History, Natural History & the Arts
With a length of 803.8 feet, it was a massive airship, only 80 feet shorter than the 1912-sunk, ocean-liner Titanic.
Along with its sister craft, the LZ-130, the LZ-129 Hindenburg was the largest-man-made object to ever fly. [Read more…] about 1936: The Airship Hindenburg Over Lake George
What does a sunken auto in Lake George, New York and New York City’s Apollo Theatre have in common? Well, both were owned by one of the country’s most influential citizens of post-World War One America.
Sydney S. Cohen was the president of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America. During an era when there were no televisions in American homes, nearly every town across the country had at least one movie house. [Read more…] about A Sunken Lake George Car and the Apollo Theatre
In 1901, Saratoga Springs’ Katrina Trask (1853–1922) purchased Lake George’s Diamond Island for the reported sum of $750. Three years later in 1904, Ms. Trask, an ardent pacifist, funded the creation of a large granite peace obelisk that was installed at the north end of the island. [Read more…] about 1904: A Peace Obelisk Erected on Diamond Island, Lake George
Piracy is the act of illegal violence or robbery at sea, or in this case, at the “Queen of American Lakes.”
The 32-mile-long Lake George may not be the Spanish Main (Spanish territory and waters in the Western Hemisphere ) of the 16th to 18th centuries, but over the years it has surprisingly had a few incidents of buccaneering. [Read more…] about X Marks the Spot: Piracy at Lake George, New York
![Sketch by Joseph W. Zarzynski depicting the sinking of the steamboat Helen [II] on Lake George on July 21, 1897](https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Sketch-by-Joseph-W-Zarzynski-depicting-the-sinking-of-the-steamboat-Helen-II-on-Lake-George-on-July-21-1897-300x214.jpg)
It was a bit of an unlucky vessel. The 65-foot long, 75 horse-power Lake George steam yacht Helen [II] was constructed by shipbuilder Chris Bates. The watercraft was built in 1892 on land just north of today’s Old Warren County Courthouse in the Town of Lake George, New York.
Charles F. Burhans, a summer resident of nearby Warrensburg, was principal owner of the “handsome” boat. An earlier Burhans family steamboat, also named Helen, was sold after the new craft was launched. [Read more…] about Lake George’s Unlucky 1897 Steam Yacht
In 1868 a Lake George island reportedly sank following an earthquake and “tremendous upheaval of waters.” It was early January and newspapers around the state and elsewhere published a story similar to this quote from the Buffalo Daily Courier about “the sudden sinking of Recluse Island near Bolton, Lake George.” [Read more…] about 1868 Hoax: The Day a Lake George Island “Sank”
For over a decade, scientists, environmentalists, and local and state government officials have been challenged by the invasion of Golden Clams into Lake George. However, in the summer of 1948, a renowned marathon swimmer, Frenchman Paul Chotteau (1898–1963), tried to introduce another invasive species, a shark, into the “Queen of American Lakes.”
In August 1948, Chotteau contacted Warren County Sheriff Edgar J. Baker asking permission to try out a shark-powered pontoon boat which the distance swimmer had designed. [Read more…] about The 1948 Lake George Shark-Propelled Boat Incident
It was September 12, 1955. Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, the Cold War raged, Elvis Presley had recently made his first American television appearance, and the front-page headline of Albany‘s Knickerbocker News read: “U.S. Planes Hunt ‘Mystery Object’ Sighted Over Lake George Area.”
What was even stranger was that Lake George was not alone with UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) sightings. Around the country, other celestial phenomena had been spotted that day, too. [Read more…] about 1955: The Day A UFO Buzzed Lake George
When one thinks of Lake George, NY, one might conjure up visions of beautiful blue water, sandy beaches, and bountiful history. Here is a story from six-decades ago that generates all three of those mental images. The decade of the 1960s in America was a rebellious era and Lake George was certainly not an exception.
At the start of that decade in 1960, a song, “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” sung by Brian Hyland, became a huge hit. The bubblegum-pop tune was about a shy-young woman embarrassed to appear on the beach because of her “itsy bitsy” bikini, that two-piece bathing suit that soon became the norm for female beach attire. [Read more…] about 1964 Fashion History: The Monokini & Lake George
For decades, UFOs have been spotted in the skies around the world, mercurial celestial phenomena, here and then gone. Few places, however, have had a flying saucer that rested on the ground puzzling curious visitors.
Lake George Village is one of but a few spots on Planet Earth that can boast it was home to an alien-looking structure, called Futuro or Futuro House. [Read more…] about Futuro: Lake George’s Flying Saucer Home
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