More than 500 logbooks of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships (USC & GSS) are now available to view and download in the National Archives Catalog.
[Read more…] about US Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships Logbooks Go Online
Transportation History
Forest Park Amusement Park in Saratoga County: Some History
On November 15, 1927, a civil engineer named R.E. Weber created a map that showed the boundaries of Forest Park Amusement Park in Ballston Lake, NY.
The map was drawn so as to facilitate the sale of the entire property and make the area into individual parcels that people could buy. Thus ended the almost 25-year history of one of the most famous amusement parks in Saratoga County and began the process of opening up a large section of Ballston Lake to residential development. [Read more…] about Forest Park Amusement Park in Saratoga County: Some History
Upstate Cities Turn To Canal Heritage For Economic Development
Upstate New York’s largest urban centers are pursuing economic development strategies that include a major focus on their canal heritage. [Read more…] about Upstate Cities Turn To Canal Heritage For Economic Development
Vischer Ferry As A Summer Resort
At the turn of the nineteenth to twentieth century, Vischer Ferry, a hamlet of Clifton Park in Saratoga County on the Mohawk River, was the destination of many picnickers and tourists.
People came from Schenectady, Albany, Troy, Cohoes and even New York City to spend a day, a week, a month or the complete summer in the healthful climate and beautiful surroundings of Vischer Ferry. As quiet 120 years ago as it is today, the village was an ideal spot to escape from the noise and turmoil of the city. [Read more…] about Vischer Ferry As A Summer Resort
Teddy Roosevelt’s Wild Ride to the Presidency
On September 9th through 11th Newcomb, in Essex County at the heart of the Adirondacks, once again celebrates 26th President Theodore Roosevelt, who was vacationing at the Tahawus Club there in 1901 when the wheels leading to his presidency were set in motion.
Roosevelt had come to the Tahawus Club, a hunting and fishing retreat created in the 1870s on the site of early mining efforts on the uppermost reaches of the Hudson River, as a guest of one of its members. His arrival had been delayed by the assassination attempt on William McKinley, but after a trip to Buffalo where the stricken President was recovering, Roosevelt felt assured that he could join his family at Tahawus. [Read more…] about Teddy Roosevelt’s Wild Ride to the Presidency
Aboard the Hudson River Steamer Drew to Saratoga in 1878
This 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
The Adirondack Northway: Some History
The Adirondack Northway (I-87) made Lake George more accessible than any other resort area in the Northeast. So, it’s appropriate that the birth of the modern interstate highway system can be traced to Lake George; specifically, to the 46th Annual National Governor’s Conference, held July 11th to 13th, 1954, at the Sagamore Hotel in Bolton Landing.
To be precise, the Conference was the site not so much of the birth of the interstate highway system, but of the announcement of its birth. [Read more…] about The Adirondack Northway: Some History
Under Threat: The Penn Station Neighborhood in Manhattan
New York State’s Empire State Development Corporation’s proposed Pennsylvania Station Civic and Land Use Project (the “Penn Area Plan”) would demolish multiple blocks of historic buildings in the vicinity of Penn Station in Manhattan.
All told, over 40 historic buildings and structures stand to be lost while displacing thousands of residents and businesses. [Read more…] about Under Threat: The Penn Station Neighborhood in Manhattan
A Brief History of the Mohawk River
Imagine the Mohawk River flowing with more force than Niagara Falls. Around 22,000 years ago, that’s exactly how it was. During the last ice age, the Laurentide Glacier began to melt, forming a large lake atop the glacier. As the glacier receded north, it opened access to the Mohawk River, which for thousands of years had been buried beneath the two-mile thick block of ice. Suddenly, all that lake water had somewhere to go.
The deluge of water that was released was so great that it carved an entirely new riverbed. It was so great in fact, that geologists gave the river a new name; the Iromohawk. Water rushed down the valley, carving away the cliffs of Clifton Park, the gorge at Cohoes, and the channel at Rexford. The river also curved back onto itself, creating the bend around Schenectady that the Mohawk follows today. [Read more…] about A Brief History of the Mohawk River
Railroads, The Spuyten Duyvil Disaster & Faustian Legend
On September 27th, 2025, it will be two hundred years ago that the world’s first public railway, known as the Stockton & Darlington (S&DR), was opened in north-east England.
As well as carrying coal, the train offered space for six hundred passengers, most of them traveling in wagons, but some distinguished guests were allocated a seat in a specially designed carriage called The Experiment. [Read more…] about Railroads, The Spuyten Duyvil Disaster & Faustian Legend