New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Fishkill

NYS Nominates 13 Places for State, National Registers of Historic Places

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An information table set up by the Gay Liberation Front on the University of Rochester’s Eastman Quadrangle in 1970 (Photo by Anthony Boccaccio)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

Exotic Animals, The Van Amburgh Circus & The Lion King of Fishkill

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Van Amburgh’s MenagerieThe term “exotic pet” refers to wild animals kept in captivity in a domestic setting for the purpose of personal interest or entertainment. With globalization the trade has increased dramatically, although its real scope is difficult to ascertain because for most species there is no registration requirement. Its scale may be a contemporary concern, but the practice itself has a long history. The public has always been obsessed with non-native animals. [Read more…] about Exotic Animals, The Van Amburgh Circus & The Lion King of Fishkill

Ceremonies Set to Mark Mt Beacon Military Airplane Crashes

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The Town of Fishkill and the Friends of the Mt. Beacon Eight have announced a ceremony honoring the eight U.S. Navy servicemen who lost their lives in two separate plane crashes on Mount Beacon, in the Hudson Highlands, set for Saturday, November 7th, at Fishkill’s Veterans Park on RT 52 starting at 10:30 am. [Read more…] about Ceremonies Set to Mark Mt Beacon Military Airplane Crashes

Heroes of Fishkill Day Set for May 26th

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Heroes of Fishkill flyer final 2018The Second Heroes of Fishkill Day has been set for May 26, 2018, from 9 am to 3 pm at the Rombout Rural Cemetery, 1571 Route 52 in Fishkill, NY.

Once a place where Revolutionary War soldiers were treated for injuries in the Middle Presbyterian Church that stood there until the mid-1800’s, the event will honor the 57 Women of the Revolution who are buried in the cemetery. [Read more…] about Heroes of Fishkill Day Set for May 26th

Margaret Fuller Marker Planned For Fishkill Landing

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Margaret FullerThe Pomeroy Foundation has awarded the city of Beacon, New York, a marker grant for the Margaret Fuller marker to be installed and dedicated in the spring of 2016.

Rev. Michael Barnett, representing women’s rights activist Margaret Fuller for the New York Cultural Heritage Tourism Network’s 100th Anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote in NYS 2017 Committee, collaborated with Elizabeth Evans, Assistant to the Mayor, and Robert Murphy, President of the Beacon Historical Society, to provide the primary source documentation. [Read more…] about Margaret Fuller Marker Planned For Fishkill Landing

Plane Crash Wreckage Hike Recalls Mount Beacon 6

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Dixie Kiefer on the USS TiconderogaOn Sunday, November 11, 1945, a Navy Beechcraft twin engine transport plane traveling from Curtis Wright Airport in New Jersey to the Quonset Air Naval Air Station in Rhode Island, crashed near the northwest ridge of Beacon Mountain in the Town of Fishkill, New York.

Among the six men who lost their lives that day was Navy legend Dixie Kiefer, Commander of the Quonset Point Naval Air Station, and one of the World War II Navy’s best known figures. On Saturday June 20, 2015 there will be a hike to the site of the crash on Mt. Beacon, were some wreckage remains. [Read more…] about Plane Crash Wreckage Hike Recalls Mount Beacon 6

Willa Skinner Recognized As 2015 ‘Woman of History’

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FSHSHH_WS_MtGulianGalaEach year, Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site sets out to recognize one woman’s demonstration of the character traits of Martha Washington. Throughout the American Revolution, including the time she spent with her husband at Headquarters, Newburgh, Martha Washington partook in activities displaying a myriad of traits that would cement her unique position as a woman of history.

Since 2003, fourteen leading women of the Hudson Valley have been chosen to receive the “Martha Washington Woman of History Award.” This year’s recipient was Town of Fishkill Historian Willa Skinner. [Read more…] about Willa Skinner Recognized As 2015 ‘Woman of History’

Sudden Demolition of Fishkill Landmark Criticized

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Jackson House DemolitionDutchess County Legislator Alison MacAvery will be holding a press conference tomorrow, Saturday, December 7, at 10:30 AM, to address this week’s sudden demolition of the landmark Jackson House in Fishkill, New York.

The swift destruction of one of the most visible historic structures in the National Register Historic District of Fishkill, has left some residents of this Hudson River Valley municipality stunned. MacAvery will hold the Press Conference in front of the Jackson House site, at the intersection of Main Street and Jackson Street, in the Village of Fishkill. The historic structure, once the nineteenth-century home of Dutchess County Judge Joseph I. Jackson, was a unique asset to the cultural landscape of the Village of Fishkill. [Read more…] about Sudden Demolition of Fishkill Landmark Criticized

Preservationists Seek Support For Fishkill’s Jackson House

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Jack House Through The YearsThe Friends of Jackson House, an organization that has come together to advocate for the preservation of the historic Jackson House in Fishkill, Dutchess County, New York is spreading the word about their attempt to save the house from relocation or demolition, and asking for signatures on an online petition.   [Read more…] about Preservationists Seek Support For Fishkill’s Jackson House