History, Natural History & the Arts
Thirty-one quarries dotted the limestone belt that stretches from end-to-end along the northern third of Schoharie County, NY.
Before the introduction of concrete in the early 1900s, these quarries supplied millions of tons of cut and finished stone to projects like the Brooklyn Bridge, the expanding NYS Barge Canal System, and hundreds of homes and prominent buildings meant to last for centuries. [Read more…] about Farming With Dynamite: The Stone Boom in Schoharie County
The following letter, “A Trip On The Delaware & Hudson Canal To Carbondale,” appeared in the Register of Pennsylvania on August 14, 1830 and was written in the city of New York on August 2, 1830. This letter was discovered and transcribed by George A. Thompson, a volunteer scholar at the Hudson River Maritime Museum, and slightly edited and annotated by John Warren.
Mr. Croswell – I perceive by the paper, that a packet boat commences this day, to run regularly for the remainder of the season, on the Delaware and Hudson canal. Among the pleasant and healthy tours that are now sought after, I would strongly recommend a trip on that canal. [Read more…] about An 1830 Trip On The Delaware & Hudson Canal
During the Adirondack Park Agency’s October 12 meeting, I noted with appreciation the APA members who asked pertinent questions about the staff’s proposed permit for Carver Sand and Gravel in the town of Ephratah, Fulton County (Project 2022-0037). These questions and concerns included but were not limited to the proposed dramatic rise in the maximum number of daily truck trips out of the mine (from a maximum of 75 per day to a max of 200 per day).
For APA member Zoe Smith the letter from the Ephratah town board in the public comment file stood out to her because it is rare for a town board to raise detailed concerns about an APA project in writing. [Read more…] about An Awkward Moment at the Adirondack Park Agency
In the novel Black Veins, Green Blood (Synthesis Group, 2022) by Gene McTiernan, Patrick O’Neil begins work as a breaker boy at the Hampton colliery in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1893.
He is the son of an Irish immigrant known simply as “The O’Neil.” He expects to follow in his father’s footsteps to become an independent miner. As he moves through the various colliery jobs, his path seems certain. [Read more…] about Black Veins, Green Blood: Coal Mining in Scranton
MacNaughton Cottage, located at the Open Space Institute (OSI)-owned and managed 212-acre Adirondac Upper Works property in the Adirondacks, is the site from which then-Vice President Theodore Roosevelt began his famous “midnight ride to the presidency” in 1901 after receiving news that President William McKinley had been shot in Buffalo. [Read more…] about Historic Adirondack MacNaughton Cottage Being Rehabilitated
The geology of Clinton County has shaped the county’s history in complex ways. There are five major geologic rock types in the county, each mined for its beauty and strength. You can see them in the buildings. [Read more…] about The Geology of Clinton County and History
Copake Iron Works has announced the inauguration of the Pomeroy Family Railroad at the Copake Iron Works at Copake Falls in Columbia County, NY is set for Wednesday, June 7th. [Read more…] about New Mini Railroad Starts Running at Copake Iron Works June 7th
Archibald McIntyre was born in Kenmore, Perthshire, Scotland on the June 1, 1772. His parents were Daniel and Anne Walker McIntyre. Daniel McIntyre taught school in Scotland.
In 1774, Daniel and his family immigrated to the colony of New York and settled with four or five other Scottish families in what is now Broadalbin in Fulton County, NY. [Read more…] about Archibald McIntyre’s Life In Lotteries, Politics & Adirondack Mines
Revolution Rail Company (RevRail) has announced its purchase of the Saratoga and North Creek Railway, which stretches from the hamlet of North Creek in Johnsburg, Warren County, north to the Tahawus mining works in the Town of Newcomb, Essex County. [Read more…] about Former Saratoga and North Creek Railway Purchased
Will the new boss be the same as the old boss?
We’ll know the answer to this question when the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) meets on January 13-14th. On its agenda is a draft permit for a new granite quarry in White Lake in the town of Forestport in the Western Adirondacks.
This project is widely opposed by neighboring landowners, residents, and property owners in the general area. There have been very few private land development projects in the last two decades that have engendered such a high level of public involvement and concern. [Read more…] about The First Major Test at APA for Governor Hochul & Chairman Ernst