The New York State Thruway Authority has announced construction will begin this month on a $450 million project to redevelop the 27 service areas located on the New York State Thruway. The service areas were originally built in the 1950s, with the last significant redevelopment taking place in the 1990s. On July 29th, ten service areas will close for work to begin on the first phase of the project. Fuel services will remain available at all locations during construction. [Read more…] about 27 Thruway Service Areas Being Modernized
Transportation
Critter Crossings: Amphibians In Spring
There’s a myth environmental educators like to tell, and it goes something like this: after every long northern winter, spring returns. Days lengthen, temperatures rise, the snowpack slowly disappears, and one afternoon, it begins to rain – a soaking, 45-degree rain that continues well into the night. [Read more…] about Critter Crossings: Amphibians In Spring
Highlights From The Historians Podcast
This week on The Historians Podcast, highlights from seven podcasts from 2021 – Jim Richmond on Saratoga County history, Mike Hauser on Fulton County sports, Sarah Patten on women spies, Thruway questions from Robert Burns, John Warren on motorization of the Adirondack Park, Jim Kaplan on New York City’s South Street Seaport and Roland Vinyard on West Virginia caver Pete Hauer. [Read more…] about Highlights From The Historians Podcast
NYS Thruway History Subject of Historians Podcast
This week on The Historians Podcast New York State Thruway user and Historians Podcast listener Robert Burns makes frequent trips between Rochester and Albany. He has questions on the history of the Thruway, built in the 1950s. For example, why was the Thruway built so far away from Rochester?
We get background on Thruway history from a 2015 interview with Bruce Dearstyne, author of the book Spirit of New York. [Read more…] about NYS Thruway History Subject of Historians Podcast
Dancing On Logs: Pulp Wood At Sackets Harbor
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
New York Central Railroad Photo Archive Gets Update
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
A New Book Considers Why Nobody Hitchhikes Anymore
Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.
In the summer of 1978, Ed Griffin-Nolan and a friend took to the road, hitchhiking from New York to California, on to New Orleans and back home to New York. As 2018 approached, the itch to hitch returned — but most people seemed to believe that this was now impossible. Griffin-Nolan decided to find out why nobody hitchhiked anymore. [Read more…] about A New Book Considers Why Nobody Hitchhikes Anymore
Charbot Germain’s Wrong Turn: An Adirondack Trucking Story
On December 15, 1973, Canadian Charbot Germain attempted to drive his tractor-trailer from Stony Creek to Utica. It didn’t go well.
It started out as tales of the lost often do, with directions from a local.
They suggested Germain shorten his trip by taking Route 8 from the Northway toward North Creek. He found himself instead in Stony Creek, headed down the rough Harrisburg Road in the dark. [Read more…] about Charbot Germain’s Wrong Turn: An Adirondack Trucking Story
Gretchen Sorin On African American Travel And Civil Rights
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
A Short History Of Eagle Bay In The Adirondacks
Eagle Bay lies in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains of New York State at an elevation of 1,720 feet. Situated just north of 4th Lake on the Fulton Chain, and about ten miles east of Old Forge, the small hamlet (one of 94 designated hamlets in the Adirondacks) has seasonal activity consisting of winter snowmobiling, cross country skiing, and snowshoeing. Summer events focus on the various surrounding lakes, ponds, mountains, and hiking trails. [Read more…] about A Short History Of Eagle Bay In The Adirondacks