News and Views from the Empire State
The Bates Tavern, named for innkeeper Salmon Bates (1774-1858), was in Northern Oneida County, just south of Ava Corners, then part of the Town of Boonville.
Bates was born in Connecticut and had made his way there with his wife Annie Campbell and their young children, by way of New Lebanon, Columbia County, NY, around 1805. They soon opened a tavern in their house; a place to rest the horses and quench the thirst. [Read more…] about Bates Tavern: A Lost Oneida County Landmark
Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site is set to conduct its fifth annual Tuesday Talk series to recognize New York State History Month this November. Each week a speaker presents on regional or New York State history.
Historian Scott Haefner will discuss Transportation in the Mohawk Valley on November 12th. This presentation will explore the significance of the river valley in developing transportation to the West and covers the Bateaux era in the 18th century through Turnpikes, Canals and Railroads. Haefner is a Registered Public Historian and is the site manager of Old Fort Johnson, operated by the Montgomery County Historical Society. [Read more…] about Mohawk Valley Transportation History at Schoharie Crossing
The Mohawk River has been used as a transportation corridor since the beginning of human settlement. Indigenous people used the river to move east and west, as did the first European explorers and those who followed. The river was shallow and relatively slow flowing. Along the 120-miles between Rome and the Hudson river, there are two waterfalls. The largest of the two is near the eastern end of the river, where the water flows over a 90-foot high falls at Cohoes. At Little Falls the river flows over a series of rapids that are 45-feet in height. [Read more…] about Mohawk River Bridge Dams: Engineering Landmarks
Author and story teller Paul Boehlert is set to tell the story of the siege of Fort Stanwix and the Battle of Oriskany, one of the bloodiest battles of the American Revolution, on Wednesday, July 17th at 7 pm, at the Rome Historical Society, 200 Church Street. [Read more…] about Battle of Oriskany and Nicholas Herkimer
This week on The Historians Podcast, Bob Cudmore’s guest is Michael Riley, author of the book Bridge Dams on the Mohawk: David A. Watt’s Marvelous Creation. A long stretch of New York’s Mohawk River became a canal in the early 1900s. Bridge dams made that possible and are still in use today. [Read more…] about Bridge Dams Along Mohawk River
The Schenectady County Historical Society has announced Kayak Through History guided paddling tours of Schenectady along the Mohawk River.
A Schenectady County Historical Society guide will lead paddlers upstream from The Waters Edge Lighthouse and back, passing under railroad bridges and around wild islands, discussing the history of the river and its surroundings. Tours may also feature a guest expert in invasive species, birds, and river ecology. [Read more…] about Mohawk River Schenectady History Kayak Tours
This week on The Historians Podcast, site manager Scott Haefner talks about Old Fort Johnson, the 1749 limestone house that British Indian agent William Johnson built on the Mohawk River in colonial New York. It was fortified for protection during the French and Indian Wars. [Read more…] about Scott Haefner of Old Fort Johnson on Historians Podcast
This summer, the Schenectady County Historical Society is set to present Rowing the River and Kayak Through History: two series of hands-on boat programs that enable participants to see and learn about the Mohawk River in person. Whether through the wooden oars of reproduction bateaux, or through sleek, modern kayak paddles, visitors can experience everything the Mohawk River has to offer.
Attendees will navigate through forested islands and narrow inlets and learn about the earliest Schenectady history to the most modern riverside developments. [Read more…] about History Tours: Mohawk River From The Water
A September post on this New York History Blog had some examples of “putting history to work” – showing the value of history for revealing historical precedents, insights or parallels which help shed light on current issues. Demonstrating that value in varied, imaginative ways is an important strategy for building support and securing resources for our history progams.
Here are a few more examples: [Read more…] about Bruce Dearstyne: More Ideas For Putting History To Work
This week on “The Historians” podcast, instructor Diana Carter reports on archaeological digs along the Mohawk River and in the Stockade section of Schenectady done by the Community Archaeology Program at Schenectady County Community College. Listen to the podcast here. [Read more…] about Community Archaeology In Schenectady’s Stockade