The Hamilton White House is a historic home in Syracuse, New York. The house, Greek Revival in design, was built by and for Hamilton White, circa 1840/42, and occupied by his family in 1842/43. Many believe based on similarities in structure and style that the unknown architect and builder was the same person who designed and built the Moses Burnett House, completed in early 1842, later to become the Syracuse Century Club building. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 due to its significance in the area of architecture and its relationship, through Hamilton White, to the commerce and politics of Syracuse.
Hamilton White
Hamilton White (1807—1865) lived at the White House until his death; his family retained ownership until 1911/12, although the building briefly housed the Kanatenah Club. The house is the last of a number of National Register of Historic Places-listed residential structures, in original construction and exterior, remaining in the immediate vicinity of downtown, along the city's Fayette (later, Fireman's) Park. In 1976 it was purchased by an investment group and converted into business offices. In 2002, it was sold to a private environmental firm, but remains offices for lawyers and other small businesses.
Family background
The White family was prominent in central New York. Hamilton White was the third son of John (also referred to as 'Asa') White, a farmer and gristmill owner in Homer. Hamilton White became a lawyer, farmer, investor and businessman, and moved to Syracuse after a legal apprenticeship in Buffalo, with his wife Sarah Randolf Rich. Together, they raised five children. White co-founded the Syracuse Bank, the Syracuse Coarse Salt Company (Syracuse was a principal supplier of salt in America), and became trustee for and investor in both the Erie Canal and the New York Central Railroad, as well as numerous commercial businesses, some that he founded.
He was active in numerous community leadership roles, especially religious and social-welfare issues. He was a leading philanthropist, he, his family and descendants supporting many community, religious and civic organizations, including founding or co-founding Syracuse University's Crouse College, Cornell University, St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, the Orphan's Home, now Elmcrest Children's Home, and the Syracuse Home Association, originally a multi-faith consortium to provide community and social services, especially for the poor, now a provider of long-term healthcare and elder-care services.
The family supported the abolishment of slavery, quietly funding black churches and the underground railroad and recruited national speakers to visit Syracuse during the 1850s. He also supported the efforts of Dr. Samuel May, the founder of May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church.
The local United Way leadership campaign, the Hamilton White Society, is named for the family's philanthropy and community development support. Created in 1988, The Hamilton White Society is the United Way's national model for leadership in small and medium-sized communities.
The most prominent of his five children, Hamilton Salisbury White (1853–1899), was also a lawyer, real estate owner, investor, businessman, who dedicated his life to be a professional firefighter, and later became a city fire commissioner. He funded his own fire company becoming the first paid and professional firehouse in the world. Among White's many contributions to safety and equipment design, White is also acknowledged for first initiating the concept of "response time" into firefighting and life-saving techniques.
Early life
Hamilton White's interest in firefighting started at an early age. As early as age four, he boarded his pony cart in the stables behind the house and rushed out to watch the volunteer firefighters of the city; watching their efforts shaped his future life. Later, as a student at Cornell, he stabled a horse outside his dorm room, so he could visit fires and watch the volunteer firemen in Ithaca, NY.