Chemung County

International State of Mark Twain Studies Conference

February 6, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Established in 1989, the quadrennial International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies is the oldest and largest gathering of scholars interested in the field of Mark Twain Studies.

The conference consists of traditional paper sessions, a keynote address, a number of special presentations, and comradery with old and new acquaintances. The conference culminates in an evening picnic at Quarry Farm, one of the most important structures in the life of Mark Twain. [Read more…] about International State of Mark Twain Studies Conference

New York Historic Pools Designed by Wesley Bintz

January 28, 2026 by Bill Orzell 2 Comments

Wesley Bintz was a Civil Engineer who received his training at the University of Michigan, earning a BCE in 1916 and MS in 1918. He moved on to municipal work in Flint, Michigan with two pools made of reinforced concrete, and funded by municipal bonds, which he designed as their City Engineer and completed in 1920.

Bintz subsequently accepted an Engineering position with the City of Lansing, Michigan whose citizens also desired an ovoid swimming pool, and saw their aspiration fulfilled with another a Bintz designed 80 x 120 foot pool constructed during 1922-23. Other communities saw the need for such facilities, which caused Bintz to patent his design, and specialize in his own swimming pool enterprise. Many Blintz pools were built in New York State. [Read more…] about New York Historic Pools Designed by Wesley Bintz

White Supremacist George Wallace & New York State

January 14, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

On January 14, 1963, after being overwhelmingly elected by white Alabama voters, George Wallace (1919-1998), the infamous segregationist and white supremacist, delivered his inaugural address and called for “Segregation now! Segregation tomorrow! Segregation forever!” Throughout his speech he condemned integration and criticized federal intervention in state affairs.

Running for office almost a decade after Brown v. Board of Education, Wallace’s 1962 campaign used the slogan “Stand up for Alabama,” and he vowed to fight integration at the University of Alabama. [Read more…] about White Supremacist George Wallace & New York State

State Parks Announces 20 Nominations for State and National Registers of Historic Places

June 16, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has announced the most recent recommendations by the New York State Board for Historic Preservation to add 20 properties and districts to the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

The nominations include John Steinbeck’s writing cottage in Sag Harbor; Cluett, Peabody buildings in Troy; Lake George’s Mohican Point; a small surviving commercial historic district on Seneca Street in Buffalo; the architecturally significant post Vatican II St. Peter’s Church in Manhattan; the home of prominent Black community leaders George and Theodora Bragg in Elmira; as well as additional documentation of LGBT history for the Louis N. Jaffe Art Theater Building in New York City. [Read more…] about State Parks Announces 20 Nominations for State and National Registers of Historic Places

11 Wildfires Burn in Eight Counties Across Upstate New York

May 7, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Between April 28 and May 5, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Forest Rangers and local fire departments responded to wildfires in eight counties across New York State, including Chemung, Onondaga, Orange, Oswego, Otsego, Putnam, Sullivan, and Ulster Counties. [Read more…] about 11 Wildfires Burn in Eight Counties Across Upstate New York

Wildfires in Chemung, Chenango, Orange, Sullivan, and Warren Counties

April 30, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Between April 21 and 28, New York State Forest Rangers and local fire departments responded to wildfires in five counties across New York State which burned more than 21 acres. The largest fire was in Lake Luzerne, Warren County, measuring 14 acres, which started on April 24 and was contained the same day. [Read more…] about Wildfires in Chemung, Chenango, Orange, Sullivan, and Warren Counties

Recent Wildfires in Chemung, Chenango, Orange, Saratoga, and Washington Counties

April 2, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Between March 14 and 31, Forest Rangers responded to wildland fires in five counties across New York State, including Chemung, Chenango, Orange, Saratoga, and Washington Counties. The fires burned 23 acres of land. [Read more…] about Recent Wildfires in Chemung, Chenango, Orange, Saratoga, and Washington Counties

More Than A Dozen Wildfires Reported Across New York State

October 30, 2024 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Recent dry and windy conditions have resulted in numerous wildfires across New York State. Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers responded to eight wildland fires in seven counties on Wednesday, October 23rd alone.

The causes of these fires include unattended campfires and debris burning. Multiple tickets were issued for leaving campfires unattended and not clearing three feet around a fire. [Read more…] about More Than A Dozen Wildfires Reported Across New York State

Expansion of Newtown Battlefield State Park in Chemung County

October 27, 2024 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Following the defeat of British General John Burgoyne’s Army at Saratoga, the Revolutionary War in Upstate New York shifted from large scale battles to smaller, more brutal actions between American forces and Britian’s Haudenosaunee allies – the Iroquois Confederacy.

In August of 1779, a combined force of Iroquois warriors and supporting British Loyalists attempted to stop the advance of American Major General John Sullivan’s Continentals at Newtown, in the Town of Ashland, Chemung County, NY. [Read more…] about Expansion of Newtown Battlefield State Park in Chemung County

New Interactive Video Displays Interpret NYS Revolutionary History

September 22, 2024 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has announced that the first of 20 planned interactive video displays highlighting New York’s history in the American Revolution is installed at Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site in the Hudson Valley. [Read more…] about New Interactive Video Displays Interpret NYS Revolutionary History

2024 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award Winners

September 19, 2024 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Now in its 40th year, the Preservation League of NYS‘s annual Excellence Awards program shines a light on the people who are using historic preservation to make all our lives better — through exemplary restoration projects, indispensable publications, individual action, and organizational distinction. [Read more…] about 2024 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award Winners

Upstate New York Wildfires Keep Rangers Busy

March 6, 2024 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Forest rangers spent several days last week responding to early season out of control fires in Middletown and Stamford in Delaware County, and also in Herkimer, Madison, Schoharie, and Chemung Counties resulting from burning debris in dry conditions. [Read more…] about Upstate New York Wildfires Keep Rangers Busy

Finger Lakes Technology: From Agriculture to Auto Racing

December 27, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

In 1904, the New York State legislature passed a bill to create the New York State College at Cornell. The bill created a land-grant college with an agriculture focus within Cornell and guaranteed fields of study related to agriculture would receive significant public funding. [Read more…] about Finger Lakes Technology: From Agriculture to Auto Racing

A Short History of Finger Lakes Tourism

December 15, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

The geology and climate of the Finger Lakes region presented a landscape of great natural beauty that has attracted tourism and recreation for more than 200 years.

Wealthy elites from the city of New York began building homes at Skaneateles Lake as early as 1809, and mineral springs in Livingston County in the western portion of the greater Finger Lakes region attracted visitors starting in the 1820s. [Read more…] about A Short History of Finger Lakes Tourism

The Finger Lakes During World War Two

October 20, 2023 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, pushed a reluctant United States into the Second World War. Factories across the country, including those in Central New York, answered President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s call for American manufacturers to shift production towards military preparedness.

Before the outbreak of the war, factories located in Syracuse and Onondaga County, NY, made shoes, typewriters, air conditioners, washing machines, and many other civilian products. Between 1941 and 1945 however, Syracuse industries manufactured antiaircraft gun mounts, antitank landmines, rifles, machine guns, radar systems, and airplane and ship signaling lights. [Read more…] about The Finger Lakes During World War Two

Bath Fish Hatchery: Home to Wild Finger Lakes Strain Trout

October 2, 2023 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Established 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

The Canal Era in the Finger Lakes

October 1, 2023 by Guest Contributor 3 Comments

As the population of interior New York increased, developers pushed for a faster method of transportation between the area and developed population centers like the city of New York.

The Erie Canal, completed in 1825, revolutionized inland travel and ushered in a broader era of canal construction across the state, connecting the state capital of Albany on the Hudson River to Western New York and the Great Lakes. [Read more…] about The Canal Era in the Finger Lakes

The American Revolution in the Finger Lakes

September 10, 2023 by Guest Contributor 3 Comments

Initially, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Iroquois) claimed neutrality during the conflict between Britain and the colonists, seeing the disagreement as a civil war and valuing loyalty to their families and to their lands above all else. When the political discontent erupted into the American Revolutionary War, the member nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy split their support between the British and newly formed American forces. [Read more…] about The American Revolution in the Finger Lakes

Early Inhabitants of the Finger Lakes Region

August 14, 2023 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

According 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

Geologic Formation of the Finger Lakes

July 26, 2023 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Approximately 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

Chemung County

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