Clifton Park

Early Saratoga County Inventors & The Patent Office Fire

January 28, 2026 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

The United States Patent Commission was created on April 10, 1790, to establish a formal method for submitting and indexing patents. Its first three members were Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph.

As only three people made up the early patent office, the first applications were not closely examined. An inventor simply submitted a written description, a working model, and a $30 fee (equivalent to about $1,000 today). [Read more…] about Early Saratoga County Inventors & The Patent Office Fire

Freedom for Samuel Rumples of Saratoga County

January 2, 2026 by Dave Waite Leave a Comment

In September of 1876, a group of men led by a reporter from a Saratoga newspaper, visited the Saratoga County Poor House in Ballston Spa. Their purpose was to meet a “centenarian” who was there under the charge of Keeper of the Poor House George D. Story. [Read more…] about Freedom for Samuel Rumples of Saratoga County

Erie Canallers Could Be A Rowdy Bunch

September 10, 2025 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

As we prepare to celebrate the bicentennial of the opening of the Erie Canal in October 1825, we look back on life along that engineering wonder, billed as the eighth wonder of the world.

This artificial 365-mile-long river connecting the Hudson River with Lake Erie had a system of locks to raise boats to different levels as they headed west and lowered them as they headed east. [Read more…] about Erie Canallers Could Be A Rowdy Bunch

Clifton Park’s Stony Creek Reservoir: Some History

May 8, 2024 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

The Town of Colonie owns the Stony Creek Reservoir located in southern Clifton Park, just above Vischer Ferry, NY. It was completed in 1953 at a cost of $1,800,000 and covers 297 acres holding 1.4 billion gallons of water that is carried by pipes under the Mohawk River to the residents of Colonie.

The reservoir is used primarily in the late summer months when other Colonie water sources are low. The creation of this reservoir in 1950 began a long feud between the Town of Clifton Park and the Town of Colonie. [Read more…] about Clifton Park’s Stony Creek Reservoir: Some History

Henry Baker: A Loyalist Who Resettled in New York

April 11, 2024 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Our home sits on a small knoll within sight of Round Lake on English Road in the town of Clifton Park, in Saratoga County, NY. The original 100-acre farm lot was purchased in 1797 by Henry Baker (1747-1834), a farmer from Halfmoon and his wife Hannah. Baker was a Loyalist that had settled in Halfmoon after the Revolutionary War.

The 1797 deed lists the grantor of Lot three as Janet Smith and Harriet, widow and daughter of the Honorable William Smith (1728 – 1793), a Loyalist, chief Justice of the Province of Lower Canada and previously the Chief Justice of New York from 1780-1782. [Read more…] about Henry Baker: A Loyalist Who Resettled in New York

Vischer Ferry Film Focuses on Erie Canal Era Village

March 24, 2024 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Saratoga County History Center has announced the dates for the release of its newest film – Vischer Ferry, a Forgotten Crossroads. The film will premiere on Thursday April 11 at 7 pm at Brookside Museum in Ballston Spa. [Read more…] about Vischer Ferry Film Focuses on Erie Canal Era Village

Nearly $1 Million in Urban Forestry Grants Awarded

December 26, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced Environmental Protection Fund grant awards totaling $978,820 for urban forest assessment and planning projects across the state. [Read more…] about Nearly $1 Million in Urban Forestry Grants Awarded

Joshua Anthony: The Baking Powder King

November 22, 2023 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

In the 1800s, most of the commerce at Halfmoon in Saratoga County, NY, was located close to the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. Joshua Anthony however, developed his spice factory in a remote part of northern Halfmoon on his grandfather’s farm on Farm to Market and Anthony Roads.

The three-story tower in the center of the factory once boasted a windmill that provided power for the machinery. Anthony heated the farmhouse and buildings in the winter with steam from the factory. [Read more…] about Joshua Anthony: The Baking Powder King

‘Send Pies’: A Letter From School, 1854

August 30, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

As summer vacation comes to an end, students are once again preparing to return to school. What follows is a letter written in 1854 by a student at the Jonesville Academy. The Academy was a private school, built about 1839, complete with dormitories. It still stands today as a private home in the hamlet of Jonesville, in Clifton Park, Saratoga County, NY. [Read more…] about ‘Send Pies’: A Letter From School, 1854

The 115th New York: The Iron Hearted Regiment During The Civil War

August 27, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

During the Civil War, Colonel Simeon Sammons received authority to recruit a regiment in the counties of Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery, and Saratoga, with headquarters at Fonda. On August 26, 1862, it mustered into the service of the United States for three years as the 115th New York Infantry Regiment, known as the “Iron-Hearted Regiment.” [Read more…] about The 115th New York: The Iron Hearted Regiment During The Civil War

Saratoga County Granges: The Patrons of Husbandry

June 11, 2023 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

The Grange, formally known as “The Patrons of Husbandry,” was introduced to Saratoga County in 1890, twenty-three years after the agricultural organization’s founding and twenty-two years after the nation’s first local chapter was established in Fredonia, Chautauqua County, NY. In the 1880s and into 1890, New York State Grange sent organizers in the field to build up membership. [Read more…] about Saratoga County Granges: The Patrons of Husbandry

A Bridge at Vischer Ferry: Some Clifton Park History

April 27, 2023 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Before the Northway was built, travelers would gain access to Clifton Park from the south by crossing the Mohawk River at either the Route 9 bridge to Crescent, or the Route 146 bridge to Rexford. These bridges existed since the early nineteenth century. Between these two bridges there were three ferries: Dunsbach Ferry, Forts Ferry and Vischer Ferry. The most logical place for another bridge was at Vischer Ferry. This would provide direct access into the heart of Clifton Park. [Read more…] about A Bridge at Vischer Ferry: Some Clifton Park History

Vischer Ferry As A Summer Resort

August 4, 2022 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

At the turn of the nineteenth to twentieth century, Vischer Ferry, a hamlet of Clifton Park in Saratoga County on the Mohawk River, was the destination of many picnickers and tourists.

People came from Schenectady, Albany, Troy, Cohoes and even New York City to spend a day, a week, a month or the complete summer in the healthful climate and beautiful surroundings of Vischer Ferry. As quiet 120 years ago as it is today, the village was an ideal spot to escape from the noise and turmoil of the city. [Read more…] about Vischer Ferry As A Summer Resort

A Brief History of the Mohawk River

June 20, 2022 by Guest Contributor 3 Comments

Imagine the Mohawk River flowing with more force than Niagara Falls. Around 22,000 years ago, that’s exactly how it was. During the last ice age, the Laurentide Glacier began to melt, forming a large lake atop the glacier. As the glacier receded north, it opened access to the Mohawk River, which for thousands of years had been buried beneath the two-mile thick block of ice. Suddenly, all that lake water had somewhere to go.

The deluge of water that was released was so great that it carved an entirely new riverbed. It was so great in fact, that geologists gave the river a new name; the Iromohawk. Water rushed down the valley, carving away the cliffs of Clifton Park, the gorge at Cohoes, and the channel at Rexford. The river also curved back onto itself, creating the bend around Schenectady that the Mohawk follows today. [Read more…] about A Brief History of the Mohawk River

Kidnapping of Free Citizens Before the Civil War (Virtual Event)

June 1, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

David Fiske, a regular contributor to New York Almanack, will give a lecture on “The Kidnapping of Free Citizens before the Civil War,” as part of the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library’s First Friday series on Friday, June 3rd. [Read more…] about Kidnapping of Free Citizens Before the Civil War (Virtual Event)

Clifton Park’s Ties to Lincoln’s Assassination

April 15, 2022 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

April 14th marked the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln‘s assassination by John Wilkes Booth in 1865. This tragic event, like the later assassination of John F. Kennedy, had a tremendous impact on the nation.

There was a period of twenty days of mourning from the time Lincoln was shot to the time he arrived by train for burial at his home in Springfield, Illinois. The first of his twelve funerals was held in Washington, then his funeral procession began by train across the land to Illinois, stopping at major cities for additional funerals. It was the mightiest outpouring of national grief the world had yet seen. [Read more…] about Clifton Park’s Ties to Lincoln’s Assassination

When Clifton Park Had Its Own Amusement Park

April 8, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

On April 3rd, 1935, wrecking crews began the demolition of buildings and rides that comprised an amusement park in Rexford, Saratoga County, NY.

Few remember when Clifton Park had its own amusement park. It was located on the Mohawk River in Rexford near the Alplaus border from 1906 to 1933. [Read more…] about When Clifton Park Had Its Own Amusement Park

Murder Trials Of Note In 19th Century Saratoga County

December 31, 2020 by Editorial Staff 4 Comments

The following record of nineteenth century murder trials in Saratoga County was provided by a Mechanicville correspondent to the Troy Daily Times in 1891:

There have been many noted murder trials in Saratoga county since the first court was held in the town of Stillwater May 10, 1791 – 100 years ago. The court now in session at Ballston Spa meets about five miles from where the first court was held, at the residence of Samuel Clark, near East Line, Judge John Thompson of Stillwater [then] presiding, he having received the appointment as the first judge of Saratoga county from Governor Clinton. [Read more…] about Murder Trials Of Note In 19th Century Saratoga County

20th Century’s Witness: Elmer Droms of Saratoga County

October 26, 2020 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Long time Clifton Park (Saratoga County) resident Elmer Droms died on Friday, October 27, 2000 at age 102. He had been an occupant of Maplewood Manor Nursing Home in Ballston Spa since spring.

Prior to that time, he occupied a two-hundred-year-old farmhouse on Droms Road, near Grooms Corners in Clifton Park, his home for 98 years. [Read more…] about 20th Century’s Witness: Elmer Droms of Saratoga County

Abe Best: Contentious Clifton Park Resident

July 5, 2020 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Abraham (1789-1871) and Harriet Best moved from Claverack, Columbia County, NY to Vischer Ferry in the Town of Clifton Park (Saratoga County) in 1815 and built a fine brick federal style home that still stands on Vischer Ferry Road. My late wife Martha and I purchased this home in 1987 and so I live in the “Best House.”

Abraham had red hair and a temperament to match. He was a farmer who seems to have been very opinionated, and sometimes argumentative. He was a staunch member of the Amity Reformed Church, and in 1835 he petitioned the consistory in a suit against a neighboring landowner, John Clute, who he accused of wrongfully removing a fence from his property. [Read more…] about Abe Best: Contentious Clifton Park Resident

Clifton Park

We Need Your Help Now More Than Ever

New York Almanack receives no public funds.

It’s supported only by readers like you.

Please give today (a monthly recurring gift is best)