Tipperary Hill

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Tipperary Hill, or Tipp Hill, is a district in Syracuse, New York. It is named after County Tipperary in Ireland. Many residents are Irish, especially from Tipp, and the area is part of Syracuse’s Far Westside.

In the 1820s, the Erie Canal was built. Irish workers were the main laborers. Syracuse sits near the middle of the canal route. After the canal was finished, many Irish settled on a hill west of the city overlooking the canal. That area became known as Tipperary Hill.

Tipperary Hill is famous for having the only upside-down traffic light in the United States. In the 1920s, when traffic signals were first installed, a light at the corner of Tompkins Street and Milton Avenue was flipped because the red “British” light above the green Irish light upset locals. Replacements were broken, so the city inverted the light to calm them.

In 1997, local residents and business owners helped remove an old building and create the Tipperary Hill Memorial Park. They also placed the Tipperary Hill Heritage Memorial statue, created by Dexter Benedict. The statue honors those who stood up to City Hall and won. The park and statue remain, and the inverted light stays. On St. Patrick’s Eve, someone paints a green shamrock under the light.

There is little agreement about the exact boundaries of Tipp Hill. Before 1886, the far west side of what is now Syracuse, from Burnet Park north to Milton Avenue in Solvay, was the Village of Geddes. When Geddes joined the city, there were two churches: St. Patrick’s Church and Geddes Methodist Church. Many Irish immigrants were drawn to the area near St. Patrick’s Church and the nearby factories.