History, Natural History & the Arts
Return with me to the thrilling days of yesteryear when the automobile was viewed as the solution to transportation noise, fumes and congestion.
The problem: Horses.
A lot of horses. [Read more…] about The Unpleasant Side of Life With Horses in Cities
Located at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, Sackets Harbor boasts a stellar history in the War of 1812, but this lake port holds a wealth of other fascinating stories.
After the War of 1812, Sackets Harbor nearly became a thriving lake port, but both the emerging railroads and canal systems quickly excluded the tiny village from ever becoming a Buffalo or Cleveland-size port. [Read more…] about Dancing On Logs: Pulp Wood At Sackets Harbor
The New York Central System Historical Society (NYCSHS) has announced the creation of a second-generation archive system as a resource for railroad historians and model railroaders of the New York Central System. With more than 58,000 images, the archive is the largest offering from the Society to date. [Read more…] about New York Central Railroad Photo Archive Gets Update
The positive impacts of the Delaware & Hudson Canal on Sullivan County were indisputable. With its opening in 1828, the 108-mile-long waterway made it possible for the first time to easily transport goods in and out of the area, and directly led to the growth of the tanning and bluestone industries. Entire communities, such as Barryville, Wurtsboro and Phillipsport, owe their very existence to the D & H, and while the canal was in operation, each was among the largest communities in the county in terms of commerce and population. [Read more…] about One Not-So-Benign Influence Of The D&H Canal
In fiction and research, the history of an estate is often used to throw light on the lives of former residents and the cultural environment in which they acted. The monumental white mansion now known as Bevin House, Long Island, hides an intriguing tale that offers a snapshot of New York’s cosmopolitan past. [Read more…] about A Haven of Immigrant Creativity In Long Island
The Jay Heritage Center is set to host Gretchen Sorin, author of Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights (2020), to share her compelling account of the impact of automobile transportation on the Civil Rights movement. [Read more…] about Gretchen Sorin On African American Travel And Civil Rights
As the decade of the 1990s began, noted Adirondack conservationist and wilderness coalition leader Paul Schaefer’s eyesight was failing. He had macular degeneration. We had noticed that this skilled carpenter, home and cabin builder and historic restorationist was no longer hitting the nail squarely on its head. We worried about him continuing to drive. [Read more…] about Adirondack Advocate Paul Schaefer’s Influence On The Northway
During the month of December in 1824, brothers William and Maurice Wurts were diligently planning a presentation to potential investors in their ambitious project to build a canal connecting their coal fields in northeastern Pennsylvania to the Hudson River. [Read more…] about Sullivan County D&H Canal History Highlighted With ‘Kate Project’
In his stories Arthur Conan Doyle used the leitmotif that misdeeds are not impulsive acts of random individuals. They are machinations of a subtle criminal mind. Enter Professor James Moriarty, a figure with a phenomenal mathematical brain whose hereditary criminal tendencies were rendered deadly by his mental powers. [Read more…] about A Master Thief, Irish Hostess, English Duchess, and the Origins Pan Am
The New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) has begun tearing up the former NY Central Adirondack Division tracks connecting Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake, part of a $1.9 million State project to build a rail trial suitable for use by bicyclists and snowmobilers.
The 34-mile rail corridor being removed was key to a once-thriving 119-mile railroad which operated almost continuously from 1892 until 1972, first as the Mohawk & Malone, and then by the New York Central starting in 1913. [Read more…] about Former NY Central Adirondack Division Rails Being Removed