The most recent episode of Empire State Engagements features a conversation with Dr. Lizabeth Cohen Professor in the Department of History at Harvard, who discussed her Bancroft Prize-winning book Saving America’s Cities: Ed Logue and the Struggle to Renew Urban America in the Suburban Age (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019). [Read more…] about The Struggle to Renew Urban America in the Suburban Age
Architecture
New Paltz Bevier-Elting House Restoration Project Planned
Historic Huguenot Street (HHS) has been awarded a $500,000 Save America’s Treasures (SAT) grant support much-needed major repairs and restoration work at the Bevier-Elting House (ca. 1700, 1735, and 1760) in New Paltz.
The project, expected to start in 2022 and continue over the next five years, is one of 49 projects in 29 states funded by the SAT program this year. [Read more…] about New Paltz Bevier-Elting House Restoration Project Planned
Modernist Architecture, Literature, and the Adirondack Cottage Sanatorium
Edward Livingston Trudeau was born in 1848 in New York City to a family of physicians. During his late teens, his elder brother James contracted tuberculosis (TB) and Edward nursed him until his death three months later. At twenty, he enrolled in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia College (now Columbia University), completing his medical training in 1871. Two years later, he was diagnosed with TB too.
Following current climate-therapeutic theories that promoted the relocation of patients to regions with atmospheric conditions favorable to recuperation, he moved to the Adirondack Mountains. Seeking as much open air as he possible could, almost continuously living outside, he subsequently regained his health. In 1876 he settled in Saranac Lake and established a small medical practice. It was the beginning of a remarkable career and a new chapter in American medical history. [Read more…] about Modernist Architecture, Literature, and the Adirondack Cottage Sanatorium
Federal Architecture Explored in Columbia County Driving Tour
The Columbia County Historical Society (CCHS) has announced the newest itinerary in its ongoing Drive Through History series, which offers free, self-guided driving tours of Columbia County history. “Exploring Federal Architecture,” the new road trip, visits houses and other structures built during the Federal period. [Read more…] about Federal Architecture Explored in Columbia County Driving Tour
Erin Tobin To Lead Adirondack Architectural Heritage
A well-known expert in the preservation community has been named the new Executive Director of Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH), the private, nonprofit organization educating and advocating for the built environment and communities for New York State’s Adirondack region. [Read more…] about Erin Tobin To Lead Adirondack Architectural Heritage
Ballston Spa’s Éclair House: Some History
One Hundred and Fifty Years ago, on July 15th, 1871, a news article appeared in the Saturday edition of the Ballston [Saratoga County] Journal, “Wm Brown and John Parent are preparing the foundations for two fine houses on Bath Street, opposite the Washington Spring.”
Brown’s house would not be the typical gable-roofed residence, But a fashionable French-Gothic Mansard. The post-civil war period was known for unabashed ostentation. Suppliers, manufacturers, and financiers had profited greatly from the government’s need to equip and maintain its armed forces. There was so many nouveau riche showing off their wealth, it was fashionable to do so. [Read more…] about Ballston Spa’s Éclair House: Some History
New Project Highlights Warren County Lodging Histories
A new project put together by Warren County Planning & Community Development chronicles the growth of early Warren County lodges and hotels, detailing their location and development as well as the role they played as Warren County grew and began to prosper. [Read more…] about New Project Highlights Warren County Lodging Histories
Isaac Johnson: A Soldier, Quarryman, Master Mason
The Clinton County Historical Association will host the lecture “Isaac Johnson: Slave, Soldier, Quarryman, Master Mason, Contractor” by Cornel “Corky” Reinhart, on Tuesday, July 13th, in Plattsburgh. [Read more…] about Isaac Johnson: A Soldier, Quarryman, Master Mason
‘Saratoga Baths’: Saratoga Springs’ Phila Street Bathhouse
The architecture of Saratoga Springs is remarkable, and the tangible link to our past. However some gems have been lost through the ages, due to fire and folly. One such wonder was the Saratoga Bath House, formerly at 25 Phila Street.
[Read more…] about ‘Saratoga Baths’: Saratoga Springs’ Phila Street Bathhouse
Saratoga’s Worden Hotel: A Short History
After the Marvin House at the northwest corner of Division Street and Broadway in Saratoga Springs was destroyed by fire in 1865, it was quickly rebuilt as the city’s largest hotel. In the early 1880s it was renamed The Arlington Hotel briefly before being purchased by William W. Worden in 1885. He renamed it The Worden Hotel at the request of guests who honored him with a dinner celebrating his purchase. [Read more…] about Saratoga’s Worden Hotel: A Short History