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Engineering History

Asher Durand’s Painted Puzzle of Progress

September 19, 2023 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

Asher Durand, Progress (The Advance of Civilization), 1853. (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)What Thomas Carlyle in 1829 called the Age of Machinery – later renamed the Industrial Revolution – radically altered conventional modes of being and marked a turning point in man’s relationship with his environment. New production systems delivered an abundance of goods for consumption, but in the process natural resources were depleted, water and soil polluted, whilst fumes contaminated the air. [Read more…] about Asher Durand’s Painted Puzzle of Progress

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Art History, Asher Durand, Cultural History, Engineering History, Hudson River School, Industrial History, Newburgh, Orange County, Science History, Technology, Transportation History

August 1807: Robert Fulton’s Steamboat Makes History

August 18, 2023 by John Warren 2 Comments

The 1909 replica of the North River Steamboat (Clermont) at anchorRobert Fulton did not invent the steamboat. There were perhaps 20 others who worked toward the same goal before the North River Steamboat, later known as Clermont, left the dock in the city of New York for Albany on August 17, 1807. [Read more…] about August 1807: Robert Fulton’s Steamboat Makes History

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, New York City Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, Clermont, Clermont State Historic Site, Dutchess County, Engineering History, Hudson River, Industrial History, Legal History, Livingston Manor, Maritime History, New York City, Robert Fulton, Robert Livingston, Steamboating, Transportation History

Cracked: The Future of Dams in a Hot, Chaotic World

August 14, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Cracked The Future of Dams in a Hot, Chaotic World (Patagonia, 2023) author Steven HawleyThroughout history, humans have dammed rivers at the cost of wild fish, Indigenous people, forested land, and healthy watersheds. Adding to the havoc of today’s climate-change-induced weather extremes and water shortages, science says there’s no future for the business of dam-building.

A new book offers hope for the dam removal movement and how it will contribute to the mitigation of the climate crisis: when we free the rivers, watersheds are restored and Earth heals itself.  In Cracked: The Future of Dams in a Hot, Chaotic World (Patagonia, 2023) author Steven Hawley, an Oregon-based environmental journalist and documentary filmmaker, delivers the full, ugly truth about dams and offers a pathway toward freeing our rivers. [Read more…] about Cracked: The Future of Dams in a Hot, Chaotic World

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Books, Events, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Dams, Climate Change, Engineering History, Environmental History, Fisheries, Wildlife

Early Forts Near Old Saratoga: Some History

August 3, 2023 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

Fort Vrooman, Fort Saratoga and Fort Clinton historic sign in 2012 (photographed By Bill Coughlin)Many of the descriptions about fortifications in the Upper Hudson Valley, close to New France, were written by soldiers, travelers and settlers during the wars in the 18th century and into the 19th century.

Since many of the North American colonies were defended by Independent Companies, the regular English and, later, British armies had little direct influence on fortification designs, which created a high demand for the assistance of military engineers. [Read more…] about Early Forts Near Old Saratoga: Some History

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Archaeology, Architecture, Battenkill, Burning of Saratoga, Engineering History, Fort Ann, Fort Burnet, Fort Clinton, Fort Edward, Fort Miller, Fort Nicholson, Fort Saratoga, Fort Vrooman, French And Indian War, Hudson River, Indigenous History, King George’s War, King William’s War, Military History, New France, Peter Schuyler, Philip Schuyler, Queen Anne's War, Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga Patent, Schuyler House, Schuylerville, Seven Years War

McKean Fireboat Added To National Register of Historic Places

August 3, 2023 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Fireboat McKean at the US Airways Flight 1549 Miracle on the Hudson crash landingFollowing his advocacy and a personal meeting with the Fireboat McKean Preservation Project’s David Rocco, U.S Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer recently announced that the National Park Service (NPS) has approved the nomination of the historic John D. McKean fireboat, a retired New York City Fire Department (FDNY) vessel, to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). [Read more…] about McKean Fireboat Added To National Register of Historic Places

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Chuck Schumer, East River, Engineering History, Fireboat McKean Preservation Project, Fires, Historic Preservation, Hudson River, Maritime History, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, New York City, New York City Fire Department, New York Harbor, New York State Register of Historic Places, Rockland County, Stony Point

Genesee Valley Park & The Barge Canal: Roman Arches Over Indian Rivers

August 2, 2023 by Bill Orzell Leave a Comment

a Real Picture Post Card view of pedestrian bridge spanning the NYS Barge Canal in Genesee Valley Park Rochester, New YorkThe partnership of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux pioneered American landscape architecture. Their work in Manhattan’s Central Park, Brooklyn’s Prospect Park and Boston’s Franklin Park set new standards for outdoor spaces which some Upstate New York cities such as Buffalo sought to emulate, albeit on a reduced scale. [Read more…] about Genesee Valley Park & The Barge Canal: Roman Arches Over Indian Rivers

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Mohawk Valley, Recreation, Western NY Tagged With: Architecture, Barge Canal, boating, Calvert Vaux, Engineering History, Frederick Law Olmsted, Genesee River, Genesee Valley Conservancy, Genesee Valley Greenway, Genesee Valley Park, Landscape Architecture, Mohawk River, Monroe County, paddling, Rochester, Transportation History

Seeps Keep Erie Canal, Glens Falls Feeder Canal Levels Lower

February 14, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Erie Canal Lock E12The New York State Canal Corporation has announced that water levels this navigation season in the Erie Canal between Lock E-30 (Macedon) and Locks E-34/35 (Lockport) will be consistent with levels maintained throughout 2022 – approximately one foot lower than historic levels. [Read more…] about Seeps Keep Erie Canal, Glens Falls Feeder Canal Levels Lower

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Mohawk Valley, Recreation, Western NY Tagged With: boating, Engineering History, Erie Canal, Genesee County, Glens Falls, Glens Falls Feeder Canal, Lockport, Lockport Locks District, Macedon, Monroe County, Niagara County, NYS Canal Corporation, Orleans County, paddling, Pittsford, Rochester, Transportation, Warren County, Wayne County

Racing Steamboats On The Hudson River

January 18, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

American Steamboats on the Hudson - Passing the Highlands (Library of Congress)The following texts are excerpts from various descriptions of racing steamboats on the Hudson River in 1830s, during the heyday of such speed trials.

“Racing On The Hudson,” Cortland Standard, September 25, 1909: “When steamboating was successfully established on the Hudson River it was natural that the owners and skippers of the various crafts that plied between New York and Albany should turn their attention to speed. Racing between boats of rival lines soon became a matter of almost daily occurrence. [Read more…] about Racing Steamboats On The Hudson River

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Albany, Engineering History, Gambling, Hudson River, Maritime History, New York City, Steamboating, Transportation History, Vice

Taddeus Kosciusko: A Hero of Two Worlds (& The Name On That Bridge)

January 4, 2023 by Guest Contributor 10 Comments

Twin Bridges I-87 NorthwaySince it opened to traffic on April 11, 1960, millions of vehicles traveling the I-87 Northway have passed over the Mohawk River on what they think are called on “The Twin Bridges.” That bridge however, is really named for a Polish-American hero of the American Revolution – Taddeus Kosciusko. [Read more…] about Taddeus Kosciusko: A Hero of Two Worlds (& The Name On That Bridge)

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley Tagged With: American Revolution, Army Corps of Engineers, Battle of Saratoga, Engineering History, Essex County, Fort Ticonderoga, Hudson River, I-87, Immigration, John Burgoyne, Lake Champlain, Lake George, Military History, Mohawk River, Mount Defiance, Polish History, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Schuylerville, Taddeus Kosciusko, Warren County, Washington County, Waterford, West Point

Robert Moses: The Man New Yorkers Love to Hate

November 14, 2022 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoRobert Moses is the man many New Yorkers love to hate. This is in no small part due to his own hubris and the impact he had on the people living in the path of his massive construction projects. Add to that Robert Caro’s hard hitting 1974 biography The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York (Vintage Book, 1975) and you’ve got a reputation that is hard to live down. [Read more…] about Robert Moses: The Man New Yorkers Love to Hate

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Engineering History, Environmental History, Long Island, Nassau County, New York City, Podcasts, Political History, Robert Moses, Suffolk County, Transportation History, Urban History

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