New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

railroads

The Transcontinental Railroad & The Capital District

by 4 Comments

OnJupiter locomotive May 10, 1869 the first United States Transcontinental Railroad was completed when a 17.6-karat gold ceremonial spike was driven into a railroad tie by Leland Stanford.

Begun in 1863, the “Pacific Railroad” or “Overland Route” was a joint, although competitive, endeavor between the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR), moving east from San Francisco to meet the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) which headed west from Council Bluffs, Iowa. The two railroad lines finally met at Promontory Point, Utah, after workers laid 1,912 miles of contiguous track. [Read more…] about The Transcontinental Railroad & The Capital District

When The Yeggs Hit Upstate New York

by 4 Comments

Always remember !! Square meals Make round peopleIt was late on Wednesday, January 19th, 1910, and Police Chief W. R. Bronner was making his evening rounds through the quiet village of Mohawk, in the town of German Flatts, Herkimer County, NY, making sure all was safe for both business and residents.

Somewhere near the intersection of Main and Washington streets, he encountered four men who engaged him in conversation as they all walked along. Before he could resist, he was relieved of his pistol, gagged, and brought into the Masonic Hall billiard room that the Yeggs had broken into earlier in the evening. Once inside, Bronner was bound with wire taken from pictures on the wall. [Read more…] about When The Yeggs Hit Upstate New York

Hell’s Acres in the Taconic Mountains

by Leave a Comment

a new york minute in history podcastIn this episode of A New York Minute In History Podcast, State Historian Devin Lander and Saratoga County Historian Lauren Roberts tell the story of Boston Corners, also known as Hell’s Acres, which once belonged to Massachusetts, but was ceded to New York State by an act of Congress in 1855. [Read more…] about Hell’s Acres in the Taconic Mountains

Adirondack Logging History: Wood’s Lake & Beaver River Stations

by 5 Comments

Northern section showing lumber company railroads branching off New York Central, from BillAfter Hudson River logging sharply declined by 1905, the Adirondack railroad line known as the Mohawk & Malone kept NYS lumber companies in business for at least another twelve years. A big part of this was due to logging north of Big Moose, shown on this New York Central & Hudson River railroad map, with eight station stops northward toward Tupper Lake (shown at left), three of them as junctions for logging railroads — Wood’s Lake, Brandreth, and Nehasane.

Beaver River Station was shifting from logging to tourism. Little Rapids was a flag stop, Keepawa unlisted in an 1895 train schedule. This article will describe the logging history of Wood’s Lake and Beaver River stations, beginning with a new lumbering operation just north of Big Moose. [Read more…] about Adirondack Logging History: Wood’s Lake & Beaver River Stations

Frank Kobliski Taking Expanded Role at Adirondack Railway Preservation Society

by Leave a Comment

Adirondack Railroad logoFrank Kobliski has been named General Manager of the Adirondack Railway Preservation Society, Inc., of Utica, and its operating entities, effective January 1st, 2023. This role is in addition to being President of the Board of Directors. [Read more…] about Frank Kobliski Taking Expanded Role at Adirondack Railway Preservation Society

The Albany Origins of the New Year’s Eve Ball Drop

by 2 Comments

Dudley Observatory first building in Albany ca 1880The Capital District’s Dudley Observatory is considered “the oldest non-academic institution of astronomical research in America.” Originally, it was located north-east of downtown Albany, NY.

Construction there began in 1852 and the facility was dedicated in 1857.  Albany’s Congressman Erastus Corning, the founder and first president of the New York Central Railroad, was instrumental in donating a high quality telescope and time-keeping system at the new Dudley Observatory in Albany. [Read more…] about The Albany Origins of the New Year’s Eve Ball Drop

Lumbering Operations at Big Moose Lake (1900-1920)

by Leave a Comment

Totten & Crossfield Triangle in northwest corner of Township 41, The first of three major logging operations on Big Moose Lake in Herkimer County in the Adirondacks was headed by a veteran lumber company executive named Theodore Page. Page built palatial “Camp Veery” on Echo Island in West Bay, purchased from William Seward Webb in 1900. He arrived at Big Moose Lake from Oswego, NY, with many years of leadership in the lumber industry, importing timber from Canada for the Minetto Shade Cloth Company – one of the largest U.S. manufacturers of shade cloth, window shades, shade-rollers, and curtain fixtures. [Read more…] about Lumbering Operations at Big Moose Lake (1900-1920)

Big Moose As A Lumber & Tourist Hub (1900-1920)

by 8 Comments

wedding picture of Norman Burt Sherry with Lucretia Caroline Hayes,The spark that got me writing about Adirondack history was the personal question of how my family came into possession of a log cabin on Twitchell Lake in Big Moose, NY. Unraveling this mystery took a year’s research — searching newly discovered diaries and networking with genealogy contacts.

It turns out my connection began with a love story, which I told in the New York Almanack. That account included the accompanying photo of my grandparents’ wedding in Buffalo, NY, in 1908. This article will explore how the hamlet of Big Moose supported the growth of thriving summer communities on Twitchell and Big Moose Lakes, setting the stage for major logging operations on Big Moose Lake. Early in this era, 60 percent of Twitchell’s lakeshore was slated for major logging before going up for sale as summer lots. [Read more…] about Big Moose As A Lumber & Tourist Hub (1900-1920)

Along The Mohawk & Malone: Forest Fires & Logging South of Big Moose (1900-1920)

by 2 Comments

Picture of Rev. John Fitzgerald, Born in England, John Gerald Fitzgerald (1850-1925) attended seminary in Troy, NY, accepting his first assignment as a priest in the Diocese of Ogdensburg. Following pastorates in upstate New York, Father Fitz – as he was affectionately called – was given the daunting challenge of establishing a parish in Old Forge, in the Adirondacks.

In 1896, Northern Herkimer County was a heavily forested region dotted by tiny hamlets, scattered lumber camps, and remote railroad stations along the Mohawk & Malone Railroad. For the next twenty-nine years, he got off the Mohawk & Malone at stations like McKeever, Carter, Big Moose, Beaver River, Brandreth, Keepewa, Nehasane, and Horseshoe Lake, carrying his bible and sacraments from these stops to remote lumber camps on snowshoes, wearing his trademark coonskin cap and woolen mittens. His parish stretched over a 200 square-mile area. [Read more…] about Along The Mohawk & Malone: Forest Fires & Logging South of Big Moose (1900-1920)

Former Saratoga and North Creek Railway Purchased

by 2 Comments

Tahawus Railway Map Dec 2022Revolution Rail Company (RevRail) has announced its purchase of the Saratoga and North Creek Railway, which stretches from the hamlet of North Creek in Johnsburg, Warren County, north to the Tahawus mining works in the Town of Newcomb, Essex County. [Read more…] about Former Saratoga and North Creek Railway Purchased