Federal authorities arrested 2,197 people across New York last month during what they have derisively named “Operation Rotten Apple,” the highest monthly immigration arrest total since the Trump administration’s round-ups began in New York State. [Read more…] about With ‘Operation Rotten Apple’ Upstate Police Round-Ups Surge
Rochester
Rapping with the Dead: New York’s Spiritualist Fox Sisters
The first indication that the Fox Sisters had spiritualist talents occurred on the evening of March 31, 1848 when 11-year-old Kate and 14-year-old Maggie Fox claimed they heard knocking sounds coming from the east bedroom of their parents’ rented farmhouse in Hydesville, Wayne County, NY, about 30 miles east of Rochester.
The next night, the young ladies revealed this strange knocking spirit to their mother and older sister, Leah. The family’s excitement about communicating beyond the grave took no note that the inaugural demonstration had been staged on April first. [Read more…] about Rapping with the Dead: New York’s Spiritualist Fox Sisters
New York & The Struggle to Finance the Revolutionary War
One of the earliest acts of the New York Provincial Congress was the promise on May 24, 1775, to repay all monies advanced for the resistance to British domination. When the old colonial government was gradually superseded in 1774 and 1775 by an extra-legal government of committees and congresses chosen by the people, these bodies were met immediately by the problem of financing both the political activities and the military operations. The latter began with the plans to seize Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point, shortly after the colonists had been electrified by the news of Lexington and Concord. [Read more…] about New York & The Struggle to Finance the Revolutionary War
Upstaters: Poets, Pols, Prophets & Bush-League Heroes
Over the last three-plus decades, Bill Kauffman has written about and interviewed upstate New York novelists, politicians, and civic activists who have given the region much of its interest to the author.
Upstaters: Poets, Pols, Prophets and Bush-League Heroes of Upstate New York (SUNY Press, 2026) collects these into a single volume. [Read more…] about Upstaters: Poets, Pols, Prophets & Bush-League Heroes
2026 Rochester Fringe Festival Line-Up Announced
The Rochester Fringe Festival will return for its 15th season, September 15-26 in downtown Rochester. Over 12 action-packed days of music, comedy, dance, theater, circus arts and film are planned across the city.
The festival is New York state’s largest multidisciplinary performing arts event, featuring 715 performances across 45 venues. Pete Davidson will lead the comedy line-up. [Read more…] about 2026 Rochester Fringe Festival Line-Up Announced
A New York State 19-Century Baseball All-Star Team
Major League Baseball’s annual all-star game (taking place Tuesday in Philly) invariably fosters debates. Who’s the more worthy first-baseman, Vladimer Guerrero Jr. or Ben Rice? Should Aaron Judge be on the roster if he hasn’t played in over a month? Why is Cody Bellinger starting in the outfield over Randy Arozarena?
Baseball fans love arguing these sort of questions every year as the midsummer classic approaches. They lead naturally to questions about who was the greatest of all time. Babe Ruth? Ted Williams? Barry Bonds?
I don’t have the answers, but I would like to recognize a class of players who are often overlooked in these debates: the nineteenth-century greats. [Read more…] about A New York State 19-Century Baseball All-Star Team
19 NY Places Recommended for State and National Registers
The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has announced recommendations by the New York State Board for Historic Preservation to add 19 properties and districts to the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
The nominations include a nineteenth-century church in Jefferson County that developed and promoted Universalism in Upstate New York, a pre-Revolutionary War house owned by seven generations of the Hulse family on Long Island’s North Shore, and additional documentation for New York City’s Hotel Chelsea recognizing its significance as a center of LGBTQ cultural and creative life. [Read more…] about 19 NY Places Recommended for State and National Registers
Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery Will Begin Free Admission
Thanks to the generosity of its members and the community, the University of Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) will open its doors to all free of charge sometime in 2027, much sooner than anticipated.
“Making the museum free ensures that everyone can experience the inspiration, learning, and connection that it offers,” says University President Sarah Mangelsdorf. “We are deeply grateful to our donors, partners, and the broader community whose support makes this historic step possible.” [Read more…] about Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery Will Begin Free Admission
Seth Concklin: A Daring, Dedicated New York Abolitionist
Many New Yorkers before the Civil War contributed to the abolition of slavery, and the dangerous work of helping enslaved African-Americans flee their captors. Take Calvin Fairbank, a New York Methodist pastor born 1816, who spent 17 years in prison for his missions to help enslaved people escape.
Seth Concklin, a New Yorker whose name and sacrifice were more familiar in the 19th century, died tragically in 1851 while trying to help a mother and her three children escape from slavery. [Read more…] about Seth Concklin: A Daring, Dedicated New York Abolitionist
Women’s Role in Canned Food Consumption
New York State was the birthplace of the American canning industry and grew to become one of the nation’s most prolific food processing hubs by the late 19th century. The state’s history is marked by early technological developments, massive growth during wartime, and the rise of major corporate processors.
Initially, canned foods were not widely accepted, however. The overarching factor that drove the prevalence and public acceptance of canned food was the symbiotic relationship between the evolving canning industry and the changing role of women, in particular their need or desire to work in the public sphere. [Read more…] about Women’s Role in Canned Food Consumption
25 Properties Recommended to State, National Registers
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) have announced recommendations by the New York State Board for Historic Preservation to add 25 properties and districts to the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
The nominations include an intact 1905 metal casting foundry complex in Hudson, an 1873 house that reflects Syracuse’s layered history of immigration, urban renewal, and grassroots historic preservation, a cohesive group of Colonial Revival apartment buildings in Kenmore built during the 1920s and 1930s suburban housing boom, and an amendment to the 1971 nomination for Revolutionary-era Senate House in Kingston to include its 1920s commemorative museum annex. [Read more…] about 25 Properties Recommended to State, National Registers
Help Preserve Western New York’s Historic LGBTQ+ Community Sites
Historic landmarks are important resources in part because they help make the lives of the past more tangible — and help each of us see ourselves in history. Places significant to LGBTQ+ communities, however, can be overlooked because many of these communities formed out of the public eye by necessity, often receiving little mainstream attention at the time.
As people age and disperse, and as many sites close or are repurposed under new ownership, knowledge of these places’ significance can fade, along with the irreplaceable opportunity to document and preserve them. [Read more…] about Help Preserve Western New York’s Historic LGBTQ+ Community Sites
Once Ubiquitous in Skyscrapers, Rochester’s Mail Chute Building Languishes
Western New Yorkers can always count on finding a little piece of home in the lobbies of historic buildings across the country and the world, including the Empire State Building, the Savoy Hotel in London, and the Bacardi Building in Havana.
It’s likely that the mail chute, which quickly conveyed letters from the highest stories of ever-growing towers to their lobbies for pick-up, is emblazoned with the eagle insignia and name of the Cutler Mail Chute Company of Rochester, New York. [Read more…] about Once Ubiquitous in Skyscrapers, Rochester’s Mail Chute Building Languishes
Nathanial Hawthorne’s 1830s Visit to Rochester
Nathanial Hawthorne (1804-1864) traveled to Rochester, NY and recorded these scenes sometime between 1829 and 1835.
The gray but transparent evening rather shaded than obscured the scene, leaving its stronger features visible, and even improved by the medium through which I beheld them. [Read more…] about Nathanial Hawthorne’s 1830s Visit to Rochester
A Wayne County Historic Cobblestone House Suffers From Neglect
Cobblestone construction is arguably the most unique aspect of the architectural heritage of Western New York: of the 1,054 identified cobblestone structures in North America, 855 (81%) are located within eighty miles of Rochester, with over one hundred each in Wayne, Orleans, Monroe, and Ontario Counties alone.
The manifestation of a unique confluence of glacial processes and skilled masons remaining in the region after its canal building boom, each cobblestone structure — though perhaps easy to overlook in isolation on the modern landscape — is a treasure testifying to the power of craftsmanship. [Read more…] about A Wayne County Historic Cobblestone House Suffers From Neglect
State Parks Outlines New Investments Hoped for 2026
In support of the goals outlined in Governor Kathy Hochul’s State of the State and executive budget, New York State Parks has announced support for several initiatives they say are designed to create jobs, enhance state park experiences, improve access to outdoor recreation and preserve state history. [Read more…] about State Parks Outlines New Investments Hoped for 2026
Strike! 13 Strikes Every New Yorker Should Know About
Today the state of Minnesota is engaged in the first General Strike in nearly 80 years. There have been thousands of strikes in American history, but only about a dozen General Strikes. One of the first strikes took place in the city of New York in 1677. Afterward a dozen cart-men (one-horse cart operators) were criminally prosecuted “for not obeying the Command and Doing their Dutyes as becomes them in their Places” and fined.
About 80 strikes in the U.S. have involved over 100,000 workers. Here are 13 strikes every New Yorker should know about: [Read more…] about Strike! 13 Strikes Every New Yorker Should Know About
New York’s International Port at Rochester: Some History
As Rochester’s Democrat and Chronicle effused, presciently, in 1874: Charlotte, the Rochester NY neighborhood situated “at the mouth of the Genesee River, surrounded by scenery of unequaled beauty,” is “daily growing more important as a shipping port.”
The paper could scarcely have anticipated the impact of an international deal signed decades later, in 1905. “Car ferries” would be built, with related infrastructure, plus dredging of port channels to accommodate heavy loads, to directly link Rochester, with Cobourg in Ontario, Canada, to its north. The ferries would carry both freight-laden train cars and paying passengers. [Read more…] about New York’s International Port at Rochester: Some History
Erie Canal Bicentennial Flotillas Launching Wednesday
The Empire State will end its 2025 boating season with a series of Bicentennial Flotillas across the Erie Canal beginning Wednesday, September 24, in Buffalo.
Recently announced by the New York State Canal Corporation, the four waterborne parades are capstones to a summer-long series of special events that celebrated the 200th season of operation for the historic 524-mile waterway. [Read more…] about Erie Canal Bicentennial Flotillas Launching Wednesday
Preservation League Announces Award Winners
The Preservation League of New York State‘s annual Excellence in Historic Preservation Awards program shines a light on the people who are using historic preservation to create positive change — through exemplary restoration projects, indispensable publications, individual action, and organizational distinction.
Recipients of the Excellence Award represent the very best of what the League stands for and supports in historic preservation. [Read more…] about Preservation League Announces Award Winners