Jefferson County

Butterfield Lake Boat Launch Reopens

September 25, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Butterfield Lake Boat Launch in the Town of Alexandria, Jefferson County, NY had reopened following the completion of major site improvements and ramp replacement overseen by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

Known especially for sport fishing Butterfield Lake is part of the Indian River Lakes system, a chain of 18 natural lakes and a scenic 100-mile river located on the St. Lawrence River plain in Jefferson and St. Lawrence Counties. [Read more…] about Butterfield Lake Boat Launch Reopens

With ‘Operation Rotten Apple’ Upstate Police Round-Ups Surge

September 4, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Federal authorities arrested 2,197 people across New York last month during what they have derisively named “Operation Rotten Apple,” the highest monthly immigration arrest total since the Trump administration’s round-ups began in New York State. [Read more…] about With ‘Operation Rotten Apple’ Upstate Police Round-Ups Surge

Fort Drum’s World War II Combat Con Artists

August 27, 2026 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

During the final year of World War II, more than 1,000 soldiers, including artists, engineers, radio operators, and sound technicians, used inflatable rubber tanks, fabricated radio transmissions, recorded sound effects, and carefully staged visual illusions to convince enemy forces that large American combat units were stationed where they were not. Many of the troops trained in Northern New York at Fort Drum in Jefferson County, then known as Pine Camp, before deploying to Europe. [Read more…] about Fort Drum’s World War II Combat Con Artists

Lake Ontario’s Selkirk Shores, Southwick Beach Get Upgrade

August 23, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has completed $9.5 million in upgrades to Selkirk Shores and Southwick Beach State Park on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario, including campground upgrades, restoration of historic facilities, construction of a new park office and a new accessible trail. [Read more…] about Lake Ontario’s Selkirk Shores, Southwick Beach Get Upgrade

Mabel Allen’s 1908 Diary: Adams and Henderson Harbor

August 15, 2026 by Phil Brown Leave a Comment

Alice Mabel Allen (1886-1976) grew up in the village of Adams in Jefferson County. In 1908, while attending Syracuse University, Mabel, as she was known, kept a diary which New York Almanack is publishing each week.

Monday, August 17

I collected the laundry while Edna [her sister] got breakfast. Father took us across [Henderson Harbor] at 8:30 and we waited at Snow’s for Mrs. Rice with whom we rode to Adams. Found mother very tired and Mrs. C. better. [Read more…] about Mabel Allen’s 1908 Diary: Adams and Henderson Harbor

1908 Work At The Jefferson County Journal

July 25, 2026 by Phil Brown Leave a Comment

Alice Mabel Allen (1886-1976) grew up in the village of Adams in Jefferson County. In 1908, while attending Syracuse University, Mabel, as she was known, kept a diary which New York Almanack is publishing each week.

Monday, July 27

Arose early and Edna [her sister] and I started for home at about 9. Very warm as the horse travelled with the wind. On reaching home found Mr. Cooper had slight relapse. After dinner went down to [Jefferson County Journal] office. Copy was scarce for a while. After supper got locale of Edith and Helen and went down with them after the mail. Went into Clark’s. Letter from Harriet this A.M. and proscriptions from Dr. Craton. [Read more…] about 1908 Work At The Jefferson County Journal

1908 Swimming & Summer Reading At Camp

July 11, 2026 by Phil Brown Leave a Comment

Monday, July 13

Father and Edna [her sister] left for Adams about noon. We — mother and I — took up the matting in the hall and mother washed. Put up banners and sewed on Edna’s bathing suit. After lunch we made the acquaintance of little Laura Howard who lives here the year around. [Read more…] about 1908 Swimming & Summer Reading At Camp

19 NY Places Recommended for State and National Registers

June 8, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

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

Mabel’s 1908 Diary: Working the Jefferson County Journal

June 6, 2026 by Phil Brown Leave a Comment

In 1908, while attending Syracuse University, Alice Mabel Allen (1886-1976), or Mabel as she was known, kept a diary which New York Almanack is publishing each week. In these entries, she is back in Adams, working on her father’s weekly paper, The Jefferson County Journal.

Monday, June 8

Late for breakfast. Washed dishes alone and dusted. Washed out the white waists and handkerchiefs and frosted Sarah’s cake. After dinner I straightened out the room and went down to the office to fold the Annual [of Jefferson County Journal]. [Read more…] about Mabel’s 1908 Diary: Working the Jefferson County Journal

Poachers Caught With 10,000 Illegal Fiddleheads

June 3, 2026 by Editorial Staff 30 Comments

New York State Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) Lieutenant Steven Bartoszewski reported that they responded to a report of illegal fishing on South Sandy Creek in the Town of Ellisburg in Jefferson County On April 26.

The complainant stated he observed three individuals carrying black garbage bags that were dripping with water to their vehicle, placing the bags in the trunk of the vehicle, and then returning to the creek. [Read more…] about Poachers Caught With 10,000 Illegal Fiddleheads

Watchable Wildlife: Chaumont Barrens Preserve

May 5, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

One of the last and finest examples of alvar grasslands in the world, Chaumont Barrens Preserve is a one-of-a-kind destination in New York State.

Featuring a unique landscape with flat, rocky terrain of grasslands, limestone woodlands, cedar forests, pavement barrens, and globally rare plant communities, Chaumont Barrens is home to a mosaic of natural and remarkable wonders. [Read more…] about Watchable Wildlife: Chaumont Barrens Preserve

Seth Concklin: A Daring, Dedicated New York Abolitionist

April 26, 2026 by William M. Goodman 2 Comments

Many New Yorkers before the Civil War contributed to the abolition of slavery, and the dangerous work of helping enslaved African-Americans flee their captors. Take Calvin Fairbank, a New York Methodist pastor born 1816, who spent 17 years in prison for his missions to help enslaved people escape.

Seth Concklin, a New Yorker whose name and sacrifice were more familiar in the 19th century, died tragically in 1851 while trying to help a mother and her three children escape from slavery. [Read more…] about Seth Concklin: A Daring, Dedicated New York Abolitionist

New York Historic Pools Designed by Wesley Bintz

January 28, 2026 by Bill Orzell 2 Comments

Wesley Bintz was a Civil Engineer who received his training at the University of Michigan, earning a BCE in 1916 and MS in 1918. He moved on to municipal work in Flint, Michigan with two pools made of reinforced concrete, and funded by municipal bonds, which he designed as their City Engineer and completed in 1920.

Bintz subsequently accepted an Engineering position with the City of Lansing, Michigan whose citizens also desired an ovoid swimming pool, and saw their aspiration fulfilled with another a Bintz designed 80 x 120 foot pool constructed during 1922-23. Other communities saw the need for such facilities, which caused Bintz to patent his design, and specialize in his own swimming pool enterprise. Many Blintz pools were built in New York State. [Read more…] about New York Historic Pools Designed by Wesley Bintz

White Supremacist George Wallace & New York State

January 14, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

On January 14, 1963, after being overwhelmingly elected by white Alabama voters, George Wallace (1919-1998), the infamous segregationist and white supremacist, delivered his inaugural address and called for “Segregation now! Segregation tomorrow! Segregation forever!” Throughout his speech he condemned integration and criticized federal intervention in state affairs.

Running for office almost a decade after Brown v. Board of Education, Wallace’s 1962 campaign used the slogan “Stand up for Alabama,” and he vowed to fight integration at the University of Alabama. [Read more…] about White Supremacist George Wallace & New York State

Management of Lake Ontario Barrier Beach System Being Planned

January 6, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released a draft Access and Public Use Plan (APUP) for the Lakeview Wildlife Management Area (WMA). The draft plan is available for public comment until February 5, 2026.

The 3,461-acre Lakeview WMA is located on State Route 3 in Jefferson County, NY, about 20 miles southwest of Watertown, or 15 miles northwest of Pulaski, along the eastern shoreline of Lake Ontario is part of the largest natural freshwater barrier beach system in New York State. [Read more…] about Management of Lake Ontario Barrier Beach System Being Planned

Mabel Allen’s Diary: 1908 at Syracuse University

January 3, 2026 by Phil Brown 2 Comments

Alice Mabel Allen (1886-1976) grew up in the village of Adams in Jefferson County, NY. Her father, William Jarvis Allen, published the weekly Jefferson County Journal. He saw to it that all three of his daughters went to college. Mabel, as she was known, first attended Stanford University and later Syracuse University. In 1908, while at Syracuse, she kept a diary in which she described the joys and travails of college life. Each week throughout the year New York Almanack will publish entries from Mabel’s diary. [Read more…] about Mabel Allen’s Diary: 1908 at Syracuse University

The Irish 100th Regiment at Sackets Harbor & A Mysterious Button

December 26, 2025 by Constance Barone Leave a Comment

Recent artifacts donated and purchased at the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site include a War of 1812 uniform button. The one-piece copper button with low-convex face with Prince of Wales’s plume, coronet, and motto with “100” below is in excellent shape and appears to be a water recovery. It comes with the original card stating it was recovered in Sackets Harbor in 1961.

This may not seem a particularly desirable purchase, but it has a unique story. Although the 100th Regiment arrived May 29th, 1813 with the Crown Forces, of the many war-era buttons in the site’s collection there were no 100th Regiment buttons. [Read more…] about The Irish 100th Regiment at Sackets Harbor & A Mysterious Button

Rangers Kept Busy With Hunter, Hiker and Angler Missions

November 5, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents throughout New York State locating and extracting lost, injured or distressed people and policing state lands.

This report of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers was prepared by DEC: [Read more…] about Rangers Kept Busy With Hunter, Hiker and Angler Missions

Curt Stager’s ‘Field Notes from the Northern Forest’ Published

November 5, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

In Field Notes from the Northern Forest (North Country Books 2025), Curt Stager draws on scientific literature and on his own observations to share his curiosity about the natural world alongside illustrations by Lake Placid naturalist Anne E. Lacy

With the same humor and personable ease that characterizes the popular weekly nature program that he co-produces on North Country Public Radio (NCPR), these 20 natural science essays take readers to ground level to explore the lives of animals, plants, and fungi commonly encountered in the conifer, hardwood, and mixed wood forests of northeastern North America. [Read more…] about Curt Stager’s ‘Field Notes from the Northern Forest’ Published

Feeding the Erie Canal: Rome Summit Level Reservoirs

October 19, 2025 by Bill Orzell 4 Comments

All canals are a series of ponds, at different water stages, or elevations. These elevation changes are transitioned by locks, with the area between the locks being of any length, and referred to as a level. Simply put, canal transport is similar to a set of stairs, with the levels being the tread, and the locks the riser. The highest level of any canal is known as the summit level.

As water flows with any lock movement, it is necessary to constantly re-supply the canal, and by feeding the replacement water to the summit level, the entire canal may be supplied. The original Erie Canal, statewide from Albany to Buffalo, had three summit levels; Lake Erie, Jordan and Rome. [Read more…] about Feeding the Erie Canal: Rome Summit Level Reservoirs

Jefferson County

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