History, Natural History & the Arts
As we come toward the end of our lucky 13th year of the New York Almanack, I want to say thank you for reading and for your support.
It’s also time to ask for your help in raising the last $6,600 to reach our 2021 fundraising goal.
Please make a contribution online at our new Rally.org page: https://rally.org/f/4LBVKo9zYjO Or, send a check to: [Read more…] about Please Support New York Almanack’s Year-End Fundraising
The Oneida County resorts of Sylvan and Verona Beach are located on the sandy eastern shore of Oneida Lake. This twenty-two mile lake, and its geographic orientation, affords this setting spectacular sunsets. These factors made the eastern shore a desirable vacation destination in the nineteenth century, and a thriving resort community developed along Wood Creek.
Originally, Wood Creek had been improved in the late eighteenth century by the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company as part of that private entity’s effort to link the Mohawk River to Lake Ontario. [Read more…] about A Canal Gunpowder Blast: The Day Verona Beach’s Waterfront Was Razed
Before the Civil War, as many as 100,000 people escaped from slavery, some alone and some with help from allies of African, European, and Indigenous descent. As a major transportation hub, Oneida County, NY became a center of this national movement.
Many freedom seekers went through Oneida County on their way to safety in Canada. [Read more…] about The Underground Railroad in Oneida County (Virtual Program)
DEC and The Nature Conservancy have announced the acquisition of 161 acres in the town of Sempronius in the Owasco Lake watershed. The acquisition of the Ward property will help protect public water supplies and safeguard riparian buffers and wetlands. [Read more…] about Owasco Lake Watershed Land Acquired for Protection
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers. [Read more…] about Rangers Rescue Injured, Lost Hikers & Hunters
According to a press release issued by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, on October 14, 2021 Forest Rangers Hettenbaugh and Thaine patrolled the Gas Springs State Forest in the town of Birdsall, Allegany County in search of previously identified marijuana plants.
According to their report, While approaching the site, Ranger Hettenbaugh noticed some of the plants were removed and heard someone running through the woods. The Ranger said he chased after the subject. [Read more…] about Arrests Made For Growing Marijuana On State Land
Since 1977 Rome Sports Hall of Fame (RSHF) has annually inducted local athletes, coaches, and sports personalities into their Hall of Fame. Alongside the Hall of Fame, they have a museum exhibiting local sports artifacts and memorabilia at their facility located at 5790 Rome New London Road.
The Rome Historical Society (RHS) will host “Rome Olympic Athletes,” a virtual program by Rome Sports Hall of Fame Executive Director, David Sbaraglia on Wednesday, October 20th. [Read more…] about Rome NY Olympic Athletes (Virtual Program)
Professor George H. Fischer (1869-1952) was a well-known Utica composer of sacred music, organ lesson books, and military marches. Fisher was invited to sit in with John Phillip Sousa and his band during a concert at the Stanley Theater in Utica on April 1st, 1897.
Fischer spent decades at St. John’s Church as organist, but also played a major role in the music scene in the Mohawk Valley. His music was published by the J. Fischer & Bro. Music Publishers of New York City, and played all over the world. He also served as the conductor of the Utica Symphony Orchestra.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers. [Read more…] about Adirondack, Catskills Rescues Keep Rangers Busy
Following his political successes in the disputed Election of 1824, Thurlow Weed was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1825 and again in 1830.
In the 1820s, like many in Upstate New York with populist, anti-elite feelings, Weed strongly believed the Masons were trying to control government using secret means. He felt that political affairs should be conducted publicly and particularly opposed the fraternal secrecy of Freemasonry. An alleged conspiracy by Masons to murder William Morgan in Western New York in September, 1826 sparked the anti-Freemasonry movement. Weed began publishing the Anti-Masonic Enquirer in Rochester, NY in February, 1828.
Soon Weed was hired as editor of the newly formed Anti-Masonic Albany Evening Journal, which began publication on March 22, 1830. The move to Albany made him a statewide leader of the fledgling Anti-Masonic Party. [Read more…] about The End of the Whigs: Thurlow Weed & The Birth of the Republican Party