The area that is now known as Syracuse wasn’t much of anything more than two centuries ago, but that all changed in the early 1800s. It was inevitable to many, as the land was level, it was near numerous salt supplies, and it would be the perfect spot to connect the eastern and western parts of the state. John Wilkinson thought the village looked quite similar to a city over in Italy, so when it came time to name it in 1820, he gave it the same name. It was then that Syracuse was born, and it became a city once the village and the nearby village of Salina merged.
