On February 24th 1820, the first post office opened in Syracuse and John Wilkinson, a lawyer and banker, would later become the first postmaster. Syracuse had previously been known as Corinth among a host of other names which included Salt Point (1780), then Webster’s Landing (1786), Bogardus Corners (1796), Milan (1809), South Salina (1812), Cossits’ Corners (1814), and finally Corinth (1817) before changing the name to Syracuse. (You can learn how Syracuse got its name here.)
Why the last name change? Because a town of Corinth already existed in Saratoga County, the citizens had to come up with a different name in order for the federal government to open the post office. Wilkinson was the one who suggested it be called Syracuse because of the geographic similarities between this region and that of Siracusa, Sicily. Both places were on a body of water, were surrounded by hills, and were the location of salt production.