Saratoga National Historical Park is planning a series of prescribed fires in the coming weeks. The areas to be burned this year include approximately 40 acres of grasses, shrubs, and woodlands on the hillsides around Stop 3 and Stop 9 on the Park Tour Road. [Read more…] about Prescribed Burns Planned at Saratoga Battlefield
Capital-Saratoga
When Clifton Park Had Its Own Amusement Park
On April 3rd, 1935, wrecking crews began the demolition of buildings and rides that comprised an amusement park in Rexford, Saratoga County, NY.
Few remember when Clifton Park had its own amusement park. It was located on the Mohawk River in Rexford near the Alplaus border from 1906 to 1933. [Read more…] about When Clifton Park Had Its Own Amusement Park
Columbia County Road Tour Explores Local Movie History
The Columbia County Historical Society (CCHS) has announced the return of “Drive Through History,” a series of free, self-guided road trips. [Read more…] about Columbia County Road Tour Explores Local Movie History
Suffrage Centennial Embroidery Exhibit Extended Through Summer
The Folklife Center at Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls, Warren County, NY, has announced the extension of the current exhibition, Equali-tea: Suffragist Tea Cozies in Redwork: A Centennial Suffrage Exhibition through summer 2021.
The suffrage centennial exhibit is the work of embroiderer Tisha Dolton. [Read more…] about Suffrage Centennial Embroidery Exhibit Extended Through Summer
Train Ferries: The Hudson River’s Most Unusual Steamers
Among 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
Juvenile Eel Monitoring Getting Underway
All along the Hudson River estuary, teachers, students, and local residents will be donning waders and venturing into tributary streams to participate in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) ongoing research on migrating juvenile American eels (Anguilla rostrata). [Read more…] about Juvenile Eel Monitoring Getting Underway
Small Farms in April in the Nineteenth Century
April is the month when Spring weather typically calls out, “Ready or not, here I come,” and compels nature and humans of New York to come out from winter hiding.
“Happy is the farmer who has got everything ready for the active labors of the coming season. But no matter how thoroughly he is prepared there will always be plenty to do,” the agriculture columnist wrote in the April 25th, 1874 Ticonderoga Sentinel.
The task list was long and varied in the month of getting ready to make hay while the sun shines. [Read more…] about Small Farms in April in the Nineteenth Century
USS Slater Opening for the Season
USS Slater, the last Destroyer Escort afloat in America, is set to open to the public for her 24th season in Albany on Wednesday April 7th, at 10 am. [Read more…] about USS Slater Opening for the Season
Patriot Then Traitor: Saratoga County’s Joe Bettys
On April Fool’s Day, April 1st, 1782, Joe Bettys was hanged. It was, as was the custom, a public spectacle in Albany where the notorious traitor had been taken for his trial and sentencing.
On the scaffold, just after a noose was tied around his neck, he jumped to his death, thereby depriving his executioners from carrying out his sentence. [Read more…] about Patriot Then Traitor: Saratoga County’s Joe Bettys
Troy’s Washington Park Assoc. Reorganizing After 181 Years
Troy’s Washington Park Association (WPA) is reorganizing after more than 180 years to become a new homeowners association.
Washington Park was laid out in 1840 and is one of only two privately owned urban ornamental parks in New York State. At the time, Troy was an industrial powerhouse and the houses surrounding Washington Park were home to captains of industry and commerce.
The buildings imitated the homes in wealthy New York City neighborhoods. As a stand-in for Gramercy Park, Washington Park provided the “old New York” scenery in films like Martin Scorcese’s The Age of Innocence (1993) and will appear in HBO’s upcoming The Gilded Age (2021). [Read more…] about Troy’s Washington Park Assoc. Reorganizing After 181 Years