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Mechanicville

Joshua Anthony: The Baking Powder King

December 15, 2022 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Joshua Anthony's Spice Factory in Halfmoon, Saratoga County, NYIn the 1800s, most of the commerce at Halfmoon in Saratoga County, NY, was located close to the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. Joshua Anthony however, developed his spice factory in a remote part of northern Halfmoon on his grandfather’s farm on Farm to Market and Anthony Roads.

The three-story tower in the center of the factory once boasted a windmill that provided power for the machinery. Anthony heated the farmhouse and buildings in the winter with steam from the factory. [Read more…] about Joshua Anthony: The Baking Powder King

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Food, History Tagged With: Christmas, Clifton Park, Culinary History, Delaware & Hudson Railroad, Halfmooon, Industrial History, Mechanicville, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Susan B. Anthony, Thanksgiving

Werner Brewery of Saratoga County: Some History

November 20, 2022 by Dave Waite 1 Comment

Werner brewery and farm in HalfmoonToday there are at least two breweries along the Route 9 corridor in Eastern Saratoga County, each offering their own brand of unique microbrews. Looking back in county history, we find that the commercial production of ale can trace its roots to well before the Civil War, with one of the earliest being the Werner family brewery in the town of Halfmoon. [Read more…] about Werner Brewery of Saratoga County: Some History

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: beer, German-American History, Halfmoon, Industrial History, Mechanicville, Medical History, Patent Medicine, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable

The Creation of the Saratoga Battlefield Park: A Short History

October 9, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Saratoga Battlefield and Hudson RiverSaturday, October 8th, 1927, was a great day for a burglar in Ballston Spa, NY. The Saratogian newspaper announced that “Ballston Spa closed down shop this noon and went to the Saratoga Battlefield celebration. Scores of Ballstonians, many of them taking part in the pageant, went to the historic battlefield this morning, but the great exodus did not take place until early this afternoon. Stores, mills, offices and shops closed at noon and throughout the forenoon there was a hustle and bustle of people getting ready to go to the celebration.” [Read more…] about The Creation of the Saratoga Battlefield Park: A Short History

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Al Smith, American Revolution, Battle of Saratoga, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Mechanicville, Military History, National Park Service, Public History, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Saratoga National Historical Park, Schuylerville

Mechanicville’s Unique Second World War Photo Collection

May 5, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Carmine DeCrescente Sr. by Charles Siciliano, Sr. courtesy Mechanicville Public LibraryOn May 8th, 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered to Allied forces, ending the Second World War in Europe. Less than four months later, on September 2nd, Japan formally surrendered aboard the USS Missouri anchored in Tokyo Bay, bringing history’s most destructive conflict to an end. [Read more…] about Mechanicville’s Unique Second World War Photo Collection

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Mechanicville, Military History, Photography, Rensselaer County, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Washington County, World War Two

Laura Smith Ellsworth: Devoted Spiritualist

March 11, 2022 by Dave Waite Leave a Comment

Mrs.Laura Smith Ellsworth courtesy The Wayside of Life, 1906These days clairvoyant is not a term that is often used in describing a doctor’s ability to diagnose disease. Yet, in the last half of the 1800s it was not uncommon to seek out a “clairvoyant physician” when a person was concerned about changes in their health.

Laura Smith Ellsworth, a self-proclaimed spiritualist, medium and clairvoyant physician who would devote her life to spiritualism, grew up in Charlton, in Saratoga County, NY. The daughter of Henry and Jane Smith, the youngest of their three children, Laura was born in 1862 and baptized in September of the same year at the Charlton Freehold Presbyterian Church. [Read more…] about Laura Smith Ellsworth: Devoted Spiritualist

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Charlton, Glens Falls, Mechanicville, Religious History, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, Spiritualism

The Saratoga County Law and Order League’s Campaign Against Gambling

October 4, 2021 by Dave Waite Leave a Comment

The sneering women of the Law and Order League in John Ford's 1939 film StagecoachIn the 1870s social reform movements swept across the nation. Law and Order Leagues, and other similar organizations, sprang up to campaign against issues as varied as baseball on Sundays, drinking, gambling, and sex trafficking.

Forty years later, members of the Saratoga County community formed their own Law and Order League to address many of these same “evil” influences on society. The leader of this organization was George H. West, the son of Galway, NY farmer Matthew West. The younger West had been elected to the New York Assembly where he served in 1899 to 1900. [Read more…] about The Saratoga County Law and Order League’s Campaign Against Gambling

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Crime and Justice, Gambling, Mechanicville, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Saratoga Springs, Vice

Murder Trials Of Note In 19th Century Saratoga County

December 31, 2020 by Editorial Staff 4 Comments

Saratoga County NY Map 1856The following record of nineteenth century murder trials in Saratoga County was provided by a Mechanicville correspondent to the Troy Daily Times in 1891:

There have been many noted murder trials in Saratoga county since the first court was held in the town of Stillwater May 10, 1791 – 100 years ago. The court now in session at Ballston Spa meets about five miles from where the first court was held, at the residence of Samuel Clark, near East Line, Judge John Thompson of Stillwater [then] presiding, he having received the appointment as the first judge of Saratoga county from Governor Clinton. [Read more…] about Murder Trials Of Note In 19th Century Saratoga County

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Anti-Rent War, Ballston Spa, Clifton Park, Corinth, Crime and Justice, Judical History, Mechanicville, Milton, Round Lake, Saratoga County, Saratoga Springs, Schuylerville, Town of Day, Wilton

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