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Orange County

Expanded Purple Heart Hall of Honor Reopens

December 27, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Purple Heart Hall of HonorThe National Purple Heart Hall of Honor in Orange County, NY reopened on Veterans Day after a $17 million expansion during the last year. [Read more…] about Expanded Purple Heart Hall of Honor Reopens

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Military History, Orange County

Viral Deer Disease Confirmed in Putnam, Orange Counties

September 11, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Whitetail deer by Dick ThomasThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has confirmed that several white-tailed deer in the towns of Nelsonville and Cold Spring in Putnam County, and near Goshen in Orange County, died after contracting Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD).

EHD is a viral disease of white-tailed deer that cannot be contracted by humans. [Read more…] about Viral Deer Disease Confirmed in Putnam, Orange Counties

Filed Under: Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature Tagged With: DEC, hunting, nature, Orange County, Putnam County, whitetail deer, Wildlife

Grave Encounters: Hudson Valley Headstone Design

May 27, 2020 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Gravestone provided by Town of WarwickThe Albert Wisner Library in Warwick, Orange County, is set to host researcher Marisa Hayes, who will share her studies of headstone design in the Hudson Valley’s oldest cemeteries.

Her talk will focus on styles from the colonial period through the Civil War and participants will discover how decorations and motifs reflect the social identities and views of death held by people of the region. [Read more…] about Grave Encounters: Hudson Valley Headstone Design

Filed Under: Events, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Albert Wisner Public Library, Cemeteries, Civil War, Hudson Valley, Orange County

Elnathan Sears: Thirteen Months in Hell

May 12, 2020 by John Conway 3 Comments

HMS Jersey InteriorLate in the month of January in 1840, Elnathan Sears returned home to the town of Mamakating, then part of Ulster County, NY, after an exhausting trip to Washington, D.C.  There he had presented an impassioned argument to Congress in hopes of procuring the military pension he had earned as an officer in the Revolutionary War.

A few days later, on February 2, he was dead. [Read more…] about Elnathan Sears: Thirteen Months in Hell

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, New York City Tagged With: American Revolution, Maritime History, Military History, Orange County, Sullivan County, Ulster County

New Web Exhibit Explores Orange Co Environmental Activism History

April 23, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Hikers enjoying the vistas of WarwickIn celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, the local history department of Albert Wisner Public Library in Warwick has prepared a web exhibit about some of the community actions of the past that have helped preserve the environment. [Read more…] about New Web Exhibit Explores Orange Co Environmental Activism History

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature, New York City Tagged With: Earth Day, Environmental History, Orange County, Warwick Valley

Everyone Knows Elsie: A Short Borden Company History

December 25, 2019 by A. J. Schenkman 50 Comments

WelcomeBackElsieWhen you enter the hamlet of Wallkill, you are greeted by the happy face of the Borden Company’s mascot, Elsie the Cow. The company’s website states that this mascot dates to the 1930s.

Underneath Elsie is a sign stating that the Hamlet of Wallkill was the location the “Home Farm” of John G. Borden. Thus, many commonly believe that Borden Condensed Milk was in fact invented in the Hamlet of Wallkill; however, its origins can be traced to Burrville, Connecticut and Gail Borden, Jr. Actually, the business was not originally called Borden at all – that title would come later. [Read more…] about Everyone Knows Elsie: A Short Borden Company History

Filed Under: Food, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Agricultural History, Civil War, Culinary History, Orange County, Putnam County, Ulster County

Phebe Reynolds Thwarts The Tories

December 19, 2019 by John Conway 8 Comments

phebeJames Eldridge Quinlan’s History of Sullivan County is generally regarded as one of the most thorough and entertainingly written local histories.  Published in 1873, Quinlan’s history is the undisputed bible of Sullivan County’s past, and yet it is not without its shortcomings. Some have criticized what they view as his selective exclusion of material – he does not, for instance, write much about the Civil War, and it has been said that this was because he was a Copperhead, or a southern sympathizer. And each year in March, Women’s History Month, we are reminded that he afforded minimal space in his writings to the women of the era.

That makes the few women he does write about stand out even more than they might otherwise, and no woman receives greater praise from Quinlan than Phebe Reynolds Drake. [Read more…] about Phebe Reynolds Thwarts The Tories

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: AmRev, Gender History, Military History, Orange County, Sullivan County

New Barn in Goshen Preserves Horse Racing Tradition

October 8, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

new Fleming Barn courtesy Roger DowdA little more than two years after a devastating fire Goshen Historic Track has added a new page to its history. Considered among the world’s oldest active harness racing tracks, the Orange County facility recently hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate a newly constructed barn and horse stalls on the site of the old BOCES Barn that was partially destroyed by the fire on August 23, 2017. [Read more…] about New Barn in Goshen Preserves Horse Racing Tradition

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Goshen Historic Track, Historic Preservation, Horses, Orange County

Hudson River Chain, Anthony’s Nose, and the American Revolution

September 19, 2019 by Brian Barrett 12 Comments

Location of Anthonys Nose courtesy Google MapsGeneral George Washington, Governor George Clinton and Lord Stirling all knew about Anthony’s Nose. Not because it was part of someone’s anatomy, but because it was a prominent feature along the Hudson River, the highest place in Westchester County. Anthony’s Nose resembles a person’s nose when viewed in profile from the Hudson River, and so was a well known landmark.

Anthony’s Nose was also strategically important. [Read more…] about Hudson River Chain, Anthony’s Nose, and the American Revolution

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: American Revolution, AmRev, Dutchess County, George Clinton, George Washington, Hudson Highlands, Hudson River, Maritime History, Military History, Orange County, Poughkeepsie, Ulster County, West Point, Westchester County

Russell Shorto Speaking In Orange County Nov 7th

November 4, 2018 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

revolution song bookThe Albert Wisner Library in Warwick is set to host national bestselling author Russell Shorto to discuss his recent book, Revolution Song, on Wednesday, November 7 at 7 pm.

This narrative history looks back to the nation’s founding to see that people from different backgrounds had vastly different experiences of the Revolution years. Drawing on diaries, letters and autobiographies of both well known and obscure lives, Shorto resurrects their contrasting voices as they struggle through the social chaos of their day. [Read more…] about Russell Shorto Speaking In Orange County Nov 7th

Filed Under: Books, Events, History Tagged With: Albert Wisner Public Library, AmRev, Books, Cultural History, Intellectual History, Orange County, Warwick Valley

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