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Orange County

William Seward Day Parade in Florida, NY on Saturday

May 12, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

statue of Harriet Tubman and William H. Seward in SchenectadyThe Florida Historical Society will host a Seward Day Parade on Saturday, May 14th, honoring the Village of Florida’s native son William Henry Seward, New York Governor, State Senator, U.S. Senator and Secretary of State under President Abraham Lincoln. [Read more…] about William Seward Day Parade in Florida, NY on Saturday

Filed Under: Events, History, New York City Tagged With: Florida, Florida Historical Society, Orange County

Hudson Valley Segment of Statewide Birding Trail Opens

May 2, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

bird watchers courtesy DECNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the grand opening of the Hudson Valley segment of the New York State Birding Trail to highlight the State’s world-class and wide-ranging birding opportunities.

The Hudson Valley segment includes 39 locations on public lands throughout six counties, providing a variety of quality birding experiences for New Yorkers and visitors to enjoy. [Read more…] about Hudson Valley Segment of Statewide Birding Trail Opens

Filed Under: Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: birding, birds, Columbia County, DEC, Dutchess County, Hudson Highlands State Park, nature, New York State Birding Trail, Orange County, Putnam County, Rockefeller State Park Preserve, Rockland County, Tivoli Bays WMA, Westchester County, Wildlife

Crimes Against Butter: The Oleomargarine Controversy

April 12, 2022 by Milton Sernett 7 Comments

Hippolyte Mège-MourièsThe butter trade was once so important to dairy farmers in Orange County, NY that the bank in Goshen, the county seat, printed its currency on yellow paper. Popularly known as “butter money,” this currency symbolized how significant the trade in butter was to dairy farmers in dairy regions across the state prior to the introduction of refrigerated railroad cars to ship raw milk, first using blocks of ice and then mechanical cooling.

The original shipment of milk from Orange County to New York City is believed to have taken place in the spring of 1842 via the New York & Erie Railroad. Prior to this raw milk could be transported only short distances by farm wagon.

Butter, however, could be transported to markets many miles from the farm or factory where it was produced. As symbolized by “butter money,” blocks of butter were once as good as gold. [Read more…] about Crimes Against Butter: The Oleomargarine Controversy

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Food, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Agricultural History, Chicago, Culinary History, Cultural History, Dairy, French History, Goshen, Industrial History, Legal History, Madison County, Orange County

Chains Across the Hudson, Stirling Ironworks & The Townsend Family

April 5, 2022 by Peter Hess 1 Comment

13 Links of the Great Chain across the Hudson at Trophy Point, West Point“The importance of the Hudson River in the present contest, and the necessity of defending it, are subjects which have been so frequently and fully discussed and are so well understood that it is unnecessary to enlarge upon them.” – George Washington

It is hard to imagine a time in the United States when highways did not exist, but that was certainly the case at the time of the Revolutionary War. Some cities could brag of their cobblestone streets but once outside the residential area, roads could best be described as single-lane dirt paths, frozen solid but probably covered with snow in winter, mud bogs in spring, and deeply rutted, jarring, swaying and unstable conveyances the rest of the year.

A small military wagon could move along only as fast as a team of oxen could pull it. Moving armies and cannon along these roadways was a slow, difficult undertaking, offering opposing forces considerable advance notice and many opportunities to thwart progress or attack. [Read more…] about Chains Across the Hudson, Stirling Ironworks & The Townsend Family

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, New York City Tagged With: Albany, American Revolution, Fort Clinton, Fort Constitution, Fort Montgomery, George Clinton, Hudson Highlands, Hudson River, Industrial History, Maritime History, Military History, Orange County, Transportation History, West Point

Sterling Forest State Park Expands With Purchase of Historic Black Resort

March 7, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Blue Lake Sterling Forest Taken from Fire TowerSterling Forest State Park in Orange County, NY is growing by an additional 130 acres that includes a portion of the former Greenwood Forest Farms, the first resort in New York State incorporated by and for Black families.

Between its founding in 1919 and through the 1960s, a portion of this property was Greenwood Forest Farms, which was founded by a group of prominent Black families and civic leaders from New York City, the resort became a haven for cultural and civil rights leaders from Harlem and Brooklyn, including writer Langston Hughes. Some descendants of the original pioneers now live in the neighborhood year-round. [Read more…] about Sterling Forest State Park Expands With Purchase of Historic Black Resort

Filed Under: Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Black History, Brooklyn, Catskills, Cultural History, Harlem, Hudson Valley, nature, Orange County, Social History, State Parks, Sterling Forest State Park

Stephen Crane’s Monster: A Story About Community Courage

February 27, 2022 by John Conway 1 Comment

Stephen_Crane's_The_Monster_illustrationIn the summer of 1898, Harper’s Magazine published a novella by the noted author Stephen Crane entitled, The Monster. It is one of the first pieces of American fiction to realistically deal with racism and discrimination.

Crane, in the aftermath of the meteoric rise to fame that accompanied the publication of his Civil War novel, The Red Badge of Courage some three years before, was living in England when the story was published, but both his and the story’s ties to Upstate New York are undeniable. [Read more…] about Stephen Crane’s Monster: A Story About Community Courage

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Black History, Books, Crime and Justice, Literature, Orange County, Stephen Crane, Sullivan County

‘Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl’: Harriet Jacobs in Orange County, New York (Conclusion)

January 6, 2022 by Paula Tarnapol Whitacre Leave a Comment

Gilbert Studios photograph of Harriet Jacobs 1894“The dream of my life is not yet realized…I still long for a hearthstone of my own.” (Harriet Jacobs in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861).

In 1852, Harriet Jacobs became legally free, but not independent as she yearned. She continued her job as nursemaid for the family of Nathaniel Parker Willis, then editor of the trend-setting magazine Home Journal and one of the country’s most famous authors. The needs of the Willises usually took precedence over her own.

When the family moved to Cornwall, in Orange County, NY, she went too. There, in fits and starts, over the course of more than five years, she wrote the book about her life still read today – Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. [Read more…] about ‘Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl’: Harriet Jacobs in Orange County, New York (Conclusion)

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, New York City Tagged With: Abolition, Black History, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Orange County, Publishing, Slavery, womens history

Harriet Jacobs in New York State

January 4, 2022 by Paula Tarnapol Whitacre Leave a Comment

Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl 1861“A handsome book of 306 pages, just issued, which is receiving highly commendatory notices from the press.”

So announced the abolitionist Liberator about the 1861 publication of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, a book written by Harriet Jacobs about her life in slavery and seeking freedom. Forgotten for many decades, it is one of the only known books written by an enslaved Black woman. Most of the book takes place in the coastal town of Edenton, North Carolina, where Jacobs was born in 1815.

New York State also plays a large, if lesser-known role in the life of Harriet Jacobs, who escaped to the city of New York in 1842 and lived there at two separate times. She also lived in Rochester and in Cornwall, Orange County, where she spent years writing the powerful book that is read and cherished today. [Read more…] about Harriet Jacobs in New York State

Filed Under: History, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Cornwall, Lake Ontario, Manhattan, Monroe County, New York City, Orange County, Rochester, Slavery, womens history

Watchable Wildlife: Mongaup Valley Wildlife Management Area

January 4, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Mongaup Falls Reservoir courtesy DECThe Mongaup Valley Wildlife Management Area, located in the Catskills 75 miles northwest of New York City, was designated a Bird Conservation Area because of its unique combination of habitats important to bird species, including forests, reservoirs, and river habitat where bald eagles nest and overwinter. [Read more…] about Watchable Wildlife: Mongaup Valley Wildlife Management Area

Filed Under: Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature, New York City, Recreation Tagged With: birding, birds, Catskills, Mongaup Valley, nature, Orange County, raptors, Sullivan County, waterfowl, Wildlife

Newburgh’s Weigand Tavern Archeology Update

December 16, 2021 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

When excavated soil from a foundation wall on the verge of collapse adjacent to a colonial era cemetery was cleared for disposal by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), some quick-thinking workers at the site thought better.

They made a snap decision to pile the dirt on a tarp for further examination by local history advocates. [Read more…] about Newburgh’s Weigand Tavern Archeology Update

Filed Under: Events, History, New York City Tagged With: Orange County, SHPO, State Historic Preservation Office

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