Westcott Community

The Westcott Neighborhood of Syracuse, NY

A vibrant eastside neighborhood rich in history, culture, food and entertainment

Walking Tours

West of Westcott

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Stop #36

723 Ackerman Ave / Melville Clarke House

  • Built: ca. 1920
  • Architect: Unknown
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47-Syracuse_NY_723_Ackerman_photo_S_Gruber_March_2012-(26)

Music entrepreneur and inventor Melville Clarke lived here. Among many achievements, Clarke was a pioneer in harp design, manufacture and performance in America. His Clarke Irish Harp gained great popularity. Clarke also helped invent nylon strings – initially developed with engineers at DuPont for harps, but then developed for a multitude of stringed instruments so that today nylon strings are commonplace.