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Mabel’s 1908 Diary: Back To School at Syracuse University
Alice Mabel Allen (1886-1976) grew up in the village of Adams in Jefferson County. In 1908, while attending Syracuse University, Mabel, as she was known, kept a diary which New York Almanack is publishing each week. This week she returns to Syracuse to begin her senior year.
Monday, September 14
Packed most of the morning except when I drove with mother to Mrs. Barrett’s after my gray skirt and downstreet to get some gloves. Uncle George came up to dinner and I made tomato soup. Said good-bye to the people which was very hard. [Read more…] about Mabel’s 1908 Diary: Back To School at Syracuse University
Poetry: For the End of Summer
For the End of Summer
Temptation to hold malice
at the taking of summer.
Found such fruit
found so temporary
found true love
found out. [Read more…] about Poetry: For the End of Summer
Naval Power & The 1776 Taking of New York City
The occupation of New York Harbor, and the capture of the city of New York were the most conspicuous British successes of the summer and fall of 1776 during the Revolutionary War. In June, Commodore Peter Parker (1721-1811) and General Henry Clinton (1730-1795) were meeting with defeat at the Battle of Sullivan’s Island at Charleston, SC, and Benedict Arnold was racing to construct a makeshift naval fleet to stall a British invasion from Canada on Lake Champlain.
At the same time, two brothers, General Sir William Howe (1729 –1814) and Commander-in-Chief of the North American Station, Richard Howe (later Earl Howe, 1726-1799), were arriving in New York Bay. [Read more…] about Naval Power & The 1776 Taking of New York City
Roosevelt’s Adirondack Ride Being Marked This Weekend
On September 14, 1901, Theodore Roosevelt’s overnight journey from Mount Marcy through Newcomb and North Creek became one of the Adirondacks’ most consequential and well-remembered moments.
Now, 125 years later, history buffs and Roosevelt fans are having a Saturday parade and then setting their alarm clocks for an early start on Monday, September 14. [Read more…] about Roosevelt’s Adirondack Ride Being Marked This Weekend
30-Foot Yacht Sinks in Buffalo’s Black Rock Canal
On August 22, NYS Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) Damrath responded to reports of a 30-foot yacht nearly submerged in front of a gas dock in the Black Rock Canal in Buffalo, NY. Officer Damrath responded to the location, observed the nearly sunken vessel leaking gasoline, and immediately contacted the U.S. Coast Guard. [Read more…] about 30-Foot Yacht Sinks in Buffalo’s Black Rock Canal
Catskills Antique Shop Found With Illegal Taxidermy
In late-July New York State Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) in Sullivan County responded to an antique store in the Town of Mamakating after receiving a tip from a frequent shopper about a mounted mountain lion head being offered for sale there. An undercover officer located the mounted head in the back of the store and made a deal to purchase it just as a uniformed officer responded to the location. [Read more…] about Catskills Antique Shop Found With Illegal Taxidermy
The New York Museums Report Released
The New York Study of Public and Private Museums has been released. The study was a statewide census of all chartered museums in New York, conducted by Empire State Development, New York State Council on the Arts, New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, New York State Department of State, and the New York State Education Department. [Read more…] about The New York Museums Report Released
Rouse, Brave Citizens: An Appeal to New Yorkers to Support Revolution
In December 1776, the American Revolution was just getting started and New York was in crisis. New York’s delegates to Philadelphia had signed the Declaration of Independence in July 1776.
But by the end of the year, though, New York was in peril – Long Island and the city of New York had been occupied by the British, the Westchester County region was not in control of either side, and British authorities were appealing to New Yorkers to abandon the rebels and support the Crown. [Read more…] about Rouse, Brave Citizens: An Appeal to New Yorkers to Support Revolution
The Miniature Mysteries of Lichen Moths
A stunning moth visits my deck in late summer. At an inch long, it doesn’t have the stature of a luna or cecropia moth, but the brilliant gradient of vermilion to gold across its wings and body, offset with contrasting black bars, is eye-catching.
It’s a painted lichen moth, a member of a group of small moths whose caterpillars are known for feeding on lichens. [Read more…] about The Miniature Mysteries of Lichen Moths
A New York City Area Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program
The only known program of its kind in the United States, New York Foundation of the Arts‘ Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program provides foreign-born emerging artists with one-on-one career support, community, and exposure for their work. [Read more…] about A New York City Area Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program
Haudenosaunee & The American Revolution Speaker Series
The Iroquois Museum in Schoharie County is hosting a Fall Speaker Series focused on Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) history and the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution on Sunday afternoons through September and October. These in-person events are funded in part by the New York State Education Department’s America 250 Initiative; the event is included in Museum admission. [Read more…] about Haudenosaunee & The American Revolution Speaker Series
Rose Knox’s Gelatine, Leadership, Mixed Kitchen & Boardroom
In 1914, after secretly running Knox Gelatine for six years, Rose Knox revealed that she’d assumed her deceased husband’s position as the company’s president.
As President of company from 1908 to 1947, she drew on traditional ideals of domesticity and womanhood to turn the company into an iconic American brand and herself into a business celebrity. [Read more…] about Rose Knox’s Gelatine, Leadership, Mixed Kitchen & Boardroom
Weather Prognosticators: Warren County’s John Brady & Nathan Davis
With weather events often predicted down to the minute, it is hard to imagine life without today’s real-time forecasts. Looking 120 years back into Warren County history, often that forecast came from old men sitting around a pot-belly stove who talked of woolly caterpillars and the color of the sky at sunset.
That changed in the late 1800s, when not one, but two weather prognosticators stepped into the limelight to share their predictions with the public. [Read more…] about Weather Prognosticators: Warren County’s John Brady & Nathan Davis
Memories of 1940s Greenfield, Saratoga County, NY
In the 1940s, driving north from Saratoga Springs toward Middle Grove about a mile west of Route 9N in Saratoga County, NY, is Pages Corners where Sodaman and Sandhill Road intersects with Middle Grove Road. At the corner is the Callenius dark gray house, Mrs. Receal’s small white house whose son served in the Second World War, and larger white houses are on the other two corners. Taking a right turn onto Sandhill, you are climbing up the mountain toward Lake Desolation. [Read more…] about Memories of 1940s Greenfield, Saratoga County, NY
Ulster County’s Humpo Marshlands and Forest Preserved
On August 14, 2026, Mohonk Preserve purchased the 174-acre Humpo Marshlands and Forest property from the Open Space Institute (OSI), with the Wallkill Valley Land Trust holding a conservation easement over a portion of the property. The deal was made possible by the New Paltz Community Preservation Fund – a source of funding that helped permanently preserve the property’s wetlands, forests, wildlife habitat, and iconic Shawangunk Ridge views. [Read more…] about Ulster County’s Humpo Marshlands and Forest Preserved
A New Paved Trail To A Historic Hudson Valley View
The Grant Cottage State Historic Site officially celebrated the completion of a new, fully ADA-accessible paved pathway to its historic Eastern Overlook on Mount McGregor in Wilton, NY. [Read more…] about A New Paved Trail To A Historic Hudson Valley View
New Deer Hunting Season at Saratoga Spa State Park
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) will open an undeveloped section of Saratoga Spa State Park to white tail deer hunting for the 2026-27 season as part of a deer management program. [Read more…] about New Deer Hunting Season at Saratoga Spa State Park
Include the Almanack in Your Newsletter – Get A Free Advert
Help build our community! Include the New York Almanack in your organization’s newsletter and get a few advertisement here on the site. The Almanack will be read by at least 1.5 million people over the next year – mostly New Yorkers interested in history and natural history. [Read more…] about Include the Almanack in Your Newsletter – Get A Free Advert
The Creative Milieu of Tin Pan Alley
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a few blocks of Manhattan’s 28th Street housed sheet music publishers, composers, songwriters, and agencies. Nicknamed Tin Pan Alley, it was home to the nation’s music industry.
The playhouse being the main venue of entertainment, Broadway musicals and Union Square vaudeville acts demanded an unceasing supply of songs. A dense concentration of creative talent laid the foundation for the “Great American Songbook,” a canon of songs and jazz compositions that have stood the test of time. [Read more…] about The Creative Milieu of Tin Pan Alley
Hungry Horned Owl Rescued From Soccer Net
NYS Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) Brandon Franz responded to a call regarding an owl stuck in a soccer net in Armonk, a hamlet near the Connecticut border in the town of North Castle, in Westchester County on August 28, 2026 [Read more…] about Hungry Horned Owl Rescued From Soccer Net