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John Warren

John Warren is founder and editor of the New York Almanack. He's been a media professional for more than 35 years with a focus on history, journalism and documentary production. He has a master's degree in Public History and is on the staff of the New York State Writers Institute, a center for literary arts based at the University at Albany. John lives in the Adirondack Park. He is co-founder of Adirondack Atlas, a geolocation, database and mapping services company serving the region, and his weekly Adirondack Outdoors Conditions Report airs across Northern New York on the North Country Public Radio network.

Train Ferries: The Hudson River’s Most Unusual Steamers

April 7, 2021 by John Warren 4 Comments

Pioneer Hudson River Night Line auto ferry steamboat and former train ferry A Fred Saunders scrapbook Catskill Public LibraryAmong the many hundreds of steamboats plying the Hudson River when that waterway served as a primary method of moving people and freight, a few stand out as unusual. The most remarkable of these is perhaps the railroad transports, used to ferry railroad cars.

Also known as train ferries, or car ferries (not to be confused with auto ferries), they were fitted with railway tracks and doors at each end to allow for loading and unloading. [Read more…] about Train Ferries: The Hudson River’s Most Unusual Steamers

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, New York City Tagged With: Albany, Hudson River, Newburgh, NYC, railroads, Steamboating, Transportation History

Adirondack Park Permits: Could Johns Brook Valley Be Next? Some History

April 1, 2021 by John Warren 2 Comments

Johns Brook LodgeThe institution of a permit system at the Ausable Club’s Adirondack Mountain Reserve surprised and confused some hikers and would-be hikers. Many didn’t realize that third most popular High Peaks Wilderness Area access point, through the Club’s lands in the Upper Ausable Valley, was privately owned.

A similar situation holds at the Johns Brook Valley, another popular access point just northwest. That area is owned by the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK), it faces similar parking challenges and is just as susceptible to a future permit system. [Read more…] about Adirondack Park Permits: Could Johns Brook Valley Be Next? Some History

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Guides, Adirondack Mountain Club, Adirondack Mountain Reserve, Ausable River, camping, High Peaks, hiking, Johns Brook, Keene, Keene Valley, Logging, Mount Marcy

DEC, Private Club Piloting High Peaks Hiker Reservation System

March 30, 2021 by John Warren Leave a Comment

Crowded conditions along Rte. 73, High Peaks Wilderness region. Photo by Ken RimanyThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Ausable Club have announced a pilot reservation system to access the Club’s private lands, the Adirondack Mountain Reserve (AMR). Since 1978 the State has held a conservation easement on Club/Reserve lands which allows limited access to some of the more popular places in the Adirondack Park’s High Peaks Wilderness Area.

A press release from DEC cited “reliable access” and public safety along Route 73 among the reasons for the change. The pilot program is slated to run for three years according to DEC. [Read more…] about DEC, Private Club Piloting High Peaks Hiker Reservation System

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Mountain Reserve, Ausable Club, Ausable River, DEC, High Peaks, hiking, Keene, Overuse, Tourism

This Weekend In A New York Sugar Shack

March 19, 2021 by John Warren Leave a Comment

Mike Todriff of Chestertown fires a vintage sugar boiler this week by Shannon HoulihanIt’s that time of year. The sap is running and the buckets and tanks are filling. Backyard syrup makers large and small have been taking advantage of the recent sugaring weather to fire their arches and settle into the ancient and accepted rite of watching the boil.

Whatever you call it – a sugar party, sugaring-off, maple days – people will gather this weekend in old sugar shacks across Upstate New York around rising steam for one of the great revelries of the season. [Read more…] about This Weekend In A New York Sugar Shack

Filed Under: Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Maple Sugaring, Maple Trees

Meet The Lumbersexual

March 15, 2021 by John Warren 3 Comments

Paul Bunyan at Enchanted Forest in Old ForgeIt’s fitting that I just finished bringing in a load of firewood and had plopped into my old wooden chair when I learned I was well attired for the latest fashion craze.

Apparently, according to Gear Junkie, your standard Adirondack men’s wear – work pants, a flannel, an unkept beard – is a thing. Like a cool thing. With fashionistas and all. [Read more…] about Meet The Lumbersexual

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Adirondacks, Fashion History

How Snowmobilers Won Their Special Privileges To Ride On Forever Wild Lands

February 15, 2021 by John Warren 3 Comments

Snowmobilers clear a trail near Nicks Lake in the winter of 1966-67When snowmobiling arrived in the Adirondacks in the mid-1960s, the question of where to ride became the single most important issue faced by both new sled owners and advocates for the protection of the wild character of the Adirondack Forest Preserve.

As a result of efforts by the state’s Conservation Department and lobbying by the snowmobile industry, snowmobilers are today wildly over-represented in terms of access to trails. Although they represent less than 1% of the 7-10 million people who visit the Adirondacks each year, there are currently at least 3 to 4 thousand miles of snowmobile trails in the Adirondack Park,* compared to about 5,000 miles of roads. How this happened is a story that began 50 years ago with what is known as the Wilm Directive. [Read more…] about How Snowmobilers Won Their Special Privileges To Ride On Forever Wild Lands

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Recreation Tagged With: Conservation Department, Saranac Lake, snowmobiling

John Morrissey: Toward Setting The Record Straight

February 12, 2021 by John Warren Leave a Comment

Young John Morrissey detail from a painting held by the Saratoa History MuseumJohn Morrissey was born in Ireland on this day, February 12th, in 1831.

As a result of bigoted attacks by his political enemies being carried forward by later writers like Herbert Asbury in Gangs of New York (1928), he’s been falsely accused of being in criminal league with Tammany Hall, for leading “the dead rabbits gang,” and for being involved in the killing of the nativist William “Bill the Butcher” Poole. [Read more…] about John Morrissey: Toward Setting The Record Straight

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, New York City Tagged With: boxing, John Morrissey, NYC, Political History, Samuel Tilden, Sports History, Tammany Hall, Troy

How The Adirondack Forest Preserve Was Motorized

February 4, 2021 by John Warren 4 Comments

blue mountain post cardThe establishment of the Adirondack Forest Preserve in 1885 was part of growing American appreciation of a back to nature ethic. By the time of the First World War, according to historian Paul Sutter: “Americans produced and consumed voluminous literature on natural and wild themes; they built vacation homes and camps; they initiated a wide variety of programs in scouting and woodcraft; they developed a distinctive hunting culture and ethos; they adopted nature study as a prominent hobby; and the embraced the ‘strenuous life’ that could be found only in the ‘great outdoors.’” [Read more…] about How The Adirondack Forest Preserve Was Motorized

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Recreation Tagged With: camping, DEC, Forest Preserve, snowmobiling

Troy’s Anti-Irish St Patrick’s Day Riot of 1837

January 25, 2021 by John Warren 2 Comments

19th century riot illustration detailOn the Morning of St. Patrick’s Day, 1837, Troy’s Irish immigrants woke to an annual indignation – mocking effigies hung around the city. Boys spent the morning parading one along River Street. A lone brave Irishman attempted to pull it down but was turned away by its defenders. He left the scene, returned with members of the Hibernian Society, and together they moved a second time toward the offending stuffed figure.

“Stones were thrown and the wildest disorder prevailed” at the intersection of Ferry and River streets in the heart of the city. The Irish were outnumbered, and during this short melee several men were injured, John Foster seriously. As word of the fight spread, rumors an Irishman had made an unprovoked attack on an American brought hundreds to the corner. “The crowd began to assume a fearful aspect,” one observer reported, “stones were flying in every direction.” [Read more…] about Troy’s Anti-Irish St Patrick’s Day Riot of 1837

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Catholicism, Crime and Justice, Irish History, Irish Immigrants, Nativism, Political History, Troy

Charbot Germain’s Wrong Turn: An Adirondack Trucking Story

January 20, 2021 by John Warren 1 Comment

tractor trailer on snowmobile trail by NYS Forest Ranger Charles SeveranceOn December 15, 1973, Canadian Charbot Germain attempted to drive his tractor-trailer from Stony Creek to Utica. It didn’t go well.

It started out as tales of the lost often do, with directions from a local.

They suggested Germain shorten his trip by taking Route 8 from the Northway toward North Creek. He found himself instead in Stony Creek, headed down the rough Harrisburg Road in the dark. [Read more…] about Charbot Germain’s Wrong Turn: An Adirondack Trucking Story

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Hope, snowmobiling, Stony Creek, Transportation, Wilcox Lake Wild Forest, Wilcox Mountain

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