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Clinton County

The Most Negative Sales Pitch Ever: An Adirondack Story

January 27, 2023 by Lawrence P. Gooley Leave a Comment

Ray Brook SanitariumA little more than a century ago, a horrendous description of an Adirondack village appeared in newspapers, including the Mail and Express published in New York City. At issue was the placement of a yet-to-be-built tubercular sanitarium. Feelings ran so high at the time, you’d swear they were selecting the next Supreme Court justice. But taking sides is nothing new, as proved by use of the written word back then to describe one of the candidate locations. As you’ll see, it’s hard to believe they were talking about the same place. [Read more…] about The Most Negative Sales Pitch Ever: An Adirondack Story

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Adirondack Correctional Facility, Adirondacks, clinton correctional facility, Clinton County, Crime and Justice, Dannemora, Essex County, Franklin County, Medical History, North Elba, prisons, Saranac Lake, tuberculosis

Smugglers & The Law: Prohibition In Northern New York

January 19, 2023 by John Warren 4 Comments

A recreated chase of bootleggers in Chestertown, NY in 2013 (photo by John Warren)Dennis Warren left his job as a coal shoveler on the New York Central Railroad in Albany to ship out to the First World War. His transport ship had a close call with a German submarine on the way over, but got there in time to take part in what one of the bloodiest military campaigns in American history.

For Americans after the war, the Argonne would mean what Normandy meant just 25 years later – sacrifice. Sadly, that sacrifice in the Argonne Forest was never repaid to Dennis Warren, who met the death of a smuggler – running from an officious and invasive law on a treacherous mountain road near Port Henry on Lake Champlain.

According to the newsman who reported his death at the age of 29, “Canadian Ale was spread across the road.” [Read more…] about Smugglers & The Law: Prohibition In Northern New York

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Al Smith, beer, Canada, Clinton County, Crime and Justice, DeWitt, Essex County, Franklin County, Genealogy, Journalism, Lafayette, Lake Champlain, Legal History, liquor, Manlius, Newspapers, Onondaga, Onondaga County, Oral History, Plattsburgh, Political History, Pompey, Port Henry, Prohibition, Quebec, Rouses Point, Route 9, St Lawrence County, State Police, SUNY Plattsburgh, Vice, World War One

Remembering The Christmas of 1945 in Northern NY

December 25, 2022 by Lawrence P. Gooley Leave a Comment

1945 Ad Welcome Home VetsAmong the finest Christmas seasons in America’s long history took place in 1945. We’re constantly bombarded with how special the holidays are, so it’s tough for any one year to stand out as extra special, but 1945 makes the list.

Events across the Adirondacks that year epitomized the nation’s attitude. Surprisingly, it wasn’t all about celebrating, even though the most destructive war in history had just ended a few months earlier. We often mumble mindlessly that we’re proud to be Americans. But the first post-World War II Christmas was the real deal, worthy of the word “pride.” [Read more…] about Remembering The Christmas of 1945 in Northern NY

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Adirondacks, Christmas, Clinton County, Essex County, Franklin County, Holidays, Military History, World War Two

Dear Santa: Send Candy, Nuts, and Fruit (Christmas Gifts of the Past)

December 24, 2022 by Lawrence P. Gooley 2 Comments

Children’s Christmas wishes and expectations years ago were much different from today’s world of high technology. I was so struck by this—the simplicity and innocence—that I included a chapter entitled Letters to Santa in a recent book on the history of Churubusco, New York.

The sample letters below were published in newspapers of Northern New York from 1920–1940. They portray the sharp contrast to the modern holiday, where expensive gifts have become the disproportionate norm. [Read more…] about Dear Santa: Send Candy, Nuts, and Fruit (Christmas Gifts of the Past)

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Food, History Tagged With: Christmas, Churubusco, Clinton County, Culinary History, Cultural History

The Origins of Rockwell Kent: The Development of an Artist and His Craft

December 19, 2022 by Anthony F. Hall 1 Comment

Our America a series designed by Kent for sets of chinaRockwell Kent, the artist who made the Adirondacks his home from 1928 until his death in 1971, mastered more media than any of his contemporaries, even if one were to include Andy Warhol.

And no one was more skillful than he at agitprop – exhorting the masses to political action through expressive combinations of images and words, in posters, pamphlets, books and even bottle caps, those he used to seal the milk bottles from his Ausable Forks dairy farm. [Read more…] about The Origins of Rockwell Kent: The Development of an Artist and His Craft

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, History, New Exhibits Tagged With: Adirondacks, Art History, Ausable Forks, Clinton County, Cultural History, Essex County, New Deal, Plattsburgh, Political History, SUNY Plattsburgh

The Old Trail: A Lyon Mountain History

November 19, 2022 by Lawrence P. Gooley Leave a Comment

Lyon Mountain Tower, 2008Many years ago, a new trail replaced the old trail on Lyon Mountain in the town of Dannemora in Clinton County, NY, which had degraded with sections ranging from grassy to rocky to bouldery to muddy to extremely steep, muddy, and slippery.

It was a mess compared to paths built by modern trail crews. In 2006, ADK’s Algonquin Chapter completed the plans for a new trail, which was built in the summer of 2008. [Read more…] about The Old Trail: A Lyon Mountain History

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Adirondacks, camping, Chazy Lake, Clinton County, Dannemora, Environmental History, Fire Towers, hiking, Lyon Mountain, surveying, Verplanck Colvin

Adirondack Voters Join Environmental Bond Act Approval Landslide

November 10, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Adirondack Mountains from the top of Whiteface Mountain courtesy Wikimedia R khotResidents of the Adirondack Park’s 130 rural communities voted overwhelmingly to approve the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act on Election Day.

The measure won approval by more than a two-to-one margin statewide. [Read more…] about Adirondack Voters Join Environmental Bond Act Approval Landslide

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Council, Adirondacks, clean air, clean water, Clinton County, Environmental History, Essex County, Forest Preserve, Franklin County, Fulton County, Hamilton County, Lewis County, nature, Oneida County, Overuse, politics, Saratoga County, St Lawrence County, Warren County, Washington County, Whitney Park

French Canadian Rev War Veteran Antoine Paulin’s Grave Being Marked in Champlain

September 15, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Portrait of American Revolution Captain Antoine PaulinBorn in Grenoble, France on April 24, 1734, Antoine Paulin arrived in Canada with a French military squadron. Choosing not to return to France, he made Canada his home. With the onset of the American Revolution, he again picked up arms to serve with the fledgling American Army.

Paulin served as a Captain in Colonel Moses Hazen’s 2nd Canadian Regiment in the Continental Line and participated in several well known campaigns throughout the Revolutionary War. He and his young family settled in Northern New York. [Read more…] about French Canadian Rev War Veteran Antoine Paulin’s Grave Being Marked in Champlain

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Canada, Champlain, Clinton County, Daughters of the American Revolution, French And Indian War, French History, Military History

Recreation Highlight: Lyon Mountain Fire Tower

August 10, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Lyon Mountain Fire TowerWith a rich history of mining, Lyon Mountain is a towering peak in the Chazy Highlands Wild Forest in Clinton County, NY.

The mining started in the 1860s and continued until 1967. It produced some of the purest iron ore in the world, and some of that ore was even used to build the Golden Gate Bridge. [Read more…] about Recreation Highlight: Lyon Mountain Fire Tower

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Chazy Highlands Wild Forest, Clinton County, Fire Towers, hiking, Historic Preservation, Lyon Mountain, nature

Adk Council: Manchin Harming Adirondacks, Local Green Jobs

July 19, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Adirondack CouncilWest Virginia Senator Joe Manchin’s refusal to negotiate legislation to curb climate change will harm New York’s Adirondack Park as well as the growing clean-manufacturing economy in nearby Plattsburgh, according to the Adirondack Council.

The Council called on New York State government to intensify its efforts to reduce carbon emissions, and called on the state’s voters to approve the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act on the ballot November 8th. [Read more…] about Adk Council: Manchin Harming Adirondacks, Local Green Jobs

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature Tagged With: Adirondack Council, Adirondacks, clean air, Climate Change, Clinton County, energy, Environmental History, Essex County, Franklin County, Hamilton County, Herkimer COunty, nature, Plattsburgh, politics, St Lawrence County, Warren County

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