L. Frank Baum First Syracuse Home Site
Midland Avenue and West Onandaga Street, Syracuse, New York | Unmarked Location
In 1861, when L. Frank Baum was five years old, the Baum family sold its businesses and holdings in Chittenango and moved to what was then an up-and-coming neighborhood in Syracuse.
Pioneer farmer N. P. Rust was one of the first such landholders to subdivide his land and sell it as home lots; today’s Midland Avenue was known as Rust Street. The Baums lived at 1 Rust Street. Historians differ over the home’s exact location, some preferring the parking lot behind a funeral home at 508 W. Onondaga to this location.
The Baums moved from here to nearby Mattydale, the estate that provided young L. Frank Baum with idyllic childhood memories.
Possible location of 1 Rust Street
This humble Family Dollar store may—or may not—mark the physical location of the Baum family's first Syracuse residence at 1 Rust Street.
The store's sign
The store's sign. Onondaga Street is visible to right.
Those Involved
Associated Historical Events
Early Life of L. Frank Baum
1861–1888