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Menands

The Capitol Region’s Race Course: Island Park

November 24, 2022 by Bill Orzell Leave a Comment

Island Park racing notice published in the Troy Daily TimesThe Hudson River in New York’s Capital Region has always been a vital transportation link, and it also provides a conduit to undertakings of the past. The area presently occupied by Interstate-787 and its connectors to NY-378 were constructed on what had been a cluster of islands in the Hudson River, near Menands, between Albany and Watervliet.

Even in the 1820s, the road here became noted for unofficial, and illegal, horse racing. [Read more…] about The Capitol Region’s Race Course: Island Park

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, Erastus Corning, Gambling, Historic Racetracks Series, Horses, Hudson River, Menands, Sports History, Vice, Watervliet

Albany Rural Cemetery’s Dellwood Avenue Trail Restoration

May 20, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Dellwood Avenue trail restorationThe Friends’ Trail Restoration Committee, members of the Adirondack Mountain Club, and some dedicated volunteers spent a weekend rebuilding sections of Dellwood Avenue at the Albany Rural Cemetery to turn the old carriage road into a safer walking trail. [Read more…] about Albany Rural Cemetery’s Dellwood Avenue Trail Restoration

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Albany, Albany Rural Cemetery, hiking, Menands

Jermain Family Philanthropy Helped Shape The Capital District

September 20, 2021 by Peter Hess 1 Comment

John Jordan-JermainJohn Jordan left Edinburgh, Scotland in 1755 arriving in White Plains, colony of New York, the same year. Edinburgh had been the family home since Jordan’s father and grandfather fled France for Scotland following the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of French Huguenots in the late 1600s. John struck out on his own and decided to immigrate to America.

John married Mary Ann Daniels, a young woman of Dutch descent, and in 1758 they had a son, John Jordan, Jr. With the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, John Jordan, Sr. and his wife left New York and helped found the loyalist colony of St. John, New Brunswick, just across the Maine border. Their 19-year-old son, John Jr., stayed behind. [Read more…] about Jermain Family Philanthropy Helped Shape The Capital District

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Albany, Albany and Northern Railroad, Albany Rural Cemetery, Cooperstown, Genealogy, Menands, railroads, Rutland & Washington Railroad, Social History, Troy, Troy & Rutland Railroad, Van Rensselaers, Watervliet, womens history

The Gasholder House: A Troy Landmark

December 30, 2020 by Suzanne Spellen Leave a Comment

Troy gasholder houseThere are only eleven gasholder houses left in the United States. Troy has the largest, and one of the finest examples of this type of 19th century utility storage facility. [Read more…] about The Gasholder House: A Troy Landmark

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Architecture, energy, Industrial History, Menands, Troy

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