New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Monroe County

NYS Nominates 13 Places for State, National Registers of Historic Places

by Leave a Comment

An information table set up by the Gay Liberation Front on the University of Rochester’s Eastman Quadrangle in 1970 (Photo by Anthony Boccaccio)The New York State Board for Historic Preservation has recommended adding 13 properties to the State and National Registers of Historic Places and submitting one request to the Columbia Turnpike East Toll House to the National Park Service.

The nominations include a key site associated with Rochester‘s LGBTQ+ history, a historic synagogue in Manhattan‘s Upper West Side, a public park in Ithaca, a church connected to Yonkers’s civil rights history, a re-built Lustron House in Erie County, the Oneida County History Center, and more. [Read more…] about NYS Nominates 13 Places for State, National Registers of Historic Places

Seeps Keep Erie Canal, Glens Falls Feeder Canal Levels Lower

by Leave a Comment

Erie Canal Lock E12The New York State Canal Corporation has announced that water levels this navigation season in the Erie Canal between Lock E-30 (Macedon) and Locks E-34/35 (Lockport) will be consistent with levels maintained throughout 2022 – approximately one foot lower than historic levels. [Read more…] about Seeps Keep Erie Canal, Glens Falls Feeder Canal Levels Lower

Historic Preservation: Landmark Society Names Five to Revive

by Leave a Comment

Hotel CadillacThe Landmark Society of Western New York has announced its 2022-23 Five to Revive – a list that identifies opportunities for targeted, strategic revitalization. The announcement was made at a news conference last week at the Landmark Society headquarters in the Warner Castle in Rochester. [Read more…] about Historic Preservation: Landmark Society Names Five to Revive

2022 Landmark Society Preservation Award Recipients

by Leave a Comment

Christ Church in RochesterEach fall, The Landmark Society of Western New York presents awards to projects, people, and organizations who, through their dedication and hard work, have contributed to historic preservation in their nine-county area.

The 2022 Awards were presented in a private ceremony in November. This year’s recipients include: [Read more…] about 2022 Landmark Society Preservation Award Recipients

11 Nominations for State and National Registers of Historic Places

by Leave a Comment

Avalon Knitting Company MillThe New York State Board for Historic Preservation has recommended adding 11 properties to the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

The nominations include a twentieth-century piano player factory in Syracuse, a rare nineteenth-century stone general store in Millville, a historic cemetery in the Town of East Hampton and a historic district in Lansingburgh. [Read more…] about 11 Nominations for State and National Registers of Historic Places

Nationally Significant Olmsted Landscapes Threatened

by Leave a Comment

Postcard of Andrew Jackson Downing Memorial Park courtesy Newburgh History Blog The Cultural Landscape Foundation today released Landslide 2022, an annual thematic report and exhibition about threatened and at-risk landscapes, focusing on twelve sites designed by Frederick Law Olmsted Sr., and his successor firms, a founder of the discipline of landscape architecture best known as the co-designer of Central Park in New York City.

This year marks the bicentennial of the birth of Olmsted Sr. (1822-1903). The sites feature the involvement of one or more of all three Olmsteds: Olmsted Sr., his son Olmsted Jr. (1870-1957), and stepson John Charles Olmsted (1852-1920). [Read more…] about Nationally Significant Olmsted Landscapes Threatened

Who Owns A Photo Of Your Face? A Rochester Teenager & Privacy Rights

by Leave a Comment

Abigail Robeson Franklin Mills Flour Privacy Rights PosterIn the 1890s, Rochester teenager Abigail Roberson was surprised to learn that a portrait she had taken at a local photographic studio was being used on 25,000 lithographic posters created by the Rochester Folding-Box Company to advertise Franklin Mills flour, without her prior knowledge or consent.

The poster, reading “Flour of the Family,” was distributed to stores, warehouses, saloons, and other places around Rochester, NY where her face was recognized by those she knew.  Feeling humiliated by scoffing and jeering from her acquaintances she suffered a breakdown, and was confined her to bed under the treatment of a physician. [Read more…] about Who Owns A Photo Of Your Face? A Rochester Teenager & Privacy Rights

Upstate Cities Turn To Canal Heritage For Economic Development

by Leave a Comment

Albany Waterfront along the Hudson RiverUpstate New York’s largest urban centers are pursuing economic development strategies that include a major focus on their canal heritage. [Read more…] about Upstate Cities Turn To Canal Heritage For Economic Development

Nearly $1M Awarded in Community Forest Conservation Grants

by Leave a Comment

Cunningham Community Forest in Chestertown, NY (courtesy Town of Chester)New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has announced more than $956,000 in awards to four towns in western and central New York and Long Island to establish community forests.

Protecting forests from potential development and establishing new forested areas helps preserve biodiversity and safeguard the ecosystem benefits forests provide, such as storm water mitigation, temperature regulation, carbon sequestration, and climate resiliency. In addition, community forests bring community benefits by creating new opportunities for public access and recreation. [Read more…] about Nearly $1M Awarded in Community Forest Conservation Grants

Rochester Underground Railroad Novel Gets Updated Edition

by Leave a Comment

Special Delivery bookUntil recently when long-lost family mementos came to light, there was very little information about the daily life of Frederick and Anna Douglass in Rochester, New York.

There was even less about their five children. Historian Rose O’Keefe put everything she could find in Frederick and Anna Douglass in Rochester, New York: Their Home Was Open to All (The History Press, 2013). Though it had strong content, the book still left questions without answers. What would it have been like to live on the Underground Railroad? [Read more…] about Rochester Underground Railroad Novel Gets Updated Edition