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race were 1.11% of the population.
There were 1,030 households, out of which 37.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.0% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.7% were non-families. 22.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.04.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 28.3% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.2 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $53,250, and the median income for a family was $63,266. Males had a median income of $46,667 versus $27,721 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the town was $25,223. About 3.9% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 10.6% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.
Schools
Schools in Tully date back to Miss Ruth Thorpe who established a place of learning in Timothy Walker's barn in 1801. The district received its first charter from the Board of Regents to form a high school in 1898. The centralization of the Tully school district occurred in 1930. The centralized school was housed in the current elementary school building with both younger students and high schoolers in the same building.
Tully Junior Senior High School is the current school for grades 7–12.
Notable people
*
Irving Gill, architect
*
Lopez Lomong, US Olympian and carrier of the American flag during the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics
*
Arthur C. Sidman, playwright and actor interred in Tully Cemetery.
*
Charles H. Walker, Wisconsin jurist and legislator
*
Lyman Walker, Wisconsin lawyer and legislator
['Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin 1871,' Biographical Sketch of Lyman Walker, pg. 364]
*
R. Walter Riehlman, congressman interred in Tully Cemetery
Communities
Village
Within the town is located the village of
Tully, a
separate municipality.
Hamlets
*Assembly Park – a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
by the southern town line, on the east side of Tully lake.
*Crooked Lake – a lake in the southern part of the town, northwest of Tully Lake.
*Green Lake, a lake southwest of Tully Center.
*Tully Center – a hamlet west of Tully village by Interstate 81 by its junction with NY-80 and NY-11A.
*Tully Farms – a location in the north of Tully Center on NY-11A.
*Tully Lake – a
lake
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
at the southern town line that is the source of the west branch of the
Tioughnioga River.
*Tully Lake Park – a hamlet on the western side of Tully Lake.
*Vesper – a hamlet in the western part of the town on
NY Route 80.
See also
*
Onondaga Creek
References
External links
Village of Tully official website primary settlement within town
Tully School DistrictTully history/genealogyTully Area Historical Society
{{authority control
Syracuse metropolitan area
Towns in Onondaga County, New York
Towns in New York (state)