Salina received its name in 1797, when the Surveyor General received authority to set aside a portion of the Salt Reservation for use in salt manufacture. The Salt Reservation had been created by a treaty with the Native Americans. It extended one mile around Onondaga Lake. In 1798, the Village of Salina was chartered. It was located in what is now the Washington Square neighborhood or "First Ward" of the current City of Syracuse and contained sixteen blocks. Each block was divided into four house lots, selling according to law, for no less than forty dollars. The area now known as the Town of Salina was still part of the Townships of Manlius and Marcellus. In March 1809, the Town of Salina was organized. It included the areas now known as the Town of Geddes (formed 1848), part of Manlius and the City of Syracuse.