History, Natural History & the Arts
Stories from the Mohawk Valley from Albany to Oneida Counties including the Erie Canalway and Mohawk River, and communities like Schenectady, Amsterdam, Little Falls, Herkimer, Utica, and Rome.
On October 1, 1930, as America was sinking toward the depths of the Great Depression, the people of Johnstown, NY celebrated. The Knox Athletic Field complex officially opened.
The fifteen-acre plot in the town located between Albany and Utica was gifted to the Johnstown School district by Mrs. Charles B. (Rose) Knox, the President of Knox Gelatine from 1908-1947 and a resident of Johnstown for all of her adult life. [Read more…] about The Knox Athletic Field Complex in Johnstown
Roughly 42.6 million Americans (16% of adults) collectively owe about $1.86 trillion in total student loan debt (federal and private loans), $1.724 trillion federally backed.
The average federal student loan debt balance is about $40,000 per borrower. About 10 million people are already in default. That number is expected to skyrocket in the current wildly inflationary economy. [Read more…] about Uncertainty, Financial Chaos Face Tens of Millions With Student Loans
New York State boasts some of the best fall foliage colors in the country shades of yellow, orange, and red across most of the upstate landscape. Peak fall foliage changes year to year but is generally best in late September through mid-October. [Read more…] about The Best Times & Places for Fall Foliage in New York
The New York Study of Public and Private Museums has been released. The study was a statewide census of all chartered museums in New York, conducted by Empire State Development, New York State Council on the Arts, New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, New York State Department of State, and the New York State Education Department. [Read more…] about The New York Museums Report Released
In December 1776, the American Revolution was just getting started and New York was in crisis. New York’s delegates to Philadelphia had signed the Declaration of Independence in July 1776.
But by the end of the year, though, New York was in peril – Long Island and the city of New York had been occupied by the British, the Westchester County region was not in control of either side, and British authorities were appealing to New Yorkers to abandon the rebels and support the Crown. [Read more…] about Rouse, Brave Citizens: An Appeal to New Yorkers to Support Revolution
The Iroquois Museum in Schoharie County is hosting a Fall Speaker Series focused on Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) history and the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution on Sunday afternoons through September and October. These in-person events are funded in part by the New York State Education Department’s America 250 Initiative; the event is included in Museum admission. [Read more…] about Haudenosaunee & The American Revolution Speaker Series
In 1914, after secretly running Knox Gelatine for six years, Rose Knox revealed that she’d assumed her deceased husband’s position as the company’s president.
As President of company from 1908 to 1947, she drew on traditional ideals of domesticity and womanhood to turn the company into an iconic American brand and herself into a business celebrity. [Read more…] about Rose Knox’s Gelatine, Leadership, Mixed Kitchen & Boardroom
Help build our community! Include the New York Almanack in your organization’s newsletter and get a few advertisement here on the site. The Almanack will be read by at least 1.5 million people over the next year – mostly New Yorkers interested in history and natural history. [Read more…] about Include the Almanack in Your Newsletter – Get A Free Advert
Federal authorities arrested 2,197 people across New York last month during what they have derisively named “Operation Rotten Apple,” the highest monthly immigration arrest total since the Trump administration’s round-ups began in New York State. [Read more…] about With ‘Operation Rotten Apple’ Upstate Police Round-Ups Surge
The New York Provincial Congress was one of the first revolutionary bodies to outline a new inter-colonial program to finance the Revolutionary War.
On May 26, 1775, only two weeks after the Second Continental Congress met at Philadelphia, the Provincial Congress wrote to New York’s delegates that it was “clearly impossible” to raise by taxes a sum “adequate to the public service” and that it was equally certain that the existing paper money of the various states could not obtain ‘”universal circulation.” [Read more…] about Financing the Revolution: National, State & Local Currencies
The Little Falls Cheese Festival has announced Saturday, October 3 as the date for this year’s Cheese Festival. The festival takes place along Main Street from 10 am to 5 pm, featuring New York State cheese-makers, gourmet foods, craft beverages, live music, and plenty of delicious reasons to bring friends and family along. [Read more…] about Little Falls Cheese Festival Planned for October 3rd
Just six weeks after Patriots at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia declared independence on July 4, 1776, tens of thousands of troops clashed in one of the largest engagements of the American Revolution, across now-unrecognizable areas of New York City. [Read more…] about Battle of Brooklyn 250th Anniversary Spawns Battlefield App
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers responded to multiple backcountry incidents from August 18th through August 22nd. These included lost and injured hikers, stranded and injured boaters, an injured cliff jumper and more. [Read more…] about Forest Rangers Respond to Lost, Injured Outdoor Recreationists
In colonial times Americans encouraged immigration, even in the Declaration of Independence.
“He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither,” Patriots wrote in reference to King George III’s limits on immigration to the colonies. [Read more…] about Genealogy Workshop: 19th-Century Immigrant Ancestor Travel
Over the last three-plus decades, Bill Kauffman has written about and interviewed upstate New York novelists, politicians, and civic activists who have given the region much of its interest to the author.
Upstaters: Poets, Pols, Prophets and Bush-League Heroes of Upstate New York (SUNY Press, 2026) collects these into a single volume. [Read more…] about Upstaters: Poets, Pols, Prophets & Bush-League Heroes
New York State Forest Rangers and local emergency crews responded to ten incidents involving a wildland fire and backcountry wilderness rescues over the past week. The wildfire occurred in the Town of Webb, where crews used an inflatable boat to transport supplies and extinguish an unattended campfire that spread to 100 square feet. [Read more…] about Rangers Kept Busy With Wildfire & Adirondack, Catskills Rescues
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), in partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oneida County 4-H and the City of Utica, will host a free Learn-to-Fish event on Saturday, August 15, at Utica Harbor Point.
Learning to fish encourages outdoor recreation, promotes stewardship of fisheries, and introduces participants to safe and responsible angling. [Read more…] about Free Inclusive Learn-to-Fish Event at Utica Saturday
In March 1902, eighty-five-year-old Alvah Dunning traveled from the Adirondacks to New York City for a sportsmen’s exhibition. By then, photographs and newspaper profiles had made his white beard and weathered face familiar. Visitors were not meeting an unknown woodsman.
They were being introduced to “Uncle Alvah,” a man presented as one of the last survivors of the Adirondacks before railroads, hotels and private preserves changed the region. [Read more…] about Alvah Dunning: The Guide Behind the Adirondack Hermit
Jeanne Robert Foster (1879-1970) was an American occultist, Theosophist, poet, fashion model, journalist and social worker from the Adirondack Mountains. A disciple of Aleister Crowley (1875-1947), she was also known by the magical name Sister Hilarion.
Foster’s friends included many of the period’s leading authors and artists. She is buried next to her friend John Butler Yeats (1839-1922), the painter and father of William Butler Yeats, in the Foster family plot in Chestertown, NY. [Read more…] about Jeanne Robert Foster in Her Own Words
Back on May 28, 2026 the New York State Legislature passed the Solar Up Now New York (SUNNY) Act (A.9111C/S.8512C), which would remove red tape and legalize “balcony solar,” the small, plug-in solar panels that everyday families can use to lower their energy bills and generate renewable energy.
After two months, the bill is still awaiting Governor Kathy Hochul‘s signature. [Read more…] about Balcony Solar Plug-in Power Awaits NY Governor Hochul’s Signature
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