The Hudson River Valley Greenway has launched an online, interactive Greenway Trail System Map to illustrate and highlight the network of designated Greenway trails throughout the Hudson Valley. The map includes nearly 1,000 miles of designated land trails and over 115 designated water trail sites along the 256-mile Hudson River Greenway Water Trail. [Read more…] about Hudson Valley Greenway Map Goes Digital
Columbia County
Clermont State Historic Site Master Plan Input Sought
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) has developed a Draft Master Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft MP/DEIS) for the Clermont State Historic Site, located in the Town of Clermont, in Columbia County. OPRHP will be holding two online public meetings to discuss proposed plan elements. [Read more…] about Clermont State Historic Site Master Plan Input Sought
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
Albany’s Seth Wheeler: Inventor of Modern Toilet Paper
Seth Wheeler was born in Chatham, Columbia County, NY on May 18th, 1838 to a successful and affluent family. His father, Alonzo Wheeler, owned Wheeler, Melick & Co. one of the foremost manufacturers of agricultural equipment; his mother was Harriet Hatch Wheeler. At the time, agriculture was the foremost industry supporting the Upstate New York economy and demand for agricultural equipment was strong. Begun in 1830, Wheeler, Melick & Co. moved to Albany in 1849. [Read more…] about Albany’s Seth Wheeler: Inventor of Modern Toilet Paper
New Mini Railroad Starts Running at Copake Iron Works June 7th
Copake Iron Works has announced the inauguration of the Pomeroy Family Railroad at the Copake Iron Works at Copake Falls in Columbia County, NY is set for Wednesday, June 7th. [Read more…] about New Mini Railroad Starts Running at Copake Iron Works June 7th
An American Literary Giant Takes A Hudson River Excursion By Sloop In 1801
The following text about a sloop journey up the Hudson River in 1801 was originally published In The Life of Charles Brockden Brown by William Dunlap (Philadelphia 1815). It was transcribed by Hudson River Maritime Museum volunteer researcher George A. Thompson and additionally edited and annotated by John Warren.
Very suddenly conceived the design of voyaging up the Hudson River, as far as Albany. Had heard much of the grandeur of its shores, but never had gone above ten miles from New York. My friend C. having some leisure was willing to adventure for ten days or a fortnight, and I having still more, and being greatly in want of air and exercise, agreed to accompany him. We found a most spacious and well furnished vessel, captain R.—– in which we embarked at sunset this day. The wind propitious [favorable] and the air wonderfully bland [not foul, like the air in New York at this time]. [Read more…] about An American Literary Giant Takes A Hudson River Excursion By Sloop In 1801
NYS Nominates 13 Places for State, National Registers of Historic Places
The New York State Board for Historic Preservation has recommended adding 13 properties to the State and National Registers of Historic Places and submitting one request to the Columbia Turnpike East Toll House to the National Park Service.
The nominations include a key site associated with Rochester‘s LGBTQ+ history, a historic synagogue in Manhattan‘s Upper West Side, a public park in Ithaca, a church connected to Yonkers’s civil rights history, a re-built Lustron House in Erie County, the Oneida County History Center, and more. [Read more…] about NYS Nominates 13 Places for State, National Registers of Historic Places
Hudson’s Historic Robert Jenkins House Hosting An Open House
The Historic Robert Jenkins House in Hudson, NY, will host an open house tour on Saturday, March 25th. The 1811 house, built by proprietor Robert Jenkins, is on the National Register of Historic Places as Nationally Significant and is in the Front Street-Parade Hill-Lower Warren Street Historic District. The house is a fine early example of federal-style architecture in the Hudson Valley where Dutch architecture dominated during the 18th century. [Read more…] about Hudson’s Historic Robert Jenkins House Hosting An Open House
Hell’s Acres in the Taconic Mountains
In this episode of A New York Minute In History Podcast, State Historian Devin Lander and Saratoga County Historian Lauren Roberts tell the story of Boston Corners, also known as Hell’s Acres, which once belonged to Massachusetts, but was ceded to New York State by an act of Congress in 1855. [Read more…] about Hell’s Acres in the Taconic Mountains
Albany-Hudson Electric Trail 2022 Use Report
The Hudson River Valley Greenway (HRVG) has released the Albany-Hudson Electric Trail 2022 Trail Use Report. HRVG constructed and operates the Albany–Hudson
Electric Trail (AHET), a 36–mile recreational “rail trail” in Rensselaer and Columbia Counties.
The report includes visitation numbers to four different trail sections on the Albany-Hudson Electric Trail (AHET) using automated counters to count users and a visual trail use survey to analyze user types. [Read more…] about Albany-Hudson Electric Trail 2022 Use Report