News and Views from the Empire State
Jesse Williams, a successful farmer and cheese maker in Rome, believed that farmers could maximize their profits by working together as cooperative dairies. He started a cheese factory in the n 1851 just north of Rome, NY and helped revolutionize the modern cheese industry locally and across the nation. [Read more…] about Jesse Williams’ Early Cheese Factory in Rome, NY
The 2019 Madison County Hop Fest Tour on Sunday, September 15th, will feature exemplary architectural structures that demonstrate the four components of 19th century hop processing, as well as provide new sites of the county’s hop heritage.
Visitors will get to enter the hop houses, see the elements and tools, smell the hop aroma saved in the timbers, and hear the explanations of the processes. The tour will include many “windshield viewings” of other sites included in the 2006 Bicentennial Hop Heritage Trail and in the Cultural Resources Survey supported by a grant from the Preservation League of New York State in 2006. [Read more…] about A Tour of Madison County’s Hop Heritage
The 24th Annual Madison County Hop Fest has been set for Saturday, September 14, at the Madison County Historical Society, 435 Main Street, Oneida.
The Madison County Hop Fest was created to raise awareness of the history and influence of hop culture, as well as for a fund-raiser for the county museum. [Read more…] about Madison County’s Annual Hop Fest Celebrate Hops History
The Hanford Mills Museum in East Meredith, NY, has announced they are seeking exhibitors for the 36th annual Dan Rion Memorial Antique Engine Jamboree and Powerfest, set for Saturday, September 7th.
Exhibits include motors, tractors, farm machines, model engines, vehicles, motorcycles, and more. Exhibitors include members of the Franklin Doodlebug Club, the Southern Tier Antique Gas and Steam Engine Association, the Hudson Mohawk Chapter of the Pioneer Gas Engine Association, the Antique Outboard Motor Club, and the Mohican Car Club. Popular features include a 1926 Ahrens Fox Pumper Firetruck, the 1957 Nash Metropolitan Hook and Ladder Fire Truck Ride from the Catskill Game Farm, and a great variety of engines. [Read more…] about Antique Engine Jamboree Seeking Exhibitors
The Finger Lakes Museum (FLM) has collaborated with Rob Hughes of Big Beams Timber Frames in Cohocton, NY, to offer an Intro to Timber Framing Workshop the week of July 22nd-26th. Sponsored by New Energy Works Timberframers, this five-day class will teach participants the steps to create a structure that will enhance the Creekside Center on the Museum campus. [Read more…] about Timber Framing Workshop at Finger Lakes Museum
Children’s Christmas wishes and expectations years ago were much different from today’s world of high technology. I was so struck by this—the simplicity and innocence—that I included a chapter entitled Letters to Santa in a recent book on the history of Churubusco, New York.
The sample letters below were published in newspapers of northern New York from 1920–1940. They portray the sharp contrast to the modern holiday, where expensive gifts have become the disproportionate norm. [Read more…] about Candy, Nuts, and Fruit: Christmas Gifts of the Past