Friday, October 11, 2013

Syracuse, New York: Tipperary Hill

There are all sorts of odd attractions on this web site for visitors. This one is the first one that features a traffic light.

You'll have to look closely through the fall foliage. The top light is lit, but it's green. The red light is on the bottom.

But why? It helps to know that the settlers of this region were mostly Irish workers on the Erie Canal. They weren't too fond of Great Britain at the time, and not too fond of Britain's imperial red color. They took it out on the stop light in West Syracuse but knocked it down or shooting out the light.

A compromise was reached that is unique - the green light was placed on top. It's stayed that way ever since. As you can imagine, this is definitely the place to hang out on St. Patrick's Day.

The intersection is located at Tompkins and Milton in Syracuse, a bit south of I-690 and fairly close to the Zoo.

By the way, while standing on the sidewalk to take this picture, I had the odd urge, if asked what I was doing, to say, "I'm waiting for the light to change."

Be notified of new posts via Twitter @WDX2BB.

No comments:

Post a Comment