History, Natural History & the Arts
The Hudson Valley is more than just scenic vistas — it is a birthplace of American history. From Native Americans to the Gilded Age, history has unfolded all along the Hudson River.
Local historian and occasional New York Almanack contributor A.J. Schenkman traces the histories of one of America’s most historic regions in A History Lover’s Guide to the Hudson Valley (History Press, 2026). [Read more…] about A History Lover’s Guide to the Hudson Valley
With the ongoing conflict between Donald Trump and the news media, including the President blocking the access of selected news outlets to the White House and vilifying journalists, it’s important to revisit the struggle for a free press since the early history of the United States and its role in a democratic society. [Read more…] about New York’s Historical Defenses of Freedom of the Press
Early ferry travel across New York’s rivers and large lakes relied on rowboats, scows, barges, or sail ferries, which were vulnerable to shifting currents and bad weather. New York’s horse ferries bridged the gap between this unpredictable transportation and the mechanical age.
Known as “teamboats,” these vessels emerged in 1814 as a direct response to the commercial monopoly held by Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston over steam navigation in New York waters. [Read more…] about New York Horse Ferries: A Short History
Yesterday afternoon we had the pleasure of visiting the new and beautiful steam boat James Kent, now lying at the foot of Liberty street [in the City of New York].
Through the politeness of Capt. Wiswall and Mr. Rhind, we enjoyed an opportunity of examining her from stem to stern, above and below, and of obtaining such facts, as will enable us to give a pretty accurate description of this superb vessel, which in many respects surpasses any boat, that has ever floated upon our waters. [Read more…] about A Trip to Albany on the Steamboat James Kent, August 1823
The following short news items about Hudson River steamboats were originally published in newspapers in 1809 and 1810.
The first commercially successful steamboat to travel to Albany was Robert Fulton’s North River Steamboat (often colloquially called the Clermont), which made its maiden voyage in August 1807. It departed the city of New York on August 17 and arrived in Albany roughly 32 hours later, proving the viability of steam-powered commercial vessels. [Read more…] about Hudson River Steamboats & Stagecoaches, 1809-1810
On July 13, 1905, the Columbia Weekly Republican reported that the prominent Hudson, NY architect Henry S. Moul (1857-1925) had prepared the plans and specifications for construction of the Railway Steel Spring Company’s new foundry building; he presumably also designed the sand house that supported its operations.
Moul was from a family with a long history in the Columbia County area. The son of a masonry contractor, Moul came to Hudson in 1875 and apprenticed with James E. McClure, a local carpenter and builder, while studying architecture in the evenings. He was subsequently employed by McClure and took over the latter’s business after McClure’s death in 1888. [Read more…] about Hudson Valley Architect Henry S. Moul
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) have announced recommendations by the New York State Board for Historic Preservation to add 25 properties and districts to the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
The nominations include an intact 1905 metal casting foundry complex in Hudson, an 1873 house that reflects Syracuse’s layered history of immigration, urban renewal, and grassroots historic preservation, a cohesive group of Colonial Revival apartment buildings in Kenmore built during the 1920s and 1930s suburban housing boom, and an amendment to the 1971 nomination for Revolutionary-era Senate House in Kingston to include its 1920s commemorative museum annex. [Read more…] about 25 Properties Recommended to State, National Registers
The navigable portion of Hudson River provides a unique ecosystem with highly diverse habitats, despite being dramatically impacted by 200 years of dredging, retaining walls, and industrial development.
More than 85% of the river’s islands have been eliminated and most of the river’s side channels have been filled in. About half of the river shoreline between Troy and the Mario Cuomo Bridge (formally Tappan Zee) has been engineered. [Read more…] about The Ecological Impacts of 200 Years of Hudson River Dredging
The most traveled of the New York State Bridge Authority’s bridges, the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge carries more than 25 million crossings a year on Interstate 84.
In February 1951, NYS Assembly Majority Leader Lee B. Mailler of Cornwall introduced a bill calling for test borings to be conducted for a bridge over the Hudson River between Beacon and Newburgh. [Read more…] about The Newburgh-Beacon Bridge: A History & Engineering Primer
The 6th Attorney General of New York State, Ambrose Spencer was born on December 13, 1765, in Salisbury, Connecticut. He attended Yale and graduated from Harvard University in 1783 at just 17 years old.
He studied law with John Canfield (ca.1740-1786) in Sharon, Connecticut and also with John Bay in Claverack, Columbia County, NY, and then with Ezekiel Gilbert in nearby Hudson. [Read more…] about Ambrose Spencer: Libel, Blasphemy & Reform
What follows is a letter to the New York Sun by John H. Hubbel from November 12, 1917.
To the Editor of the Sun — Sir: I have been reading the letters of the Mary Powell [built in 1861 and operated 55 years] and other boats on the Hudson River. I was born in Hudson, [Columbia County], NY in 1836, the son of Henry Hubbel of Hubbel, Clark & Co., owners of the steamer Fairfield. Later they bought a boat by the name of Columbia. She ran for a number of years and they bought the Oregon, which was sunk by the steamboat City of Boston [in 1863]. [Read more…] about 19th Century Steamboat Memories From An Old Boatman
What follows is an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald of New South Wales, Australia on January 23, 1852. Chartered in 1846, the Hudson River Railroad was built to connect the Troy and Greenbush Railroad with the city of New York.
On Wednesday, [October 3, 1851] the ceremony took place of opening the Hudson River Railroad, in its entire length from New York to Albany. Hitherto the portion of the road between Poughkeepsie and Tivoli [in Dutchess County] (twenty-six miles) was not in operation, and the passengers were conveyed in a steamboat between those two points. Last week the road was completed, and the cars ran over it privately. Last week it was [also] publicly opened, by running two excursion trains each way and returning. [Read more…] about 1851: The Opening of the Hudson River Railroad
In 1784 Hudson, NY, was founded by a group of whalers and merchants, largely from Nantucket, who purchased Claverack Landing from Dutch settlers. The established river port soon became a busy port with whaling and transatlantic voyages.
Between 1784 and 1845, there were 47 whaling voyages out of Hudson, some successful and some financially devastating. Industries turning out products such as shipbuilding, rope, sail, soap and candle making rose along the wharves, and in 1795 Hudson became a U.S. Port of Entry. [Read more…] about Hudson: A History of Whaling & Maritime Commerce
On February 8, 2025, at about 11:00 a.m., New York State Police in Chestertown responded to the Gore Mountain Ski Resort in North Creek, Warren County, NY for the report of an injured skier.
A severely injured skier had been discovered in the area of the Sagamore Trail. Witnesses at the scene told New York Almanack he lost control and went off the trail into the trees. [Read more…] about Attorney Dies at Sagamore Trail in Gore Mountain Ski Accident
Jan Van Hoesen House on Route 66, north of the City of Hudson, NY and just east of Claverack Creek in Columbia County, is a rare surviving house characteristic of the Upper Hudson Valley in the first half of the 1700s.
As both a site of enslavement and a site of freedom, the house is arguably one of the most significant historic sites in Columbia County.
[Read more…] about Slavery & Abolition Activism at the Jan Van Hoesen House
A memorial ceremony will be held on Monday, July 22, 2024, at 11 am on the grounds of the Hudson Correctional Facility and will honor the women and children buried in a long-overlooked cemetery on the site. This event is an initiative of Incorrigibles, a project that documents the stories of incarcerated girls from 1900 to the present day. [Read more…] about Memorial Planned at Graves of Girls at Hudson Correctional Facility
On Thursday, June 6, from 6 until 7:30 pm at the Hudson Area Library in Columbia County, NY, there will be a launch of the library’s LGBTQ+ History collection. This community-sourced archive is organized in collaboration with OutHudson and will include oral histories and other materials from the LGBTQ+ community and their allies. [Read more…] about A New Archive of Columbia County’s Queer History
The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, in the Hudson River between Athens in Greene County and Hudson in Columbia County, has been named to The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s list of Most Endangered Historic Places in the United States.
Opened in 1874, the lighthouse was then one of several “middle-of-the-river” lighthouses on the Hudson River. Now, it’s one of only two left standing. However, due to erosion and other preservation challenges, engineering reports indicate the building is at risk of collapse within three years if no action is taken. [Read more…] about Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Named to Most Endangered Historic Places List
New York by 1820 was becoming a “colony from New England” to use the phrase of President Timothy Dwight of Yale. The “Puritan Pope,” as he was some times called, estimated that 60 to 67 percent of the people of New York had originated in the “land of steady habits.”
The few thousand Puritans who had established a new Zion around Boston in the 1630s were a remarkably energetic, prolific, and self-assertive people. The thin soils on the hilly lands, the harsh winters, and the stern theology of John Calvin created a distinct community spirit and shaped a unique character. [Read more…] about “Locusts of the East”: The Yankee Invasion of New York
The 128th New York Infantry Regiment was a volunteer regiment from Columbia and Dutchess Counties during the American Civil War. Formed in Hudson, New York, on September 5, 1862, by Colonel David S. Cowles, the regiment fought at the Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana and was part of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.
Over the course of the war, many of the regiment died or were taken prisoner and sent to the infamous Confederate Libby Prison. Colonel Cowles died with many of his men in battle at Port Hudson, while attempting to reopen the Mississippi River to the Union . [Read more…] about The 128th NY Regiment & Columbia County Contributions to the Union Army
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