Several weeks of nearly sustained below-freezing temperatures in New York State has brought hard-water anglers (tip to our old friend recently passed – Joe hackett) to dangerous river ice, where currents, ice thickness and stability can be questionable, and rescues dangerous. This last point brought home by the death of a veteran firefighter during an icy Delaware River rescue on February 5th. [Read more…] about Citing Dangerous Conditions, Mayor Bans Oswego River Ice Fishing
Oswego
The Creation of Fort Ontario State Historic Site
In December 1945, after the Second World War, the last refugee departed the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter on February 5, 1946, and the Fort Ontario Military Reservation returned to the War Department at the end of the month.
The property then transferred to the State of New York on April 3, 1946. Approximately 60 wood-frame buildings constructed in 1941 were demolished. [Read more…] about The Creation of Fort Ontario State Historic Site
Fort Ontario Military History, 1812-1945
After the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), remaining friction between Britain and the United States escalated into another war in North America 30 years later.
Both countries were determined to assert control over Lake Ontario, bringing Fort Ontario to the front lines of the War of 1812 (1812-1815). Britain saw Oswego as an integral connection to New York shipyards that could support future naval battles and supply additional American ships. [Read more…] about Fort Ontario Military History, 1812-1945
Pontiac’s Uprising: The American Indian War for Independence
In April 1763, the American Indian War for Independence (1763-1766) — also called Pontiac’s Rebellion or Pontiac’s Uprising for the Ottawa Nation leader who organized a coalition against European colonial powers — started with the siege of Fort Detroit.
In July 1764, an English colonial force that included 500 Native fighters departed from Oswego for operations against Pontiac’s forces to the west. Attacks by Native forces spread east and south as a result of continued European colonists’ trespassing and settlement on Native lands. [Read more…] about Pontiac’s Uprising: The American Indian War for Independence
Fort Ontario During the American Revolutionary War
The American War for Independence (1775–1783) centered the Great Lakes in the middle of international conflict. By the 1770s, as tension between Britain and its American colonies reached a breaking point, Fort Ontario which had been constructed during the French and Indian War (1754-1763), was essentially abandoned.
It was located on Native land as defined by the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the boundary line established by the subsequent 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix. [Read more…] about Fort Ontario During the American Revolutionary War
King George’s War and the Thirty-Year Peace
King George’s War and the Thirty-Year Peace:continues the contest for North America from the end of Queen Anne’s War in 1713, marking the beginning of the Thirty-Year Peace, through the start of King George’s War in 1744, to its conclusion with the signing of Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle four years later.
While there would be little fighting between the French, Spanish, and British colonies in North America during the Thirty-Year Peace — the Franco-Spanish conflict of 1719 being an exception — for the French and British it did not prove to be peaceful. [Read more…] about King George’s War and the Thirty-Year Peace
Grandma Brown’s Baked Beans: Some History
Baked beans are an ancient dish native to the Americas, so popular that original ceramic “bean pots” are still found in antique shops around the Northeast.
Every Upstate New Yorker of a certain age knows about Grandma Brown’s Baked Beans, but most probably don’t realize it’s a regional brand, established in Oswego County during the Great Depression. Others may not realize the company no longer exists. [Read more…] about Grandma Brown’s Baked Beans: Some History
New York State Parks Announces Black History Month Resources, Exhibitions, and Events
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) have announced a range of resources, exhibitions, and events to celebrate Black History Month in February. [Read more…] about New York State Parks Announces Black History Month Resources, Exhibitions, and Events
A Rev War Soldier’s Multiracial Combat Experience
The latest A New York Minute in History Podcast highlights the war experiences of the legendary 1st Rhode Island, a multiracial combat regiment that served through the entirety of the American Revolution, from the Siege of Boston to the disbanding of the Continental Army in 1783. [Read more…] about A Rev War Soldier’s Multiracial Combat Experience
The Lives of Lake Ontario: An Environmental History
Lake Ontario has profoundly influenced the historical evolution of North America. For centuries it has enabled and enriched the societies that crowded its edges, from fertile agricultural landscapes to energy production systems to sprawling cities.
In The Lives of Lake Ontario (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2024) Daniel Macfarlane details the lake’s relationship with the Indigenous nations, settler cultures, and modern countries that have occupied its shores. [Read more…] about The Lives of Lake Ontario: An Environmental History
New Interactive Video Displays Interpret NYS Revolutionary History
The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has announced that the first of 20 planned interactive video displays highlighting New York’s history in the American Revolution is installed at Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site in the Hudson Valley. [Read more…] about New Interactive Video Displays Interpret NYS Revolutionary History
Granola Inventor James Caleb Jackson on the Abolition Road
A firsthand account of the October 21, 1835 canal boat ride from Utica to Canastota – followed by a nine mile walk up the hill to Peterboro for an abolition meeting – was provided by James Caleb Jackson (1811 – 1895) from Oswego, NY.
On that day in October, 600 black and white abolitionists met in Utica, NY to the inaugural meeting of the New York State Antislavery Society. [Read more…] about Granola Inventor James Caleb Jackson on the Abolition Road
June 18, 1812: War of 1812 Begins When US Declares War On Great Britain
On June 18, 1812, Congress passed and President James Madison signed a declaration of war against Great Britain, marking the beginning of the War of 1812. Frustrated by Britain’s maritime practices and support of Native American resistance to western expansion, the U.S. entered the war with ambitious plans to conquer Canada, a goal that was never realized. [Read more…] about June 18, 1812: War of 1812 Begins When US Declares War On Great Britain
“Locusts of the East”: The Yankee Invasion of New York
New York by 1820 was becoming a “colony from New England” to use the phrase of President Timothy Dwight of Yale. The “Puritan Pope,” as he was some times called, estimated that 60 to 67 percent of the people of New York had originated in the “land of steady habits.”
The few thousand Puritans who had established a new Zion around Boston in the 1630s were a remarkably energetic, prolific, and self-assertive people. The thin soils on the hilly lands, the harsh winters, and the stern theology of John Calvin created a distinct community spirit and shaped a unique character. [Read more…] about “Locusts of the East”: The Yankee Invasion of New York
Project To Protect Camp Hollis From Flooding
Construction has started on a project to protect Camp Hollis from future flooding and high water events. Located in the town of Oswego, Camp Hollis is a summer camp for children, providing recreational opportunities to more than 2,000 at-risk youth per year, as well as the location for private events. [Read more…] about Project To Protect Camp Hollis From Flooding
The Rebellions of 1837-1838: American Influence & The Formation of Canada
The Rebellions of 1837-1838 were insurrections against the oligarchic government of the British colonies of Lower and Upper Canada in 1837 and 1838. The rebellion began in Lower Canada but quickly spread to Upper Canada as well. [Read more…] about The Rebellions of 1837-1838: American Influence & The Formation of Canada
Tug Hill: A Historical Primer
The Tug Hill region is east of Lake Ontario, north of Oneida Lake, and west of the Adirondack Mountains, from which it is separated by the Black River Valley. It encompasses parts of Jefferson, Lewis, Oneida, and Oswego Counties. [Read more…] about Tug Hill: A Historical Primer
The French and Indian War: A New York Perspective
In the early 1750s, the French were establishing trading posts and building forts along western the frontiers of the British colonies. In the fall of 1753, in part to protect his own claims on Indigenous lands, Virginia Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie had sent 22-year-old George Washington (then a militia leader and surveyor) to deliver a letter to Fort Le Boeuf at what is today Waterford in northwest Pennsylvania, demanding they stop. [Read more…] about The French and Indian War: A New York Perspective
Mary Walker: Civil War Heroine, Medal of Honor Winner
In the latest episode of the A New York Minute in History podcast, Devin Lander and Lauren Roberts tell the story of Dr. Mary Walker: physician, heroine of the Civil War, and the only woman in history ever to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
Born to progressive parents in Western New York, Walker would defy the odds to become a surgeon, spy for the Union Army during the Civil War, and go toe-to-toe with prominent suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. [Read more…] about Mary Walker: Civil War Heroine, Medal of Honor Winner
Historic Snowstorms of Central New York
Central New York is renowned as one of the snowiest regions in the world. In the past, major snowstorms have crippled cities, towns, and farming country for weeks at a time.
From the Lake Ontario port in Oswego to the busy streets of Syracuse and Utica, every community in the region has found themselves buried from brutal snowstorms. [Read more…] about Historic Snowstorms of Central New York