History, Natural History & the Arts
Just after sunset on a toasty evening in May 1903, a two-year-old trotting horse named Princewell, startled by “a noisy automobile,” bolted for freedom in the Bronx.
Trainer Frank Ferris was leading the young colt across the tracks of the Putnam Division of the New York Central Railroad, turning onto the Boston Post Road at King’s Bridge, when the motorcar “rushed past,” according to a New York Times report. [Read more…] about Memories of Old Put: NY Central Railroad’s Putnam Division
For nearly two centuries, the Old Croton Aqueduct has stood as a testament to New York’s innovation, engineering, and community spirit. Built in the 1840s to deliver Manhattan’s first clean water, the Aqueduct today serves a new purpose — as a 26-mile historic trail and state park where people walk, bike, learn, and connect.
Yet, as has happened with many public spaces, many of the Aqueduct’s historic ventilators, weirs, and stone structures have long suffered from graffiti and grime – marks that distract from the beauty and dignity of this National Historic Landmark. [Read more…] about Old Croton Aqueduct Trail Supporters Tackle Graffiti
The source of the Bronx River is now the Kensico Reservoir in Westchester County. From here the river flows south, passing 24 miles through White Plains, Scarsdale, Yonkers, and Bronxville until it reaches Bronx County, where it then empties into the East River, a tidal strait connected to Long Island Sound, between Hunts Point and Clason Point.
The river gets its name from colonial settler Jonas Bronck. The river once originated in an area the Weckquasgeek called Quaropes (White Marshes). [Read more…] about The Bronx River: A Natural History
Musicologist and composer Charles Louis Seeger Jr., a pacifist and conscientious objector, was the father of folk singers Pete Seeger, Mike Seeger and Peggy Seeger all of whom were associated with anti-war movements later in the twentieth century. His younger brother Alan Seeger was a Greenwich Village poet and bohemian who had settled in Paris in 1912.
When Germany declared war on France he joined the French Foreign Legion and was killed in 1916 in action at the Battle of the Somme. His writings were published posthumously and would cement his reputation as an American war poet. In France, his memory is revered to this day. [Read more…] about Poems, Books & Bullets: The Seeger Family & World War One
There are many ways to look at Joe Gould (1889-1957), the eccentric New York City character and poet who has been profiled in numerous books and articles for over a century. He was often described as a bearded, disheveled bohemian slouching through Greenwich Village, sometimes homeless, scribbling in a notebook, and mooching off anyone who would give him a handout. He hung out at the Minetta Tavern and other bars and cafeterias, often scooping up free packets of tomato ketchup. He also had a darker side.
[Read more…] about Joe Gould: Bohemian Misfit of Greenwich Village
The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced Environmental Protection Fund grant awards totaling $978,820 for urban forest assessment and planning projects across the state. [Read more…] about Nearly $1 Million in Urban Forestry Grants Awarded
The latest History Twins podcast is about Madam C. J. Walker (1867 – 1919), who made a fortune by developing and marketing a line of cosmetics and hair care products for Black women, especially through the business she founded, the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company.
The first child of her large family born free. Sarah Breedlove was a child near Delta, Louisiana where her parents die and she was orphaned by the age of seven. She moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi, at the age of 10, working as a domestic servant. [Read more…] about Madam C. J. Walker: Black Hair Care Entrepreneur
Edgar Mayhew Bacon’s Chronicles of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow (1897, reprinted by HVA Press in 2018) tells of the many myths and legends that surround the Sleepy Hollow area in Westchester County, NY, from the Headless Hessian, known to grab at travelers in the night, to the sightings of the ghostly ship The Flying Dutchman.
This new edition features a foreword by Hudson Valley Master Storyteller, Jonathan Kruk. [Read more…] about Chronicles of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow
Use your bank’s “bill pay” option (or just send a check)
Thanks for your support! These are difficult times. Without your support we cannot publish the Almanack.
*Donations are not tax deductible.
(Click the X in the top right corner this box to not see this message again for 7 days).