New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Arts

Ellis Corners: Before Saratoga Spa State Park & SPAC

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Ellis Property Map 1822 courtesy Saratoga Springs City ArchivesI think one of the most intriguing aspects of being a history buff is peeling back the layers of history beneath the surface of a well-known location. We drive by today and wonder – what was it like 50 years ago? 100 years ago? Even 200 years ago.

What homes, barns, taverns, and other structures were there, long since gone? Which buildings still exist along the road, often remodeled to the point where they might be unrecognizable to the original inhabitants? Who lived there? What roads did they travel to get to the next crossroads, the next village? Do we still follow the same routes that existed back in the day? [Read more…] about Ellis Corners: Before Saratoga Spa State Park & SPAC

James Eights: An Albany Artist-Scientist Who Explored Antarctica in 1830

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portrait of James EightsIn the late 1700s and early 1800s, there were a growing number of adventurers anxious to explore the sea, find new lands, chart new islands, and if they made their fortune while doing it, all the better.

There were also those just trying to get away from home and signing on to a whaling ship seemed the adventure of a lifetime. [Read more…] about James Eights: An Albany Artist-Scientist Who Explored Antarctica in 1830

Poetry: Blackflies, Hence Wisdom

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Blackflies, Hence Wisdom

The summer after I got out of the Army
in February 1968, Chris and I, who had
married while I was still serving, lived at
Mateskared from mid-April into October.
This was, even to this day, my worst ever
experience of blackflies. My family’s habit
of August vacations put us in the “between
season,” as the late Earl Allen often said:
“First the snow flies, then the blackflies.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson would have added:
“Blackflies live up to the brag about them.”
[Read more…] about Poetry: Blackflies, Hence Wisdom

NYC Poets Afloat at South Street Seaport Museum Sunday

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Poet Matt TurnerPoets from around New York City will recite poetry aboard tall ship Wavertree at the South Street Seaport Museum on Sunday, May 15th, from 2 to 4 pm.

The poets will share poetry written during their time spent aboard vessels around New York Harbor during National Poetry Month as part of NYC Poets Afloat, a poetry micro-residency and reading series. [Read more…] about NYC Poets Afloat at South Street Seaport Museum Sunday

Immersive Theatre Performance Brings Gilded Age To Life In Albany

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swept cleanHistoric Cherry Hill in Albany will host “Swept Clean,” an immersive theatre experience written by Dr. Krysta Dennis, which tells the Gilded Age story of crisis and romance following the financial ruin of the Van Rensselaer descendants residing at Cherry Hill. [Read more…] about Immersive Theatre Performance Brings Gilded Age To Life In Albany

Art of Edward Lange Project Launched With Website, Events

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Edward Lange, [Northport, Lower Main Street], 1880 from the Collection of Preservation Long IslandPreservation Long Island has announced the Art of Edward Lange Project, a collaborative effort to reexamine the life and art of Edward Lange (1846–1912), a German immigrant and prolific landscape painter who worked in and around Huntington, Long Island during the 1870s and 1880s. Lange sketched and painted town centers, local businesses, and private residences. [Read more…] about Art of Edward Lange Project Launched With Website, Events

Four Nymphs, a Satyr and Manhattan’s Ladies’ Mile

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Portrait of John David WolfeUntil the mid-1860s the Fifth Avenue area around Madison Square was Manhattan’s “aristocratic” heart. Its brownstone mansions were occupied by the city’s elite. The gradual incursion of commerce into this residential haven started with high-class hotels.

In 1864 Hoffmann House was one of the first to open its doors. Owned by Cassius H. Read, it was located on the corner of 25th Street & Broadway and contained tree hundred rooms with all the latest conveniences. The establishment proudly advertised its lavish furnishings, carefully chosen artworks, and refined French (Parisian) cuisine. At a time that hotel living was becoming a fashionable alternative to owning a family mansion for wealthy New Yorkers, Hoffmann House was recommended as the most comfortable and homelike residence in the metropolis.

During the 1880s the hotel’s “grand salon” became one of New York’s “secretive” attractions for a very specific reason. [Read more…] about Four Nymphs, a Satyr and Manhattan’s Ladies’ Mile