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Rondout

The Borden Company’s Milk Condensing Plant in 1893

November 26, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Borden Company delivery wagon and horseThe following essay, “‘Crazy Uncle Gail’s’ Idea and What Came of It,” by Eliza Archard Conner, appeared in the June 10, 1893 Northern Star of Lismore, New South Wales, Australia. It was transcribed by Hudson River Maritime Museum volunteer George A. Thompson and annotated by John Warren.

About forty years ago Gail Borden, a civil engineer of New England ancestry, conceived the idea that milk could be boiled down in a vacuum till from the liquid condition it became substantially solid, and in that state, preserved by means of another Yankee invention — the sealed tin can — it could be kept for any length of time. [Read more…] about The Borden Company’s Milk Condensing Plant in 1893

Filed Under: Food, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, New York City Tagged With: Agricultural History, Catskills, Dairy, Dutchess County, Hudson River, Industrial History, Kingston, Labor History, local farms, Marlboro Mountains, New York City, Orange County, Rondout, Shawangunk Ridge, Sullivan County, Ulster County, Wallkill River

An 1830 Trip On The Delaware & Hudson Canal

November 6, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

"Early Days of Rapid Transit" by Edward Lamson Henry showing a canal packet boat ca 1840s (Private collection)The following letter, “A Trip On The Delaware & Hudson Canal To Carbondale,” appeared in the Register of Pennsylvania on August 14, 1830 and was written in the city of New York on August 2, 1830. This letter was discovered and transcribed by George A. Thompson, a volunteer scholar at the Hudson River Maritime Museum, and slightly edited and annotated by John Warren.

Mr. Croswell – I perceive by the paper, that a packet boat commences this day, to run regularly for the remainder of the season, on the Delaware and Hudson canal. Among the pleasant and healthy tours that are now sought after, I would strongly recommend a trip on that canal. [Read more…] about An 1830 Trip On The Delaware & Hudson Canal

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: anthracite coal, Catskills, Delaware & Hudson Canal, Delaware River, Hudson River, Iron Industry, Kingston, Lackawanna, Lackawanna River, Laxawaxen River, Mining, Mongaup Valley, Neversink, Neversink River, Orange County, Pennsylvania, Philip Hone, Port Jervis, Rondout, Shawangunk Ridge, Sullivan County, Susquehanna River, Transportation History, Ulster County

The Hudson River Steamboat Poughkeepsie; Later Known As The Westchester

December 13, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Steamboat Poughkeepsie at dock (courtesy Richard V. Elliott Collection, Hudson River Maritime Museum)This essay was written for the Kingston Daily Freeman in the 1930s, transcribed by Hudson River Maritime Museum volunteer Adam Kaplan and reproduced here in a slightly edited form.

The tale of the steamboat Poughkeepsie is the story of a vessel that is still in service [in the 1930s] – although today the name Westchester has replaced Poughkeepsie and she is no longer a familiar figure on the Hudson River. [Read more…] about The Hudson River Steamboat Poughkeepsie; Later Known As The Westchester

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, New York City Tagged With: Dutchess County, Hudson Highlands, Hudson River, Kingston, Long Island, New Jersey, New York City, New York Harbor, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Rondout, Rye, Steamboating, Transportation History, Ulster County, Westchester County

Terror on the Hudson: The Burning of Kingston

June 17, 2018 by Jack Kelly 5 Comments

General John BurgoyneTerrorism has been a grim feature of our time, but the tactic is far from new. The Revolutionary War, like every war, was marked by wanton violence. One of the cruelest incidents came in October 1777 when the British attacked the city of Kingston, then the capital of New York State.

A massive enemy invasion in 1776 had driven patriot forces from the city of New York. The delegates who were in the process of writing a state constitution moved away from the fighting, first to White Plains, then to Fishkill. [Read more…] about Terror on the Hudson: The Burning of Kingston

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, New York City Tagged With: American Revolution, Burning of Kingston, Fires, George Clinton, Hudson River, John Vaughan, Kingston, Military History, Rondout, Ulster County

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