History, Natural History & the Arts
Private developers are planning for the clean-up and reuse of the historic Victory Mills complex located on Fish Creek in the Village of Victory, Saratoga County.
Developers are working to turn the 1918 cotton mill into 186 apartments and a brewpub at a cost of about $60 million. [Read more…] about Plans Afoot For Historic Victory Mills Near Saratoga Battlefield
Long time Clifton Park (Saratoga County) resident Elmer Droms died on Friday, October 27, 2000 at age 102. He had been an occupant of Maplewood Manor Nursing Home in Ballston Spa since spring.
Prior to that time, he occupied a two-hundred-year-old farmhouse on Droms Road, near Grooms Corners in Clifton Park, his home for 98 years. [Read more…] about 20th Century’s Witness: Elmer Droms of Saratoga County
Life as they knew it changed overnight. For years there had been fear, causing hardships day-by-day, but after this event their lives would never be the same. Much like our response to Pearl Harbor or September 11, October 16, 1780 was a day the people along Middleline Road in the Town of Ballston would never forget. [Read more…] about War on the Middleline: Munro’s Raid On Saratoga County in 1780
When most people think about the Battles of Saratoga, they think of those at Freeman’s Farm (Sept. 19) and Bemus Heights (Oct. 7). Also well known is the siege period in the modern Schuylerville area from October 10th to the 17th.
There were many combat actions however, both great and small, that get less notice. One small skirmish, occurred at Jones Mill, near Grangerville in the town of Saratoga on October 2, 1777. [Read more…] about The Burning of Jones Mill During Battles of Saratoga
One of the most prosperous residents in the history of Ballston Spa, NY, was a “Paper Bag King” who once laid claim to the largest manila paper bag operation in the world, also located in Saratoga County.
George West, was born in the English village of Kentisbeare in 1822. He was the sixth of nine children, and as soon as he was old enough West followed in his father’s footsteps and began working at a local paper mill. [Read more…] about Saratoga County Mills Using Manila Hemp Were Home To ‘The Paper Bag King’
Late on the afternoon of September 11th, 1945, U.S. Army 1st Lt. Jack Wilpers, a 25-year-old bookie’s son from Saratoga Springs, busted into the home of one of the United States’ most hated living persons. What he did over the next couple of hours would change history. [Read more…] about The New York Man Involved in the Capture of Tojo
The Saratoga County Historical Society at Brookside Museum has reinvented itself as the Saratoga County History Center.
It’s the intention of the Saratoga County History Roundtable to work closely with the History Center as the new vision takes shape in coming months. [Read more…] about Saratoga Museum Has New Name, New Mission
Clambakes were very popular during the early years of the twentieth century. Family and community bakes attracted large gatherings.
For example, a huge clambake sponsored by the Jonesville Methodist Church in Saratoga County, NY, was a Labor Day tradition in that historic hamlet for over 65 years. Church members and others from the community pitched in to serve as many as 600 people. The Jonesville bakes were famous and anticipated every year. [Read more…] about Clam Bakes Were Once A Popular Tradition
It’s becoming popular to refer to our area as Tech Valley because of the nanotech facilities in Albany and Global Foundries in Malta (Saratoga County).
This is not the first time the region was at the forefront of a technological revolution. In the early nineteenth century some of the nation’s first railroads were built right here. [Read more…] about Early Railroads From The Capital District To Saratoga
On August 13th, 1689, New York Governor Leisler wrote “Scharachtoge [Saratoga]…there are six or seven families all or most rank French papists that have their relations at Canada and I suppose settled there for some bad designe and are lesser to be trusted there in conjunctione of tyme than ever before the bad creatures amongst us gives me great occupatione.” [Read more…] about When Saratoga Was An American Frontier