Every Lake
Onondaga Lake
The lake beside Syracuse where salt built a city and a confederacy was said to begin.
- 7 ft · first step
- 13 ft
- 20 ft
- 26 ft
- 33 ft
- 39 ft · bottom
About Onondaga Lake
Onondaga Lake sits at the northwest edge of Syracuse, New York, fed by Onondaga Creek and Ninemile Creek. Salt springs along its southern shore drew Haudenosaunee harvesters long before European settlement, and by the early 1800s those same springs supported one of the country's largest salt industries, earning Syracuse the nickname 'Salt City.' Villages and later factory towns grew along the shoreline to process and ship the salt, and the lake's flat, shallow basin made it easy to ring with docks, rail spurs, and evaporation works.
Oral tradition holds that the Peacemaker united five warring nations on the lake's shore, founding the Haudenosaunee Confederacy centuries before Europeans arrived; the Onondaga Nation, whose reservation lies a few miles south, still regards the lake as sacred. Decades of industrial discharge from soda-ash and chlor-alkali plants left the lake among the most contaminated in the country, prompting a multi-decade Superfund cleanup. Today the shoreline carries a paved loop trail, an amphitheater, and a public marina, drawing runners, rowers, and commuters from the surrounding city rather than distant vacationers.
- 12 shore towns named, with a star on each
- 650 roads engraved around the shore, 11 of them labeled
- 6 depth layers, each step engraved with its depth in feet
- Compass rose, title block with coordinates, max depth and area; keyhole hanger on the back
Turn it in your hands
Live 3D of the actual cut files — drag to orbit, pinch to zoom. Every road you see is engraved on the real thing.
Viewer not showing? Open it full screen.
Onondaga Lake depth chart, in wood
This is a Onondaga Lake depth chart you can hang: 6 stacked layers of birch, each one a depth contour — 7 ft, 13 ft, 20 ft, 26 ft, 33 ft and deeper, down to the deepest hole at about 39 ft. The lake covers about 4.6 square miles, and 650 shore roads are engraved around it. The shape of the bottom is the real one from published soundings, so anglers recognise their drop-offs and points.
A Onondaga Lake map for the wall — or a gift
Most of these go to a cabin wall, a lake house entry, or a home office; a lot are gifts — the family that has been on Onondaga Lake for three generations, the retirement move, the first boat. The 12-inch is the desk-and-shelf size; the 24- and 30-inch boards read across a room. Add a line under the title and star your place on the shore, and it becomes the map of your Onondaga Lake.
Onondaga Lake map — the details
How big is the map?
Four sizes: 12, 17, 24 and 30 inches on the long side, from $149. Every size is cut from the same depth data of Onondaga Lake; the bigger boards carry more shoreline roads and place names.
Is it made from real depth data?
Yes. Onondaga Lake is cut layer by layer from published bathymetric soundings — each layer of birch is a depth contour, so the shape of the bottom is the real one, not decorative.
Can I add my own place on it?
Yes. At checkout you can add a line under the title (a family name, a cabin name, a year) and star the spot on the shore that matters to you.
How long does it take?
Made to order in Waterford, Pennsylvania and shipped in 7–10 days; shipping is free in the lower 48.
Can you make a lake that isn't listed?
Any lake in the United States — we hold depth data for 104,419 of them. Search for yours; if it isn't built yet we build it when you order.
- 6 depth layers down to 39 ft
- 4.6 square miles of water
- 650 shore roads engraved, 11 named
- Title block, compass rose and depth markers
- Birch plywood, keyhole hanger, made in Waterford, PA
