The 43-minute documentary My Native Air: Charles Evans Hughes and the Adirondacks is now available for viewing free of charge on YouTube. [Read more…] about Charles Evans Hughes Documentary Now Available Online
Saratoga County
Obstinate Becky Jones: At Home in Ludlow Jail
This week’s article was submitted during the summer by David Fiske who passed away on October 28 after a battle with cancer. We publish this story posthumously in his memory.
Rebecca Jones was born in Schoharie County, NY in the 1820s. Her family moved to Ballston Spa, in Saratoga County, where Becky attended a girl’s school. By 1850, she was living in the city of New York and working as a domestic servant for the family of Andrew Gordon Hammersley, a lawyer and banker. [Read more…] about Obstinate Becky Jones: At Home in Ludlow Jail
Joshua Anthony: The Baking Powder King
In the 1800s, most of the commerce at Halfmoon in Saratoga County, NY, was located close to the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. Joshua Anthony however, developed his spice factory in a remote part of northern Halfmoon on his grandfather’s farm on Farm to Market and Anthony Roads.
The three-story tower in the center of the factory once boasted a windmill that provided power for the machinery. Anthony heated the farmhouse and buildings in the winter with steam from the factory. [Read more…] about Joshua Anthony: The Baking Powder King
Fort Ticonderoga Genealogy Initiative Goes Online
Fort Ticonderoga has launched a new genealogy initiative, Ticonderoga Soldiers Project, launched as a result of a dramatic increase in genealogical interest and inquiries related to soldiers who served at Ticonderoga during the 18th century. [Read more…] about Fort Ticonderoga Genealogy Initiative Goes Online
Restoration of Long-Neglected Saratoga Building Nearing Completion
The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation recently kicked off the final stretch to raise the remaining $100,000 for its Revive 65 Campaign. In October the City of Saratoga Springs awarded the Foundation a $30,000 grant towards the rehabilitation of 65 Phila Street.
The long-neglected 1851 Alexander A. Patterson House located at 65 Phila Street had been on the Foundation’s endangered list for over 20 years and threatened by demolition. It was once the home of Alexander Patterson, who operated the Patterson Spring across the street. [Read more…] about Restoration of Long-Neglected Saratoga Building Nearing Completion
Balbriggans, Long-Johns and Union Suits: New York Underwear Makers
Waterpower was the top priority in the development and location of the abundant textile mills in New York State. In places like Utica or Cohoes, the Mohawk River; in Troy, the Hudson River; and in Waterford, the King Canal (built about 1828 by John Fuller King), provided plenty of rushing water. [Read more…] about Balbriggans, Long-Johns and Union Suits: New York Underwear Makers
David Fiske, Local Historian & Regular New York Almanack Contributor, Passes
Local historian and long-time supporter and regular contributor to New York Almanack David Fiske died peacefully after a battle with cancer on October 28, 2023.
A retired librarian, David is best known for his research and writing about Solomon Northup, the free black man who was abducted from Saratoga Springs, New York, and sold into slavery. [Read more…] about David Fiske, Local Historian & Regular New York Almanack Contributor, Passes
The 77th Infantry: The Bemis Heights Regiment in the Civil War
On November 23, 1861, hundreds of men dressed in the blue uniforms of the United States Army mustered in Saratoga Springs. Hailing from villages and towns across Saratoga County as well as from Fulton and Essex counties, the soldiers of the newly formed 77th New York State Volunteer Infantry Regiment were heading off to war.
Nearly seven months earlier, on April 12, successionist forces had opened fire on the federal government’s Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s Charleston Harbor. [Read more…] about The 77th Infantry: The Bemis Heights Regiment in the Civil War
DEC Announces More Than $1.35 Million in Grants to Land Trusts
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced more than $1.35 million in grants to six land trusts to help protect local forests that are considered key to achieving the state’s objectives to protect open space.
Grant funding will be used to acquire new easements to help keep forests as forests, safeguarding the ecosystem services they provide that include stormwater mitigation, temperature regulation, carbon sequestration, and climate resiliency. [Read more…] about DEC Announces More Than $1.35 Million in Grants to Land Trusts
Mattie Lattimore: Skidmore College’s First Graduate
As noted in the June 30, 1905 Minutes of the Trustees of Skidmore College at the Second Annual Meeting of the Young Women’s Industrial Club, “the first diploma ever given was awarded to Mrs. Mattie G. Lattimore for having completed the two year’s course in Domestic Science.” [Read more…] about Mattie Lattimore: Skidmore College’s First Graduate