The Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH) Annual Awards Program recognizes exemplary historic preservation work throughout the Adirondack Region, including examples of sensitive restoration, rehabilitation, and demonstrated long-term stewardship. [Read more…] about Adirondack Architectural Heritage Announces 30th Annual Preservation Awards
Lowville
Constable Hall: A Unique Lewis County House Museum
Constable Hall remains a clear reminder of the era when much of the land in Northern New York was settled in the late 1700s. Located on Constableville, in Lewis County, this Federal style limestone mansion with a Greek Revival portico was built in the early 1800s by members of the Constable family.
In 1792, Wiliam Constable, Alexander Macomb, and Daniel McCormick bought nearly four million acres of land known as the Macomb Purchase for 16 cents an acre (encompassing all of Lewis, Jefferson, St. Lawrence and parts of Oswego, Herkimer and Franklin counties). [Read more…] about Constable Hall: A Unique Lewis County House Museum
Immigrant Stories: A Rocky Path to Citizenship for a Scot
In 1888, William Robert Keay immigrated from Dundee in Scotland to the city of New York, eventually settling on Staten Island where we worked for 12 years as a landscape gardener. In 1899 he, his wife, and seven children moved to Lowville, in Lewis County.
He took a job as head gardener for Charles R. Scott, an underwriter for Equitable Insurance who had purchased a historic home, and “spent about $70,000 re-modelling the house, adding immense verandahs, generally changing the Colonial appearance of the place, adding elaborate stables, greenhouses and gardens.” When Scott died in 1902, his estate was sold to Congressman Charles L Knapp and his head gardener, William Keay, moved on to open his own florist business in the village. [Read more…] about Immigrant Stories: A Rocky Path to Citizenship for a Scot
2025 New York State Historic Preservation Awards Winners
The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has announced that 13 projects and individuals have been recognized with 2025 New York State Historic Preservation Awards. This year’s awards recognize several preservation advocates for their work in the field and highlight historic rehabilitation projects that have made impacts in New York’s communities, including initiatives that address food insecurity, generate incubator spaces for businesses, and create affordable housing units. [Read more…] about 2025 New York State Historic Preservation Awards Winners
How Winter is Changing in the Tug Hill Region
Tug Hill receives the greatest average snowfall totals in New York State. In Harold Samson’s book Tug Hill Country; Tales from the Big Woods (1971) he wrote “Tug Hill is, and always has been, noted for its winter snows… In winter, the Tug Hill plateau becomes a vast wilderness of white; favorite playground of snowmobilers and other winter sports enthusiasts.”
An economic study in 2021 estimated that 34,254 unique snowmobile users ride Tug Hill’s trails each year, bringing in nearly $81.6 million in sales from snowmobile activity. A new study by the Tug Hill Commission hopes to better understand how our warming climate will affect the region and its winter sports industry in the years to come. [Read more…] about How Winter is Changing in the Tug Hill Region
Hawk Rescued from Upstate Deli
On Tuesday, January 7th, a sergeant with the Lewis County Sherriff’s Office contacted Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) Shana Kraeger to report a hawk trapped in the deli of a local grocery store in the town of Lowville in Northern New York. [Read more…] about Hawk Rescued from Upstate Deli
24 Nominations for State and National Registers of Historic Places
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has announced the nominations of 24 properties and districts to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. The nominations include bank buildings, factories, historic district updates, and more. [Read more…] about 24 Nominations for State and National Registers of Historic Places
‘If All Else Fails’: Far-Right Extremism in Upstate New York
North County Public Radio (NCPR) has announced a new podcast, If All Else Fails, an investigation into far-right extremist groups and militia movements in Upstate New York and how they’ve gained ground with voters and even some local law enforcement officials. [Read more…] about ‘If All Else Fails’: Far-Right Extremism in Upstate New York
Recent Projects on New York State Lands in the Adirondacks
Throughout 2023, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has been improving trails, campsites, access roads and trailhead parking lots on New York State lands. [Read more…] about Recent Projects on New York State Lands in the Adirondacks
Big Cheese Politics: Federalist Cows Need Not Apply
A huge cheese is said to have sealed the election of Thomas Jefferson, who occupied the White House on January 1, 1802, after a bitter contest with his rival, the incumbent president and Federalist leader John Adams. It is an oft-told tale.
Upset by Puritan denunciations of Jefferson, Elder John Leland of the Baptist Church of Cheshire, Massachusetts, organized a communal effort to demonstrate support for Jeffersonian Democracy. [Read more…] about Big Cheese Politics: Federalist Cows Need Not Apply
The Naming of Twitchell Lake in the Adirondacks
“Toponym” is the technical term for a place name, especially one derived from a topographical feature. I’m hooked on toponyms. My starting point is Twitchell Lake in Big Moose, located in the town Webb, Herkimer County, NY, in the Adirondacks where six generations of my family have vacationed in a cabin since the early 1900s.
Debate on our lake’s name has reached a crescendo as a history committee collects our stories for a Twitchell book. This article explores the fascinating connection between our lake’s name and the Twitchell family of Copenhagen, in Lewis County, NY. This map traces the 50-mile route from Copenhagen through Lewis County, across the Black River, and then up the Number Four Road into the Adirondack Mountains. Which leads to my question: How on earth did this dairy farming family get its name attached to this lake? [Read more…] about The Naming of Twitchell Lake in the Adirondacks
Stillwater Reservoir Boat Launch Gets New Docks
DEC Region 6 Operations staff in Lowville recently rehabilitated the Stillwater Reservoir boat launch docks in Herkimer County. The existing docks had deteriorated with age and significant use and needed to be repaired to ensure public safety and access as the boat ramp is the only location for launching of trailered boats on the reservoir. [Read more…] about Stillwater Reservoir Boat Launch Gets New Docks
Logging The Adirondacks From The West (1800-1820)
In the nineteenth century Lewis County settlements east of the Black River were just getting established; most of these included at least one saw mill. By 1820 these settlements were beginning to push their way up the rivers into the Adirondacks, and new mills were being built along their courses. A Copenhagen, NY farmer on Tug Hill, viewing the Adirondack panorama spread out to his east, wrote the following in a Journal & Republican article titled “North Woods Wonder:”
“All the wilderness is strewn with lakes as if some great mirror had been shattered by an Almighty hand, and scattered through the forests for Nature to make her toilet by … And how the rivers meander the woods as the veins of a human hand. There are Beaver, Moose, and Indian, Bog, Grass and Racket… And how rough and shaggy the wilderness is with mountains … Let them pass unnamed.”
One of these “shattered” gems was Twitchell Lake. [Read more…] about Logging The Adirondacks From The West (1800-1820)
Hiram Burke, Noted Adirondack Guide of Twitchell Lake
Many of the lakes in John Brown’s Tract had guides who took their sporting parties to their own fishing or hunting camps north and south of the Beaver River. This is how lakes like Hitchcock, Beach, and Salmon got their names. [Read more…] about Hiram Burke, Noted Adirondack Guide of Twitchell Lake
Charles M. Dickinson: Lowville Poet and Diplomat
Among the foreign issues America has dealt with many times is hostage taking. Kidnappers have claimed various motives, but it was frequently done to extort money in support of a cause. Extortion kidnappings have often involved seizing of American missionaries and threatening to kill them unless ransom was paid. More than a hundred years ago, there occurred what is referred to as “America’s First Modern Hostage Crisis,” which is actually the subtitle of a 2003 book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Teresa Carpenter.
“The Miss Stone Affair” is the title, referring to Protestant missionary Ellen Maria Stone. A North Country man was a key player in her story, which riveted the nation for half a year. [Read more…] about Charles M. Dickinson: Lowville Poet and Diplomat
What A Wonderful Life: Lowville’s Erwin Eugene Lanpher
Research has taken me to more cemeteries than I can remember. Surrounded by hundreds of gravestones, I frequently remind myself that every person has a story. What often impresses me is that many people who are largely forgotten actually made a real difference in other people’s lives. Uncovering those stories from the past is humbling, carrying with it the realization that I’ll probably never approach the good works done by others. [Read more…] about What A Wonderful Life: Lowville’s Erwin Eugene Lanpher