New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Hudson

Hudson-Athens Lighthouse’s Once-in-a Century Renovation

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Hudson-Athens Lighthouse courtesy Jonathon Simons The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society (HALPS) has announced the award of a $500,000 grant by the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP). The grant will support work to restore and protect the infrastructure of the 147-year-old Hudson-Athens Lighthouse’s primary building.

Work includes replacing its flat roof, mansard slate side roofs, gutters, and downspouts, all designed to eliminate damaging, ongoing water intrusion. In addition, a new staircase from the dock up to the building’s deck will increase and expand access and safety. Installation of an upgraded marine toilet and cistern repairs are also part of plan. [Read more…] about Hudson-Athens Lighthouse’s Once-in-a Century Renovation

Hudson Area Library History Room Website & Online Shop Launched

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hudson area libraryResponding to the ever increasing interest in the history of Hudson, NY, and the surrounding area, the popularity of its local history talks, and the increasing use of its archives, the History Room of the Hudson Area Library has launched its own website. [Read more…] about Hudson Area Library History Room Website & Online Shop Launched

70+ Participating in 2nd Saturday Hudson Gallery Crawls

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2econd SaturdayMomentum for the launch of the Hudson Gallery Crawl in Hudson, NY, is growing with over 70 businesses getting ready to stay open late on Saturday, June 12th. Every second Saturday of the month these galleries and stores will be keeping their doors open until 9 pm with the restaurants and bars in town staying open much later. [Read more…] about 70+ Participating in 2nd Saturday Hudson Gallery Crawls

Fishing History: A Hudson River Shantytown

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young boy in the front of Shantytown courtesy the Leo Bower CollectionThe fishing shacks at the end of Dock Street in the North Bay area of Hudson, NY, (just past the Kite’s Nest River City Garden) are part of a 14.4 acre parcel that was purchased originally in the 1600s by a German immigrant from Indigenous people. There have been businesses on the land including gristmills, slaughterhouses and tanneries.

The first Shantytown shacks were constructed in the 1880s and through the middle of the next century they functioned as sites for shad, sturgeon, and herring fishing. Active use of Shantytown continued into the 21st century until the city decreed that the shacks could no longer be used. A project to demolish most of the shacks and restore a few is part of the city’s 2017 NYS Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant. [Read more…] about Fishing History: A Hudson River Shantytown

Columbia County Historians Receive Grants

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Red Rock Historical Society by Arthur A BakerThe Columbia County Historical Society (CCHS) has announced it has awarded grants to five County historical societies as part of its annual county re-grant program. The competitive grant application period opens at the end of each calendar year. [Read more…] about Columbia County Historians Receive Grants

Significance of Impeachment Lectures Set for Hudson

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united state constitutionColumbia County Historical Society and Hudson Area Library are set to co-sponsor a presentation by author and historian Dr. Christopher Leahy entitled “Historical Significance of Impeachment in the U.S.” .

Leahy will deliver an overview of the historical significance of impeachment in the United States, including: insights on impeachment, its historical basis, constitutional significance, and the impeachment process. [Read more…] about Significance of Impeachment Lectures Set for Hudson

William Starna On Native People In Hudson April 19th

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American Indians in the Mid-HudsonA lecture, Natives on the Land: American Indians in the Mid-Hudson Valley, will be given by William A. Starna, on Thursday, April 19th at 6 pm at the Hudson Area Library, 51 North Fifth Street, in Hudson.

William Starna is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the State University of New York, Oneonta. He is a long-time student of the Iroquoian and Algonquian peoples of eastern North America, in addition to federal and state Indian relations. [Read more…] about William Starna On Native People In Hudson April 19th

Dutch Architect, André Hoek at Historic Hudson

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dutch architectureDutch Architect André Hoek is set to give a lecture on “A Dutch Approach to Historic Preservation, Preserving ‘Spirit of Place'” on Sunday, March 25th from 4 to 6 pm at Stair Galleries, (Upstairs), 549 Warren Street, in Hudson, NY. Following the lecture, wine and other beverages will be served.

André Hoek, a Dutch architect specializing in historic preservation, will speak about the techniques and tools developed in the Netherlands to survey, study, restore, protect and maintain historic buildings and gardens. He will discuss whether these methods can apply to historic buildings, especially those of Dutch origin, in the Hudson Valley. [Read more…] about Dutch Architect, André Hoek at Historic Hudson

Early Depictions of Mt Lebanon Shakers Lecture in Hudson

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Entrance to the Shaker Village, LebanonHistorian Rob Emlen is set to give an illustrated lecture on Early Depictions of Shakers at Mount Lebanon, on Saturday, March 17th from 4 to 5 pm at Stair Galleries, 549 Warren Street, in Hudson.

Following his visit to the Mount Lebanon Shaker village in August, 1856, the New York newspaper artist Benson Lossing made watercolor drawings to guide the production of the wood engravings that illustrated the article he published in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine about daily life in a Shaker community. Although the illustrations for Lossing’s Shaker article were printed in black and white, his original watercolors have survived to give us an extraordinary glimpse at the colors of the Mount Lebanon Shaker village 162 years ago. [Read more…] about Early Depictions of Mt Lebanon Shakers Lecture in Hudson