The New York State Board for Historic Preservation has recommended 23 properties and districts to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. The nominations include an octagonal circus house in Cortland County, an intact Catskills mountain lodge in Ulster County, a railroad focused historic district in Clinton County, the legendary Holcombe Rucker Park Basketball Court in New York City, and many more. [Read more…] about 23 Nominations to State and National Registers
Plattsburgh
The Naval Campaign on Lake Champlain in 1775-1776
In 1775, only fifteen years had elapsed since the expulsion of the New France from Canada following the French and Indian War (1754-1763). The concentration of French power in the valley of the St. Lawrence had impressed upon the minds of colonial leaders the importance of Lake Champlain, of its tributary Lake George, and of the Hudson River, as forming a consecutive, if not continuous, water line of communications from the St. Lawrence River to the city of New York. [Read more…] about The Naval Campaign on Lake Champlain in 1775-1776
Volunteers Sought for Champlain Monument Clean-Up
Plattsburgh, NY City Councilor David Monette is seeking volunteers to help clean up the area around one of the city’s most recognizable and controversial monuments on Saturday, August 15, 2026, from 10 am until 2 pm, weather permitting, at the Samuel De Champlain Monument Park, 30 Cumberland Avenue.
Volunteers are sought for cleaning and maintaining the monument grounds through litter removal, landscaping, weeding, and general park maintenance. [Read more…] about Volunteers Sought for Champlain Monument Clean-Up
‘Last’ Piece of Battle of Valcour Bay Exploded Cannon Discovered
On October 11, 1776 during the Battle of Valcour Bay one of the cannon aboard the gunboat New York exploded, killing Patriot sailor Thomas Rogers and injuring his crewmen Jonas Holden and Daniel McCay.
Most of the original cannon pieces are at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes, VT, but new explorations of the Valcour battle area have just uncovered the last major piece of the exploded cannon. [Read more…] about ‘Last’ Piece of Battle of Valcour Bay Exploded Cannon Discovered
Canadian Travel to US Down for 15th Straight Month
Canadians continue to curb their enthusiasm for American booze and travel, with no end in sight.
Canadian travel to the U.S. is down for the 15th straight month, when President Donald Trump began his tariff war against Canada, and his rhetoric about the country becoming the 51st state. [Read more…] about Canadian Travel to US Down for 15th Straight Month
Glass Making at Redford Crown Glass Works in Clinton County
The Redford Crown Glass Works in Clinton County, NY, was one of the most important of some forty New York State glass concerns operating after 1830.
The company’s articles of incorporation show that the factory was incorporated by “Gurdon Corning, Gershaw Cook, John S. Foster and Charles W. Corning.” [Read more…] about Glass Making at Redford Crown Glass Works in Clinton County
The American Revolution in the Champlain Valley, from A to Z
The Clinton County Historical Association (CCHA) has published an educational book, The American Revolution in the Champlain Valley, from A to Z, to be distributed to all fourth and fifth graders in the Clinton, Essex, Franklin County area, free of charge.
“This special project represents hours of volunteer work,” says CCHA Director Helen Allen Nerska, a regular contributor to the New York Almanack. [Read more…] about The American Revolution in the Champlain Valley, from A to Z
Revolutionary Clinton County: 250th Anniversary Efforts and Events
The American Revolution in what is now Clinton County, NY, was defined by its strategic position on Lake Champlain, a critical corridor for both Continental and British forces. The county’s history is deeply intertwined with the naval struggle for control of this waterway, which served as a gateway between Canada and the Hudson Valley.
Clinton County was a constant site of troop movements and tactical maneuvering. The region remained a front line of defense as an important line of communication and a barrier against northern incursions even after the war ended. [Read more…] about Revolutionary Clinton County: 250th Anniversary Efforts and Events
1928 Angler Catches Jug of Liquor Fishing Lake Champlain
Whitehall‘s Patrick J. Harvey was lucky when it came to fishing and foraging. In late February 1928, spring-like weather had already arrived. With the milder temperatures, Harvey was fishing from a boat on Lake Champlain. Beneath lay the sunken wreck of the British battlecraft Confiance from the War of 1812.
The once-mighty warship lay near the mouth of the Poultney River. [Read more…] about 1928 Angler Catches Jug of Liquor Fishing Lake Champlain
Royal Savage: Neglected Champlain Warship Finally ‘On View’
Veteran journalist and newspaper editor Anthony Hall of the Lake George Mirror alerted us to this story. Subscribe (or just make a gift) to the Mirror to support the important work of local journalists.
In the murky depths of Lake Champlain, the skeletal remains of the Continental Navy schooner Royal Savage rested for over 150 years, a silent witness to the birth of the American Navy.
However, after recovery in 1934 through turbulent years of improper storage, possibly being sold off to the highest bidder, and the government’s rescue of artifacts, countless hours of preservation, 3D-scans of original timbers and 1:12 scale models, visitors to the National Museum of the U.S. Navy in Washington, DC, can finally see history re-imagined. [Read more…] about Royal Savage: Neglected Champlain Warship Finally ‘On View’
Students Work To Clean Up Saranac River Trail, Seek Help
Eight volunteers recently removed roughly 100 pounds of garbage from the Saranac River Trail in Plattsburgh from Seltzer Road to behind Clinton Dining Hall on the SUNY Plattsburgh campus.
Much of the garbage consisted of single-use plastics, beer bottles, cigarette butts, and numerous other household items. Among the garbage was a pint of bleach that was properly disposed of. The efforts focused on the shoreline, hoping to limit waste from entering the Saranac River, and eventually Lake Champlain. [Read more…] about Students Work To Clean Up Saranac River Trail, Seek Help
Lake Champlain: The Irish Lake
Between 1840 and 1860, a great wave of Irish immigrants washed up on the shores of Lake Champlain. So many, in fact, that the inland sea was nicknamed “the Irish lake.”
The reason, of course, was poverty and job opportunities. Although Irish Catholics had started arriving in New York and Vermont in numbers by 1820, Champlain truly became the Irish lake in the mid-1840s during the Great Famine. [Read more…] about Lake Champlain: The Irish Lake
Forgotten Stories of People of Color in Northern New York
A new digital project is documenting the forgotten stories of people of color in Northern New York. Jacqueline Madison, President of the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association has created a website to share stories she has uncovered of working-class people of color in the Adirondack and Lake Champlain regions.
The new website, jaqcalinfo.com, chronicles the history of individuals who lived, loved, and thrived in the North Country. [Read more…] about Forgotten Stories of People of Color in Northern New York
19th Century Lyceums Debated the Issues of the Day
Between 1830 and 1840 Clinton County, NY, had a population of less than 30,000 and Plattsburgh had approximately 1,000 families. Andrew Jackson was President, the area was humming with new businesses, and local men and women were discussing the news of the day in lyceums, public forums which featured lectures and debates.
In Plattsburgh, the local Academy provided semi-monthly Wednesday evening discussions organized by the Plattsburgh Lyceum. Topics were current, most times relevant, sometimes historical, and sometimes just floating an opinion, like: “Is love a stronger passion than hate?” or “Should marriage be enforced after the age of 30?” [Read more…] about 19th Century Lyceums Debated the Issues of the Day
Curtain Calls: The Cliff Haven Stock Company
The Clinton County Historical Association’s portrait collection, of over 17,000 photos taken between 1890 and 1929, is a magnificent gallery of images reminding us of life “back in the day,” putting faces to the many hundreds of people who lived in and visited our area – and some were professional actors from the Cliff Haven Stock Company.
Newspaper reporters enthusiastically reported on the Cliff Haven Stock Company, a theater group presenting popular plays with nationally and internationally known actors. The theater group formed sometime around 1908 and was also referred to as the Cliff Haven Theater Group and the Cliff Haven Dramatic Company. [Read more…] about Curtain Calls: The Cliff Haven Stock Company
Clinton County’s Broom Corn and Broom Factories
On December 24, 1920, the young fireman and future fire chief Richard Norris, who had recently returned from World War One, was nearly permanently injured trying to extinguish the last broom factory fire recorded in the history of Plattsburgh, NY.
Broom making was introduced to the Mohawk Valley in the 1830s, and a broom factory existed in Plattsburgh in Clinton County in the 1840s. Brooms were just another necessary consumer item that area entrepreneurs provided to the regional market. [Read more…] about Clinton County’s Broom Corn and Broom Factories
Martin Luther King’s Northern New York Legacy
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and if you lived through the 1960s, you’ll never forget that turbulent decade. Even turbulent is putting it mildly: weekly classroom drills for nuclear attacks (Get under my desk? What the heck is this thing made of?); riots over race, poverty, the draft, and the Vietnam War; the assassinations of JFK, King, and Bobby Kennedy; and so much more.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a leading figure of those times, beloved and hated nationally and internationally. Love him or hate him, he was remarkable. Against the worst of odds, he effected change through peaceful protest. The impact was clear, even here in Northern New York. [Read more…] about Martin Luther King’s Northern New York Legacy
Philip Terrie’s ‘Wild Forest Lands’ Revisits Adirondack History & Culture
The Adirondack Forest Preserve is the largest publicly protected wilderness in the Eastern United States, with a state constitutional provision guaranteeing that it be “forever kept as wild forest lands.”
But just what does “wilderness” mean today? How has our understanding of that concept shifted, from the colonial implications of the term as first applied to the Adirondacks to a more inclusive usage, still contested, today? [Read more…] about Philip Terrie’s ‘Wild Forest Lands’ Revisits Adirondack History & Culture
Drought Watch Issued for 20 New York Counties
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has issued a Drought Watch for 20 New York counties because of a shortage of rainfall and declining levels of stream-flow and ground water. [Read more…] about Drought Watch Issued for 20 New York Counties
Crossroads of a Continent: A New Champlain Valley History Podcast
Local historian Tim Dusablon has a new blog and podcast covering the Lake Champlain Valley‘s social and military history called Crossroads of a Continent. His latest work is on the Battle of Carillon, which took place at Ticonderoga in 1758.
The episode and blog post are part four in a six part series on the French and Indian War in the Champlain Valley. [Read more…] about Crossroads of a Continent: A New Champlain Valley History Podcast