History, Natural History & the Arts
An ongoing New York State Museum project is returning nearly 500,000 rescued freshwater mussels to the restored ALCOA Superfund Site in the Lower Grasse River near Massena, NY.
The State Museum was awarded an $713,000 cooperative agreement from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to lead the five-year effort, which is also expected to advance research informing future freshwater restoration efforts. [Read more…] about Rescued Mussels Being Returned to Lower Grasse River
Major League Baseball’s annual all-star game (taking place Tuesday in Philly) invariably fosters debates. Who’s the more worthy first-baseman, Vladimer Guerrero Jr. or Ben Rice? Should Aaron Judge be on the roster if he hasn’t played in over a month? Why is Cody Bellinger starting in the outfield over Randy Arozarena?
Baseball fans love arguing these sort of questions every year as the midsummer classic approaches. They lead naturally to questions about who was the greatest of all time. Babe Ruth? Ted Williams? Barry Bonds?
I don’t have the answers, but I would like to recognize a class of players who are often overlooked in these debates: the nineteenth-century greats. [Read more…] about A New York State 19-Century Baseball All-Star Team
Two record-size New York fish have recently been caught: A channel catfish, and a fallfish, both caught in the Northern New York State.
On May 3, while shorefishing with his son, Dylan Kampnich of Dexter reeled in a 37-pound 9-ounce channel catfish from Black River Bay in Jefferson County, the first state record fish of the year. Kampnich’s record-breaking catch surpassed the previous state record catfish caught in 2022, also from the Black River, by 13 ounces. [Read more…] about Two State Record Fish Caught Within 10 Days
Foremost among new state park developments in the 1950s was the 1959 completion of a new state park on Barnhart Island on the St. Lawrence River, in present-day Robert Moses State Park (formerly St. Lawrence State Park) in the Thousand Islands region. [Read more…] about Robert Moses State Park’s Midcentury Modern Designs
From its origins as part of New France through the Civil War and eventual industrialization of the region, St. Lawrence County has been shaped by all too often overlooked Black families and individuals. In African Americans of St. Lawrence County (Arcadia, 2023) author Bryan S. Thompson reveals the history of the African American community in this part of Northern New York. [Read more…] about African Americans of St. Lawrence County
On December 20th, Retired Forest Ranger Lieutenant Morse reported an ATV broke through the ice on Waneta Lake in Willowemoc Wild Forest in the Catskills town of Rockland, Sullivan County. Ranger Stratton responded and issued tickets to the two subjects from Pennsylvania for unauthorized motor vehicle use on state land. A tow company removed the ATV from the lake.
Two days later, on December 22, 2022, at around 3:12 am, State Police responded to a report of a snowmobile crash with injuries on a snowmobile trail off the Wallace Road in the town of Louisville. Louisville is located along the St. Lawrence River, on the northern border of St. Lawrence County west of Massena. [Read more…] about ATV Goes Through Lake Ice; Man Dies In Snowmobile Crash
New York State’s Oneida Fish Hatchery and partners from the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Genoa National Fish Hatchery recently stocked more than 23,000 lake sturgeon fingerlings across their New York range.
Lake sturgeon are raised at both hatcheries from eggs taken from wild fish in early June near the Moses-Saunders Dam in Massena, NY. By the time they’re stocked they’ve grown to about seven inches in just four and a half months. [Read more…] about Annual Lake Sturgeon Stocking Complete
The Alcoa Massena-West Plant is an aluminum production plant on the north shore of the lower Grasse River. In the 1950s, Alcoa began using and discharging polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the Grasse River, contaminating water and sediment. [Read more…] about Update On Grasse River Superfund Site Restoration
The Massena Public Library has announced the opening of the exhibit “I Am A Local Artist,” featuring a diverse range of local art from soap making to cookie decorating to crocheting to custom furniture craftsmanship. [Read more…] about ‘I Am A Local Artist’ Show Opens at Massena Public Library
The St. Lawrence County Historical Association’s (SLCHA) annual Civil War Reenactment Weekend at Robert Moses State Park in Massena has been set for Saturday and Sunday July 28-29.
The military camps are open to the public from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, and 10 am to 2 pm on Sunday. Mock battles will be at 3 pm Saturday and 1 pm Sunday. [Read more…] about Civil War Weekend at Robert Moses State Park July 28-29
A few weeks ago, the Adirondacks and North Country lost a native who led a unique life, a man who three years ago added “author” to his resume. Robert “Bob” Manning of Massena passed away on September 28 at the age of 81. My personal connection with him is a strange one indeed. We met back in 1966, but I hadn’t been in touch with him since 1969, so you might suppose that our phone conversation in 2014, when we became reacquainted, might have been a bit awkward.
It sure could have been, but not for the reason you might be thinking — that 45 years had passed. No, that wasn’t an issue at all, but these next few lines should help explain my use of the word “strange.” When I knew him back in the 1960s, he was a Catholic priest and one of my schoolteachers (nothing odd about that). He called in 2014 to ask if he and his wife could come and visit me (and there it is!). [Read more…] about A Fisher of Men and a Fish in the Water
The St. Lawrence County Historical Association will hold their annual Civil War Reenactment Weekend at Robert Moses State Park, Massena.
The 16th annual Reenactment will take place Saturday and Sunday July 29-30.
Union and Confederate reenactors will stage mock battles, perform military drills, talk about camp life, and demonstrate cooking, spinning, ladies’ aid, cannon firing, and medical practices. [Read more…] about Civil War Weekend at Robert Moses State Park July 29-30
For millions of people, holidays are all about going home, returning to one’s roots of family and friends. That concept was epitomized by a North Country man who attained great fame in Hollywood, but to his great credit never forgot the home folks — and to their credit, the home folks never forgot him. Whenever he returned to the North Country, or old friends visited him in California, there was always an exchange of love, admiration, and deep appreciation.
He was born in northern Michigan in 1916 as Harold John Smith, about as anonymous a name as one can imagine, and likely one that stirs no sense of recognition. But if Otis Campbell were mentioned, many would instantly recall Mayberry’s affable town drunk from The Andy Griffith Show. [Read more…] about North Country’s Hal Smith, Mayberry’s Affable Town Drunk
The St. Lawrence County Historical Association’s 14th Annual Civil War Reenactment Weekend will be held at Robert Moses State Park in Massena on Saturday and Sunday, July 25 and 26.
Military and civilian re-enactors from New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Ontario and Quebec, Canada are expected to attend, including President Lincoln, as well as sutlers, vendors of period goods and clothing. [Read more…] about Civil War Weekend at Robert Moses State Park
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