What do you suppose history will say about politicians of current times? Hindsight is often different from what was presumed by contemporaries. But for John Taylor, who became New York’s first Speaker of the House of Representatives, that does not seem to be true. He was always seen as a man of high standards, even if those high standards irked some people in his own political party. [Read more…] about John Taylor: New York’s ‘Only’ Speaker of the House
Saratoga County History Roundtable
Early Boy Scout History & Camp Saratoga
Camping has been the backbone of the Boy Scout program since its inception. The national Boy Scouts of America kick-started its organization with a two-week summer camp at the YMCA’s Silver Bay facility on Lake George in August 1910.
BSA commissioned its first scoutmaster – S.F. Lester of Troy, NY – September 10th, 1910. Lester brought his troop to summer camp at the Vermont YMCA camp in 1911. [Read more…] about Early Boy Scout History & Camp Saratoga
Tothmea’s Travels: A Misused Egyptian Mummy in New York
Local historians and writers have previously told the story of Tothmea, the 3,600-year-old Egyptian mummy that was presented to a local museum in Round Lake, Saratoga County, in 1888.
Her travels have taken her from Egypt to Round Lake to Brazil and several places in between. After I learned of some recent developments in her story, I was inspired to recount her journey and update it a bit more. [Read more…] about Tothmea’s Travels: A Misused Egyptian Mummy in New York
Forest Park Amusement Park in Saratoga County: Some History
On November 15, 1927, a civil engineer named R.E. Weber created a map that showed the boundaries of Forest Park Amusement Park in Ballston Lake, NY.
The map was drawn so as to facilitate the sale of the entire property and make the area into individual parcels that people could buy. Thus ended the almost 25-year history of one of the most famous amusement parks in Saratoga County and began the process of opening up a large section of Ballston Lake to residential development. [Read more…] about Forest Park Amusement Park in Saratoga County: Some History
When Caleb Ferris and Galway Celebrated 100 Years
Galway in Saratoga County has always been a caring community, one where both long-time residents and new arrivals pitch in and help when there is a need.
In the April 12th, 1882, Daily Saratogian newspaper I found two examples showing that the community spirit that is still with us today was just as alive 140 years ago. [Read more…] about When Caleb Ferris and Galway Celebrated 100 Years
Saratoga Spa in 1935: A State Health Resort Opens
“The Spa is new in every sense of the word. In addition to new equipment, new buildings and new treatments, it presents a new conception of the treatment of disease—the conception of health and recreation and enjoyment while finding that health. It is a place where the patient, by the very life that teems around him, will be made to forget he is ill.” – Pierrepont B. Noyes, President, Saratoga Springs Authority. Address of Welcome. The Saratogian, July 26th, 1935. [Read more…] about Saratoga Spa in 1935: A State Health Resort Opens
Vischer Ferry As A Summer Resort
At the turn of the nineteenth to twentieth century, Vischer Ferry, a hamlet of Clifton Park in Saratoga County on the Mohawk River, was the destination of many picnickers and tourists.
People came from Schenectady, Albany, Troy, Cohoes and even New York City to spend a day, a week, a month or the complete summer in the healthful climate and beautiful surroundings of Vischer Ferry. As quiet 120 years ago as it is today, the village was an ideal spot to escape from the noise and turmoil of the city. [Read more…] about Vischer Ferry As A Summer Resort
Aeronaut Carlotta Myers In The Clouds Over Saratoga
It was a quiet September afternoon at Saratoga Springs’ Grand Union Hotel, with families and small groups gathering to relax and be seen by Saratoga’s high society. As the clock struck 4:30, a hush fell over the hotel’s piazza and every eye was drawn across Broadway to Congress Spring Park where a huge net shrouded sphere slowly rose above the trees.
When the giant ball had cleared the treetops, hanging below it was a small figure standing suspended in an open wire cage waving a handkerchief to the onlookers below. The crowd that day in 1884 witnessed a gas-filled balloon ascension by female aeronaut Carlotta Myers. [Read more…] about Aeronaut Carlotta Myers In The Clouds Over Saratoga
The Sans Souci: When Ballston Spa Was Still A Spa
In the more than two hundred years of its existence, the historic village of Ballston Spa in Saratoga County, NY, has possessed one building which achieved national, perhaps even world-wide, renown.
I refer, of course, to the Sans Souci Hotel, which graced the east end of Front Street near Milton Avenue for some 84 years in the 19th century. To more precisely orient the modern reader, while you are enjoying your favorite beverage in a well-known Ballston tea shop, which is exactly opposite the north end of Low Steet, you are sharing the space previously occupied by the main lobby of the Sans Souci Hotel and metaphorically rubbing shoulders with the likes of Joseph Bonaparte, ex-king of Spain and brother of Napoleon. [Read more…] about The Sans Souci: When Ballston Spa Was Still A Spa
Schuyler’s Saratoga: A Walking Tour of Schuylerville
The Saratoga County History Roundtable will host “Historian’s Walking Tour – Schuyler’s Saratoga,” a tour of Schuylerville set for Thursday, August 4th. [Read more…] about Schuyler’s Saratoga: A Walking Tour of Schuylerville