New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Buffalo

$4.5M for Buffalo Center for Plastic Recycling Research and Innovation

by Leave a Comment

Buffalo Center for Plastic Recycling Research and InnovationNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced $4.5 million is being awarded to the State University of New York’s University at Buffalo to create a new Center for Plastic Recycling Research and Innovation and support crucial work to reduce plastic waste.

This expanded academic partnership will improve plastics recycling by researching the development of secondary recyclable markets to ease the financial burdens on municipal recycling programs and streamline the recycling process, especially with certain types of lower-grade plastics. [Read more…] about $4.5M for Buffalo Center for Plastic Recycling Research and Innovation

The Captive Boys of Rensselaerville: John and Robert Brice

by 2 Comments

painting of Dietz Massacre by James Dietz The following captivity narrative was related by Robert Brice and includes an account of the September 1781 “Dietz Massacre” that took place a few miles south of the Village of Berne, Albany County, NY.  This story was taken down from Robert Brice when he was still living by Josiah Priest and published in his Stories of the Revolution in 1836 as “The Captive Boys of Rensselaerville – John and Robert Brice.”  This version has been lightly edited for easier reading, but has retained much of the tone and style, including the use of disparaging terms to refer to the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people who took part in these events. Additional details and background about this event can be found here. New York Almanack is presenting this story to illustrate historical attitudes about these events from a victim’s perspective.

The Brices had migrated from their native country of Scotland in the year 1774 and settled in a new place, southwest of the city of Albany. At this place, a few families had chosen a residence, which was then called Van Rensselaer’s Patent, but now Rensselaerville. Here the newcomers erected a few log houses. [Read more…] about The Captive Boys of Rensselaerville: John and Robert Brice

Fulton’s Steamboat, The Black Ball Line & The Erie Canal

by 4 Comments

England, a packet ship of the Black Ball LineFor thousands of years prior to the early 1800s maritime transportation was dependent on sailing ships. In the first few decades of the 19th century however, entrepreneurs in New York helped revolutionize the industry so that one hundred years later sailing ships were an anachronism that hardly existed, except for show.

In the latter part of the 1700s the development of the Boulton & Watt steam engine in England made it theoretically possible to power a boat. Before 1800 a number of inventors, including New Yorkers such as Nicholas Roosevelt, John Fitch, Robert R. Livingston, John Stevens III and others, experimented with boats that used such steam engines. Before Robert Fulton made his first run in the North River steamboat (later renamed Clermont) in 1807 more than a dozen steamboats had been constructed in the United States with varying degrees of success.   There were difficulties in making such craft commercially viable. [Read more…] about Fulton’s Steamboat, The Black Ball Line & The Erie Canal

America’s 250th Student Fellowships Funded In Western NY

by Leave a Comment

History student intern Dwight DinkinsThe Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation has awarded SUNY distinguished professor of history Michael Leroy Oberg, the SUNY Geneseo Center for Local and Municipal History, and a consortium of six other colleges and universities, a three-year grant of more than $300K for American War of Independence Semiquincentennial student fellowships.

Several of the institutions in the fellowship program have committed $150K of matching funds for the project, bringing the total to over $450K. [Read more…] about America’s 250th Student Fellowships Funded In Western NY

Preservation Buffalo Niagara Recognized By Preservation League of NYS

by Leave a Comment

PBN Executive Director Jessie Fisher (center) in a black dress and grey patterned blazer courtesy Preservation Buffalo NiagaraPreservation Buffalo Niagara has won a 2021 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award from the Preservation League of NYS.

The Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier and the Preservation Coalition of Erie County merged in 2009 to become Preservation Buffalo Niagara (PBN), building on their 30-year history to ensure that the Buffalo region would have a strong, effective, and professional preservation organization. [Read more…] about Preservation Buffalo Niagara Recognized By Preservation League of NYS

Buffalo Riverline: A Unique Urban Nature Trail Design Unveiled

by Leave a Comment

Riverline Double BridgeThe Western New York Land Conservancy and its design partners W Architecture, Hood Design Studio, and Green Shield Ecology presented their final concept designs for The Riverline at a press conference at the Tewksbury Lodge Pavilion in Buffalo last week.

The Riverline is the Conservancy’s proposed urban nature trail and greenway that stretches along an unused railroad corridor from Canalside at the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Terminal Terminal in downtown Buffalo to the Buffalo River across from Riverbend and Tesla. [Read more…] about Buffalo Riverline: A Unique Urban Nature Trail Design Unveiled

Why Does the Thruway Avoid Rochester?

by Leave a Comment

The Historians LogoThis week on The Historians Podcast, an update on a previous program on the origins of the New York State Thruway from Tim Tielman of the Campaign for Greater Buffalo-History, Architecture and Culture. Tielman explains why the Thruway was built some miles south of Rochester. He also delves into historic preservation in greater Buffalo. [Read more…] about Why Does the Thruway Avoid Rochester?

New Book: Buffalo at the Crossroads

by Leave a Comment

Buffalo at the CrossroadsBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

The new book Buffalo at the Crossroads: The Past, Present, and Future of American Urbanism (Cornell University Press, 2020), edited by Peter H. Christensen, is an introduction to Buffalo’s architecture and developed landscape, featuring essays by twelve authors. [Read more…] about New Book: Buffalo at the Crossroads

Buffalo History Museum Launches New Podcast With Story Of City’s Only Public Execution

by Leave a Comment

Buffalo History Museum PodcastThe Buffalo History Museum has announced the launch of “Experiencing Our Story” (EOS). Inspired by the Greek goddess of dawn, EOS offers history-based programs through podcasts, videos, virtual events, exhibits, and tours.

EOS programs, including a newly launched podcast, will feature stories about Buffalo and Western New York history, heritage, architecture, and personal accounts directly from the Museum’s professional staff, as well as featured guests.

The first episode features the story of the execution of the three Thayers Brothers, Buffalo’s only public execution. [Read more…] about Buffalo History Museum Launches New Podcast With Story Of City’s Only Public Execution