New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Hudson Valley - Catskills

Building the Ashokan Reservoir: A New Book, Talk Planned

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buildling of the Ashokan damIn Building the Ashokan Reservoir (Images of America, 2021), Frank Almquist brings to life the story of how this massive dam, miles of dikes, and water controls was built more than 100 years ago mostly by hand, an undertaking nearly the magnitude of the Panama Canal.

Construction started on September 30th, 1907 and the dam and dikes, followed by roads and bridges, was completed in December, 1917. Completion was ahead of schedule and under budget. [Read more…] about Building the Ashokan Reservoir: A New Book, Talk Planned

Grants Now Available for Hudson River Estuary Communities

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DEC LogoNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced $1.14 million in competitive grant funding is now available to help communities in the Hudson River Estuary watershed increase resiliency to flooding, protect water quality, fish, and wildlife habitat, and improve recreational access and education for all, including people with disabilities and New Yorkers living in communities historically and disproportionately overburdened by environmental pollution. [Read more…] about Grants Now Available for Hudson River Estuary Communities

15th Year of Juvenile Eel Monitoring Begins

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american eel courtesy Wikimedia user Clinton & Charles RobertsonNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that all along the Hudson River Estuary, teachers, students, and local residents are donning waders and venturing into tributary streams to participate in DEC’s ongoing research on migrating juvenile American eels (Anguilla rostrata). [Read more…] about 15th Year of Juvenile Eel Monitoring Begins

Dr Rosetta Sherwood Hall: Catskills to Korea

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Rosetta Sherwood HallDr. Rosetta Sherwood Hall was born in Liberty in Sullivan County, NY on September 19th, 1865, grew up on the family farm and attended the Chestnut Ridge School and the Liberty Normal Institute.

After receiving her teaching degree from Oswego, she taught in local schools for a few years before entering the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1886, and becoming a missionary doctor in Korea in 1890.

Her pioneering work with deaf and blind Korean children and her founding of what eventually became the Korea University College of Medicine in Seoul. [Read more…] about Dr Rosetta Sherwood Hall: Catskills to Korea

DEC Now Hiring Summer Recreation Season Staff

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DEC LogoThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the availability of employment opportunities for the summer recreational season. Individuals looking for seasonal summer employment who enjoy the outdoors are encouraged to learn more about opportunities to work at DEC facilities. [Read more…] about DEC Now Hiring Summer Recreation Season Staff

Crimes Against Butter: The Oleomargarine Controversy

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Hippolyte Mège-MourièsThe butter trade was once so important to dairy farmers in Orange County, NY that the bank in Goshen, the county seat, printed its currency on yellow paper. Popularly known as “butter money,” this currency symbolized how significant the trade in butter was to dairy farmers in dairy regions across the state prior to the introduction of refrigerated railroad cars to ship raw milk, first using blocks of ice and then mechanical cooling.

The original shipment of milk from Orange County to New York City is believed to have taken place in the spring of 1842 via the New York & Erie Railroad. Prior to this raw milk could be transported only short distances by farm wagon.

Butter, however, could be transported to markets many miles from the farm or factory where it was produced. As symbolized by “butter money,” blocks of butter were once as good as gold. [Read more…] about Crimes Against Butter: The Oleomargarine Controversy

Firefighting Museum Is Horsing Around With Mini Horse Mania April 23rd

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horsing around at the museumEstablished in 1925 with an original donation of four fire engines, the FASNY Museum of Firefighting in Hudson, Columbia County, New York has grown into an educational institution occupying more than 50,000 square feet and featuring 90 vintage and rare fire engines dating back to 1731.

The Museum will host “Horsing Around at the Museum: Mini Horse Mania!,” a program about how firefighters cared for fire horses, set for April 23rd. [Read more…] about Firefighting Museum Is Horsing Around With Mini Horse Mania April 23rd

A Horse’s World at Staatsburgh (Children’s Event)

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Staatsburgh estate horsesStaatsburgh State Historic Site will host “A Horse’s World at Staatsburgh,” an interpretive landscape walk for children focused on the site’s horse history set for Friday, April 15th and Saturday, April 16th at 1 pm. [Read more…] about A Horse’s World at Staatsburgh (Children’s Event)

Hudson River Railroad & Steamboat History: Piermont Pier

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Piermont Pier as it looks today courtesy Synchronous New YorkHand-built in the mid-1800s, the 4,000-foot-long Piermont Pier on the Hudson River in Rockland County was once a terminus of the longest railroad in the world – the Erie Railroad.

Hampered by rules about railroads crossing state lines, the Erie built a pier nearly a mile long across the marshy bay at Piermont and out to the deeper parts of the Hudson River, where steamboats could pick up passengers and take them on to New York City. [Read more…] about Hudson River Railroad & Steamboat History: Piermont Pier