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Agricultural History

Apples & Schoolhouses Added To Columbia County Road Trips

October 5, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Samascott Orchards, a stop on the 'Good Apples' Drive Through History road trip.The Columbia County Historical Society has added two more road trips to its ongoing ‘Drive Through History’ series, ‘Good Apples’ and ‘Schoolhouse Stories.’ [Read more…] about Apples & Schoolhouses Added To Columbia County Road Trips

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Agricultural History, agriculture, Columbia County, Columbia County Historical Society

Big Hogs In The Paper: A Collection Of Pig Tales From Historic Newspapers

September 16, 2020 by Maury Thompson 1 Comment

Domestic pigs in a wallow courtesy Mark Peters Poplar Spring Animal SanctuaryA hog weighing in at 1,200 pounds raised in Greenwich, in Washington County, was spared the slaughter, at least temporarily, in order to be put on display as an oddity.

“G.V.P. Lansing, a resident of the town of Greenwich, has the unique distinction of having raised and marketed the largest hog ever grown in the world,” The Post-Star reported on March 12, 1919. “The hog was sold last week to Bennett Brothers of Albany, and shipped to that place.” [Read more…] about Big Hogs In The Paper: A Collection Of Pig Tales From Historic Newspapers

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Food, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, Western NY Tagged With: Agricultural History, Food, local farms, nature, Washington County

Smithsonian Water/Ways Exhibit in East Hampton, LI

February 18, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Water/Ways exhibitThe Smithsonian’s traveling exhibition, Water/Ways, which looks at how humanity has used water and how water has helped shaped civilization, is set to arrive at Clinton Academy Museum on February 29th for a six-week stay. [Read more…] about Smithsonian Water/Ways Exhibit in East Hampton, LI

Filed Under: Events, History, New Exhibits, New York City Tagged With: Agricultural History, East Hampton Historical Society, Industrial History, Maritime History, Transportation, Transportation History

Jay Heritage Center Building New Garden Pavilion

February 10, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Jay Estate proposed pavilionIn 1849 the Jay Family built a Gothic Revival cottage on Cherry Hill, beside the Jay Mansion in Rye, NY, based on a design by renowned architect Alexander Jackson Davis, who also designed Whitby Castle and Lyndhurst. The cottage closely resembled Station No. 10, an A.J. Davis-designed structure at New York Yacht Club

Time, rotting wood, and carpenter bees eventually took their toll on the 19th-century cottage. With the help of donations from the public and the Gerry Charitable Trust, the Center is making plans to construct a new outdoor classroom on Cherry Hill — a functional learning space that will make visual reference to the historic cottage that preceded it. [Read more…] about Jay Heritage Center Building New Garden Pavilion

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Agricultural History, Grants, Historic Preservation, Jay Heritage Center, Landscape Architecture

Everyone Knows Elsie: A Short Borden Company History

December 25, 2019 by A. J. Schenkman 50 Comments

WelcomeBackElsieWhen you enter the hamlet of Wallkill, you are greeted by the happy face of the Borden Company’s mascot, Elsie the Cow. The company’s website states that this mascot dates to the 1930s.

Underneath Elsie is a sign stating that the Hamlet of Wallkill was the location the “Home Farm” of John G. Borden. Thus, many commonly believe that Borden Condensed Milk was in fact invented in the Hamlet of Wallkill; however, its origins can be traced to Burrville, Connecticut and Gail Borden, Jr. Actually, the business was not originally called Borden at all – that title would come later. [Read more…] about Everyone Knows Elsie: A Short Borden Company History

Filed Under: Food, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Agricultural History, Civil War, Culinary History, Orange County, Putnam County, Ulster County

Jesse Williams’ Early Cheese Factory in Rome, NY

September 5, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

williams origional factory

Jesse Williams, a successful farmer and cheese maker in Rome, believed that farmers could maximize their profits by working together as cooperative dairies. He started a cheese factory in the n 1851 just north of Rome, NY and helped revolutionize the modern cheese industry locally and across the nation. [Read more…] about Jesse Williams’ Early Cheese Factory in Rome, NY

Filed Under: Food, History, Mohawk Valley Tagged With: Agricultural History, Culinary History, Food, Industrial History, Oneida County History Center, Rome

Catskill Farm Museum Hoedown Set for July

June 6, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

1930s hoedownThe Time and the Valleys Museum is set to host a 1930s Catskill Farm Hoedown on Saturday, July 27th from 5 to 9 pm.

Held outdoors behind the Museum, the hoedown will include both round and square dancing with music by the Country Travelers with Paul Lounsbury, Bob Hunt, Dave Trestyn, Bill Engle and dance caller Patty Legg, food catered by the Neversink General Store, an entertaining Pie Auction, a silent auction and visit to the 1930s Catskill Farm. [Read more…] about Catskill Farm Museum Hoedown Set for July

Filed Under: Events, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Agricultural History, Catskills, Time and the Valleys Museum

Farms & Farm Families in Early America

April 24, 2019 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

ben_franklins_worldIf we want to understand everyday life in early America we need to understand the everyday life of early American farms and farmers.

Roughly three-quarters of Americans in British North America and the early United States considered themselves to be farmers. So how did early Americans establish farms and what were the rhythms of their daily lives?

In this episode of Ben Franklin’s World, Richard Bushman, the Gouverneur Morris Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University, joins us to investigate farms and farm life in early America with details from his book, The American Farmer in the Eighteenth Century: A Social and Cultural History. [Read more…] about Farms & Farm Families in Early America

Filed Under: Books, History Tagged With: Agricultural History, local farms, Podcasts

Local Food & History Weekend At Southampton History Museum

March 4, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Greens by Amagansett Food InstituteThe Southampton History Museum has announced THAWfest, a local food and history weekend, set or Saturday and Sunday, March 23-24, 2019.

As part of THAWfest, Amagansett Food Institute and the Southampton History Museum will co-host a hands-on workshop with Chef Jack Formica, who will focus on foods regionally available, with a particular emphasis on living/raw foods. [Read more…] about Local Food & History Weekend At Southampton History Museum

Filed Under: Events, History, New York City Tagged With: Agricultural History, Culinary History, Food, local food, Southampton Historical Museum

Heritage Gardening Program at Sullivan Co Museum

March 3, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

local gardening in the 1930sHeritage vs. Heirloom Gardening, a talk by horticulturist Diana K. Weiner has been set for Sunday, March 10th at 2 pm, at the Time and the Valleys Museum on St. Rt. 55 in Grahamsville, Sullivan County. [Read more…] about Heritage Gardening Program at Sullivan Co Museum

Filed Under: Events, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Agricultural History, Gardens - Landscape Architecture, local farms, Time and the Valleys Museum

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