Life Today

The fourth and current Fort Ontario is built on the ruins of three earlier fortifications dating to the French and Indian War, Revolutionary War, and War of 1812. It was occupied by the U.S. Army through World War II. From 1944 to 1946 the fort served as the only refugee camp in the United States for mostly Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust under an Executive Order from President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A post cemetery containing the graves of 77 officers, soldiers, women, and children who served at Fort Ontario in war and peace is situated on the grounds which are open year-round from dawn to dusk.





The H. Lee White Maritime Museum at Oswego was founded in 1982 under the auspices of the Port of Oswego Authority and led by Mrs. Rosemary Nesbitt - former SUNY Oswego theater professor and City of Oswego historian. Located on Oswego's West First Street Pier running adjacent to the Oswego River where it empties into Lake Ontario by way of Oswego's Harbor, the Museum's main facility was the administrative offices and freight-house of the grain elevator that formerly rested on the northern end of the structure





"Racing's Biggest Party, a New York Tradition" is NAPA Auto Parts Super Dirt Week showcasing the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic's best drivers tackling the historic "Steel Palace," Oswego Speedway. The annual pilgrimage for thousands of race fans from across the United States and Canada runs October 5-9.





The State University of New York at Oswego was founded in 1861 as the Oswego Primary Teachers' Training School by Edward Austin Sheldon (above, center), who embraced and popularized some of the most innovative teaching methods of his day. In 1913, the campus moved from the city of Oswego to the current lakeside location following the construction and opening of what is now known as Sheldon Hall.

In 1942, state legislation elevated the institution from a normal school to the degree-granting Oswego State Teachers College. In 1948, Oswego became one of the State University of New York's charter members. To meet the expanded need for specialized instruction, the institution broadened its academic perspective to become a full-fledged arts and sciences institution in the SUNY system and featuring a range of liberal and professional studies by 1962.

Oswego's student body quadrupled during the 1960s and early 1970s, which was a busy time of building on campus as well — 29 new buildings opened in the 1960s alone. The institution divided into the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business and School of Education in 1992. The College of Arts and Sciences spun off the School of Communication, Media and the Arts in 2007 and became the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 2008.

The campus today consists of 58 buildings with classroom, laboratory, residential and athletic facilities. Recent years have witnessed the launch of an $850 million campus-wide renovation and renewal program, highlighted by the 2006 opening of the Marano Campus Center – the college's first new building in 35 years — and the 2013 opening of the $118 million Shineman Center for Science, Engineering and Innovation.

Oswego is one of 13 university colleges in the SUNY system. More than 8,000 students enroll, and more than 81,000 alumni live in New York and around the nation and world. Oswego offers more than 110 undergraduate majors and minors and graduate programs.