New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Saratoga County

Ellis Corners: Before Saratoga Spa State Park & SPAC

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Ellis Property Map 1822 courtesy Saratoga Springs City ArchivesI think one of the most intriguing aspects of being a history buff is peeling back the layers of history beneath the surface of a well-known location. We drive by today and wonder – what was it like 50 years ago? 100 years ago? Even 200 years ago.

What homes, barns, taverns, and other structures were there, long since gone? Which buildings still exist along the road, often remodeled to the point where they might be unrecognizable to the original inhabitants? Who lived there? What roads did they travel to get to the next crossroads, the next village? Do we still follow the same routes that existed back in the day? [Read more…] about Ellis Corners: Before Saratoga Spa State Park & SPAC

Backyard Maple Syrup Maker Earns ‘Braggin’ Rights’

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Sue Wilder, president of the Hadley Business Association presenting to Colton and Allie Clift Braggin’ Rights for producing the best tasting maple syrupColton and Allie Clift received their Braggin’ Rights for producing the best tasting maple syrup made in their backyard at the Hadley Maple in April Festival in Saratoga County.

The Clift’s live in Argyle within a 50 mile radius of Hadley, they have 40 taps and boil their own sap. This is the fourth year the Hadley Business Association has awarded to locally produced maple syrup makers their braggin’ rights. [Read more…] about Backyard Maple Syrup Maker Earns ‘Braggin’ Rights’

Mechanicville’s Unique Second World War Photo Collection

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Carmine DeCrescente Sr. by Charles Siciliano, Sr. courtesy Mechanicville Public LibraryOn May 8th, 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered to Allied forces, ending the Second World War in Europe. Less than four months later, on September 2nd, Japan formally surrendered aboard the USS Missouri anchored in Tokyo Bay, bringing history’s most destructive conflict to an end. [Read more…] about Mechanicville’s Unique Second World War Photo Collection

The Whitetail Deer Paddock in Saratoga’s Congress Park: Some History

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llustration by Prentiss Ingraham 1885 Saratoga Winter and SummerIt is difficult to imagine tame whitetail deer roaming freely through Congress Park in downtown Saratoga Springs, yet in its early years, it was both a common sight and an eagerly anticipated part of experiencing the city for both young and old.

It all began with a gift. [Read more…] about The Whitetail Deer Paddock in Saratoga’s Congress Park: Some History

Saratoga County Was Once A Leading Pork Producer

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Duroc Pig courtesy National Swine RegistryNot that they’re boasting, but lots of Saratoga County people like the ring of the “health, history and horses” theme used by the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce. But 150 years ago, the thoroughbreds didn’t yet run at Saratoga Race Course on Union Avenue, and the county motto could have been “homesteads, harvests and hogs.” [Read more…] about Saratoga County Was Once A Leading Pork Producer

Clifton Park’s Ties to Lincoln’s Assassination

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Drawing of Mercy Harris's tombstone in the Garnsey Cemetery by George Hubbard, RexfordApril 14th marked the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln‘s assassination by John Wilkes Booth in 1865. This tragic event, like the later assassination of John F. Kennedy, had a tremendous impact on the nation.

There was a period of twenty days of mourning from the time Lincoln was shot to the time he arrived by train for burial at his home in Springfield, Illinois. The first of his twelve funerals was held in Washington, then his funeral procession began by train across the land to Illinois, stopping at major cities for additional funerals. It was the mightiest outpouring of national grief the world had yet seen. [Read more…] about Clifton Park’s Ties to Lincoln’s Assassination

William Sears’ American Hygiene Vegetable Renovating Pills

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Sears American Hygiene Vegetable Renovating Pills Advert Newburgh Telegraph, Jan 26 1835The nineteenth century in America saw the rapid growth of “patent” medicines, developed and marketed to a populace longing for relief from the many chronic maladies of life.  Newspapers of the times were filled with advertising extolling the virtues of these creations as entrepreneurs tried to make their fortune by selling into this need.

The early fall of 1834 found one such man, William Sears, then in his middle fifties, traveling around Saratoga County soliciting testimonials from prominent local citizens as to the benefits of the medicines he had produced that were now being offered to the public. [Read more…] about William Sears’ American Hygiene Vegetable Renovating Pills

Route 50 Changed It All: Old Burnt Hills And New

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ingsley and Lakehill Roads - early 20th centuryIn the late 1950s, Veeder and Yelverton Pharmacy moved their thriving pharmacy business from Schenectady, NY to Route 50 in Burnt Hills, Saratoga County.

At the time, the Burnt Hills area was just beginning to grow and the area to which they moved was not a major commercial center in the Burnt Hills area. But that move seems to have been one of the signals that a “new” commercial center of was starting to grow.

Driving along Route 50, most people today do not even know that an “old” commercial center ever existed. [Read more…] about Route 50 Changed It All: Old Burnt Hills And New

Cohoes Airman Eugene Chouiniere, Missing Since WWII, Being Memorialized

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British Lancaster BomberEven before the United States entered the Second World War, Americans joined Great Britain’s war effort – among those who volunteered was Capital District native Eugene E. Chouiniere.

Chouiniere was 19-years-old when he died in a British Royal Air Force (RAF) mission to Germany. The crew included three Brits, two Canadians and three Americans. Letters to the families of the crew from the RAF stated that “it must be regretfully accepted and officially recorded that he [Eugene] does not have a known grave,” and thus their aircraft was “lost without a trace.”

Now independent historians think they know where the aircraft, a Avro Lancaster R5695EM-C Bomber, rests 80 years after it went down. [Read more…] about Cohoes Airman Eugene Chouiniere, Missing Since WWII, Being Memorialized

Camp Boyhaven Property Added To Middle Grove State Forest

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DEC LogoThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the addition of 219 acres of land formally belonging to Camp Boyhaven to the Middle Grove State Forest in the town of Milton, Saratoga County.

Camp Boyhaven was established in 1924 as one of the longest operating Boy Scout camps in New York State, serving scouts from Schenectady County and the greater Capital District. [Read more…] about Camp Boyhaven Property Added To Middle Grove State Forest