Last week, Donald Trump claimed to have renamed Lake Ontario to Lake America. He didn’t. What he did do – in an effort to troll our biggest trading partner – was sign an executive order (14420) directing federal agencies and the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) to use the new name: [Read more…] about Trump Changes Lake Ontario’s Federal Name; New Yorkers Are Not Amused
Maps
Mapping NYC’s Historic Waterfront Development
Most people have seen surveyors at work — marking boundaries, determining distances, angles and positions. It’s the kind of essential data necessary for all types of construction projects, and is an ongoing endeavor for all cities.
The New York City Municipal Archives holds a variety of records from government agencies responsible for surveying what now are the five boroughs, ranging from Brooklyn maps documenting 19th century road placement to aerial photographic maps from the 20th century. One notable collection of maps and notebooks depicts waterfront development. [Read more…] about Mapping NYC’s Historic Waterfront Development
Astronomical Observatories & Early US Boundary & Coastal Surveys
Boundary disputes such as the those around the New Hampshire Grants came up everywhere in the colonies. Many colonial grants had been based on parallels of latitude or meridians of longitude. It was no easy matter to mark out these lines.
One famous boundary historically is the Mason and Dixon line between Maryland and Pennsylvania. Mason was an astronomer as well as a surveyor and more astronomical observations were probably made in connection with this line than any other. [Read more…] about Astronomical Observatories & Early US Boundary & Coastal Surveys
New Reporting Tool Lets Public Record Their Loon Sightings
Researchers at the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation (ACLC) in Saranac Lake, NY have developed an online Loon Observation Reporting Tool for members of the public to log their loon sightings on water bodies throughout New York State. [Read more…] about New Reporting Tool Lets Public Record Their Loon Sightings
New Adirondack Rail Trail App Launched
A new Adirondack Rail Trail App has been launched, a free mobile resource designed to enhance the visitor experience and encourage exploration of the region’s communities, businesses, and attractions.
Developed by the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST) in partnership with local technology company UpNCoding, the app features interactive maps, trip-planning tools, and important trail information. [Read more…] about New Adirondack Rail Trail App Launched
New Interactive Map Celebrates Greenwich Village Jazz History
April is Jazz Appreciation Month, and Village Preservation in New York City is celebrating with a new way to explore the history of this art form in their neighborhoods: an interactive Jazz Map of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo.
This map traces the legacy of jazz in these streets, where legendary musicians lived and groundbreaking performances and recording sessions took place. [Read more…] about New Interactive Map Celebrates Greenwich Village Jazz History
Cellar Holes and Old Foundations
As I kneel digging in the dirt of the gently collapsing stone foundation, birds singing, knees aching, and dirt permanently embedded under my fingernails, I try to imagine life here in Vershire, Vermont, in the 1880s.
I’ve been excavating the bottle caches and midden (trash) heaps of this foundation for three years now, sifting artifacts from the soil. I’m trying to assemble the story of the people who lived here 140 years before me, to anchor myself and my partner within a broader continuity of relationship with this land. [Read more…] about Cellar Holes and Old Foundations
The Road North: From Native Networks to the Champlain Canal
Where the Hoosic and Mohawk rivers meet the Hudson River was a major Indigenous crossroads. Three major native pathways came together there: 1) The Hoosic River offered the main route east to New England, over the Berkshires and into Massachusetts. 2) The Mohawk River guided the way west. 3) The east side of the Hudson Valley provided a pathway north to Lake Champlain and Canada.
These well-worn trails, on which colonists later built their roads, linked the waterways used by Indigenous hunters, traders, and families moving between settlements. Stone, minerals, and other natural material from as far west as Michigan have been found in this region, revealing a broad network of trade among Native people, long before Europeans arrived. [Read more…] about The Road North: From Native Networks to the Champlain Canal
Searching for Ligar’s Lake & Other Adirondack Postcard Mysteries
Simply mentioning “The Adirondacks” can be a great conversation starter, but there are so many Adirondack peaks, lakes, nooks, and crannies that you’ll be asked exactly where in “The Adirondacks” you’re referring to. And, in return, folks will likely have an Adirondack spot of their own to share — fishing the Independence for example, Canada Lake at dawn, a winter view of Moxham Mountain – the possibilities seem infinite. [Read more…] about Searching for Ligar’s Lake & Other Adirondack Postcard Mysteries
Visualize NYS Water Usage With New DEC Website
Millions of gallons of water are withdrawn for use each day from the lakes, rivers, streams, estuaries and ground waters in New York. To help visualize statewide water use, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has developed a new Water Use Dashboard, an interactive GIS tool that displays statewide water use data from 2018 to present. [Read more…] about Visualize NYS Water Usage With New DEC Website
Surveying The Champlain Canal Route, 1792
What follows is a report made by the directors of the Northern Inland Lock Navigation Company of the country between the Hudson River and Lake Champlain. The expedition during which this survey was conducted was led by Philip Schuyler in September 1792 to establish a route for the Champlain Canal.
By the act of incorporation, the navigation of Hudson River, from the mouth of the creek on which the grist mill occupied by Colonel Rensselaer [Nicholas Van Rensselaer, 1754-1848, or Colonel Kiliaen van Rensselaer, 1717–1781] is erected in the town of Troy [possibly the Poesten Kill or Wynants Kill] to opposite the house of Mr. Tibbets [George Tibbits, 1763–1849] in Lansingburg is to be rendered navigable for boats drawing four feet water when loaded. [Read more…] about Surveying The Champlain Canal Route, 1792
Glacial Lakes in the Ausable River Valley
At the close of the last Ice Age about 13,200 years ago glacial ice formed a dam across the valley of the East Branch Ausable River creating a series of lakes that overflowed into adjacent watersheds through mountain passes.
This was during the late Wisconsinan glaciation in the final stages of the great continental Laurentide Ice Sheet’s retreat north from the Adirondack Mountains. [Read more…] about Glacial Lakes in the Ausable River Valley
Maps and Geography: Early NYS Transportation History
Years of fighting land wars in the colonies had shaped American thinking around transporting large groups of people, a line of thought that led directly to the construction of the Erie Canal.
As American colonists pushed west, their efforts to connect people and products also resulted in considerable exploration and alteration of the land, some reflection on man-made impacts, and the production of maps, sketches, and more documents that help us tell the story of early New York State and the Erie Canal. [Read more…] about Maps and Geography: Early NYS Transportation History
New York State Parks Release New Park and Historic Site Map
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has released of an updated New York State Parks and Historic Sites map highlighting affordable options for outdoor recreation and culturally enriching experiences.
The first update to a statewide overview of facilities since 2017, new additions to the map include recently opened and renamed parks Sojourner Truth State Park in Ulster County and Shirley Chisholm State Park in Brooklyn, as well as the 750-mile Empire State Trail which spans the entire state. [Read more…] about New York State Parks Release New Park and Historic Site Map
New York’s Century of Gazetteers: 1800-1899
Gazetteers are published lists, with descriptions, of a region’s towns, geography and so on, often arranged alphabetically in a book. One of the earliest, preserved gazetteers was dated around 323 BC (the year of Alexander the Great’s death). It described the boundaries, geography, and political divisions of his empire.
But like every gazetteer that followed, it became obsolete as a reference: Its knowledge-gaps and errors were recognized; and many place-names and country boundaries got changed. [Read more…] about New York’s Century of Gazetteers: 1800-1899
Envisioning Seneca Village: A 3D Model of History
Seneca Village was a community established by African American landowners in 1825 and destroyed by the City of New York in 1857 for the construction of Central Park.
Research beginning in the 1990s has shed light on the once-forgotten village: a stable, successful, rural home to dozens of families. Much is still unknown, however, and no images or above-ground traces remain, making imagining the village challenging. [Read more…] about Envisioning Seneca Village: A 3D Model of History
Early Upstate New York Roads: Some History
What is now New York State saw multitudes of American settlers moving inland from the Atlantic seaboard, especially those “locusts of the east” from New England. Traveling long distances overland before the 20th century was however, difficult to say the least.
In the 1600s their movement was constrained by topography, and settlements were limited to areas in the Hudson and Mohawk valleys previously inhabited or improved by Indigenous People. Some Indigenous portage trails were described by the earliest settlers as wide paths that a capable ox team and wagon could manage. [Read more…] about Early Upstate New York Roads: Some History
New Source for New York City Street Name History
Diana Ross, Peter Jennings and Run DMC all have something unusual in common. Each of has a New York City street or playground named after them.
You can find where each of their eponymous spots are, thanks to a new map by the Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS). The map helps connect people to the nearly 2,500 streets, intersections and other locations that have been co-named after notable people. [Read more…] about New Source for New York City Street Name History
Mapping the Adirondacks: A New Book Tracks Colvin’s Survey
New York State’s famous Adirondack landscape is immense, spanning over six million acres of public forests, lakes, rivers, mountains, and private lands. Mapping the Adirondacks: Colvin, Blake, and the First True Survey of the Great Adirondack Wilderness (North Country Books, 2024) celebrates it all with the first clear account of the original surveyor who explored and fully comprehended it — Verplanck Colvin. [Read more…] about Mapping the Adirondacks: A New Book Tracks Colvin’s Survey
NOAA Map Shows Sea Level Rise Impacts on New York
An interactive map by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows “worst case scenario” sea level rise of 6.6 feet by 2100 – which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says “cannot be rules out” – would impact New York State as far north as Albany County. At that level, devastating impacts would be felt in the New York City metropolitan area, including the submergence of shorelines and Long Island barrier islands. [Read more…] about NOAA Map Shows Sea Level Rise Impacts on New York