Schenectady

The Christopher Yates Papers Reveal Revolutionary Details

July 22, 2026 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

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

Historic Glen Sanders Mansion Becoming Apartment Complex

July 22, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The 1713 Glen Sanders Mansion, on the Mohawk River in Scotia, NY, is closing at the end of 2026 after four decades as a catering venue, restaurant, and inn. The property is being redeveloped by Mazzone Hospitality into a 95-unit apartment complex with a ground-floor restaurant.

The newer sections of the mansion will be demolished but the original historic building will not be torn down the company said. [Read more…] about Historic Glen Sanders Mansion Becoming Apartment Complex

Old Hudson Valley Churches Now Community Venues

July 10, 2026 by Rebecca Rector Leave a Comment

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

New York’s Revolutionary Provincial Congresses 1775-1776

June 26, 2026 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

By May 1775 civil war between the American colonies and the British government had begun. The Battles of Lexington and Concord, and the seizures of Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point told the story of an appeal to arms.

Town, county, city and state committees, as representatives of the people, assumed the functions of government, took the initiative in opposing the objectionable acts of the British parliament, and gradually, perhaps more or less unconsciously, prepared the people for the Revolutionary War. [Read more…] about New York’s Revolutionary Provincial Congresses 1775-1776

New York’s Provincial Congress: From Association to State Government

June 11, 2026 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

The New York Provincial Congress on May 26, 1775, appointed a “standing committee of correspondence” and the next day ordered all the counties in the Province of New York to name committees for the counties, towns and districts and to have the “general association” signed, in order to execute the orders of the Second Continental Congress.

Every citizen was to be invited to sign the “association” and by July 1775, all the non-signers (loyalist, or otherwise) were to be reported to the Provincial Congress. [Read more…] about New York’s Provincial Congress: From Association to State Government

New York’s Revolutionary Committee Records: Correspondence, Safety & Conspiracies

June 4, 2026 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

For a century and a half prior to the American Revolution the people of New York had been accustomed to act through representative committees in order to win one concession after another for self-government.

During the Dutch period the Twelve Men (a committee chosen in 1641 by the residents to advise Willem Kieft on relations with Native Americans), the Eight Men (Remonstrance of the Eight Men, 1644), the Nine Men (Remonstrance of the Commonality, 1649, led by Adriaen van der Donck), and other groups, wrested rights for the people from autocratic New Netherland governors and the West India Company. [Read more…] about New York’s Revolutionary Committee Records: Correspondence, Safety & Conspiracies

1925 Radio News from Northern New York

June 4, 2026 by Maury Thompson 1 Comment

It was said to be the closest thing to actually being in the grand stand at Forbes Field for the Pittsburgh Pirates attempt to unseat the reigning champion Washington Senators.

“Today is probably one of the most exciting World Series ever played. Throughout the series, the Simpkins hardware store has entertained a goodly portion of the baseball fans in Ticonderoga with a running account of the games by that most marvelous invention, the radio,” The Ticonderoga Sentinel reported on Oct. 15, 1925. “Seats have been installed for the convenience of listeners.” [Read more…] about 1925 Radio News from Northern New York

Owen D. Young: WWI Statesman, GE Radio & TV Pioneer

May 19, 2026 by Randall Whitestone 2 Comments

On a warm, sunny day amid the winding hills of Herkimer County, the world descended on Van Hornesville, a small Mohawk Valley community, without a train station but home to a global, widely respected statesman of commerce and international finance.

Ninety-five years ago this June, Owen D. Young (1874-1962), architect of the Young Plan on Germany’s fiscal rehabilitation after World War I, and longtime chairman of General Electric Company, presided over graduation ceremonies for the town’s newly built seven-room schoolhouse replete with a swimming pool, a playground, and an auditorium “wired for talkies.” [Read more…] about Owen D. Young: WWI Statesman, GE Radio & TV Pioneer

A Saratoga County Amusement Park History Tour

May 18, 2026 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Forest Park began with when the owner of the trolleys running from Schenectady to Saratoga Springs, the Schenectady Railway Company, decided to create a place of amusement – a trolley park – to boost ridership, especially on weekends.

“A trolley ride from Schenectady to Ballston Lake cost about $1.40 or less in the early days of the twentieth century and only took about an hour. This was the fastest way for people to get to Ballston Lake and the people of Schenectady were anxious to get there,” says Ballston Town Historian Rick Reynolds. [Read more…] about A Saratoga County Amusement Park History Tour

Paul Schaefer’s Coming of Age in the Adirondacks

March 9, 2026 by David Gibson 3 Comments

Paul Schaefer’s life in the Adirondacks began in 1921 on account of his mother, Rose. Gertrude Fogarty and Peggy Mearns Allen, Paul’s sisters, described their arrival in the small Adirondack hamlet of Bakers Mills in northern Warren County. The family had heard of this area of the Adirondacks from Rose Schaefer’s brother, their Uncle Frank Holtslag.

Rose Schaefer was an accomplished musician, but she “had hayfever and asthma and she was this time in such poor health that her doctor said she would not live through another year unless she left the Schenectady area during the hay fever season…until a hard frost killed the ragweed in town.” [Read more…] about Paul Schaefer’s Coming of Age in the Adirondacks

An 1805 Visitor to the Springs in Ballston and Saratoga

February 12, 2026 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

On Friday, August 30th in 1805, Matthew Prendergast set off on horseback from Sharon, Connecticut. Matthew was about 50 years old, a resident of Amenia in Dutchess County, NY, just across the state line from Sharon. He was comfortably well off, but definitely not super rich, and he suffered from rheumatism.

He had a few errands to do on the way, but he was planning on heading north and taking the waters at Ballston Springs, where he had visited in the past. He took his time, stopping several times, including at Kinderhook, Albany and Troy. [Read more…] about An 1805 Visitor to the Springs in Ballston and Saratoga

Remains of Woman Said Killed in Schenectady Massacre Being Re-interred

February 9, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

On the frigid, snowy night of February 8, 1690, a band of French marauders and their Native American allies stormed the stockaded frontier village at what is now Schenectady, NY. Sixty people were slaughtered during the raid, including 10 women and 12 children, and 11 Black enslaved people, and dozens of others captured. About 60 residents were spared, including 20 Mohawk people. The raiders set fire to most of the homes and barns in the community, leaving the settlement in ruins.

What came to be known as the Schenectady Massacre was one of the first skirmishes of King William’s War (1689-1697), an attempt to conquer New York during the first clash between England and France for control of North America. [Read more…] about Remains of Woman Said Killed in Schenectady Massacre Being Re-interred

Schenectady Church Recognizing Indigenous ‘Four Kings,’ Early Mohawk Members

January 28, 2026 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

The “Four Kings” were Native American leaders who traveled to London, England in 1710 during Queen Anne’s War as diplomats of the Mohawk Valley. They met with Queen Anne in London, where their portraits, the earliest surviving oil portraits of Native people painted from life, were painted by Dutch artist John Verelst by royal commission.

Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713) was the second in a series of colonial wars fought in North America involving Great Britain, France, and Spain. The four men, long misidentified as Mohawk leaders, were actually three Mohawks and one Mohican man. [Read more…] about Schenectady Church Recognizing Indigenous ‘Four Kings,’ Early Mohawk Members

The Little Falls Textile Strike: New Scholarship Brings A New Book

January 25, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

J.N. Cheney, an independent historian focusing on the labor movement, radical politics, and community action where he lives in the Mohawk Valley has published Women, Immigrants, and the Working-Class Battle in Little Falls, New York: The Textile Strike of 1912-1913 (Algora Publishing, 2025).

This is the first non-fiction book to provide a comprehensive recounting and analysis of the largely forgotten Little Falls Textile Strike, one of the most important events in New York State’s labor history and one with national significance. [Read more…] about The Little Falls Textile Strike: New Scholarship Brings A New Book

Strike! 13 Strikes Every New Yorker Should Know About

January 23, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Today the state of Minnesota is engaged in the first General Strike in nearly 80 years. There have been thousands of strikes in American history, but only about a dozen General Strikes. One of the first strikes took place in the city of New York in 1677. Afterward a dozen cart-men (one-horse cart operators) were criminally prosecuted “for not obeying the Command and Doing their Dutyes as becomes them in their Places” and fined.

About 80 strikes in the U.S. have involved over 100,000 workers. Here are 13 strikes every New Yorker should know about: [Read more…] about Strike! 13 Strikes Every New Yorker Should Know About

Carl George: Scientist, Adirondack Advocate & Poet

January 2, 2026 by David Gibson Leave a Comment

Carl George, Professor Emeritus at the Biology Department of Union College, died in December at age 95, leaving his wife Christine, and legions of friends at Union College, and around the world. [Read more…] about Carl George: Scientist, Adirondack Advocate & Poet

Evert Wendell Account Books Reveal Life in 1695-1789

December 19, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York Historical Society has digitized their Evert Wendell collection, including five account books in Dutch and English covering the period from 1695 to 1758 and one docket book (in English).

Evert Wendell (1681-1750) was a Dutch-descended Albany merchant, fur trader, and attorney, who conducted business with Native Americans in upstate New York and with colonists in Albany, Schenectady, New York City, and Boston. [Read more…] about Evert Wendell Account Books Reveal Life in 1695-1789

Capital District Radio History with Bob Cudmore & WAMC’s Ray Graf

December 19, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Capital District radio great Bob Cudmore (and former New York Almanack contributor) hosted and produced WGY‘s nightly radio talk show “Contact,” from 1980 to 1993.

This summer he was a guest on “Vox Pop,” WAMC’s call-in program to talk about old time radio and the history of the region with host Ray Graf. [Read more…] about Capital District Radio History with Bob Cudmore & WAMC’s Ray Graf

New York State’s Canal Heritage: An Engineering Family Tree

October 16, 2025 by Bill Orzell Leave a Comment

The canal system of New York State is a complex network of natural and man-made waterways that connect two of the Great Lakes that border the state with the Atlantic Ocean. The canals also incorporate Lake Champlain and the Finger Lakes. The development of this system bridges several generations and gives the canal system a genealogy of its own. [Read more…] about New York State’s Canal Heritage: An Engineering Family Tree

King George’s War and the Thirty-Year Peace

October 13, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

King George’s War and the Thirty-Year Peace: The Third Contest for North America (Westholme Publishing, 2025) continues the contest for North America from the end of Queen Anne’s War in 1713, marking the beginning of the Thirty-Year Peace, through the start of King George’s War in 1744, to its conclusion with the signing of Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle four years later.

While there would be little fighting between the French, Spanish, and British colonies in North America during the Thirty-Year Peace — the Franco-Spanish conflict of 1719 being an exception — for the French and British it did not prove to be peaceful. [Read more…] about King George’s War and the Thirty-Year Peace

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