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Saratoga

Sam Hill: Folklore & History Of A Saratoga Resident

January 22, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Sam Hill Painting - Laurence White PhotographyThough perhaps a dying proverb, “What in Sam Hill?!” used to be commonplace as an expression of exasperation. A quick internet search will point to several possible origin stories that explain where this phrase came from but the definitive truth remains elusive.

Could it be that a Saratoga County resident known by this common moniker contributed to this once-popular phrase? [Read more…] about Sam Hill: Folklore & History Of A Saratoga Resident

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Abenaki, Folklore, Greenfield, Indigenous History, Mohawk, Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Saratoga Springs

Christmas On The Home Front: Corinth During The Second World War

December 25, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Town of Corinth World War II Roll of Honor stood at Schoolhouse Hill on Palmer Avenue and was later removed, stored for some time and later disposed ofThe Christmas Season is one of sharing and giving. During the Second World War the generosity of the Corinth community in Saratoga County, NY was much like that of small towns around the country. Children as well as adults were active participants in supporting activities on the home front. [Read more…] about Christmas On The Home Front: Corinth During The Second World War

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Christmas, Corinth, Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, womens history

Ballston Spa’s Hides-Franklin Spring: Some History

December 4, 2022 by Guest Contributor 8 Comments

Hides-Franklin Spring - Saratoga County History CenterAlthough the mineral springs that made Ballston Spa in Saratoga County famous in the late 1700s were surpassed in importance by the industries of the 1800s, several of them were re-tubed and became part of the manufacturing interests of the village well into the twentieth century.

Some mineral springs quickly failed, others were opened to the public, and still others were bottled and sold around the country. [Read more…] about Ballston Spa’s Hides-Franklin Spring: Some History

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Ballston Spa, Industrial History, Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable

Edward Eddy Was Murdered! A Saratoga County Crime Story

October 13, 2022 by Dave Waite Leave a Comment

Gloversville Daily Leader, January 7,1901When the readers of the Gloversville Daily Leader turned to page eight on the morning of January 7th, 1901, they were confronted with the news that 70-year-old Hiram Van Buren had shot and killed Edward Eddy in the hamlet of Trevett in Providence, Saratoga County.

For weeks afterward details continued to emerge that told a story of jealousy, revenge, and obsession. [Read more…] about Edward Eddy Was Murdered! A Saratoga County Crime Story

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Ballston Spa, Crime and Justice, Providence, Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable

Saratoga County Public History Award Nominations Sought

October 4, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Saratoga County History Center in Ballston SpaThe Saratoga County History Center has announced they are seeking nominations for their second Saratoga County Public History Award.

In 2021, the Saratoga County History Center established an annual award to recognize and celebrate the oft-unnoticed, yet deeply important, work done by public historians, writers, teachers, and museum practitioners.  [Read more…] about Saratoga County Public History Award Nominations Sought

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center

Joe Gingras: A Major League Baseball Career Thwarted By War

October 2, 2022 by Dave Waite 5 Comments

Joe Gingras Signs with Kansas CityIn 1870 Francois Dieudonné Gingras left his native Canada for Manhattan where he met and married Mary Roohan. By 1896, now with three children and another on the way, this couple had settled in Saratoga Springs where they opened a grocery store.

Their oldest son, Frank, was soon brought into the family business and the store was renamed, F. D. Gingras & Son. Their youngest son, whom they had named Joseph Elzead John Gingras, was looking to pursue a far different life: baseball. [Read more…] about Joe Gingras: A Major League Baseball Career Thwarted By War

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Baseball, Binghamton, Broome County, Chemung County, Elmira, New York City, Pennsylvania, Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga Springs, Sports History, World War One

A Photographer Visits Utica, Saratoga & Albany in 1878

August 3, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Johnson Park in Utica ca 1870sThis essay by John Nicol, PhD, first appeared on July 12, 1878 in The British Journal of Photography.

Utica, intersected by the Erie and Hudson Canal, is really a beautiful place. Free from the geometric regularity of most of the American cities, its tree-lined streets impart to it the truly American sylvan character, while the size and elegance of its suburban residences show that its people are prosperous to a degree unknown in similar cities in the old country.

But their commercial prosperity is not the only, or even principal, quality on which the Uticans pride themselves, as they rank only second to Boston in their opinion of their culture and appreciation of science and art; and, so far as I have been able to judge, with quite as much, if not more, reason. [Read more…] about A Photographer Visits Utica, Saratoga & Albany in 1878

Filed Under: Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History, Mohawk Valley, Western NY Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, Cultural History, Oneida County, Photography, Saratoga, Saratoga Lake, Saratoga Springs, Utica

Aboard the Hudson River Steamer Drew to Saratoga in 1878

August 1, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Steamboat Drew underway courtesy Hudson River Maritime MuseumThis article was originally published in Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper on September 21, 1878.

I was awfully glad when a friend proposed a trip to Saratoga. I had been awfully jolly in New York, but New York had gone out of town, leaving nothing but its streets and its tram-cars behind it. In London we have such a perpetual flow of visitors — over one hundred thousand daily — that a fellow doesn’t so much miss the “big crowd” as here, consequently when Saratoga was decided upon I felt extremely pleased indeed. I had heard much of the palatial river steamers, and expected much. [Read more…] about Aboard the Hudson River Steamer Drew to Saratoga in 1878

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, New York City Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, Hudson River, Maritime History, New York City, Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga Springs, Steamboating, Transportation History

Saratoga Area Ethnohistoric Survey Nears Completion

July 18, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

saratoga national historic park courtesy wikimedia user UpstateNYerIn 2018, Saratoga National Historical Park received funding to produce an ethnohistorical study of the Saratoga area. Professor Karim Tiro from Xavier University was chosen to conduct the research and compile the report.

Dr. Tiro specializes in North American history during the colonial, revolutionary, and early national periods with a focus on the history of Native Americans, the War of 1812, and epidemics. [Read more…] about Saratoga Area Ethnohistoric Survey Nears Completion

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Abenaki, American Revolution, Archaeology, Battle of Saratoga, Indigenous History, Lenape - Munsee - Delaware, Military History, Mohawk, Mohican, National Park Service, Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga National Park, War of 1812

The Smith Family of Acrobats and Clowns & Saratoga Springs

June 26, 2022 by Dave Waite 9 Comments

Eddie Fritz Smith, 2nd Generation ClownIn the year 1900, York Avenue on Saratoga’s East Side was a quiet working-class neighborhood with a mix of young families, as well as older citizens, all living side by side. Listed on the street in that year’s census were laborers, painters, liverymen, and surprisingly, actors.

The neighborhood folks representing the theatre were Edward “Eddie” Fritz Smith, his wife Kitty Sharpe, and their children, Catherine, Sidney, Eddie, Jeal, and William. This couple was no stranger to the life in the spotlight, for even as they settled into a quiet life in Saratoga Springs they were still known across the globe as international celebrities. [Read more…] about The Smith Family of Acrobats and Clowns & Saratoga Springs

Filed Under: Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Dance, German-American History, New York City, Performing Arts, Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Theatre

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