• 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

Greenfield

Fallen Rock Climber Rescued In The Adirondacks; Unprepared Hikers Located

April 19, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

forest ranger logoNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents throughout New York State. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people.

What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers. [Read more…] about Fallen Rock Climber Rescued In The Adirondacks; Unprepared Hikers Located

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondacks, climbing, Daniel's Road State Forest, Essex County, Forest Ranger Reports, Greenfield, hiking, Keene, rock climbing, Saratoga County, Search and Rescue

Sam Hill: Folklore & History Of A Saratoga Resident

January 22, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Sam Hill Painting - Laurence White PhotographyThough perhaps a dying proverb, “What in Sam Hill?!” used to be commonplace as an expression of exasperation. A quick internet search will point to several possible origin stories that explain where this phrase came from but the definitive truth remains elusive.

Could it be that a Saratoga County resident known by this common moniker contributed to this once-popular phrase? [Read more…] about Sam Hill: Folklore & History Of A Saratoga Resident

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Abenaki, Folklore, Greenfield, Indigenous History, Mohawk, Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Saratoga Springs

Edinburgh, Corinth Tracts Recreation Plan Complete

September 10, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Wilcox Lake Wild Forest courtesy DECThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the finalization of an updated management plan that will continue public recreational access and protect natural resources within the Edinburgh and Corinth Conservation Easement Tracts in Saratoga County. [Read more…] about Edinburgh, Corinth Tracts Recreation Plan Complete

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Nature Tagged With: Corinth, DEC, Easements, Edinburgh, Great Sacandaga Lake, Greenfield, hiking, Logging, nature, Spruce Mountain Fire Tower, Wilcox Lake Wild Forest, Wildlife

A Saratoga County Odd Fellows Hall Is Now A Place For History

May 19, 2022 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

IOOF Hall Lodge 476 Middle Grove NY Now The Greenfield Historical Society MuseumAlthough little is known about the early history of the Order of Odd Fellows (OOF), it was already an established organization in England before 1730. No one knows exactly where the name “Odd Fellows” came from. One possibility is that prior to this organization, only the wealthy belonged to such fraternities. This organization was made up of common laboring men of England who at the time were thought to be an “odd” group to be forming such an organization.

Another, more probable theory posits that in 18th century England, major trades were already organized as guilds, and “odd fellows” from less typical “odd trades” organized themselves under the “odd fellows” name. [Read more…] about A Saratoga County Odd Fellows Hall Is Now A Place For History

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Cultural History, Greenfield, Greenfield Historical Society, Historic Preservation, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Roundtable

Russell Ormsbee’s Oil Adventure

March 3, 2022 by Guest Contributor 3 Comments

Drake oil wellThe Drake oil well drilled in Venango County, Pennsylvania in 1859 is widely known as the first oil well in America, however, many wells before the Drake well were producing petroleum oil.

Well drilling was common with many recent improvements by the time the Drake well was sunk, although most were drilled for salt brine (a source of salt). Oil was sometimes found in these wells and pumped as an unwanted by-product, but by the late 1800s, several changes made oil more valuable.

Whaling had been the primary source for illuminating oil (lamp oil), but whales had been over-hunted and were becoming scarce, and the cost of harvesting them was increasing. Also, by the 1850s, scientist had discovered the potential for manufacturing kerosene from crude oil which was found to be an ideal replacement. [Read more…] about Russell Ormsbee’s Oil Adventure

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Greenfield, Industrial History, Oil Industry, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Saratoga Springs, Whaling

When WW1 Gold Star Mothers Pilgrimaged To European Cemeteries

October 26, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Meuse-Argonne American CemeteryOn May 13th, 1930, two Saratoga County women set out on an all-expense paid trip. Sailing from New York Harbor on the S.S. Republic, they would be welcomed in Paris by French and American officials and put up in one of the most expensive hotels in the city. After visiting the sites in and around Paris, they would stop in London on the way home where they received the same first class treatment.

It should have been one of the finest times of their lives, but it wasn’t. [Read more…] about When WW1 Gold Star Mothers Pilgrimaged To European Cemeteries

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Greenfield, Military, Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, womens history, World War One

Stewart’s Shops 19th Century Patriarch Starks Dake’s Saratoga Lake Canal Plan

August 9, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

starks dakeStarks Desivigna Dake was born May 9,1852. He died on November 10, 1937, at the family homestead in Middle Grove after a long illness. The Saratogian reported on November 11, 1937 that he was “Courageous to the last, he voted in the November 2 election at a polling place near his home.”

Starks was a member of one of the oldest families to settle in Saratoga County. He was the son of Benjamin C. and Mary Jane Carmen Dake. He attended school in Daketown and, in the winter of 1869-70, attended the prominent Fort Edward Collegiate Institute. In 1870 he won a scholarship to Cornell University, where he studied civil engineering. He left college early to teach school in Eddy’s Corners, South Corinth, Greenfield Center, Middle Grove, and Chatfield Corners in Saratoga County. In 1872 the enterprising Starks took up land surveying while still teaching. He would continue that occupation for the next 60 years. [Read more…] about Stewart’s Shops 19th Century Patriarch Starks Dake’s Saratoga Lake Canal Plan

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Food, History Tagged With: Ballston Spa, Culinary History, Dairy, Engineering History, Greenfield, Kayaderosseras Creek, Legal History, Saratoga County, Saratoga Lake, Schuylerville, Stewart's Shops

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

  • Catherine Berkley on The Shooting of Adirondack Guide Alex White
  • Michael A Mazza on French Canadian Rev War Veteran Antoine Paulin’s Grave Being Marked in Champlain
  • peter Waggitt on Raines Law, Loopholes and Prohibition
  • Anthony St Phillips on War of 1812: Carrying the Great Rope
  • Kenneth Boede on When Sullivan County Was A Sportsman’s Paradise
  • Robert Hunt on Westchester County’s Katharine Harrison, Accused Witch
  • Lisa Nevins on Westchester County’s Katharine Harrison, Accused Witch
  • Nancy Begley Pennell on Irish Immigrant, Medal of Honor Winner Terrence Begley Being Honored in Albany
  • arc skuta on MicroHistory and Migration: From Moltrasio to London, New York and Montreal
  • Nancy Robinson on Former Saratoga and North Creek Railway Purchased

Recent New York Books

Washington’s Marines
Major General Israel Putnam hero of the American Revolution
v is for victory
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

Secondary Sidebar

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