In celebration of the return of maple sugaring season in New York State, Genesee Country Village & Museum in Monroe County will host its annual Maple Sugar Festival on Saturday and Sunday, March 18th and 19th, and Saturday and Sunday, March 25th and 26th. [Read more…] about Genesee Country Village Maple Sugar Festival Begins March 18th
Western NY
Behind-The-Scenes Tours of Oneida Co History Center
Like many museums, the Oneida County History Center has more artifacts than can be displayed in its exhibit gallery. The History Center cares for a growing collection of over 250,000 documents and books, thousands of images including photographs, paintings, slides, drawings, and thousands of artifacts. Many are rare collection items that are not frequently seen on exhibit. [Read more…] about Behind-The-Scenes Tours of Oneida Co History Center
Seeps Keep Erie Canal, Glens Falls Feeder Canal Levels Lower
The New York State Canal Corporation has announced that water levels this navigation season in the Erie Canal between Lock E-30 (Macedon) and Locks E-34/35 (Lockport) will be consistent with levels maintained throughout 2022 – approximately one foot lower than historic levels. [Read more…] about Seeps Keep Erie Canal, Glens Falls Feeder Canal Levels Lower
Old Fort Niagara’s Winter Warriors
Members of the Brigade of the American Revolution, an international organization dedicated to the portrayal of common soldiers of the American Revolution will garrison Old Fort Niagara and provide visitors with a variety of interpretive programs depicting life in a winter garrison for both soldiers and civilians on February 18th and 19th. [Read more…] about Old Fort Niagara’s Winter Warriors
Revivalism and Educational Reform: Roots in Oneida County
Three notable 19th century religious and education figures started their paths to national fame in Westernville, Oneida County, NY: Rev. Charles Grandison Finney, Rev. George Washington Gale and Theodore Dwight Weld. [Read more…] about Revivalism and Educational Reform: Roots in Oneida County
‘Bad Luck Barquentine’ Wreck Found in Lake Superior
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) has discovered the wreck of the 144-foot Barquentine Nucleus. The Nucleus was found under 600 feet of water around 40 miles northwest of Vermilion Point on Lake Superior. [Read more…] about ‘Bad Luck Barquentine’ Wreck Found in Lake Superior
The Judge and the Anarchist
A fiery anarchist and an ambitious political boss with judicial aspirations never actually met, but their lives collided twice in the first decade of the twentieth century, with national repercussions amid changes in law, politics, and culture that heralded the new American century. [Read more…] about The Judge and the Anarchist
Science & Suckers: The Cohoes Mastodon & The Cardiff Giant
In 1866, NY State Geologist James Hall received a message from T.G. Younglove, an official at Harmony Mills in Cohoes, New York, informing Hall that while conducting some excavations to expand the mill they uncovered a “great pothole” at the foot of Cohoes Falls where the Mohawk River begins to empty into the Hudson.
The “great pothole” contained a large jawbone “of some unknown beast,” much larger than that of an elephant. [Read more…] about Science & Suckers: The Cohoes Mastodon & The Cardiff Giant
Assassin in Utopia: The Oneida Community & The Garfield Assassination
The new book An Assassin in Utopia: The True Story of a Nineteenth-Century Sex Cult and a President’s Murder (Pegasus Crime, 2023) by Susan Wels is a true crime odyssey that explores a forgotten, astonishing chapter of American history, leading the reader from a free-love community in Upstate New York to the shocking assassination of President James Garfield. [Read more…] about Assassin in Utopia: The Oneida Community & The Garfield Assassination
Old Fort Niagara During the Civil War
Although Fort Niagara was far from the Civil War’s theaters of combat, the fort still played a role in the conflict. The fort was garrisoned for almost a year by elements the Seventh Infantry after they were captured near St. Augustine Springs, New Mexico in July 1861.
As part of the surrender terms, the Seventh promised not to fight until exchanged for Confederate prisoners. This brought them to Western New York, where they would serve far from the action until October 1862. [Read more…] about Old Fort Niagara During the Civil War