Tioga County

New York’s Orphaned Oil and Gas Wells

June 23, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Approximately 35,000 orphaned oil and gas wells are estimated to exist in New York State, many drilled and abandoned before the existence of modern environmental regulations.

The latest DEC Does What? podcast, produced by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), spotlights the work of their Division of Mineral Resources, which address the threats that unplugged oil and gas wells have on the environment and public safety across New York State. [Read more…] about New York’s Orphaned Oil and Gas Wells

Forest Rangers Fight Wildfires, Recover Body, Respond to Allergic Hiker

May 11, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

New York State Forest Rangers recently fought three wildfires started by illegal debris and garbage burning, and one unattended fire, on April 28th and April 29th, which burned about 4 acres.

They also recovered the body of a man from a creek in Tioga County, and responded to a hiker having an allergic reaction in the Catskills. [Read more…] about Forest Rangers Fight Wildfires, Recover Body, Respond to Allergic Hiker

Ambrose Spencer: Libel, Blasphemy & Reform

June 30, 2025 by Historical Society of the New York Courts 1 Comment

The 6th Attorney General of New York State, Ambrose Spencer was born on December 13, 1765, in Salisbury, Connecticut. He attended Yale and graduated from Harvard University in 1783 at just 17 years old.

He studied law with John Canfield (ca.1740-1786) in Sharon, Connecticut and also with John Bay in Claverack, Columbia County, NY, and then with Ezekiel Gilbert in nearby Hudson. [Read more…] about Ambrose Spencer: Libel, Blasphemy & Reform

More Than A Dozen Wildfires Reported Across New York State

October 30, 2024 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Recent dry and windy conditions have resulted in numerous wildfires across New York State. Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers responded to eight wildland fires in seven counties on Wednesday, October 23rd alone.

The causes of these fires include unattended campfires and debris burning. Multiple tickets were issued for leaving campfires unattended and not clearing three feet around a fire. [Read more…] about More Than A Dozen Wildfires Reported Across New York State

Last Remnants of Prohibition May End in New York State

April 11, 2024 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

The 21st Amendment ended national Prohibition and the question of alcohol control and regulation was left to the individual states. Each state created its own unique regulations. According to the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association, 17 states, including New York retain direct control over wholesale or retail operations. [Read more…] about Last Remnants of Prohibition May End in New York State

Oneida County’s Coxe Patent: Some History

March 28, 2024 by Richard Williams Leave a Comment

To really understand the Oneida County‘s 1770 Coxe Patent, we should start with Heath Patent, granted some 140 years earlier by King Charles I. The 1629 document gave Sir Robert Heath (1575-1649) the patent for the Province of Carolana (Carolina) “to enlarge the Christian religion as our empire and increasing the Trade and Commerce of our Kingdom.” [Read more…] about Oneida County’s Coxe Patent: Some History

DEC Fisheries 2023 Year in Review

December 31, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Here is a list of highlights and noteworthy items from the past year here in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Bureau of Fisheries. [Read more…] about DEC Fisheries 2023 Year in Review

John D. Rockefeller: Tree Farmer Extraordinaire

November 29, 2023 by Charles Yaple 1 Comment

When the name John D. Rockefeller Sr. captures someone’s attention the mind usually pictures the famous – or infamous depending on one’s view of 19th century capitalism – late oil baron and once world’s richest man.

Someone more versed on his life might recall Rockefeller’s love for the game of golf. However, John D. was also a passionate and prolific tree farmer and landscaper on his 3,000 acre Kykuit estate bordering the Hudson River near Pocantico Hills, in the Westchester County town of Mount Pleasant, NY. [Read more…] about John D. Rockefeller: Tree Farmer Extraordinaire

Preservation League of New York State Names Excellence Award Winners

November 7, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Since 1984, the Preservation League of New York State’s annual Excellence Awards program has shone a light on the people who are using historic preservation to make all our lives better — through exemplary restoration projects, indispensable publications, individual action, and organizational distinction. [Read more…] about Preservation League of New York State Names Excellence Award Winners

New York Changes Sunday Alcohol Blue Laws

October 18, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

On Saturday, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul signed a package of legislation changing New York’s “blue laws” to will allow for the expanded sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday, extends the brewer’s license, where alcohol can be served, and more. [Read more…] about New York Changes Sunday Alcohol Blue Laws

Bath Fish Hatchery: Home to Wild Finger Lakes Strain Trout

October 2, 2023 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Established in 1893, New York State’s Bath Fish Hatchery in Steuben County and is one of the state’s oldest hatcheries and the only hatchery raising wild Finger Lakes strain rainbow trout. [Read more…] about Bath Fish Hatchery: Home to Wild Finger Lakes Strain Trout

The American Revolution in the Finger Lakes

September 10, 2023 by Guest Contributor 3 Comments

Initially, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Iroquois) claimed neutrality during the conflict between Britain and the colonists, seeing the disagreement as a civil war and valuing loyalty to their families and to their lands above all else. When the political discontent erupted into the American Revolutionary War, the member nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy split their support between the British and newly formed American forces. [Read more…] about The American Revolution in the Finger Lakes

Early Inhabitants of the Finger Lakes Region

August 14, 2023 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

According to archeological records, groups of nomadic Paleo-Indians traveled through the Finger Lakes region approximately 8,000 to 9,000 years ago. Small bands of these hunters and gatherers followed large game during the last stages of the Ice Age when the glaciers that formed the area’s notable lakes were receding.

Somewhat more recent early archaic archeological sites scattered across Western New York reflect a culture that was highly mobile and left little in terms of an archeological record. [Read more…] about Early Inhabitants of the Finger Lakes Region

The ‘Tree’ of Us: Richford Boys Who Changed The World

July 28, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Charles Yaple’s latest book, The ‘Tree’ of Us: Richford Boys Who Changed The World And What They Left Behind (2023) is a deeply personal narrative mixing biography, history, and memoir to encourage the furtherance of a land ethic as envisioned by famed ecologist Aldo Leopold. The story follows the lives of three men, from the steeply forested hills of Richford, in Tioga County, NY, who changed the world. [Read more…] about The ‘Tree’ of Us: Richford Boys Who Changed The World

Geologic Formation of the Finger Lakes

July 26, 2023 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Approximately 600 million years ago, during the Neoproterozoic Era, the Earth’s supercontinent began to break apart, and an ocean formed between land masses that roughly correlate to Europe and North America today. For the next 100 million years, this ocean continued to widen until the continents changed course and began to move back towards each other.

The eventual collision of these land masses formed a tall mountain range now known as North America’s Appalachians. [Read more…] about Geologic Formation of the Finger Lakes

National Park Service Declares Finger Lakes Eligble For National Heritage Designation

July 19, 2023 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

On Tuesday, July 18th, the National Park Service delivered the Finger Lakes National Heritage Area Feasibility Study to Congress. The feasibility study determined that the study area in the Finger Lakes region of New York state meets the criteria to be eligible for inclusion as part of the National Heritage Area System. [Read more…] about National Park Service Declares Finger Lakes Eligble For National Heritage Designation

Margaret Hastings: A World War Two WAC Lost In New Guinea

April 4, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

On the latest episode of the New York Minute In History Podcast, Devin Lander and and Lauren Roberts highlight a historic roadside marker in Tioga County and tell the story of Corporal Margaret Hastings, a member of the Women’s Army Corps who survived 47 days in a New Guinea jungle during the Second World War.

Guests include Mitchell Zuckoff, author of Lost in Shangri-La (Harper, 2012); and Emma Sedore, Tioga County historian. [Read more…] about Margaret Hastings: A World War Two WAC Lost In New Guinea

The Daniel Parrish Witter Agricultural Museum: A History

March 19, 2022 by Milton Sernett 1 Comment

The Daniel Parrish Witter Agricultural Museum at what is now known as the Great New York State Fair opened officially on April 30th, 1928. Daniel Parrish Witter, a long-time New York State Assemblyman representing Tioga County was born in 1852 at Richford. Witter assumed the greater responsibility for working the family farm after his father became disabled, one of his older brothers was killed in the Civil War, and two others were seriously wounded in the same conflict. [Read more…] about The Daniel Parrish Witter Agricultural Museum: A History

Roberson Museum Commemorates the Civil War

December 12, 2011 by Gerald R. Smith Leave a Comment

150 years ago shots were fired on Fort Sumter off the coast of South Carolina signaling the beginning of the Civil War. A century and a half later, Roberson Museum and Science Center has assembled hundreds of objects and stories to tell the story of how that conflict affected this area in a new exhibition appropriately named The Civil War. [Read more…] about Roberson Museum Commemorates the Civil War

A Flood of History: New York’s History in Peril

October 31, 2011 by Gerald R. Smith Leave a Comment

In recent months New York State has been the victim of horrendous flooding and devastation as the result of both Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. The path of devastation is both wide and long – reaching from Maryland and New Jersey up to Vermont.

Centuries of disaster records have fallen. We have seen the evacuation of major areas of New York City and entire towns cut off from contact with neighboring communities and the outside world. As news crews rush to film the spectacular scenes of water rushing through main streets as buildings rush toward certain destruction, there are other stories that are lost in the immediacy of the event. [Read more…] about A Flood of History: New York’s History in Peril

Tioga County

We Need Your Help Now More Than Ever

New York Almanack receives no public funds.

It’s supported only by readers like you.

Please give today (a monthly recurring gift is best)