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
Agricultural History
Big Hogs In The Paper: A Collection Of Pig Tales From Historic Newspapers
A 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
Smithsonian Water/Ways Exhibit in East Hampton, LI
The 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
Jay Heritage Center Building New Garden Pavilion
In 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
Everyone Knows Elsie: A Short Borden Company History
When 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
Jesse Williams’ Early Cheese Factory in Rome, NY
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
Catskill Farm Museum Hoedown Set for July
The 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
Farms & Farm Families in Early America
If 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
Local Food & History Weekend At Southampton History Museum
The 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
Heritage Gardening Program at Sullivan Co Museum
Heritage 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