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New York’s Great Warpath & Historian Harrison Bird

September 14, 2026 by Anthony F. Hall Leave a Comment

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

The Naval Campaign on Lake Champlain in 1775-1776

September 3, 2026 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

In 1775, only fifteen years had elapsed since the expulsion of the New France from Canada following the French and Indian War (1754-1763). The concentration of French power in the valley of the St. Lawrence had impressed upon the minds of colonial leaders the importance of Lake Champlain, of its tributary Lake George, and of the Hudson River, as forming a consecutive, if not continuous, water line of communications from the St. Lawrence River to the city of New York. [Read more…] about The Naval Campaign on Lake Champlain in 1775-1776

Trump Changes Lake Ontario’s Federal Name; New Yorkers Are Not Amused

September 2, 2026 by John Warren 1 Comment

Last week, Donald Trump claimed to have renamed Lake Ontario to Lake America. He didn’t. What he did do – in an effort to troll our biggest trading partner – was sign an executive order (14420) directing federal agencies and the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) to use the new name: [Read more…] about Trump Changes Lake Ontario’s Federal Name; New Yorkers Are Not Amused

Dr Helen Hosmer’s Rural Healthcare in the US & Canada

August 26, 2026 by Dave Waite Leave a Comment

In 1934, Doctor Helen Hosmer opened a physician’s office on West Street in the Village of Galway, in Saratoga County, NY. Originally from Billerica, Massachusetts, when Hosmer arrived in Galway, she was 50 years old, and though an experienced chemist and scientist, she was just beginning her career as a physician. [Read more…] about Dr Helen Hosmer’s Rural Healthcare in the US & Canada

The Great Blondin: Frenchman Jean François Gravelet

August 17, 2026 by Jack Kelly Leave a Comment

The tightrope is the simplest of spectacles. It relies on a human aerialist strolling along the abyss. In Roman times it was called funambulism, walking on rope.

Amid the golden age of daredevils during the nineteenth century, said to be the greatest of all “rope dancers” was the Frenchman Jean François Gravelet, born in 1824. [Read more…] about The Great Blondin: Frenchman Jean François Gravelet

Businesses Brace Against Trump’s 50% Tariff on Canadian Goods

August 14, 2026 by North Country Public Radio Leave a Comment

On July 20, President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on many Canadian goods, from dairy and alcohol to motor vehicles to building materials like plywood, kitchen cabinets, and cement. They’ll take effect August 19 unless the countries strike a deal before that date. [Read more…] about Businesses Brace Against Trump’s 50% Tariff on Canadian Goods

New York Air Unhealthy Amid Extreme Heat, Canadian Wildfires

July 15, 2026 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Air quality is “unhealthy” in much of New York as massive plumes of smoke from wildfires in Canada drift across the region causing a visible haze, reduced visibility, and a smell of smoke.

All New Yorkers should limit time spent outside and keep windows and doors closed to prevent smoke from entering your home. [Read more…] about New York Air Unhealthy Amid Extreme Heat, Canadian Wildfires

Hudson Valley Loyalists and the Violence of Revolution

July 6, 2026 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

In many respects the American Revolution was a civil war pitting Americans loyal to the Crown against other Americans loyal to the vision of a new nation they sought to create. Neighbor fought against neighbor, brother against brother, father against son. One of the epicenters of this desperate struggle was New York’s Hudson Valley.

Suffering for the Crown: The Hudson Valley Loyalists and the Violence of Revolution (University of Virginia Press, 2026) by Kieran J. O’Keefe details the extreme violence, persecution, and displacement experienced by white, Black, and Native American Loyalists during the Revolution. [Read more…] about Hudson Valley Loyalists and the Violence of Revolution

Lake Champlain Aquatic Invasive Species Plan Updated

July 3, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and New York State Canal Corporation announced revisions this week to the Rapid Response Plan (RRP) that was implemented in 2022 to mitigate the spread of round goby, an invasive species, into the Lake Champlain Basin.

After first being discovered in the Hudson River near Troy in 2021, to date, round goby has not been captured north of Champlain Canal Lock 1 in Waterford, though there were two positive eDNA detections north of Lock 2 in Halfmoon in 2024. [Read more…] about Lake Champlain Aquatic Invasive Species Plan Updated

Canadian Travel to US Down for 15th Straight Month

June 8, 2026 by North Country Public Radio 1 Comment

Canadians continue to curb their enthusiasm for American booze and travel, with no end in sight.

Canadian travel to the U.S. is down for the 15th straight month, when President Donald Trump began his tariff war against Canada, and his rhetoric about the country becoming the 51st state. [Read more…] about Canadian Travel to US Down for 15th Straight Month

Four New Yorkers Being Inducted into Abolition Hall of Fame

May 6, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The institution of race-based slavery in what is now New York dates to 1627 when 22 enslaved Africans were brought to New Amsterdam (now New York City) by the Dutch West Indies Company. From that day forward some Americans opposed slavery and sought its abolition.

The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum in Madison County, NY, has announced four abolitionists will be inducted this fall: Black Americans William Wells Brown and Samuel Ringgold Ward, and also William and John Jay II – descendants of American Patriot John Jay. [Read more…] about Four New Yorkers Being Inducted into Abolition Hall of Fame

Seth Concklin: A Daring, Dedicated New York Abolitionist

April 26, 2026 by William M. Goodman 2 Comments

Many New Yorkers before the Civil War contributed to the abolition of slavery, and the dangerous work of helping enslaved African-Americans flee their captors. Take Calvin Fairbank, a New York Methodist pastor born 1816, who spent 17 years in prison for his missions to help enslaved people escape.

Seth Concklin, a New Yorker whose name and sacrifice were more familiar in the 19th century, died tragically in 1851 while trying to help a mother and her three children escape from slavery. [Read more…] about Seth Concklin: A Daring, Dedicated New York Abolitionist

Benjamin Franklin’s Travels Through Upstate New York in 1776

April 3, 2026 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

A 70-year-old Benjamin Franklin passed through upstate New York in the spring of 1776 on a mission to Canada that failed in the moment but helped shape the American Revolution.

Traveling north in poor health, Franklin traveled up the Hudson River, passing through Albany, Saratoga, and up Lake Champlain, reaching Montreal in April 1776. [Read more…] about Benjamin Franklin’s Travels Through Upstate New York in 1776

Lake Champlain: The Irish Lake

March 9, 2026 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Between 1840 and 1860, a great wave of Irish immigrants washed up on the shores of Lake Champlain. So many, in fact, that the inland sea was nicknamed “the Irish lake.”

The reason, of course, was poverty and job opportunities. Although Irish Catholics had started arriving in New York and Vermont in numbers by 1820, Champlain truly became the Irish lake in the mid-1840s during the Great Famine. [Read more…] about Lake Champlain: The Irish Lake

When Smuggling Swiss Watches Was A Thing

January 29, 2026 by Joseph W. Zarzynski Leave a Comment

It was 1930, during the era of Prohibition (1920–1933). So, it was not unusual when law enforcement personnel caught bootleggers on the Glens Falls-Lake George Road attempting to transport illegal alcohol from Canada to a local speakeasy.

What was uncommon, however, was arresting a smuggler who tried to sneak a large cache of untaxed contraband, Swiss watches, into the United States. [Read more…] about When Smuggling Swiss Watches Was A Thing

New York’s International Port at Rochester: Some History

January 20, 2026 by William M. Goodman 2 Comments

As Rochester’s Democrat and Chronicle effused, presciently, in 1874: Charlotte, the Rochester NY neighborhood situated “at the mouth of the Genesee River, surrounded by scenery of unequaled beauty,” is “daily growing more important as a shipping port.”

The paper could scarcely have anticipated the impact of an international deal signed decades later, in 1905. “Car ferries” would be built, with related infrastructure, plus dredging of port channels to accommodate heavy loads, to directly link Rochester, with Cobourg in Ontario, Canada, to its north. The ferries would carry both freight-laden train cars and paying passengers. [Read more…] about New York’s International Port at Rochester: Some History

Fort Ontario Military History, 1812-1945

January 13, 2026 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

After the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), remaining friction between Britain and the United States escalated into another war in North America 30 years later.

Both countries were determined to assert control over Lake Ontario, bringing Fort Ontario to the front lines of the War of 1812 (1812-1815). Britain saw Oswego as an integral connection to New York shipyards that could support future naval battles and supply additional American ships. [Read more…] about Fort Ontario Military History, 1812-1945

Fort Ontario During the American Revolutionary War

January 4, 2026 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

The American War for Independence (1775–1783) centered the Great Lakes in the middle of international conflict. By the 1770s, as tension between Britain and its American colonies reached a breaking point, Fort Ontario which had been constructed during the French and Indian War (1754-1763), was essentially abandoned.

It was located on Native land as defined by the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the boundary line established by the subsequent 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix. [Read more…] about Fort Ontario During the American Revolutionary War

Indigenous Transportation & Early Forts at Oswego

December 28, 2025 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

In attempts to maximize proximity to valuable trade with the Haudenosaunee and other Indigenous nations, Europeans established outposts and forts farther and farther into the interior of Haudenosaunee territory and the Great Lakes.

The French followed the St. Lawrence River into the Great Lakes and discovered that the Oswego River provided a water route inland to the Oswego-Oneida-Mohawk Carry, a trail using the largest portage connecting the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. [Read more…] about Indigenous Transportation & Early Forts at Oswego

Evert Wendell Account Books Reveal Life in 1695-1789

December 19, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York Historical Society has digitized their Evert Wendell collection, including five account books in Dutch and English covering the period from 1695 to 1758 and one docket book (in English).

Evert Wendell (1681-1750) was a Dutch-descended Albany merchant, fur trader, and attorney, who conducted business with Native Americans in upstate New York and with colonists in Albany, Schenectady, New York City, and Boston. [Read more…] about Evert Wendell Account Books Reveal Life in 1695-1789

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