Clover, and Goettel's laundry. The police quarters were replaced by a newspaper building. Clinton Square is surrounded by four bank buildings: the Gridley Building (1867), the Syracuse Savings Bank Building (1875), the Third National Bank Building (1886), and the Onondaga County Savings Bank Building (1897). The area to the north of the square is occupied by the Syracuse Newspapers Building (1971), which replaced the third Onondaga County Courthouse. It holds the offices of several presses. History Clinton Square's development is directly tied to the development of Syracuse as a city; the first lot sold was in the area. As it was at the intersection of Salina and Genesee Streets, the square was an early crossroads. From 1806 to 1844 the area around the intersection featured the Mansion House, an inn first known as the South Salina House and constructed by Henry Bogardus. The crossroads were initially known as Bogardus' Corners. Bogardus's building was purchased by Sterling Cossit in 1815; by this point it was a tavern, the city's first. Cossit, who took over operation of the Mansion House, lent his name to the corners and they were referred to as Cossits' Corners. When Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, visited Syracuse, a reception for him was held in the square. Erie Canal The square grew in prominence as the Erie Canal passed through it. When the canal opened in 1825 it transformed the city. Three years later the Oswego Canal opened, passed through the Erie Canal near the square. Clinton Square was renamed in recognition of DeWitt Clinton, a governor of New York and prominent supporter of the canal, by Joshua Forman. It became a bustling marketplace, officially designated as such in 1837. A farmers market was held in the square from 1837 to 1899. Clinton Square grew with Syracuse, and was described as the "hub of the city" and the "busiest place in town". An early 1820s brick hotel on the square, the Syracuse House, was the largest in the region. Charles Dickens visited it in 1869 and wrote of it as "the worst inn that ever was seen... located in a most wonderful out-of-the-way place which looks as if it had begun to be built yesterday and were going to be knocked over with a nail or two tomorrow." In 1844 a large hotel, the Empire House, was constructed on land previously occupied by the Mansion House. Clinton