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Maritime History

Controversy Over Development At New York’s Seaport Historic District

January 21, 2021 by James S. Kaplan Leave a Comment

South Street and Brooklyn Bridge (c. 1900)On January 5th, 2021, the City of New York’s Landmarks Preservation Commission held a virtual public hearing at which more than a hundred people testified about Howard Hughes Corporation’s proposal to build a 47-story residential building at 250 Water Street in Lower Manhattan, at the heart of the South Street Seaport Historic District.

Fights over the appropriateness of tall buildings in Historic Districts are not unusual in the City of New York, but this one is uniquely centered on the purposes of historic preservation and the role cultural institutions play in helping to build and sustain communities, and themselves. [Read more…] about Controversy Over Development At New York’s Seaport Historic District

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Architecture, Historic Preservation, Landmarks Preservation Commission, Maritime History, New York City, South Street Seaport, South Street Seaport Museum

A Military Cemetery Mystery Solved

December 8, 2020 by Jeannie Brennan - Constance Brennan Barone Leave a Comment

Hawkins tombstoneTiming is everything! While contemplating a unique marker in the Sackets Harbor military cemetery a puzzling question came up. Why was Henderson, NY resident Joseph Hawkins, who never served in the military, buried in the military cemetery?

Coincidentally, Henderson Historical Society’s Eric Anderson was simultaneously researching Joseph Hawkins and shared clues. [Read more…] about A Military Cemetery Mystery Solved

Filed Under: History, Western NY Tagged With: Cemeteries, Great Lakes, Jefferson County, Maritime History, Military History, Political History, Sackets Harbor

Smugglers & Patriots in the 18th-Century Atlantic World

November 18, 2020 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

ben_franklins_worldEmpire, slavery, and constant warfare interacted with each other in the Atlantic World. Which brings us to our question: In what ways did the Atlantic World and its issues contribute to the American Revolution?

In this episode of Ben Franklin’s World: A Podcast about Early American History, Tyson Reeder, an editor of the Papers of James Madison and author of Smugglers, Pirates, and Patriots: Free Trade in the Age of Revolution (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019), helps us see how smuggling and trade in the Luso-Atlantic, or Portuguese-Atlantic World contributed to the development and spread of ideas about free trade and republicanism.

[Read more…] about Smugglers & Patriots in the 18th-Century Atlantic World

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Books, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: AmRev, Maritime History, Military History, Podcasts

300 Years of French Settlement on Prince Edward Island

September 30, 2020 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

ben_franklins_world2020 commemorates the 300th anniversary of French presence on Prince Edward Island, just north of Nova Scotia. Like much of North America, the Canadian Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island, and Prince Edward Island were highly contested regions.

In fact, the way France and Great Britain fought for presence and control of this region places the Canadian Maritimes among the most contested regions in eighteenth-century North America.

[Read more…] about 300 Years of French Settlement on Prince Edward Island

Filed Under: History, Nature Tagged With: Canadian History, Environmental History, Maritime History, Military History, Podcasts

Stepping Stones Light

July 27, 2020 by Judith Berdy Leave a Comment

Stepping Stones Light StationStepping Stones Light is a Victorian-style lighthouse in Long Island Sound, in Nassau County, New York. The lighthouse is square-shaped and made of red brick, standing one-and-a-half stories high. The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse is a virtual twin of this structure. [Read more…] about Stepping Stones Light

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: lighthouse, Long Island, Maritime History

The Hamilton Musical And History’s Unsung

July 8, 2020 by Suzanne Clary 5 Comments

Jack Peterson Memorial at Croton Point Park by Kim CrichlowLike millions this past 4th of July weekend, my family tuned in to Disney’s streaming of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s epic Hamilton.

The performances indeed blew us all away. Our toes tapped under our tray tables to Daveed Diggs’ electric portrayal of Thomas Jefferson and “What Did I Miss?” Our hearts pained over Phillipa Soo’s gorgeously rendered entreaties “Look Around” and “That Would Be Enough.”

But all these indelible lyrics underscored why we will never be satisfied. Despite the brilliance of the script and cast, in dramatizing the life and times of Alexander Hamilton, Miranda left us longing for narratives beyond those of the Founding Fathers and their rarefied circle. Now we want to know what will come next to fill the ever more obvious omissions in our nation’s history. [Read more…] about The Hamilton Musical And History’s Unsung

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Alexander Hamilton, American Revolution, Black History, Hudson River, Jay Heritage Center, Maritime History, Military History, Peekskill, Peekskill Museum, Westchester County

Women at the Helm: The Maritime Museum’s New Digital Exhibit

July 5, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

women at the helmLake Champlain Maritime Museum has launched a new exhibit: Women at the Helm, celebrating women leaders of the Champlain Valley from the 18th century to today. [Read more…] about Women at the Helm: The Maritime Museum’s New Digital Exhibit

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Champlain Canal, exhibits, Lake Champlain, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Maritime History, Science History, Transportation History, womens history

Progress Being Made At Historic Matton Shipyard in Cohoes

June 28, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Matton Shipyard Cohoes Photo ca 1949The historic Matton Shipyard is a rare surviving example of an early 20th century ship building and repair facility. From 1916 to 1983, Matton workers built more than 340 tug boats, police boats, WWII submarine chasers, and other vessels.

Matton Shipyard is located in Peebles Island State Park at the junction of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. It is strategically linked to several land and water-based recreational trails. [Read more…] about Progress Being Made At Historic Matton Shipyard in Cohoes

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley Tagged With: Architecture, Cohoes, empire state trail, Erie Canal, Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor, Historic Preservation, Maritime History

City Island And The America’s Cup

June 6, 2020 by Judith Berdy 3 Comments

City Island MapCity Island is a neighborhood in the northeastern Bronx in New York City, located on an island of the same name approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long by 0.5 miles (0.80 km) wide.

City Island is located at the extreme western end of Long Island Sound, south of Pelham Bay and east of Eastchester Bay. At one time the island was incorporated within the boundaries of Pelham, Westchester County, New York, but the island is now part of the City of New York. [Read more…] about City Island And The America’s Cup

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Maritime History, New York City, The Bronx

Monticello Steamship Company

May 17, 2020 by John Conway 2 Comments

Monticello Steamship DockOnline auction sites regularly offer a number of collectibles — postcards, brochures, tickets, even china — bearing the name and logo of the Monticello Steamship Company of San Francisco.

Most of these items offer little information about the company, and the average collector would have little reason to believe that one of the most well-known enterprises on the West Coast around the turn of the 20th Century had any connection at all to Sullivan County, NY.

But it did. [Read more…] about Monticello Steamship Company

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Maritime History, Steamboating, Sullivan County, Transportation, Transportation History

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