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Saratoga County

Saratoga’s Charles Dowd & The Origin of Eastern Standard Time

November 18, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Charles Ferdinand Dowd portrait (courtesy Library of Congress)Time is often referred to as a human construct, but time zones are definitely man-made, and they have a direct connection to Charles Dowd of Saratoga Springs and the month of November, when standard time began in 1883, and 21 years later when time ran out for Charles.

Local time once was set by the noon mark. Noon was defined to be the time at which the sun was directly overhead. This meant, for every approximately 69 miles traveled west, the moment of noon differed by four minutes. For example, the clocks in Boston were set about three minutes ahead of clocks in Worcester, MA. [Read more…] about Saratoga’s Charles Dowd & The Origin of Eastern Standard Time

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Cultural History, Delaware & Hudson Railroad, Geography, railroads, Saratoga County, Skidmore College, Transportation History

Walter Butler: 1st Saratoga Springs Mayor, Defender of Vichy (Springs)

November 12, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

First City Council of Saratoga Springs 1915 Mayor Walter P Butler is at center Harry B. Settle photo courtesy Saratoga Springs History Museum, George S. Bolster CollectionWalter Prentiss Butler was born in Saratoga Springs on April 1, 1863, at 596 Broadway. He was the son of Captain James P. Butler and Naomi Clements Butler. His father was Provost Marshal in Saratoga Springs at the time of the Civil War.

Walter received his preliminary education in Saratoga Springs public schools and later attended North Granville Military Academy, Peekskill Military Academy, and Phillips-Exeter Academy. He completed his legal studies at Columbia University in 1887 and was admitted to the Bar of New York State the same year. [Read more…] about Walter Butler: 1st Saratoga Springs Mayor, Defender of Vichy (Springs)

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Genealogy, Legal History, Political History, Saratoga County, Saratoga Springs

A Killing in Rock City Falls

November 4, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Ken and Pearl Weaver courtesy Warren County Historical SocietyPearl Marcellus was born May 23rd, 1898, in the Town of Day, Saratoga County, NY, the daughter of Delbert and Elvira (Colson) Marcellus. By age five, her mother had died in childbirth along with her newborn sister, leaving her father to raise nine children.

Pearl was the youngest. She and her father moved to Rock City Falls shortly after 1915. What happened there on November 1, 1917 is told in court testimony by Pearl’s friend Margaret Seeley. [Read more…] about A Killing in Rock City Falls

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Athol, Auburn, Auburn Prison, Crime and Justice, Rock City Falls, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Town of Day

The Sacandaga River Steamboats Whip Poor Will and Colonel

November 1, 2021 by Dave Waite 2 Comments

only known photograph of a Sacandaga River Steamboat courtesy Edinburgh Town Historian Priscilla EdwardsIt has been over 90 years since the Conklingville Dam was completed and the river that flowed through the Sacandaga Valley became the Great Sacandaga Reservoir.

When visitors hear of this river that once ran through the area, they likely visualize it as a small meandering creek passing quietly past the picture-perfect farms and tiny settlements that dotted its shore. [Read more…] about The Sacandaga River Steamboats Whip Poor Will and Colonel

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Sacandaga River, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Steamboating, Tanning, Transportation History, wood products

When WW1 Gold Star Mothers Pilgrimaged To European Cemeteries

October 26, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Meuse-Argonne American CemeteryOn May 13th, 1930, two Saratoga County women set out on an all-expense paid trip. Sailing from New York Harbor on the S.S. Republic, they would be welcomed in Paris by French and American officials and put up in one of the most expensive hotels in the city. After visiting the sites in and around Paris, they would stop in London on the way home where they received the same first class treatment.

It should have been one of the finest times of their lives, but it wasn’t. [Read more…] about When WW1 Gold Star Mothers Pilgrimaged To European Cemeteries

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Greenfield, Military, Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, womens history, World War One

Galway’s Gristmill: A Short History

October 18, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Parkis Mills prior to demolition 1979Galway in Saratoga County, NY had more than a half dozen churches in the early 1800s, but very little industry. It was first settled by immigrants from Scotland in 1774.

A lack of large rivers or a railroad connection stifled the growth of the town, although by 1855 it had six sawmills, two grist mills, two broom handle factories, and eight blacksmiths within the village of Galway. [Read more…] about Galway’s Gristmill: A Short History

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Galway, Genealogy, Industrial History, Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable

The Saratoga County Law and Order League’s Campaign Against Gambling

October 4, 2021 by Dave Waite Leave a Comment

The sneering women of the Law and Order League in John Ford's 1939 film StagecoachIn the 1870s social reform movements swept across the nation. Law and Order Leagues, and other similar organizations, sprang up to campaign against issues as varied as baseball on Sundays, drinking, gambling, and sex trafficking.

Forty years later, members of the Saratoga County community formed their own Law and Order League to address many of these same “evil” influences on society. The leader of this organization was George H. West, the son of Galway, NY farmer Matthew West. The younger West had been elected to the New York Assembly where he served in 1899 to 1900. [Read more…] about The Saratoga County Law and Order League’s Campaign Against Gambling

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Crime and Justice, Gambling, Mechanicville, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Saratoga Springs, Vice

Ballston Community Library: A Short History

September 29, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Drawing of original library building 1952On September 23rd, 1952, the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Rotary and the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Women’s Club met at a combined meeting to establish the Library Association which would spearhead fund raisers and begin the process of building a library from the bottom up.

Among other fundraising, the Library Association went door to door soliciting people to come to their homes for breakfast on a particular day — and the invited guests would then be charged for their breakfast. [Read more…] about Ballston Community Library: A Short History

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Ballston Lake, Libraries, Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable

Donald Stewart: The Man Who Founded The First Stewart’s Shop

September 16, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Early Stewarts AdvertisementThis summer Brookside Museum in Ballston Spa, NY, opened an exhibit: “Century of Ice Cream! The Dake Family and Stewart’s.”

One might wonder why this successful business, with almost 350 convenience stores is named “Stewart’s” and not “Dake’s.”

Actually, the original founder of Stewart’s had a strong reputation for high-quality dairy products, long before the Dake family purchased the business. [Read more…] about Donald Stewart: The Man Who Founded The First Stewart’s Shop

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Food, History Tagged With: Ballston Spa, Culinary History, Dairy, local farms, Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Stewart's Shops

Forepaugh’s Wild West Show & Circus Enthralled Upstate NY

September 14, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

1889 Forepaugh Show Trade CardAsk someone the name of a three-ring circus and their response would likely be Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey, or a combination of the two. Ringling Brothers World’s Greatest Shows was established in 1884 and P.T. Barnum’s Great Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan, and Hippodrome had opened in 1871. Predating both was the biggest, most successful, though also the least known of the traveling shows, Adam Forepaugh’s Great All-Feature Show and Wild West Combined, established in 1863. [Read more…] about Forepaugh’s Wild West Show & Circus Enthralled Upstate NY

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Albany County, Clinton County, Performing Arts, Rensselaer County, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Warren County, Washington County

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