NYS Forest Rangers had a busy week responding to a wildfire and several outdoor recreationists in distress, including lost, injured and ill hikers, and a lost ATV rider. [Read more…] about Rangers Spend Busy Week Responding to Recreationists in Distress
Hudson River
New York Horse Ferries: A Short History
Early ferry travel across New York’s rivers and large lakes relied on rowboats, scows, barges, or sail ferries, which were vulnerable to shifting currents and bad weather. New York’s horse ferries bridged the gap between this unpredictable transportation and the mechanical age.
Known as “teamboats,” these vessels emerged in 1814 as a direct response to the commercial monopoly held by Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston over steam navigation in New York waters. [Read more…] about New York Horse Ferries: A Short History
New York’s Great Warpath & Historian Harrison Bird
Lake George, NY resident Harrison Bird (1910-2003) belonged to a rare class of historians, those whose situate the local within the continental and, indeed, the global.
In four books published by Oxford University Press – Navies in the Mountains (1962), March to Saratoga (1963), Battle for a Continent (1965) and Attack on Quebec (1968) – Bird wrote about Lake George, Lake Champlain, Fort Ticonderoga, Saratoga, Quebec and the northern waterways not as isolated historic sites, but as parts of one strategic corridor: the route by which empires, armies, navies and ambitions moved between Canada and the Hudson Valley. [Read more…] about New York’s Great Warpath & Historian Harrison Bird
Naval Power & The 1776 Taking of New York City
The occupation of New York Harbor, and the capture of the city of New York were the most conspicuous British successes of the summer and fall of 1776 during the Revolutionary War. In June, Commodore Peter Parker (1721-1811) and General Henry Clinton (1730-1795) were meeting with defeat at the Battle of Sullivan’s Island at Charleston, SC, and Benedict Arnold was racing to construct a makeshift naval fleet to stall a British invasion from Canada on Lake Champlain.
At the same time, two brothers, General Sir William Howe (1729 –1814) and Commander-in-Chief of the North American Station, Richard Howe (later Earl Howe, 1726-1799), were arriving in New York Bay. [Read more…] about Naval Power & The 1776 Taking of New York City
A Trip to Albany on the Steamboat James Kent, August 1823
Yesterday afternoon we had the pleasure of visiting the new and beautiful steam boat James Kent, now lying at the foot of Liberty street [in the City of New York].
Through the politeness of Capt. Wiswall and Mr. Rhind, we enjoyed an opportunity of examining her from stem to stern, above and below, and of obtaining such facts, as will enable us to give a pretty accurate description of this superb vessel, which in many respects surpasses any boat, that has ever floated upon our waters. [Read more…] about A Trip to Albany on the Steamboat James Kent, August 1823
A NYC Fire Department Fireboats History
With over 500 miles of shoreline, the fireboats of the FDNY have protected the city of New York for the last century and a half.
Utilizing historic images, David Rocco showcases their fascinating evolution from wooden-hull tugboats to modern-day specialized watercraft in Fireboats of the FDNY (Arcadia Press, 2026). [Read more…] about A NYC Fire Department Fireboats History
Erie Canal Lock One Could Anchor Albany Waterfront Redevelopment
Advocates and archeologists seeking to leverage the legacy and impact of the Erie Canal to imagine a brighter future for Albany, gathered Thursday at the site of Lock 1 in Albany’s Warehouse District to share initial findings of an exploratory excavation that confirms the lock’s location.
The initial excavation has uncovered the location of the lock walls where they were expected be found based on previous magnetic imaging and historic maps and surveys. [Read more…] about Erie Canal Lock One Could Anchor Albany Waterfront Redevelopment
A French Officer’s Visit To Fishkill Supply Depot, 1780
The following is an excerpt from Travels in North-America, in the years 1780-81-82 by François Jean de Beauvoir, Marquis de Chastellux (1734-1788), a French military officer who served during the American Revolution under General Comte de Rochambeau. Here he describes his travels in Dutchess County, including a visit to Fishkill Supply Depot.
The country is well cultivated; affording the prospect of several pretty farms, with some mills; and notwithstanding the [Revolutionary] war, Hopel township [Hopewell Junction in Dutchess County] is building, inhabited chiefly by Dutch people, as well as the greatest part of the state of New York, which formerly belonged to the republic of Holland, who exchanged it for Surinam. [Read more…] about A French Officer’s Visit To Fishkill Supply Depot, 1780
The Christopher Yates Papers Reveal Revolutionary Details
Christopher Yates (1737-1785) of Schenectady was a surveyor by trade, a job that brought him into the frequent employ of Sir William Johnson. When the French and Indian War began in 1755, Yates joined the Second Albany Militia, serving under Johnson at some of the most crucial battles.
He was among the British troops defeated at Ticonderoga early in the contest during the July 8, 1758 Battle of Carillon, the bloodiest event of the war, with over 3,000 causalities. He later participated in the successful siege of Fort Niagara in July 1759. [Read more…] about The Christopher Yates Papers Reveal Revolutionary Details
1832: A Stuyvesant Lighthouse Disaster Kills Four Children
The following text is from articles printed in March 1832 about the destruction of one of the Hudson River lighthouses on a tidal marsh flat near Stuyvesant Landing, only shortly after its construction in 1830.
A massive, moving field of spring ice crushed the 20 by 34 feet stone structure and killed four children. [Read more…] about 1832: A Stuyvesant Lighthouse Disaster Kills Four Children
Excavations To Begin At Albany’s Lock One
The NYS Department of Transportation (DOT) has granted a permit for an archeological excavation to confirm the location of historic Lock One of the Erie Canal in Albany’s downtown Warehouse District.
This according to a recent message to supporters of The Albany Waterway’s project to uncover the old lock, buried for a century, and transform the site. The lock was once connected to a boat basin, an associated weigh lock, and the Hudson River. [Read more…] about Excavations To Begin At Albany’s Lock One
Fake Turkey Shot From Road; Poaching Canada Geese; Illegal Fishing
An angler caught in the act filleting his illegal catch, and a large group ticketed for poaching more than a dozen striped bass are just some of the cases NYS Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) encountered in recent weeks.
The most surprising occurred on Sunday morning, May 10th, ECOs Brown, Dorrett, Heckler, and Hilton were using a robotic wild turkey decoy to catch people illegally road hunting in Williamstown, Oswego County, NY– it didn’t take long. [Read more…] about Fake Turkey Shot From Road; Poaching Canada Geese; Illegal Fishing
Hoboken: A Tale of Immigration & Frank Sinatra
Located on the River Scheldt (Schelde), Hoboken is a southern district of the city of Antwerp in Flanders. The name originates in the medieval Dutch phrase Hooghe Buechen (Hoge Beuken, or tall beech trees). Today there is a geriatric hospital in Hoboken named Hoge Beuken. The first historical records of the place date from the year 1135.
The New Jersey area of Hoboken on the western shore of the Hudson River was inhabited by Lenape indigenous people who called it Hopoghan Hackingh (Land of the Tobacco Pipe) for its green-veined rock from which they carved their pipes. [Read more…] about Hoboken: A Tale of Immigration & Frank Sinatra
Thomas Cole and the American Landscape Movement
From October 26 to November 4, 1825, the display of three paintings by Thomas Cole (1801-1848) – in the windows of Colman’s bookstore on Broadway near Fulton Street in Manhattan – changed the course of American art.
The three paintings became an immediate success when purchased by renowned painters John Trumbull and William Dunlap and engraver Asher Durand. The display launched Cole’s career and gave birth to what is now known as the Hudson River School of landscape painting. [Read more…] about Thomas Cole and the American Landscape Movement
Northeastern Crayfish: Tiny Predators, Big Impact
Crayfish fill my childhood memories. I spent summers playing in streams, flipping over rocks, and, if I was lucky, catching glimpses of these mysterious little creatures. Most crayfish are nocturnal and dart backwards to escape danger.
An early summer morning last year at Crystal Lake State Park, near Barton, Vermont, brought me back to these moments when I saw a crayfish along the shore in the gently lapping waves. As I knelt for a closer look, I realized I knew so little about crayfish in my backyard. [Read more…] about Northeastern Crayfish: Tiny Predators, Big Impact
Ethnic Cleansing & Wartime Refugees in the Hudson Valley, 1754-1763
During the French and Indian War (1754-1763), many Mahican and Munsee-speaking people in the Hudson Valley felt themselves pressured to relocate to new areas both inside and outside of the Valley as the result of an ethnic cleansing project conducted by Sir William Johnson.
This created a refugee crisis that led to a varied of responses from both colonial officials and the Mohawks and other members of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Six Nations. [Read more…] about Ethnic Cleansing & Wartime Refugees in the Hudson Valley, 1754-1763
Clean Ferries Bill Would Transition NY Ferries from Diesel to Electric
The Clean Ferries Bill (A11303/S10381) sponsored by Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon and Senator Brian Kavanagh has been introduced in the New York State Legislature.
The bill calls for publicly funded ferry companies to purchase only zero-emission vessels starting in 2028, and for other public vessels in New York State waters to be zero-emission by 2032. [Read more…] about Clean Ferries Bill Would Transition NY Ferries from Diesel to Electric
Recently Upgraded Public Water Access Sites
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has expanded and enhanced several fishing and paddling access sites across the state, including those with universally accessible features.
Check out the list below for your next adventure: [Read more…] about Recently Upgraded Public Water Access Sites
Landscape & Social Change in Poughkeepsie
SUNY Press has re-published Main Street to Mainframes: Landscape and Social Change in Poughkeepsie by Harvey K. Flad and Clyde C. Griffen in a Second Edition. A social and urban history of the city on the Hudson River in Dutchess County, NY, tracing its transformation from a 19th-century market town to a 21st-century urban region.
The book examines economic shifts, immigration, race, housing, and revitalization efforts through a blend of social history and spatial analysis, using Poughkeepsie as a case study for broader trends in American small-city development. [Read more…] about Landscape & Social Change in Poughkeepsie
Troy’s Great Elephant Rampage
Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth opened their 1882 season March 11th with a torchlight parade to Madison Square Garden. Every foot of their route through the city was shoulder to shoulder with spectators. Those who braved the cool evening were rewarded with a two-and-a-half-hour circus parade.
Their next stop, Philadelphia on April 24th, was just the beginning of a busy season that would take the circus across 129 cities in New England, New York, and down the eastern seaboard. Also that spring, Barnum and Bailey purchased Jumbo, a 21-year-old African Savanna Elephant from the London Zoo. He soon joined the other elephants on the tour and was quickly given top billing. [Read more…] about Troy’s Great Elephant Rampage