The name Syracuse was chosen for the city in 1819, due to Syracuse's similarities with the city of Siracusa on Sicily. Both cities were located south of a town named Salina and both boasted natural salt-water springs. These springs gave Syracuse a solid economic base and its nickname of The Salt City. By the mid-1840s the city was the nation's leading producer of salt. Boiling blocks, where the saline spring water was boiled to condense the brine and leave behind the salt, were built all over the city. Syracuse's status as the half-way point of the Erie Canal was another claim to fame, and further secured the city's prosperity. Weighlock buildings were constructed next to the canal for measuring the passing ships and assessing their tax rates. Canal-side stores thrived, since the boatmen were in constant need of resupply. Today Syracuse is home to the Salt Museum and the Erie Canal Museum, as well as the excellent Museum of Science and Technology (MOST), the I. M. Pei-designed Everson Museum of Art and the nation's largest regional history museum, the Onondaga Historical Society. Big-city benefits such as the available cultural activities, top-notch restaurants, excellent shopping and well-maintained green spaces are why locals love living in this small city nestled in the heart of New York.