History, Natural History & the Arts
Saratoga Springs Mayor John Safford is leading a controversial effort to loosen development rules in the city’s historic and architectural districts.
Meanwhile a Stewart’s Shops executive is using his influence and connections to help limit the historic city’s preservation policies, according to a story in the Times Union. [Read more…] about Stewart’s Shops Feuding With Saratoga Historic Preservationists
The destruction of the Lake George Yacht Club’s building in Basin Bay in 1896 was as much a loss to Lake George’s architectural history as the demolition of the Gilded Age-
era mansions along Millionaire’s Row.
Today, only a few privately-owned properties on Lake George are protected through the State and National Registers of Historic Places. New York State’s Board for Historic Preservation is attempting to remedy that deficit. [Read more…] about 1909 Lake George Club Nominated to Historic Register
In the early nineteenth century, resilient free Black community lived in Newtown, the rural village that would later become Elmhurst, Queens.
Census records, historical maps, manumission documents, 19th century newspaper articles, and correspondences show that Black families lived, worked, and raised children here decades before the Civil War. [Read more…] about ‘Wall of Ghosts’ Memorializes Forgotten Free Black Community in Queens
The Trump-led Federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation has proposed changes to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, which is triggered when state or federal funding, actions, or approval are connected to a project which includes historic resources.
Among the new regulations, are those which would eliminate public review and commentary on a broad range of projects and what input members of the public and nonprofits can have, as well as the public’s ability to even be informed about these projects. [Read more…] about Trump Admin Moves to Gut Historic Preservation Rules
The 1713 Glen Sanders Mansion, on the Mohawk River in Scotia, NY, is closing at the end of 2026 after four decades as a catering venue, restaurant, and inn. The property is being redeveloped by Mazzone Hospitality into a 95-unit apartment complex with a ground-floor restaurant.
The newer sections of the mansion will be demolished but the original historic building will not be torn down the company said. [Read more…] about Historic Glen Sanders Mansion Becoming Apartment Complex
Each year, roughly 32 million people visit the National Mall and Memorial Parks in Washington, DC – “America’s Front Yard,” which belongs to the American people. Yet this place that commemorates so much of our history is currently under threat by the Trump regime.
Without appropriate preservation approvals, they have demolished a wing of the White House, inappropriately painted and sealed the granite Reflecting Pool, damaged the Eclipse and South Lawn, and have other plans underway to change the area’s historic structures and landscapes. [Read more…] about DC National Mall & Memorial Parks Damage Virtual Event
Historic Huguenot Street in New Paltz, in Ulster County, NY, has been awarded a $2 million Capital Project grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) to support the construction of an Education and Visitor Center. [Read more…] about $2 Million Visitor Center Planned for Historic Huguenot Street
Due to shrinking congregations and finances, many abandoned church buildings in New York’s Hudson Valley have been reused for other purposes. Some are now apartments or condominiums, fraternity houses, museums, historical societies, businesses and vibrant art venues and community centers. [Read more…] about Old Hudson Valley Churches Now Community Venues
The New York State Office of General Services (OGS) has revealed a newly conserved 1813 portrait of George Washington by Albany artist Ezra Ames (1768 – 1836).
The painting, a significant piece of New York’s artistic and historical legacy, has undergone extensive conservation and has returned to its prominent location in the State Capitol‘s State Street Lobby. [Read more…] about Newly Conserved George Washington Portrait On View
A log camp opposite Three Brothers Island at Lake George, whose original core was built in 1928 for a niece of George Foster Peabody, will be disassembled, removed and replaced by a contemporary mansion.
The Town of Bolton’s Planning Board approved the new owner’s request to replace the camp in a March meeting. [Read more…] about Historic Lake George Camp Being Replaced with Mansion
The Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, erected at the corner of Fulton and Water Street, is a memorial dedicated to honor RMS Titanic’s passengers, officers, and crew who perished when the ship sank after collision with an iceberg on April 14, 1912.
It was originally erected on the roof of the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI), 240 feet above sea level, at the corner of South Street and Coenties Slip (now Vietnam Veterans Plaza), on April 15, 1913. [Read more…] about Titanic Memorial Lighthouse Restoration Completed
The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has announced recommendations by the New York State Board for Historic Preservation to add 19 properties and districts to the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
The nominations include a nineteenth-century church in Jefferson County that developed and promoted Universalism in Upstate New York, a pre-Revolutionary War house owned by seven generations of the Hulse family on Long Island’s North Shore, and additional documentation for New York City’s Hotel Chelsea recognizing its significance as a center of LGBTQ cultural and creative life. [Read more…] about 19 NY Places Recommended for State and National Registers
Red Hook in Brooklyn is home to Fort Defiance, one of the most overlooked Revolutionary War sites in New York City, and it may also hold a key to the community’s climate resilient future, according to Friends of Fort Defiance and Resilient Red Hook organizers. [Read more…] about Tides of History: Red Hook, Fort Defiance & and Climate Resiliency
“Once a central gathering place for school sports and community events, the city has determined the long-shuttered stadium building at Van Cortlandt Park is beyond repair, with demolition now considered inevitable — even as funding to carry it out remains uncertain,” reports The Riverdale Press. [Read more…] about Demolition of Van Cortlandt Park Stadium Expected
The 1906-built Forward launch was one of the first gasoline-powered vessels on Lake George. The 45-foot-long watercraft was initially a recreational boat for the Bixby family of Bolton Landing.
It later served as an excursion watercraft under different ownership. According to local lore, in the 1930s, the wooden runabout sank. [Read more…] about Lake George’s Forward Shipwreck
George Morton Wolfe (1885-1966) was a prolific Buffalo, NY architect who specialized in commercial and industrial architecture. Born in 1886 in Middletown, Connecticut, Wolfe spent two years at Hartford Technical High School in Hartford, Connecticut, before settling in Buffalo in 1903.
In the first stage of his career, Wolfe worked as a draftsman in the contracting business of S.H. Woodruff. In 1908, he started his own architectural and engineering practice specializing in “factory, warehouse, and commercial building construction in their many forms.” [Read more…] about George Morton Wolfe: A Wide-Ranging Buffalo Architect
What follows is a motion filed Monday, April 27, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Case No. 1:25-cv-04316-RJL), ostensibly by the Justice Department, though much of it appears to have been written by Donald Trump himself. The motion is filed in the lawsuit by the National Trust for Historic Preservation regarding the extra-legal demolition of a third of the White House by the Trump regime and the attempt to build a large vaguely defined and variously cost estimated ballroom in its place. For ease of reading, some legal citations have been redacted and paragraph breaks have been added. The full filing can be found here. Be advised some of these claims are demonstrable lies. Read more about the destruction of the White House here.
“The National Trust for Historic Preservation” is a beautiful name, but even their name is FAKE because when they add the words “in the United States” to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, it makes it sound like a Governmental Agency, which it is not.
In fact, the United States refused to continue funding it in 2005 because they strongly disagreed with their mission and objectives. They are very bad for our Country. They stop many projects that are worthy, and hurt many others. [Read more…] about A Bizarre Trump Legal Filing In National Trust Lawsuit
Veteran journalist and newspaper editor Anthony Hall of the Lake George Mirror alerted us to this story. Subscribe (or just make a gift) to the Mirror to support the important work of local journalists.
In the murky depths of Lake Champlain, the skeletal remains of the Continental Navy schooner Royal Savage rested for over 150 years, a silent witness to the birth of the American Navy.
However, after recovery in 1934 through turbulent years of improper storage, possibly being sold off to the highest bidder, and the government’s rescue of artifacts, countless hours of preservation, 3D-scans of original timbers and 1:12 scale models, visitors to the National Museum of the U.S. Navy in Washington, DC, can finally see history re-imagined. [Read more…] about Royal Savage: Neglected Champlain Warship Finally ‘On View’
In the extensive collection of Fraunces Tavern Museum are three letters among others from architect William H. Mersereau (ca. 1862-1933) to Morris P. Ferris, the Secretary of Sons of the Revolution.
Exchanged in early 1905, these letters offer particularly valuable insight, not just into the condition of Fraunces Tavern before its restoration, but into the philosophy and character of its architect. [Read more…] about The Historic Preservation Philosophy of William H. Mersereau
The Ulster County Clerk’s Office has announced that the Matthewis Persen House Museum will be closed to the public for the 2026 season while critical roof restoration work is completed.
Located at the historic intersection of Crown and John Streets in Uptown Kingston, the Persen House is one of the oldest and most significant buildings in Ulster County, NY. [Read more…] about Matthewis Persen House Museum Closing for 2026 Season
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