Syracuse University, with a campus of 100 acres, is situated on the highlands in the southeastern part of the city where it commands a fine view of Onondaga Lake. The university was opened in 1871, when the faculty and students of Genesee College (1850) removed from Lima, N.Y., to Syracuse; one year later the Geneva medical college likewise removed to Syracuse and became part of the university. The university has a number of excellent buildings and a fine athletic field. It is a co-educational institution under control of the Methodist Episcopal Church. There are about 4,000 students. The N.Y. State Fair, a civic event of considerable importance, takes place yearly (in Sept.) in grounds situated on the western border of the city. The "plant" covers 100 acres and there is an excellent race track where famous horses are run. Salt works were established in Syracuse as early as 1788 and the production of salt and sodium derivatives still constitutes an important industry. For many years Syracuse was the principal seat of the salt industry in the United States, but the development of salt deposits in other parts of N.Y. State and in Michigan caused a decline in the Onondaga product, though Syracuse still produced 2,000,000 bushels of salt a year. The Onondaga deposits were mentioned in the journal of the French Jesuit Lemoyne in 1653, and before the Revolutionary War the Indians marketed salt at Albany and Quebec. In 1788 the state undertook, by treaty with the Onondaga Indians, to care for the salt springs and manage them for the benefit of both the whites and the Indians. By another treaty (1795) the state bought the salt lands, covering about 10 Sq. M., paying the Indians $1,000 outright, supplemented by an annual payment of $700 and 150 bushels of salt. Subsequently the state leased the lands, charging at various times a royalty of 4 to 12-1/2 cents a bushel. It was stipulated in 1797 that the lessees should not sell the product for more than 60 cents a bushel. In 1898, after the royalty had been reduced to 1 cent a bushel, the state ordered the sale of the salt lands because the revenue was less than the expense of keeping up the works. The actual sale, however, did not take place till 1908. Annual production reached its highest point in 1862, with 9,000,000 bushels.