New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Cayuga County

Social and Religious Movements in Central New York

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Lithograph of a ca 1829 religious camp meeting by Alexander RiderCentral New York communities that flourished with canal-related development and rail connections throughout the 19th century also became hotbeds for religious and social movements of the early 1800s as the area’s population rapidly grew.

Religious freedom granted by the United States Bill of Rights combined with rapid societal and technological changes experienced by Americans living through western expansion fueled an American spiritual movement that was exemplified in the newly opened frontier of New York. [Read more…] about Social and Religious Movements in Central New York

Seward House Barn, Carriage House Rehabilitation Project Getting Underway

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Beginning of Seward House and Museum barn and carriage house renovation project (October 9 2023)Seward House Museum in Auburn, Cayuga County, NY, is inviting the public to a groundbreaking ceremony for its Barn and Carriage House Rehabilitation Project on Wednesday, October 25th at 11 am in the Seward House Museum gardens.

Designed by William Henry Seward‘s son Frederick and constructed in 1860, the stone barn and carriage house are integral to the stories shared by the Museum. Once completed, the buildings will serve as a gathering place for events and groups, a new exhibit for William Seward’s carriage, and additional staff offices. [Read more…] about Seward House Barn, Carriage House Rehabilitation Project Getting Underway

Bath Fish Hatchery: Home to Wild Finger Lakes Strain Trout

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Bath Fish HatcheryEstablished in 1893, New York State’s Bath Fish Hatchery in Steuben County and is one of the state’s oldest hatcheries and the only hatchery raising wild Finger Lakes strain rainbow trout. [Read more…] about Bath Fish Hatchery: Home to Wild Finger Lakes Strain Trout

Grants Support Cayuga County History Curator, Exhibit

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Cayuga MuseumThe Cayuga Museum of History and Art in Auburn, NY was awarded a $50,000 Inspire! Grant for Small Museums from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The grant will be matched 1:1 by a donation from Brad Schwartz, to fully support a Curator position for two years.

This Curator will have the task during this time period of developing an interpretive plan for a major new project: a comprehensive exhibit exploring the entire history of Cayuga County. [Read more…] about Grants Support Cayuga County History Curator, Exhibit

Euro-American Expansion Into The Finger Lakes Region

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Map of the State of New York (1802) by Simeon DeWitt, (Library of Congress, Geography & Map Division)The Treaty of Paris of 1783 officially ended hostilities between the British and Americans; however, the treaty did not include the allied Indian Nations, leaving their legacy treaties with the Europeans unresolved and their future to be resolved through separate treaties with the new American government. [Read more…] about Euro-American Expansion Into The Finger Lakes Region

Early Inhabitants of the Finger Lakes Region

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Lamoka Site diorama at the New York State MuseumAccording to archeological records, groups of nomadic Paleo-Indians traveled through the Finger Lakes region approximately 8,000 to 9,000 years ago. Small bands of these hunters and gatherers followed large game during the last stages of the Ice Age when the glaciers that formed the area’s notable lakes were receding.

Somewhat more recent early archaic archeological sites scattered across Western New York reflect a culture that was highly mobile and left little in terms of an archeological record. [Read more…] about Early Inhabitants of the Finger Lakes Region

Deciding Vote: Film Tells Story of George Michaels Deciding NYS Abortion Vote

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New York State Assemblyman George Michaels (D-Auburn) holds his head after changing his vote to "yes" which, after expected passage by the Senate, will give New York the most liberal abortion law in the U.S.The Cayuga Museum’s Carriage House Theater will screen a new documentary from Wheelhouse Creative, “Deciding Vote”, which explores the story of former New York State Assemblyman George Michaels, a prominent member of Auburn, NY’s Jewish community and a veteran of World War Two.

Michaels entered politics in the tumultuous era of the 1960s, and became a central figure in paving the way for abortion rights in the US when his switched vote barely passed New York’s law legalizing abortion in 1970. [Read more…] about Deciding Vote: Film Tells Story of George Michaels Deciding NYS Abortion Vote

Annie Edson Taylor: Over Niagara Falls & Into The Poor House

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Niagara Falls, 1859 (photo William England)Advancing into the later stages of life, some turn their thoughts to immortality, whether through achievement, offspring, or religion. Many more focus on simply having enough dough to sustain themselves with dignity to the end. Annie Edson Taylor took aim at both goals.

In 1901, she was approaching her sixty-third birthday. She had long fended for herself, an adventurous entrepreneur in an age when most women were still locked into dependency. But life offered scant opportunity for an aging free spirit. [Read more…] about Annie Edson Taylor: Over Niagara Falls & Into The Poor House

Geologic Formation of the Finger Lakes

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A late fall snowstorm frosted the hills of the Finger Lakes region of central New York in early December 2004Approximately 600 million years ago, during the Neoproterozoic Era, the Earth’s supercontinent began to break apart, and an ocean formed between land masses that roughly correlate to Europe and North America today. For the next 100 million years, this ocean continued to widen until the continents changed course and began to move back towards each other.

The eventual collision of these land masses formed a tall mountain range now known as North America’s Appalachians. [Read more…] about Geologic Formation of the Finger Lakes

National Park Service Declares Finger Lakes Eligble For National Heritage Designation

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National Park Service NPSOn Tuesday, July 18th, the National Park Service delivered the Finger Lakes National Heritage Area Feasibility Study to Congress. The feasibility study determined that the study area in the Finger Lakes region of New York state meets the criteria to be eligible for inclusion as part of the National Heritage Area System. [Read more…] about National Park Service Declares Finger Lakes Eligble For National Heritage Designation