MacNaughton Cottage, located at the Open Space Institute (OSI)-owned and managed 212-acre Adirondac Upper Works property in the Adirondacks, is the site from which then-Vice President Theodore Roosevelt began his famous “midnight ride to the presidency” in 1901 after receiving news that President William McKinley had been shot in Buffalo. [Read more…] about Historic Adirondack MacNaughton Cottage Being Rehabilitated
Iron Industry
The Geology of Clinton County and History
The geology of Clinton County has shaped the county’s history in complex ways. There are five major geologic rock types in the county, each mined for its beauty and strength. You can see them in the buildings. [Read more…] about The Geology of Clinton County and History
New Mini Railroad Starts Running at Copake Iron Works June 7th
Copake Iron Works has announced the inauguration of the Pomeroy Family Railroad at the Copake Iron Works at Copake Falls in Columbia County, NY is set for Wednesday, June 7th. [Read more…] about New Mini Railroad Starts Running at Copake Iron Works June 7th
1873 Schooner Barge Ironton Wreck Discovered in Lake Huron
Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the state of Michigan, and Ocean Exploration Trust have discovered an intact wreck of the Ironton resting hundreds of feet below the surface of Lake Huron. [Read more…] about 1873 Schooner Barge Ironton Wreck Discovered in Lake Huron
Ticonderoga’s 1700s French Village Forge Survey Planned
Shortly after establishing Fort Carillon (later named Ticonderoga), the French Army began the construction of a series of ancillary structures, including the Smith’s Forge, to the south of the fort beginning in early 1756.
This area, known as the lower town, or the French Village, housed a number of proto-industrial structures that supported the military activities of the armies who garrisoned Ticonderoga in the 18th century. [Read more…] about Ticonderoga’s 1700s French Village Forge Survey Planned
Archibald McIntyre’s Life In Lotteries, Politics & Adirondack Mines
Archibald McIntyre was born in Kenmore, Perthshire, Scotland on the June 1, 1772. His parents were Daniel and Anne Walker McIntyre. Daniel McIntyre taught school in Scotland.
In 1774, Daniel and his family immigrated to the colony of New York and settled with four or five other Scottish families in what is now Broadalbin in Fulton County, NY. [Read more…] about Archibald McIntyre’s Life In Lotteries, Politics & Adirondack Mines
Albany’s Squire Whipple: Father of the Iron Truss Bridge
Squire Whipple was born in Hartwick, Massachusetts on September 16th, 1804. His parents were James and Electa Whipple. Born and raised on a farm, he attended a small country school for three or four months a year. He moved to New York in 1817.
By the age of seventeen, he passed the required examination for common school teaching and taught part time to finance his education. In 1822-1828 he attended Hartwick College in Otsego County; Fairfield Academy in Herkimer County; and graduated from Union College, Schenectady in 1830. He spent the next few years working as a surveyor for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and married Anna Case. [Read more…] about Albany’s Squire Whipple: Father of the Iron Truss Bridge
The Eddy Family: Capital Region Industrialists
Waterford, NY’s involvement in the Industrial Revolution was more significant than its geographical size would imply. Family-owned and operated business ventures were the norm and usually a first and second-generation operation.
Names that immediately come to the fore such families as brothers Hugh and Canvas White, the Knickerbocker, Kavanaugh, Button, Breslin, and King families all demonstrated the business model of the period; manufacturing firms that employed many hands from Saratoga County and surrounding communities. [Read more…] about The Eddy Family: Capital Region Industrialists
Wall Street History: Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Gould, and Morgan
The period after the Civil War was one of significant economic and technological expansion in the nation and one in which corporations headquartered in Lower Manhattan and Wall Street would obtain a significant hegemony over the American economy.
This was a time in which individual entrepreneurs were running private businesses located on Wall Street. Men such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan were major figures in the country and attained economic power and wealth on a scale previously unknown in United States history.
Much of their wealth was derived exploiting natural resources and technological innovations (notably steam engines, railroads, and oil). It was also largely dependent on the economy’s western expansion and African-American and immigrant labor. These men, who some call “Titans of Industry” and others “Robber Barons,” generally consolidated independent businesses into national enterprises, large monopolies, and multinational corporations. Many of these were headquartered in Lower Manhattan. [Read more…] about Wall Street History: Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Gould, and Morgan