Geography of Tully

The Landscape - At one stage, the edge of the glacier stood at Tully Valley and built up an enormous bank of end moraine, about 600 feet high, across the valley. The moraine's crest now forms a segment of the St. Lawrence-Susquehanna drainage divide. As the torrents of meltwater flowed away south, they spread quantities of gravel and sand that now make up much of the valley floor. It is the most extensive area of glacial outwash in Central New York.

Soils - The blanket of ground-up rock which the glaciers spread over the valley sides and uplands contained limestone and other materials that make today's soil more fertile than the pre-glacial soil. The glacial load also included many boulders, some several feet in diameter, derived from ledges many miles to the north and northeast.

Although the lowland soils are largely sandy and gravelly, there are occasional areas of clay-rich soil where the meltwater streams formed into ponds, at least temporarily. The upland soils are more silty.

Tully Limestone - Limestone, ten feet or more in thickness, crops out along many of the hillsides in the area, with shale rocks both above and beneath it. In 1839 the early geologists named it the Tully Limestone because of the excellent outcrops in the vicinity. Scientifically, Tully Limestone is unique among the New York rocks in that its most distinctive fossil species is not found elsewhere in America.

Salt - Deep beneath the visible surface, and about 60 million years older than the Tully Limestone, are the salt-bearing strata which once contributed much to the economy of the region. To recover the salt, the Solvay Process Company built wells in the Tully Valley, penetrating the salt beds at an average depth of 1300 feet (700 feet below sea level). Salt mining operations began in 1889 and ended in the 1980s.

Recreation and Aesthetics - The great glaciers of the Ice Age provided more than good farm lands, soils, and favorable industrial sites. Glacial erosion formed long, steep hill slopes, making them ideal for skiing. As the glacier receded, masses of ice that lay buried beneath the outwash plain finally melted, leaving sags and depressions that now hold the lovely Tully Lakes. These kettle lakes attract both wildlife and people. The beauty of the high hills and wide valleys, along with easy access to the metropolitan areas of Syracuse and Binghamton, have made Tully an attractive location for family residences and businesses.

The TOWN of Tully covers a large area, with elevations ranging from about 1220 to about 1800 ft. above sea level. The center of the VILLAGE of Tully is at about 1252.

Figures taken from U.S. Geological Survey map dated 1955.

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