In the 1940s, driving north from Saratoga Springs toward Middle Grove about a mile west of Route 9N in Saratoga County, NY, is Pages Corners where Sodaman and Sandhill Road intersects with Middle Grove Road. At the corner is the Callenius dark gray house, Mrs. Receal’s small white house whose son served in the Second World War, and larger white houses are on the other two corners. Taking a right turn onto Sandhill, you are climbing up the mountain toward Lake Desolation. [Read more…] about Memories of 1940s Greenfield, Saratoga County, NY
Saratoga County
A New Paved Trail To A Historic Hudson Valley View
The Grant Cottage State Historic Site officially celebrated the completion of a new, fully ADA-accessible paved pathway to its historic Eastern Overlook on Mount McGregor in Wilton, NY. [Read more…] about A New Paved Trail To A Historic Hudson Valley View
New Deer Hunting Season at Saratoga Spa State Park
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) will open an undeveloped section of Saratoga Spa State Park to white tail deer hunting for the 2026-27 season as part of a deer management program. [Read more…] about New Deer Hunting Season at Saratoga Spa State Park
Saratoga Race Course’s Featured Jump Race: Some History
The Jonathan Sheppard Memorial Stakes race is scheduled to be run at Saratoga Race Course on September 2, this season. This Grade 1 steeplechase race, with a purse of $150,000 will kick off the final week of this year’s track season.
The featured jump race at Saratoga was renamed in 2021, and had formerly been the New York Turf Writers Cup, which had been run previously at other racetrack locations in the Empire State. [Read more…] about Saratoga Race Course’s Featured Jump Race: Some History
New York & The Struggle to Finance the Revolutionary War
One of the earliest acts of the New York Provincial Congress was the promise on May 24, 1775, to repay all monies advanced for the resistance to British domination. When the old colonial government was gradually superseded in 1774 and 1775 by an extra-legal government of committees and congresses chosen by the people, these bodies were met immediately by the problem of financing both the political activities and the military operations. The latter began with the plans to seize Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point, shortly after the colonists had been electrified by the news of Lexington and Concord. [Read more…] about New York & The Struggle to Finance the Revolutionary War
Dr Helen Hosmer’s Rural Healthcare in the US & Canada
In 1934, Doctor Helen Hosmer opened a physician’s office on West Street in the Village of Galway, in Saratoga County, NY. Originally from Billerica, Massachusetts, when Hosmer arrived in Galway, she was 50 years old, and though an experienced chemist and scientist, she was just beginning her career as a physician. [Read more…] about Dr Helen Hosmer’s Rural Healthcare in the US & Canada
Equine Eyes: A New Way of Looking at Things
In late July the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs debuted a new one-of-a-kind exhibition, “Equine Eyes,” during an open house.
The exhibit is an interactive, research-driven presentation designed to simulate how horses perceive the world. [Read more…] about Equine Eyes: A New Way of Looking at Things
1925’s Lighter Side of Political History
This stunt, certainly, would have been harder to pull off in the era before Photoshop and artificial intelligence:
“Amherst College students perpetuated a practical joke this afternoon when they sent out news stories and photographs showing United States Senator Frederick H. Gillett (1851-1935) minus his celebrated beard,” The Glens Falls Times reported on June 17, 1925. “Senator Gillett, found by newspaper correspondents, was still wearing the beard.” [Read more…] about 1925’s Lighter Side of Political History
A Common Adirondack Public and Private Stewardship
Keith McKeever, retiring Public Information Director at the Adirondack Park Agency (APA), accepted much-deserved recognition at their recent meeting for his many years of admirable public service. In his short acceptance remarks, Keith implored all listening “to hold the line” for the Adirondack Park’s open space.
Keith’s message, as I recall it, was that the goal of protecting private open space is connected quite directly to the goal of more community development including necessary infrastructure directed to the Park’s settled areas in Hamlet and Moderate Intensity Use areas. [Read more…] about A Common Adirondack Public and Private Stewardship
East Line Hamlet: A Forgotten Crossroads
Before East Line Road marked the boundary between the town line between Ballston and Malta, it marked a community. Today, only a roadside sign hints at what once stood at the crossroads of Route 67 and East Line Road:
“East Line. An early community ca. 1780. ME Church built in 1809. Nearby was a hotel, a tavern, and by 1837 an RR stop.” [Read more…] about East Line Hamlet: A Forgotten Crossroads
Stewart’s Shops Feuding With Saratoga Historic Preservationists
Saratoga Springs Mayor John Safford is leading a controversial effort to loosen development rules in the city’s historic and architectural districts.
Meanwhile a Stewart’s Shops executive is using his influence and connections to help limit the historic city’s preservation policies, according to a story in the Times Union. [Read more…] about Stewart’s Shops Feuding With Saratoga Historic Preservationists
Italian Immigrants & Mechanicville’s Brick Industry
When Holyoke, Massachusetts investors sought New York State’s permission to build a large power dam and paper mill in Mechanicville, in eastern Saratoga County, NY, in 1882, one thing they knew they would need was tons of bricks.
Brickmaking was among the oldest trades in America, almost as widely distributed as town-building. But certain places blessed with superior clays, inexpensive fuel supplies, and shipping facilities to nearby markets became centers for the brick industry. [Read more…] about Italian Immigrants & Mechanicville’s Brick Industry
The Black Hand & Shootings of Constable Fred Currier
Fred Currier of Waterford, NY was a man of many interests. His actual name was Alfred, but he was known as Fred. For 17 years, he was a Waterford Town Constable.
In 1921, Governor Nathan Miller appointed him Division Superintendent of Canals. When that commission was up, he returned to law enforcement as a Deputy Sheriff, later becoming a Day Jailer. [Read more…] about The Black Hand & Shootings of Constable Fred Currier
Environmentalists Have Big Stake in Finch Pulp Mill Closure
The purely economic decision by Finch Paper in Glens Falls, now part of a global company, to stop purchasing Adirondack regional trees for its pulp to paper operation and to instead acquire its pulp from far beyond New York’s borders is serious – and deserves the attention it’s getting at New York Almanack, and the worries from forest product industries, harvesters, truckers, suppliers, and landowners elsewhere. [Read more…] about Environmentalists Have Big Stake in Finch Pulp Mill Closure
The Christopher Yates Papers Reveal Revolutionary Details
Christopher Yates (1737-1785) of Schenectady was a surveyor by trade, a job that brought him into the frequent employ of Sir William Johnson. When the French and Indian War began in 1755, Yates joined the Second Albany Militia, serving under Johnson at some of the most crucial battles.
He was among the British troops defeated at Ticonderoga early in the contest during the July 8, 1758 Battle of Carillon, the bloodiest event of the war, with over 3,000 causalities. He later participated in the successful siege of Fort Niagara in July 1759. [Read more…] about The Christopher Yates Papers Reveal Revolutionary Details
Finch Paper Closing Glens Falls Pulp Mill; Logging Affected
The Finch Paper mill in Glens Falls, NY, a facility which has been buying pulp wood from the region’s loggers since 1865, has announced they will stop making their own pulp from local logs and will transition to buying it from suppliers outside the area.
Finch has been blending its own pulp with about 20% outside purchases. Going forward Finch is likely to source all its pulp from Canada, or buy market pulp, eliminating the work associated with the 45-50 log trucks who arrived at the mill daily. [Read more…] about Finch Paper Closing Glens Falls Pulp Mill; Logging Affected
Three Saratoga ‘Bad Kids’ & 60 Years of SPAC Memories
In 2026, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) marks its sixtieth anniversary of presenting classical and popular entertainment. For six decades it has served as the summer home of the New York City Ballet and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Its stage has welcomed everything from touring Broadway musicals, opera, jazz and reggae festivals to the Grateful Dead.
That curtain was raised for that first time in June 1966 for Governor Nelson Rockefeller’s dedication of the new Arts Center by three young college students, Andy (Yo-Yo), Pat, and Mike from Saratoga Springs. [Read more…] about Three Saratoga ‘Bad Kids’ & 60 Years of SPAC Memories
Old Hudson Valley Churches Now Community Venues
Due to shrinking congregations and finances, many abandoned church buildings in New York’s Hudson Valley have been reused for other purposes. Some are now apartments or condominiums, fraternity houses, museums, historical societies, businesses and vibrant art venues and community centers. [Read more…] about Old Hudson Valley Churches Now Community Venues
Hudson Valley Loyalists and the Violence of Revolution
In many respects the American Revolution was a civil war pitting Americans loyal to the Crown against other Americans loyal to the vision of a new nation they sought to create. Neighbor fought against neighbor, brother against brother, father against son. One of the epicenters of this desperate struggle was New York’s Hudson Valley.
Suffering for the Crown: The Hudson Valley Loyalists and the Violence of Revolution (University of Virginia Press, 2026) by Kieran J. O’Keefe details the extreme violence, persecution, and displacement experienced by white, Black, and Native American Loyalists during the Revolution. [Read more…] about Hudson Valley Loyalists and the Violence of Revolution
Lake Champlain Aquatic Invasive Species Plan Updated
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and New York State Canal Corporation announced revisions this week to the Rapid Response Plan (RRP) that was implemented in 2022 to mitigate the spread of round goby, an invasive species, into the Lake Champlain Basin.
After first being discovered in the Hudson River near Troy in 2021, to date, round goby has not been captured north of Champlain Canal Lock 1 in Waterford, though there were two positive eDNA detections north of Lock 2 in Halfmoon in 2024. [Read more…] about Lake Champlain Aquatic Invasive Species Plan Updated