Chautauqua Fish Hatchery is located on Prendergast Point, midway on the west side of Chautauqua Lake, off State Route 394 near Mayville, in the town of Chautauqua, Chautauqua County, NY. It’s the only hatchery in the New York State that raises pure strain muskellunge – the largest freshwater sportfish in New York. Each spring, hatchery staff collect and fertilize about 1.5-2 million eggs from wild muskellunge, usually from Chautauqua Lake. Fertilized eggs are then hatched and reared at the hatchery. [Read more…] about Chautauqua Fish Hatchery & NY’s Muskellunge Fishery
Chautauqua County
Battle of Pine Knob Focus of 154th NY Descendants Reunion
The 37th Annual Reunion of Descendants of the 154th New York Volunteer Infantry (aka, “The Hardtack Regiment”) is set for Saturday, August 5th, at the Delevan Fire Fighters Memorial Training Center in Delevan, northeastern Cattaraugus County, NY. [Read more…] about Battle of Pine Knob Focus of 154th NY Descendants Reunion
Numerous Wildfires Reported in Upstate New York
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers have been busy responding to wildfires as low humid and gusty winds create Red Flag Warnings across much of Upstate.
On Saturday, April 8 at 4:10 p.m., Forest Ranger Sprague responded to a wildland fire on Kuhrt Road in Forestville, in the town of Hanover, Chautauqua County. The local fire department contained the fire before Ranger Sprague arrived about 20 minutes later. [Read more…] about Numerous Wildfires Reported in Upstate New York
Western New York To Get New 624 Area Code
The New York State Public Service Commission has announced that residential, business and wireless customers within the existing 716 area code region should begin to prepare for the introduction of the new 624 area code, as early as the second quarter of 2024. [Read more…] about Western New York To Get New 624 Area Code
Whitetail Deer Rescued From Deer Swing, Soccer Goal Net
According to a press release issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), on September 27th, Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) Mead received a report about a deer with its head stuck in a swing set in Jamestown, Chautauqua County. The caller reported the animal was struggling to free itself for an estimated 45 minutes. [Read more…] about Whitetail Deer Rescued From Deer Swing, Soccer Goal Net
DEC Releases Draft Plans for Hanging Bog, Canadaway Creek Wildlife Areas
Draft Access and Public Use Plans for Hanging Bog and Canadaway Creek Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) are complete and available for public comment. The draft Access and Public Use Plans’ objectives include maintaining existing features, such as roads, kiosks, parking areas, and gates. The draft plans are located on each property’s webpage. [Read more…] about DEC Releases Draft Plans for Hanging Bog, Canadaway Creek Wildlife Areas
America’s 250th Student Fellowships Funded In Western NY
The 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
The Strange Life of James Jesse Strang, New York’s Other Mormon Leader
“I prophesy in the name of the Lord God of Israel, unless the United States redress the wrongs committed upon the Saints in the state of Missouri and punish the crimes committed by her officers that in a few years the government will be utterly overthrown and wasted, and there will not be so much as a potsherd left.”
So it was that Sharon, Vermont native Joseph Smith, who supposed himself a prophet of God and founded what is now the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (informally the LDS or Mormon Church), rather mistakenly announced the demise of these United States on May 6, 1843.
It would be Smith however, who met an untimely fate, murdered and mutilated by a mob of vigilantes in Illinois on June 27, 1844. In the feud that erupted after his death, native New Yorker James Jesse Strang would proclaim himself Smith’s appointed successor. [Read more…] about The Strange Life of James Jesse Strang, New York’s Other Mormon Leader
New Book On Western New York History Published
Jacob Ludes, III, a western New York native and educator has published what he calls “a micro-history of America,” A Thread in the Fabric: The Chautauqua-Erie Region (Self Published, 2017).
The volume recounts American history from first people to 1865 through the lens of the Chautauqua-Erie Region of Western New York State. [Read more…] about New Book On Western New York History Published
Fenton History Center’s Pizza and Genealogy Project
Those of us in the local history museum business sometimes struggle to connect with the large segment of the general population that doesn’t see the relevance of history. They are busy with their everyday lives; schedules of work, family and leisure time. Trying to get their attention and then bring them to a history based event can be challenging.
A few years ago at a Fenton History Center Board of Trustee meeting (Fenton History Center is in Jamestown, Chautauqua County, NY) we were brainstorming about how to collect and disseminate more local Italian genealogy and the stories that go with the families involved. One of the Fenton History Center Trustees suggested we hold a pizza judging event. We tabled the idea until last year when we started the “Slice of History Pizza Challenge”. [Read more…] about Fenton History Center’s Pizza and Genealogy Project