The Atlantic Yacht Club, located on the shores of Gravesend Bay in south Brooklyn, is perhaps best known for its contributions to New York sailing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For many years, it was one of the largest and most prestigious yacht clubs in New York City. [Read more…] about Atlantic Yacht Club: A Brief History
Maritime History
New York’s Whaling Industry: Some History
In 2011, the nonprofit Gotham Whale recorded just five humpbacks spotted off New York City. Since then, the number has soared. By 2018, sightings had jumped to 272. Less than a year later, 377 whales of different species were observed.
A recent Discover Magazine article cites two main factors that drive the increasing presence of whales. [Read more…] about New York’s Whaling Industry: Some History
Dixie Kiefer: The Indestructible Man
Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.
The new book The Indestructible Man: The Incredible True Story of the Legendary Sailor the Japanese Couldn’t Kill (Stackpole Books, 2021) by Don Keith with David Rocco, looks at the life and naval career of Dixie Kiefer. [Read more…] about Dixie Kiefer: The Indestructible Man
New York’s Pirate Utopia: From Pearl Street to Execution Dock
Over the past few years piracy has reappeared with various attacks in the shipping lanes off the East African coast. In early modern history it was a major threat to seafaring nations. The first recorded executions in legal history were those of pirates. In London and New York the final public hangings before abolition of the practice were also of pirates. [Read more…] about New York’s Pirate Utopia: From Pearl Street to Execution Dock
Dancing On Logs: Pulp Wood At Sackets Harbor
Located at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, Sackets Harbor boasts a stellar history in the War of 1812, but this lake port holds a wealth of other fascinating stories.
After the War of 1812, Sackets Harbor nearly became a thriving lake port, but both the emerging railroads and canal systems quickly excluded the tiny village from ever becoming a Buffalo or Cleveland-size port. [Read more…] about Dancing On Logs: Pulp Wood At Sackets Harbor
Controversy Over Development At New York’s Seaport Historic District
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
A Military Cemetery Mystery Solved
Timing 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
Smugglers & Patriots in the 18th-Century Atlantic World
Empire, 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
300 Years of French Settlement on Prince Edward Island
2020 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
Stepping Stones Light
Stepping 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