History, Natural History & the Arts
Located at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, Sackets Harbor boasts a stellar history in the War of 1812, but this lake port holds a wealth of other fascinating stories.
After the War of 1812, Sackets Harbor nearly became a thriving lake port, but both the emerging railroads and canal systems quickly excluded the tiny village from ever becoming a Buffalo or Cleveland-size port. [Read more…] about Dancing On Logs: Pulp Wood At Sackets Harbor
Timing is everything! While contemplating a unique marker in the Sackets Harbor military cemetery a puzzling question came up. Why was Henderson, NY resident Joseph Hawkins, who never served in the military, buried in the military cemetery?
Coincidentally, Henderson Historical Society’s Eric Anderson was simultaneously researching Joseph Hawkins and shared clues. [Read more…] about A Military Cemetery Mystery Solved
The Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site has announced the story panel series “History on the Lawn,” featuring ten educational story panels on topics normally addressed in the site’s Commandant’s House tour and Navy Yard exhibits. These 2-feet-by-3-feet corrugated plastic panels feature photos and illustrations with accompanying text. [Read more…] about Sackets Harbor Battlefield Offers History on the Lawn
This year we celebrate the centennial of the 19th Amendment which secured the right of women to vote. The historic anniversary gives us a chance to remember and recognize pioneering efforts by women from across New York State.
A recent Watertown Daily Times article featured the story of US Army Brigadier General Anna Mae Hays, one of two women who became Generals on the same day in 1970. Truly, Hays exemplifies a trailblazer, yet the other woman in the photograph of that promotion celebration which was run with the story is a woman claimed by Sackets Harbor, NY – Brigadier General Elizabeth Hoisington. [Read more…] about General Elizabeth Hoisington: A Military ‘Trailblazer’
For a second time in US history, a 15th Infantry formed as the War of 1812 began. In the harsh winter of 1813, well-respected Brigadier General Zebulon Pike commanded this regiment on their perilous 180-mile march over-land from Plattsburgh at Lake Champlain to Sackets Harbor on Lake Ontario. [Read more…] about War of 1812: The 15th Infantry’s 180-Mile March
As the Civil War raged on the land, the two national navies — Union and Confederate — created another war on the water. The naval war was one of sudden, spectacular battles as well as continual and fatal vigilance on the coasts, rivers, and seas.
US Navy veteran and US Navy Civil War sailor re-enactor John Dellapenna, along with other men who portray United States soldiers and sailors from the Civil War era, are set to host a re-enactment of “A Day in the Life of a Sailor,” on Saturday July 27th from 10 am to 4 pm at the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site.
[Read more…] about A Common Sailor’s Life During the Civil War
A program on the bicycle’s impact on the social status of women in the years before Women’s Suffrage in New York State, led by historian Kjirsten Gustavson wearing her reproduction 1890s bicycle costume, has been set for Saturday July 27th, at 10 am, at Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site. [Read more…] about Women’s Bicycling History Program at Sackets Harbor
The Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site has announced Slavery, Freemen, the War of 1812, and A House Divided, has been set for Saturday July 6, 2019 at 1 pm.
Attendees will have the opportunity to discover the story of slavery in New York State prior to the Revolutionary War, learn about African-American men serving at Sackets Harbor on combat ships in the War of 1812, and visit the historic site commandant’s house, home of a Southern-born Navy officer on the eve of the Civil War. [Read more…] about Slavery, Freemen, the War of 1812, and A House Divided
Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site and the Hay Memorial Library have announced a Sackets Battlefield reading and discussion series, set to run Wednesdays, May 1, 8, 15, and 22 from 6:30 to 8 pm at the Hay Memorial Library’s second floor meeting room.
The series companion book will be The Civically Engaged Reader: A Diverse Collection of Short Provocative Readings on Civic Activity edited by Adam Davis and Elizabeth Lynn.
[Read more…] about Sackets Battlefield Reading and Discussion Series
During the years of the War of 1812, winter ice played an important strategic role between the combatants on Lake Ontario. At the eastern end of the lake, decision makers at both Sackets Harbor, the US military headquarters, and Kingston, the center for Upper Canada forces, anticipated invasion opportunities across the frozen lake, and each spring anxiously waited to commence naval operations after the ice left their harbors.
In March 1815, at Sackets Harbor the US Navy commander extended a cordial invitation to a former War of 1812 British adversary, but the lake needed to be ice free: “Commodore Chauncey presents his Compliments to the Marquis of Tweedale, will feel extremely [sic] happy to see the Marquis and his friends at Sacketts Harbor and will with pleasure send them to Kingston the moment the ice will allow a passage.” [Read more…] about Some Sackets Harbor Ice Boating History