History, Natural History & the Arts
Huge demand for slate in 1890 boosted prices for quarry owners and manufacturers in the Granville area of Washington County, NY, and workers sought a share of the wealth.
“The slate business is booming,” The Granville Sentinel reported on June 13, 1890, followed a week later with the report, “There is trouble at the quarries.” [Read more…] about ‘Trouble at the Quarries’: The 1890 Slate Workers Strike
The Quechee Hot Air Balloon Craft and Music Festival, the longest running hot air balloon festival in New England, will celebrate its 41st anniversary from September 3rd through 5th. [Read more…] about Quechee Balloon Festival Lifts Off for 41st Year Labor Day Weekend
Years in the making, a decisive confrontation occurred on July 19th, 1771 at James Breakenridge’s farm in North Bennington, Vermont.
A New York sheriff’s posse, including the Mayor of Albany, lawyers, magistrates, and militia clashed with the emerging Green Mountain Boys militia near the current location of the Henry Bridge which crosses the Walloomsac River, stopping the serving of papers and blocking the New York surveyors. The success of Hampshire Grants settlers in resisting the New York land claims made July 19, 1771 the birth of the Green Mountain Boys, and in a sense, the birth of the state of Vermont. [Read more…] about NY-VT ‘Breakenridge Stand-off’ 250th Anniversary Being Marked
Citing opposition from environmental groups and the public, Lake Champlain Transportation Company and Vermont Division for Historic Preservation have announced the withdrawal of its application for a permit to sink the Adirondack, a retired ferry, in Lake Champlain. Instead of being abandoned underwater to create artificial interest for scuba divers, the vessel will be scrapped. [Read more…] about Champlain Ferry ‘Adirondack’ Sinking Plan Stopped by Opposition
On June 22, 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower visited the Vermont State Dairy Festival in Rutland. The Festival held a barbecue that day in the President’s honor. When it was over, they presented the President and his Presidential Party with a 150-pound ice cream cake. The cake represented a day’s work for twenty cows.
It was a gift from the Stewart’s Shop on North Main Street in Rutland. “Hap” Haapala was the store manager at the time. Plant Manager Paul “Perky” Robinson made the cake at the Stewart’s Ice Cream Plant in Greenfield, Saratoga County. Melvin Tuttle, the owner of Tuttle’s Bakery on Church Street in Saratoga Springs, was responsible for the decorations. Bob Gailor told me that his father, Wally Gailor, was a baker at Tuttle’s and that he decorated the cake. [Read more…] about Stewart’s Shops History: Eisenhower’s Ice Cream Cake
The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum has unveiled a new logo, and announced their 2020 events schedule. This year the Museum is commemorating the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage by exploring female leaders in the Champlain Valley. [Read more…] about Champlain Maritime Museum 2020 Season Focused On Women
During autumn of 1776, Mount Independence and Fort Ticonderoga were being prepared by the American troops for the arrival of the British. At that time, the two garrisons made up one of the largest population centers in the United States.
An illustrated talk, “The Autumn of 1776: Making Preparations to Receive the Enemy,” by historian and site interpreter Paul Andriscin, has been set for Saturday, October 5th, at the Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell, Vermont. The program will run from 1 to 2:30 pm. [Read more…] about Autumn of 1776 Talk at Mount Independence
The Hubbardton Battlefield State Historic Site in Hubbardton, Vermont is set to hold their Fourth Sunday program on September 22nd. Site interpreter and long-time Revolutionary War reenactor Bob Franzoni will lead a guided trek around the battlefield from 1:30 to 4:30 pm. [Read more…] about A Guided Hike Of Hubbardton Battlefield on Sunday
The Mount Independence-Hubbardton Military Road was built after the September 7, 1776, order of Gen. Horatio Gates to connect the Revolutionary War fortification being constructed at Mount Independence on Lake Champlain to Hubbardton, Rutland, and Fort No. 4 in New Hampshire.
Gates considered the road “so Essential to the Interest of the United States” and “the safety and protection of the inhabitants of all the Middle States of this Union.” Soldiers, ammunition, and stores used the road to reach the Mount. On the night of July 5 and 6, 1777, as the British invaded the lake, American forces withdrew from Mount Independence and Fort Ticonderoga along the road, engaging the British at the Battle of Hubbardton on July 7. [Read more…] about Touring A Revolutionary War Military Road By Car
The Chimney Point State Historic Site in Addison, Vermont (at the Champlain Bridge and Crown Point) is set to host the Green Mountain Timekeepers Society on Sunday, August 11, from noon to 4 pm.
The Society’s experts will be on the porch to share the history of clocks and watches and how they can be repaired. [Read more…] about Historic Clocks and Watches Afternoon at Chimney Point