History

The Odd Couple Who Paved the Way for Modern Broadway

November 16, 2020 by Guest Contributor 3 Comments

The early history of the city of New York’s vaunted theater district provides yet another illustration of how oft-repeated narratives become accepted truths. On the website of the New York Preservation Archive Project, we find the following:

“The Broadway Theater District originated in the early 1900s as theaters began to move from Union Square and Madison Square Garden further uptown to the Times Square area because of its cheaper real estate.” [Read more…] about The Odd Couple Who Paved the Way for Modern Broadway

The Hudson River’s Fortress of Shoddy in Troy

November 16, 2020 by Suzanne Spellen 3 Comments

Driving north on I-787 approaching Troy you can see an iconic building – a tall red brick building with turrets that looks like a fortress.

It’s at 1 Jackson Street. What I like to call the Fortress of Shoddy. [Read more…] about The Hudson River’s Fortress of Shoddy in Troy

Hudson River Dam History: The Big Hadley And Glen Dams

November 16, 2020 by Mike Prescott 3 Comments

One day as my wife and I and our dogs walked along River Road at Riparius on the Hudson River, my wife said to me in a folksy manner “just think all this water here, is on its way to New York City.”

It’s true the Hudson River has flowed out of the Adirondack Mountains for millennia, southward towards the Atlantic Ocean. And over the last two centuries or so there have been plans to dam the Upper Hudson for one reason or another. Most of those plans have dealt with using the water resources for some down state endeavor. [Read more…] about Hudson River Dam History: The Big Hadley And Glen Dams

Concrete, Plywood and Soviet Spies

November 15, 2020 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

In fiction, poetry or song, houses are treated as living organisms. They are noble, respectable, or infamous. There are houses of high rank and those of low repute – houses have human characteristics and their individual biographies.

The Isokon Building in Hampstead tells a striking tale of recent historical events. At the time of completion, it was one of the few modernist dwellings in London’s cityscape; the block of flats housed a number of notable refugees from Nazi Germany; almost simultaneously it served as a recruitment office for Soviet spies. Crucial aspects of post-war American cultural and political developments originated in a few flats in this leafy corner of North West London. [Read more…] about Concrete, Plywood and Soviet Spies

Martin Luther King In The Catskills

November 15, 2020 by John Conway 1 Comment

In October of 1960, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a speech entitled “The Future of Integration” at the annual convention of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union in the Catskills at the Laurels Country Club in Sackett Lake, Sullivan County, NY.

Less than two weeks after that October 8th appearance, he was sitting in jail for attempting to integrate the lunch counter at Rich’s Department Store in Atlanta, Georgia. [Read more…] about Martin Luther King In The Catskills

Researching Fulton County’s First Roman Catholic Church

November 13, 2020 by Bob Cudmore Leave a Comment

This week’s guest on The Historians Podcast is retired Army Colonel Dave Cummings who discusses efforts to research St. Joseph’s Shrine and its nearby cemetery in the Adirondack hill town of Bleecker, NY.

Constructed in the 1850s, St. Joseph’s Church, torn down in 1919, was the first Roman Catholic Church built in Fulton County. [Read more…] about Researching Fulton County’s First Roman Catholic Church

The 1869 Shooting of Thomas Brown in Corinth

November 13, 2020 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

A fatal mistake on Sunday evening, November 7th, 1869 resulted in the death of Thomas Brown, agent and superintendent of the Palmer Falls Water Power Company and Woolen Factory in Corinth.

Brown, a Scottish immigrant, had come to the area from Niagara Falls as a speculator with plans to improve the water flow on the Hudson River at Palmer Falls. He hoped to sell or lease rights to the abundant waterpower with property along the Hudson to manufacturers. A canal was added to provide hydropower to an edge tool factory operated by Brown in 1860. [Read more…] about The 1869 Shooting of Thomas Brown in Corinth

Insults, Brawls and Uncounted Ballots: Elections in Federalist New York

November 13, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Albany Institute of History & Art has announced “Personal Insults, Street Brawls, and Uncounted Ballots: Electoral Politics in Federalist New York” an online program set for Thursday, November 19th. [Read more…] about Insults, Brawls and Uncounted Ballots: Elections in Federalist New York

North Country Books Closing After 55 Years

November 12, 2020 by John Warren 3 Comments

North Country Books, a Utica publisher and major wholesaler and distributor of books throughout Upstate New York and Northern New England, is expected to close by the end of the year according to company owner Rob Igoe Jr.

The firm is a victim of COVID-19 Pandemic, Igoe told the New York Almanack, but noted that times have been tough since their biggest clients, Borders and Walden Books, closed in 2011. [Read more…] about North Country Books Closing After 55 Years

Blues at Timbuctoo Going Online Saturday

November 12, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

John Brown Lives! and the Adirondack Film Society have announced Blues At Timbuctoo 2020, virtual concert and panel discussion set for Saturday, November 14th.

Blues at Timbuctoo 2020 is a professionally recorded film of nationally renowned vocalists, instrumentalists, performers, and storytellers. [Read more…] about Blues at Timbuctoo Going Online Saturday