A map of Onondaga Lake, before it was polluted

This map of Onondaga Lake circa 1800 comes from the archives of the American Philosophical Society. If you look closely, it describes the plant species around the lake... cedars, ash, "soft maple" (red maple), samphire, etc. Note in particular the wetland species at what is now called "Lakeview point" - before 80 feet of Solvay Waste was dumped on top of it, and an amphitheater built on top of that. No one alive today can remember what the lake looked like before it was polluted. If 1970 is our frame of reference, of course Onondaga Lake looks clean today. But this reminds us of how far we have yet to go. We can't go back, but we can have a better future!