• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

  • Email
  • RSS
  • Adirondacks & NNY
  • Capital-Saratoga
  • Mohawk Valley
  • Hudson Valley & Catskills
  • NYC & Long Island
  • Western NY
  • History
  • Nature & Environment
  • Arts & Culture
  • Outdoor Recreation
  • Food & Farms
  • Subscribe
  • Support
  • Submit
  • About
  • New Books
  • Events
  • Podcasts

Colonie

William O. Stillman: Leader of Humane Societies, Friend of Animals & Children

April 3, 2023 by Peter Hess Leave a Comment

The Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society's building on Fourth Street inin Troy, NYWilliam O. Stillman was born on September 9th, 1856 in Normansville, now known as Elsmere in the town of the Bethlehem, Albany County, NY. His parents were Rev. Stephen Lewis Stillman and Lucretia (Miller) Stillman.

Rev. Stephen Lewis Stillman was a Methodist minister at the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Adamsville (now Delmar) and a descendant of a family that had emigrated from London, England. Lucretia (Miller) Stillman was of Dutch descent. Rev. Stephen suddenly died in 1869, when William was 12 years old. After his father’s death, William and his mother moved to Albany. [Read more…] about William O. Stillman: Leader of Humane Societies, Friend of Animals & Children

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany Med, Albany Rural Cemetery, American Humane Association, ASPCA, Bethlehem, cats, Colonie, Crime and Justice, Delmar, dogs, Education, Horses, Housing, Medical History, Menands, Mohawk Hudson Humane Society, New York State Library, pets, poultry, poverty, Saratoga County, Saratoga Springs, William O. Stillman

Theophilus Roessle: From Celery King To Hotelier

February 26, 2023 by Peter Hess 2 Comments

an Erie Canal packet boat, possibly, as was often the case overcrowded with immigrantsTheophilus Gottlieb Roessle was born in Stuttgart in the Kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, on March 19th, 1811. His father was a successful market farmer and builder in the community. Like many of the children in his homeland, Theophilus received a good quality education that his father supplemented with a solid training in agriculture.

While still a young boy, Theophilus learned the peculiarities inherent in the cultivation of plants. [Read more…] about Theophilus Roessle: From Celery King To Hotelier

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Food, History Tagged With: Agricultural History, Albany, Albany County, Albany Rural Cemetery, Colonie, gardening, German-American History, Lake George, local farms, Tourism, vegetables, Warren County

The Transcontinental Railroad & The Capital District

February 22, 2023 by Guest Contributor 4 Comments

OnJupiter locomotive May 10, 1869 the first United States Transcontinental Railroad was completed when a 17.6-karat gold ceremonial spike was driven into a railroad tie by Leland Stanford.

Begun in 1863, the “Pacific Railroad” or “Overland Route” was a joint, although competitive, endeavor between the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR), moving east from San Francisco to meet the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) which headed west from Council Bluffs, Iowa. The two railroad lines finally met at Promontory Point, Utah, after workers laid 1,912 miles of contiguous track. [Read more…] about The Transcontinental Railroad & The Capital District

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, Colonie, railroads, Roessleville, Schenectady, Schenectady County Historical Society, Transportation History, Watervliet

Leland Stanford, The Bull’s Head & Albany’s 19th Century Cattle Market

May 11, 2022 by John Warren Leave a Comment

Leland Stanford portrait by Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier, 1881, courtesy Stanford MuseumCalifornia’s 8th Governor and long-time Senator Leland Stanford, namesake of Stanford University and one-time president of the Central Pacific Railroad, has a unique connection to New York State’s Capital District.

Leland was born in Watervliet in 1824, the son of Josiah Stanford and Elizabeth Phillips. Among his seven siblings were New York Senator Charles Stanford (1819-1885) and Australian spiritualist Thomas Welton Stanford (1832-1918). The elder Stanford was a wealthy farmer in the eastern Mohawk Valley before moving to the Lisha Kill in Albany County where Leland was born. [Read more…] about Leland Stanford, The Bull’s Head & Albany’s 19th Century Cattle Market

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Food, History Tagged With: Agricultural History, Albany, Albany County, Colonie, Culinary History, Gambling, Gold Rush of 1849, Horses, Leland Stanford, Political History, Stanford University, Transportation History, Troy, Vice

Stony Creek Reservoir: A Short History

June 15, 2020 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

VischerdaalThe Town of Colonie in Albany County, NY, owns the Stony Creek Reservoir located in southern Clifton Park, just above Vischer Ferry in Saratoga County. 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 Latham Water District closed the floodgates on the dam across Stony Creek in the beginning of June 1953. By June 14 the lake began to form with a depth of 12 feet. [Read more…] about Stony Creek Reservoir: A Short History

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Clifton Park, Colonie, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Stony Creek

Historians Podcast: Schuyler Flatts in Colonie, NY

August 2, 2019 by Bob Cudmore Leave a Comment

The Historians LogoThis week on The Historians Podcast, Colonie town historian Kevin Franklin explains the historic importance of Schuyler Flatts, now a town park between Menands and Watervliet near the Hudson River.

The land previously was a home of the prominent Schuyler family and an early residence of Arent Van Curler, the founder of Schenectady. [Read more…] about Historians Podcast: Schuyler Flatts in Colonie, NY

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Colonie, Podcasts

Can You Identify These Photos?

November 23, 2014 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Fairview home album photo 5 uknown mill complex009An old photo album of the Fairview Home For Friendless Children was recently rediscovered while beginning an inventory process of materials in the Collection of the Town of Colonie Historian’s Office and Historical Society.

In the album were these three photos depicting a deep gorge with either a train or trolley trestle in the background, and a view of a very interesting mill complex that may have existed in the Capital District area.  [Read more…] about Can You Identify These Photos?

Filed Under: History, Nature Tagged With: Colonie, Colonie Historical Society, Industrial History

Primary Sidebar

Help Support The Almanack

Subscribe to New York Almanack

Subscribe! Follow the New York Almanack each day via E-mail, RSS, Twitter or Facebook updates.

Recent Comments

  • arc skuta on MicroHistory and Migration: From Moltrasio to London, New York and Montreal
  • Nancy Robinson on Former Saratoga and North Creek Railway Purchased
  • Bernard McCann on Zoar Valley Improvements Update
  • Arlene Steinberg on Record Broken for Oldest Bear Hunter
  • Pam Malcolm on Raines Law, Loopholes and Prohibition
  • Ron Crawfordi on Raines Law, Loopholes and Prohibition
  • Don S on Rangers Make 16-Hour Adirondack Rescue in Deep Snow
  • Gene Porter on 19th Century Northern NY Railroad News
  • J F Sefcik on Did George Washington Burn New York City?
  • T on Rangers Make 16-Hour Adirondack Rescue in Deep Snow

Recent New York Books

The Motorcycle Industry in New York State
Unfriendly to Liberty
weeds of the northeast
Putting Out the Planetary Fire: An Introduction to Climate Action and Advocacy
Seneca Ray Stoddard An Intimate Portrait of an Adirondack Legend
rebels at sea
The Great New York Fire of 1776
politics of trash
Indivisible
Virginia Venture Misha Ewen

Secondary Sidebar

Mohawk Valley Trading Company Honey, Honey Comb, Buckwheat Honey, Beeswax Candles, Maple Syrup, Maple Sugar
preservation league