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Onondaga Lake was home to many resorts during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These resorts often included rides, shows, restaurants, dance halls, and hotels. Some ran packet boats from one end of Onondaga Lake to the resort and back. Others could be reached by trolley line. Long Branch Park located a few miles west of Liverpool was one of the last resorts to close. People came from miles around to attend picnics and to ride theiceboat carousel. When Long Branch park eventually closed in 1938, the land was donated to Onondaga County and remains parkland. The buildings either burned or were torn down, and the carousel was placed in storage. In 1941 it was sold and moved to Roseland Park in Canandaigua, New York, where it remained until Roseland closed in 1985. Pyramid Development Corporation purchased the carousel and had it restored. It still operates today at Carousel Center, a large shopping mall located on the south shore of Onondaga Lake near the former site of the Iron Pier amusement park.

By 1900, the shoreline of Onondaga Lake was dotted with major tourist attractions including hotels, restaurants, amusement parks and seven resorts. At that time, fish from Onondaga Lake were served at restaurants around New York State.

Lakeview Point was the first resort built in 1872. In 1906 it made way for the White City amusement park, built by the Syracuse, Lakeshore and Northern trolley company.

By the end of the 1890s, the Syracuse, Lakeshore and Northern Railway provided a busy trolley schedule, bringing patrons from Clinton Square to White City in just 12 minutes for a fare of five cents. Just before reaching White City, the trolley would pass by the Syracuse Steam Yacht Club, built over the water on wooden pilings.

By 1899 the trolley company had built the Rustic Theater at Maple Bay, hosting vaudeville acts and special events such as "The Wedding of the Century," attended by thousands.

The Iron Pier resort, a large amusement complex, was the gateway to the west shore resorts. It was located near the current site of the Carousel Center Mall. The resort's 600-ft pavilion offered steamboat service to other resorts on the lake for a fare of 25 cents.

Each resort had its unique character. Rockaway Beach was famous for 25-cent duck dinners and was the headquarters for ice boating enthusiasts.

Another resort from the era was Iron Pier, which stood from 1890-1907 on a strip of land on the southern shore of Onondaga Lake. Today, the land separates Carousel Center's parking lot from the lake.