After the Second World War, Lake George underwent a remarkable transformation. In this episode of the ADK Talks podcast, Lisa Hall of The Bolton Museum and Tony Hall, publisher of the Lake George Mirror and a regular contributor to New York Almanack, explore how rising prosperity, automobiles, roadside motels, Storytown, and the Adirondack Northway helped turn Lake George into one of the Northeast’s great family vacation destinations. [Read more…] about How Lake George Became A Vacation Destination
New York State History Podcasts
We publish several podcast announcements each week. You can find them all below.
If you produce a podcast about an aspect of New York State and want to have it noticed here at the New York Almanack, e-mail editor John Warren at nyalmanack@gmail.com
The Seven Taverns Which Saved the Ramapo Pass
Built originally around 1755 by Stephen Sloat, Harmony Hall functioned simultaneously as a family home and a roadside inn along the New York-to-Albany stage route. Because of its strategic location in the narrow Ramapo Pass, the tavern transformed into a vital military station during the American Revolution. [Read more…] about The Seven Taverns Which Saved the Ramapo Pass
125 Years Later: Teddy Roosevelt’s Ride to the Presidency
In September 1901, Theodore Roosevelt’s overnight journey from Mount Marcy through Newcomb and North Creek became one of the Adirondacks’ most consequential and well-remembered moments. [Read more…] about 125 Years Later: Teddy Roosevelt’s Ride to the Presidency
The Declaration of Independence as American Scripture
Each year, millions of visitors flock to see the engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives building in Washington, DC where it rests on display with the United States’s other Charters of Freedom.
But how did it end up there and why do people approach it with religious reverence? [Read more…] about The Declaration of Independence as American Scripture
New York’s Dams, Dam Removals & DEC
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s latest episode of “DEC Does What?!” podcast discusses the department’s oversight of more than 6,000 regulated dams across New York State. [Read more…] about New York’s Dams, Dam Removals & DEC
Exploring the Revolution at the Long Island Museum
The latest Long Island History Project podcast takes listeners on a private tour of the exhibit “The Seat of Action: Long Island in the American Revolution and Beyond” at the Long Island Museum in Stony Brook, New York.
Running through October 18th, the exhibit tells the stories of the lives of people affected by the conflict at all levels of society. Joshua Ruff, Co-Executive Director, Collections and Programming, is our guide. [Read more…] about Exploring the Revolution at the Long Island Museum
New York’s Ramapo Iron Villages During the American Revoltuion
In the decades leading to the American Revolution, colonist began trying to exploit rich deposits of iron ore in the Ramapo Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountains in northeastern New Jersey (Bergen and Passaic counties) and southeastern New York (Rockland and Orange counties). [Read more…] about New York’s Ramapo Iron Villages During the American Revoltuion
Robert R. Livingston and the Declaration of Independence
Five men served on the Second Continental Congress’s Committee of Five, to produce the Declaration of Independence. We know three of them well: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. But who were the other two?
The latest episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast explores the lives and contributions of Robert R. Livingston of New York and Roger Sherman of Connecticut. [Read more…] about Robert R. Livingston and the Declaration of Independence
Patience Wright: A Revolutionary NY Artist in England
The American Revolution was not only fought militarily in the colonies, artists also played an integral role. In The Painter’s Fire: A Forgotten History of the Artists Who Championed the American Revolution (Harvard University Press, 2025) Dr. Zara Anishanslin highlights the intertwined lives of three of them: Robert Edge Pine, Prince Demah and Patience Wright.
Of particular interest to New Yorkers, Wright was born a Quaker (and a relative of the Townsend family) in Oyster Bay, Nassau County, on Long Island. She had a talent for sculpting and her medium was the wax figure. Her museum in the city of New York was a popular attraction, featuring lifelike replicas of notable figures. [Read more…] about Patience Wright: A Revolutionary NY Artist in England
The Articles of Confederation
On June 12, 1776, the Second Continental Congress turned to perhaps the most difficult element of independence: drafting a plan of government for their brand new nation.
The man Congress chose to write the first draft was John Dickinson of Pennsylvania. Although he would not vote for independence, Dickinson was the most respected constitutional thinker in Congress. What Dickinson wrote was strong and bold. What Congress did to his draft was something else entirely. [Read more…] about The Articles of Confederation
The Road to Independence: The Model Treaty
In June 1776, the Second Continental Congress faced a question every new nation must answer: how do you make other countries take you seriously?
Declaring independence was one thing. Convincing France, Spain, or the Netherlands to risk war on your behalf was another. [Read more…] about The Road to Independence: The Model Treaty
The Anti-Rent War in the Catskills
In 1845, a feudal land system that had survived the American Revolution met its match in the Catskills’ hills above Andes, in Delaware County, NY — and the clash left a county undersheriff dead and hundreds of farmers under arrest.
The Anti-Rent War was a massive, organized uprising that had been building since the late 1830s and swept across Upstate New York. [Read more…] about The Anti-Rent War in the Catskills
Peggy Shippen Arnold: Wife of the Famous Traitor
The latest episode of the Crossroads of Rockland History turns attention to the complex story of Margaret “Peggy” Shippen Arnold (1760–1804), the second wife of America’s most notorious traitor, Benedict Arnold. [Read more…] about Peggy Shippen Arnold: Wife of the Famous Traitor
Road to Independence: The 1776 Lee Resolution
On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted to declare independence. But that vote didn’t begin with the Declaration of Independence.
It began on June 7, 1776, when Richard Henry Lee (1732-1794) of Virginia introduced a three-part resolution that would set the American Revolution on its definitive course to independence. [Read more…] about Road to Independence: The 1776 Lee Resolution
New York’s Orphaned Oil and Gas Wells
Approximately 35,000 orphaned oil and gas wells are estimated to exist in New York State, many drilled and abandoned before the existence of modern environmental regulations.
The latest DEC Does What? podcast, produced by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), spotlights the work of their Division of Mineral Resources, which address the threats that unplugged oil and gas wells have on the environment and public safety across New York State. [Read more…] about New York’s Orphaned Oil and Gas Wells
John Brown Farm: Abolitionist Vision to Memorial Site
North Country writer Sandra Weber recently joined the ADK Talks podcast to discuss John Brown Farm: From Abolitionist Vision to Memorial Site (Purple Mountain Press, 2026), is a book devoted entirely to the history and meaning of the John Brown Farm State Historic Site in North Elba, Essex County, NY. [Read more…] about John Brown Farm: Abolitionist Vision to Memorial Site
Verplanck Colvin’s State Land Surveying Legacy
The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) latest episode of the bi-weekly podcast “DEC Does What?!” spotlights the work of the department’s forestry staff who manage the boundaries of state lands.
They discuss the history of land surveying and the man who started the process in the 1800s, Verplanck Colvin (1847–1920). [Read more…] about Verplanck Colvin’s State Land Surveying Legacy
Food History: Long Island’s Pickle Kings
Consider the pickle. Whether sour or sweet, sliced or speared, it’s a seasoned veteran vegetable with a story to tell. New York City plays a big part in that tale, as does Long Island.
The latest Long Island History Project podcast reaches deep into the barrel of food history and talks with Paul van Ravestein, co-author along with Monique Mulder of The Pickled City: The Story of New York Pickles (Princeton Architectural Press, 2026). [Read more…] about Food History: Long Island’s Pickle Kings
Everyday Military Life in the American Revolution
When we picture the War for American Independence, we picture battles.
But for the men and women who actually lived and fought in it, the American Revolution was also a job with mess rotations, night watches, short rations, and children underfoot. [Read more…] about Everyday Military Life in the American Revolution
The Escapes of David George: Slavery, Freedom & The American Revolution
When most Americans think of slavery, they do not picture the colonial or revolutionary eras. Yet, in fact, one of six inhabitants of the thirteen original colonies was enslaved.
The Escapes of David George: an Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution (St. Martin’s Press, 2026) reveals a remarkable, untold experience of the American revolutionary period ― a Black man’s quest for the freedom espoused by our Founders, but denied him and other enslaved people. [Read more…] about The Escapes of David George: Slavery, Freedom & The American Revolution